Coming Home

Second game of the season:



I'm thinking I might not only get promoted this year, I might even win the league.

Dream debut for Agnarsson, scoring the winning goal in a derby minutes after being subbed on!

Amazing so far Franck!

Especially win against two of the title competitors so far this season

Mid-season report:

Fixtures:



Table:



Graph:



Also, this happened:



I laughed.

Our best performance all season.

Never seen that before.

My summer signings:



Decent young leftback from New Zealand signed after an agent offer and a trial, will provide some back-up behind Dinda. Loaned him out to Qviding for the rest of the season though.



Signed from Hoffenheim on a free, I just couldn't resist the urge to sign a Liechtensteiner to my team, that's just not an opportunity that comes by very often! Will be a good rotation option behind Lindström and Mieno and will serve as a replacement if/when I sell one of them.

WE DID IT!!!

2016 season report:

Fixtures:



Table:



Graph:



Transfers:



Player stats;



A real roller coaster of a season, finishing in the best possible way. Hammered the teams that invited us to dance but struggled in many matches that should have been clear victories against clubs that sat back and defended, especially during the periods where Atashkadeh was injured.

Atashkadeh was a real beast when fit:



Him and Wallén formed a great big man-little man combo and were selected for the team of the year:

I present to you, Allsvenskan 2017:



Featuring Örgryte IS för the first time in 8 years!

Odds:



We're obviously not going to challenge for the title (Malmö have a squad that could challenge for the Dutch Eredivisie) and the European places should be out of our reach but I definitely feel a 9th or 10th place would be realistic. Värnamo should be complete no-hopers, I have no idea how they managed to stay up the previous season, and Östersund, Falkenberg and Gefle have weaker squads than us. Clubs parking the bus against us should be less of an issue for us at this level as well, so I'm confident about achieving the board goal of a mid-table finish.

Transfers:



I paid an actual transfer fee for the very first time this winter! The league rules require a minimum of 9 players trained in Sweden in the match day squad, if it wasn't for that I doubt I'd ever pay a transfer fee for a single player.

What better way to start the season than hammering your rivals in the cup?

Conceded a late goal against Elfsborg that could have been costly.



But a safe victory against Varberg in the final group match secured us the group win and a place in the quarter-finals.



Also made a final signing just before the Allsvenskan opener:



Screenshot

Actually tried to sign him on a future transfer in January, but PSV signed him to a new deal. Two months later he's transfer-listed and signs a cheaper deal with us than what I had offered.

This looks promising, Franck. Maybe time to bring in a Brazilian or two soon for old times' sake?

They are too expensive.

Not a bad way to start the season. Hermannsson making an instant impact!

Well that's the end of our cup adventure.

A strong performance against the arch-rivals.

And then 7 days later this happens:



Giving Malmö, who have at least three times our wage budget, their first loss of the season in spectacular fashion!

Not too impressed with what they have to offer in terms of loans, but I'll take the money as our finances are pretty dire.



We've been in red pretty much the entire time since I took over. My best guess is that the board don't take the extortionate stadium rent (40% of all gate receipts) into account when they set the wage budget. Being completely unable to sell players at any reasonable price doesn't help either. Tried selling Mieno in the winter and in spite of having interest from a half-dozen clubs the best offer I could get was half his market value. Now he'll probably leave on a free at the end of this season.

Being this poor has some unfortunate consequences, one being the fact that the club is too poor to send me on a coaching course, so I still don't have a single coaching badge!

I forgot to post screenshots of my signings earlier, may as well post them now.



The first player I paid an actual transfer fee for, signed from arch-rivals IFK. A tall, slow and strong centre-half similar to Johan Hammar, and could potentially be his replacement in the future.



A young talent who spent many years in the Benfica youth team, Lindelöf is primarily a right-back, but he can play all across the defence and in central midfield.



Our most expensive transfer, signed from Degerfors for 630k kr. We needed a new goalkeeper as Otto Fredrikson declined over the season due to old age and Strömberg was arguably the best affordable option. A Gothenburg native and arguably the best goalkeeper in Sweden outside of Allsvenskan before he signed with us.



With Sonko Sundberg's loan finishing, we had a need for a quicker centre-back partner for Hammar, Doneil Henry fills that need perfectly. Having made 23 Premier League appearances for West Ham before being released in the summer of 2016 and a regular for the Canadian national team, he's very experienced for his age and still has potential to develop a lot further. Picking him up on a free may turn out to be a great deal for us.



Even with Henry and Dyrestam signed we still had a need for another central defender. Dutch-Sierra Leonian Augustine Loof will primairly act as a quicker back-up in case Henry is unavailable, but he has the potential to become a good Allsvenskan defender in his own right. Short and relatively poor in the air, the hope is that his strength and quickness will compensate.



A young, fairly promising full-back signed as a back-up after being released by AIK. Will probably send him out on loan in the summer.



Another young Canadian released by a Premier League club. Petrasso is a winger comfortable playing on both sides, the former Q.P.R. player still has the potential to become a top Allsvenskan player, but he will primarily be a back-up option for us this season.



A young Colombian winger signed after a agent recommendation. Released by Anderlecht after he failed to crack into their first team, but he still has the potential to become a great Allsvenskan winger.



Arguably the best Swedish teenager in my save, Faour from the Manchester City academy had a good loan spell for relegated Sundsvall last season. A well-rounded striker capable of playing many different roles already, he'll add some much needed competition for Atashkadeh and the eternally injured Bojang.



Last year's strategy of loaning players who couldn't win places in Malmö FF's ridiculously strong first-team was so successful that I've continued it this year. Cibicki hasn't managed to earn a spot at MFF, but he's had two good loan spells at clubs in Superettan. Probably the most talented player in our squad.



Another loanee from Malmö, Rakip will act as a rotation option for our midfield. Like last year the plan was to sign both Cibicki and Rakip when their deals expired, unfortunately both decided to renew their deals with MFF.



Similar to last season's Hreidarsson signing, Cederqvist was primarily signed as a staff member, though having an additional player in the squad to cover in an injury crisis doesn't hurt.

Muller Dinda has been absolutely incredible so far this season:



Which has generated quite a lot of interest from other clubs:



I've offered him a new contract but if he doesn't sign I expect I will get an impressive transfer fee for him this summer.

He still lacks strength, but aside from that he really has everything you'd want from a defensive full-back. Fantastic player, definitely Champions League quality.

When I signed him I honestly thought I would make much, much more than that when the time to sell him came, but with a contract that is expiring in 6 months and with no intention of signing a new deal that was the best I could do, unfortunately. Should really have signed him to a longer contract when I had the chance. At least it gets his big contract off the books, giving us more room to make some summer signings.

Player screenshot.

So this happened:



Shame he signed a new deal with Malmö :/

Well that was eventful...

That's much better!

Also sold a player:



Genuinely shocked to have gotten that much for him!

2017 Mid-season report:

Table:



Fixtures:



Graph:



We've performed beyond even my wildest imagination so far this season, if we can keep this form going we might actually qualify for Europe, which would be an absolute miracle.

Screenshot

Mieno's replacement and our most expensive transfer yet. A youth product of the club who left for rivals GAIS after the bankruptcy, he's been absolutely dominant for Ljungskile in Superettan the last three seasons, being selected in the team of the year in both 2015 and 2016.

Transfers Summer 2017;



One of Sweden's biggest defensive talents, signed on a free from Chelsea. He's spent time on loan at Forest Green and spent the entire last season at Northampton in League Two. Has the potential to become a star for us.



Already wrote about this one. Big signing for us who should dominate our midfield.



Giant striker formerly at Celtic. With Bojang and Wallén gone I needed some more size up front, Fridjonsson will definitely provide that.



A second-generation Örgryte player, born in Gothenburg while his father Rúnar Kristinsson was playing for the club. Will provide some competition for Strömberg.



A young Czech striker with model professional personality and potential to become a real star player, perhaps even on the European level.



A tiny, young Danish full-back with professional personality and the potential to become a star player. Might be our future captain if he develops well.



Young Danish striker. Has the pace and the finishing already, could become a very good player.



Another young Dane, doesn't look like much right now but he has some nice mental attributes and a good, professional personality. A project, but he could become a star for Allsvenskan clubs.

Summary: