An FM16 story that will take us across the Scandinavian nations, hoping to achieve success in all of them!
Welcome back to The Scandinavian Story! This is a Football Manager 2016 story which will see Per Soderholm, an unknown Swedish manager, go on a journey to conquer Scandinavian Football. Sweden. Denmark. Norway. Iceland. Finland. My task is monumental, so I hope you will join me and have a lot of fun reading!
If this is your first time reading, go check out Part 1 and Part 2.
On Part 2, we saw Per take over his first game in management for IFK Skovde, a 4th division Swedish team. After a poor run of results saw the team fail to climb out of the relegation zone, Per Soderholm was sacked. We now look to see how he will recover from a disappointing first attempt in football management.
Torns IF are a team in the same tier of Swedish Football as IFK Skovde were, but in a different league. I feel like I have a good chance at this job because it is very similar to the club I previously managed.
On Part 2, we saw Per take over his first game in management for IFK Skovde, a 4th division Swedish team. After a poor run of results saw the team fail to climb out of the relegation zone, Per Soderholm was sacked. We now look to see how he will recover from a disappointing first attempt in football management.
Immediately after being sacked, I apply to 4 managerial positions: 3 in the Norwegian 3rd tier and 1 in the Swedish 3rd tier. There were also many open positions in the first division of Norway and Sweden, but I doubt they will take a chance on a relatively unknown manager.
My first interview after being sacked is with Qviding FIF, a team in the Swedish 3rd Division! The chairman was mainly concerned with the fact that I've just recently suffered relegation, but also that I have very little experience in management.
Well that's unfortunate, but expected. None of the Norwegian clubs offered me an interview.
And thus, I'm back on the market to look for a job. I've applied to a mix of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic teams.
Boldklubben Fremad Amager (Fremad A), a Danish 3rd Division club, offer me an interview. I think it went better than the previous one, but my inexperience and relegation with Skovde is still a concern to them.
Torns IF are a team in the same tier of Swedish Football as IFK Skovde were, but in a different league. I feel like I have a good chance at this job because it is very similar to the club I previously managed.
I apply to a few more jobs and take on another interview, this time with a Norwegian 3rd tier team.
My Fremad Amager interview was unsuccessful, as well as one of my Norwegian applications.
Torns IF have approached me and I've accepted! FK Mjolner's interview was unsuccessful.
It's official!!!
Lund is a decent distance from Skovde, one that takes us near the Sweden powerhouse of Molmo FF.
Tornvallen: a 4,000 capacity pitch where we will be playing our matches.
Lund is a nice little town that has a population of roughly 82,800 inhabitants. This seems like a place I can really settle into!
It is currently October, right after the season end. Torns have finished in 11th, one spot above the relegation playoff slot. This is a team that had previously finished in 3rd for two straight campaigns, so it's no wonder why their manager was sacked. I have until April to sort out my squad, which seems very good except for the fact that I have one fullback on the books! I am also going through my regular process of bringing in a full staff of Swedish newgens as scouts, physios, coaches, etc. I have also managed to extend all of the contracts of my key players for another season, as the club only allow one year contracts it seems.
I've managed to extend the loan of Oliver Granath for another season. He averaged a 6.69 for Torns this season, which isn't great but actually not that bad when compared to others on the squad. It is pretty cool to be able to hold on to a player of this calibre, as AIK are one of the best Swedish teams and produce a lot of great young talent.
I've told the boys I expect a mid table finish next year, and they all agree with me. The board have slightly decreased the wage budget which will make it much harder for me to recruit some fullbacks, but with a few players being released I'm sure we'll have sufficient funds to pick up a few free agents.
I really like the Torns board thus far! First they allow more scouts when I request it, then agree that we should link up with a larger team to loan players. A very promising start to life at the club.
First signing! Not a superstar player for our squad, but Hedman definitely has big potential. We picked him up on a free after being released by AIK. Him and Granath are both AIK youth products, so we'll hope that will prove to help Hedman in his adjustment to the club.
The board accept my recommendation of Sirius as our senior affiliate club. I chose them because even though my other option, GAIS, had slightly better facilities, Sirius have just achieved promotion to the Swedish Premier Division! Surely this will help them attract better youngsters that I can loan in for free.
We make quick use of our affiliate by bringing in another CM. Oldin will take up a more defensive role, while Granath will play with automatic.
Sirius link up with another team to loan players to. I kind of feel like I'm being cheated on.
Another big signing! Mecconen is a permanent solution to our fullback problems and at 24 he still has some room to grow.
Mecconen now has a backup. The right back slot is now looking like one of the strong points of the squad! I still have roughly 800 to spend on my wage budget also.
I love the loan system! Sirius grant us another amazing youth player. Although I proposed his role to be rotation, Tato Ekenberg will most likely be a first team player for us.
A loan and two more free signings. We finally get a quality goalkeeper and a few young backups. I don't think we really need any more signings except a quality right mid.
A huge blow as our only right mid is injured for 6 months. Now we really need to find some wingers.
We bring a winger on loan to plug the hole left by Podsiadly's injury.
Life at our 2nd club is looking promising! A good season with Torns will put us in a great position to increase our stature in the footballing world and move on to an even bigger team. Either that, or maybe we can bring Torns to the top of Swedish football! Who knows? Anything is possible with The Scandinavian Story.
Thank you so much for reading. I encourage you to leave a comment with any opinion or recommendation that you have about the save, or just to say hi! See you next time on The Scandinavian Story: Part 4!
Talk to me on Twitter! (@ad22plays)
