Give me a J, Give me an O - Sod it, just give me journeyman Ernie Allan

[FM_TNSSO]

Ernie Allan - J.O.U.R.N.E.Y.M.A.N

I'm having to start a new save and a new story to go with it I'm afraid guys! I started my first save on our family PC (as it has a little more capability than my laptop on the graphics front). However, the Mrs has started an NVQ through her work and has now informed me she will be using the PC of an evening when she has her work to do! I've told her how unbelievably selfish she is to interrupt my Football Manager save, but it appears work and qualifications take priority! I considered kicking her out, but then I remembered I do have my laptop to feed my unhealthy addiction! However, what it does mean is that my previous save is gone and I'm starting a new...


This new save will see the return of my alter ego character, Ernie Allan, again! It seems Ernie is getting himself his own little fan club so I think it would be unfair to take him away from you guys! And the save will still be that of a journeyman as that is my favourite kind of game to play! Now to ensure I don't just follow the exact same path as my previous game, I going to kick off with a load of different nations. We'll be kicking off with 7 European nations! My game will begin in June 2018 and some of these nations will already be into their competitive seasons!

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As always, Ernie Allan kicks off his career as an ex semi pro footballer, but with no coaching badges to his name and will start from the very bottom! The goal is simple, become the best he possibly can and (hopefully) rise to the very top of the game to become one of the greats! Someday, they'll talk about Ernie Allan in the same light as the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola!

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With a whole host of clubs looking for a new manager, my applications go firing out the door pretty quickly in the hope someone will take the plunge! Every club with a vacancy gets my CV!

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Within only hours, the rejections come thick and fast! Apparently, an unknown manager with no qualifications from England is not good enough for Gazientap BB, Giresunspor, Hapoel Rishon LeZion and Arendal! Fussy bastards! However, all hope is not lost as I'm invited to interviews with HIK, TPI, Gallivare Malmbergets FF, Hapoel Bnei Lod and Hapoel Imad Iksal. And almost immediately, it's Gallivare Malmbergets who offer me a position with a decent wage of £400 per week as well. They are struggling in the Swedish 4th tier with only 1 win from 9 games and I decide to delay the offer for a week to see what else comes in.

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Hapoel Bnei Lod, HIK and Hapoel Iksal all decide that I'm not the right man for the job following the interview process, whilst TPI come in with an offer of absolutely nothing so are quickly told to jog on!

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So it leaves me with just one option, Gallivare Malmbergets come back again with their offer. After convincing them that they were obviously my first choice all along, they agree to give me another £50 per week on their initial contract offer and it looks like I have myself a job!

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[FM_TNSSO]

Gallivare Malmbergets FF

So here I am at my new club, Gallivare Malmbergets FF - what a ******* mouthful that is! The club are from Sweden, in the city of Gallivare, and play their football in Division 2, the 4th tier of Swedish football!

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Gallivare Malmbergets are possibly the nicest club in football as they have no rivalries with any other clubs and don't seem to dislike anyone! They are a pretty new club, founded only 13 years ago and hold a semi professional status in the game.

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After a meeting with the chairman, Gerd Siverhall, he's really excited to send me a background on the club and update me with their history! Errrr, what history?! They've never won anything and have some pretty **** poor facilities as well! Still, you've gotta admire his enthusiasm.

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Our stadium (if you can call it that) is made up of one stand. Apparently, you can fit a maximum attendance of 1,300 into the ground, but this will accomodate the 300 that want to sit down!

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I suppose one plus point is that the club isn't in loads of debt! With £7k in the bank things look stable for this tiny little club! I'm not surprised to see I have no transfer budget, but the £899 wage budget came as a shock!

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Ok so let's have a look at the squad....is it just me or is every single player a central midfielder?! We have a severe lack of defenders and wide players in this squad and it looks like my formation is going to have to be something like a 2-6-2 Very ******* Narrow!

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My best player is probably my keeper, Aleksandar Raickovic. He seems to have good reflexes, handling and commands his area well so I guess that makes him good at this level!

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At the other end of the pitch, striker Mikael Jannok is another of my better players. The 28 year old Swede has 3 goals in 10 games so far this season and I'll need to get him scoring a few more if we're to do any good, especially as we're bound to concede a **** load as we have no defenders!

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I love the fact I have no reputation at all, but it's still better than that of my players! Says a lot!

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The current state of affairs....the club sit 12th in the league after 10 games and in the relegation battle! With only 1 win to their name, it looks like I'm definitely up against it here and have a struggle on my hands to keep this team in the league!

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As far as the Swedish football structure goes, here's a quick breakdown...


Allsvenskan - Top Tier - Bottom 2 are relegated
Superettan - Second Tier - 2 teams guaranteed promoted, Two teams guaranteed relegation
Division 1 - Third Tier - Split into 2 leagues, winner from each guaranteed promotion, 3 teams guaranteed relegation from both leagues
Division 2 - Fourth Tier - Split into 6 leagues, winner from each guaranteed promotion, 2 teams guaranteed relegation from all leagues


*There are promotion and relegation playoffs so more teams can go down/up but this details the guaranteed movements

I have 3 fixtures left to play this month and my next update will come then!

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[ninjaskill]

Quite the wage you got yourself compared to your players, although have to question the contract of your second best paid player given his seeming lack of ability

 

[Sammuthegreat]

You know you can just move the save file from your family PC over to your laptop? Flash drive or something like Google Drive?

Oh well, no biggie. I started a journeyman with most of the same leagues as yours (will be writing a story up as soon as life allows) - funnily enough I was offered the same job!

 

[Bohminho]

Info

Some information for you. The Gällivare/Malmberget where from the beginning two clubs from the small towns in north of Sweden Gällivare and Malmberget and there where the big rivals, but of the lack of players in the north of Sweden they have to go thogehter to one club.

I saw that they have one old profile player, Tommy Holmgren. Tommy and his brother Tord won the UEFA-Cup with IFK Gothenburg 1982 and 1987, they won the Swedish Leauge several times in the 80:s.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

June 2018

ninjaskill - "I know right! I reckon I'll have to keep my salary pretty quiet or risk upsetting the entire squad!"


Sammuthegreat - "I didn't even think of that to be fair! Oh well, I'm getting quite into this one now so it's worked out for the best I guess. What job did you end up taking in your save?"


Bohminho - "Cheers for the background info mate, always appreciate learning a bit more about these minnow European clubs that I've never previously heard of! Especially when I'm now responsible for managing them"

June 2018

With the very limited players I have, this is the tactic I have come up with. I'm heavily reliant on my 3 central midfielders to be the creators in this time and it's going to be their responsibility to get the ball up to the front men! Balls over the top and direct passes through the opposition defence will be the aim! We have players out of position but unfortunately, there is only so many central midfielders I can fit into one side!

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Saturday 16th June 2018
Division 2 Norrland
Gallivare Malmbergets FF vs IFK Lulea
Formation: 4-1-3-2 Narrow

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Not ideal that I'd only been in the job a matter of hours and I had to take charge of my first game and not only that but against the team currently 2nd in the league! But I can't really fault the lads as we were the better side with more possession and creating more chances. Unfortunately, the fact we had players out of position cost us and our opponents exploited our weaknesses in the full back positions and scored 3 goals coming from out in the wide positions. If I can get some players in to cover these roles, I have hope we can do OK!


Saturday 23rd June 2018
Division 2 Norrland
Gallivare Malmbergets FF vs IFK Umea
Formation: 4-1-3-2 Narrow

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A brilliant second half comeback earns me my first win in football management! We were the better side on the day and deserved the 3 points so I was pleased to get over the line with the win!


Turns out that was our first win in 9 games as well! Should get me a few brownie points with the fans!

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Saturday 30th June 2018
Division 2 Norrland
Harnosands FF vs Gallivare Malmbergets FF
Formation: 4-1-3-2 Narrow

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Although I'm happy to take a point as every single point we win this season will be crucial in our bid to survive the drop, I still think this was a missed opportunity for a win with Harnosands being one of the only 2 teams below us in the league.


June Review: Well, we've taken 4 points from my opening 3 games in charge which is a decent start, considering the team hadn't won any of their previous 7 games before I took over! However, we won't get ahead of ourselves as I did have a relatively easy start to life in management, playing the two teams below us in the league. We remain in the drop zone, but are now touching distance of Gottne IF and Taftea IK.

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Player of the Month
Jean-Philippe Zirignon

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The winger has been playing out of position at right back for me and has done a great job considering! Maybe I won't need to sign a full back after all!


July offers up 4 league games and we'll take on both the sides just above us in the league and they will be crucial games in our bid to get out of the relegation places!

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[FM_TNSSO]

July 2018

July 2018

The first order of business in July was the signing of a new defender! Niclas Larsson joins us on a free transfer and the 19 year old centre back is a welcome addition to bolster the back 4! He's likely to come straight into the side (once he's built some match fitness) as on paper, he looks better than all my other options at centre back! The 19 year old can also cover the right back role, although his crossing ability is pretty shocking!

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Saturday 7th July 2018
Division 2 Norrland
Gallivare Malmbergets FF vs Hudiksvalls FF
Formation: 4-1-3-2 Narrow

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This was always going to be a difficult game. Hudiksvalls are top of the league and have won 11 of their opening 13 games. Despite that, I don't think we deserved to be on the end of such a heavy defeat, but they were very clinical in front of goal! We had our excuses too with a central midfielder playing at right back and I didn't really want to bring new centre back, Larsson, straight into the starting lineup either, but was left no choice due to suspensions.


When you have a tiny scouting budget and can't send your scouts off around the country to find new players, it really limits your options. I'm therefore very reliant on any players that come through the scouting recommendations (which are few and far between). However, I have been able to add another player to the ranks in the form of Marius Calin. Although described as a winger, he is more than capable of playing a wing back role and although unconvincing as a full back, that is where he'll play for me! It's better than playing central midfielders there! He will join the club after our next game when the transfer window re-opens.

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Saturday 14th July 2018
Division 2 Norrland
Taftea IK vs Gallivare Malmbergets FF
Formation: 4-1-3-2 Narrow

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I'm not quite sure what happened here, it seemed like every shot they had went in! Again, it's a tough result to take as it didn't seem like we deserved to lose by such a heavy scoreline! This was a really bad result for us though as it moved Taftea clear of us and it's just dawned on me how tough it's gonna be to keep this side up!


I've finally added an out and out left back to the squad. 18 year old Magne Kruger comes in on a pay as you play contract and is likely to slot straight into the starting eleven, being that he is the only player in the squad who can play that position! Let's hope the young Dane can do a job for us!

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Saturday 21st July 2018
Division 2 Norrland
Gottne IF vs Gallivare Malmbergets FF
Formation: 4-1-3-2 Narrow

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That was a heartbreaking way to lose that game! On 94 minutes and 36 seconds, they scored a direct free kick and ****** the win! This was a game we really couldn't afford to lose with Gottne being the only team really within touching distance of us in the relegation places, so that goal really, really hurt!


Saturday 28th July 2018
Division 2 Norrland
Gallivare Malmbergets FF vs IFK Timra
Formation: 4-1-3-2 Narrow

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Dear oh dear oh dear! We were awful in every department!


July Review: Well it couldn't have been any worse, 4 games 4 losses and conceded a total of 16 goals! No points and looking at the league table, we are probably now playing for 12th and trying to stay up via the relegation playoff!

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Player of the Month
Mille Hama Said

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When your whole team has been shocking all month, it's always tough to pick a player of the month. Said gets it simply for his goal and 2 assists.


August throws up 5 more league games and we just need points....BADLY! I don't care where they come from but 4-6 points is an absolute must and I really don't want to be entering the final month of the season in the bottom 2!

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[FM_TNSSO]

SACKED!! Sorry guys but this story is now coming to an end as well....after another 5 games, we dropped to the bottom of the league and I was sacked! I was hoping to carry on with the save, but I applied to about 20 different jobs and didn't get one interview offered to me! It seems that when you start at the very bottom and get sacked, there is literally no way back!

I will be starting a new story a little later today, with a different angle! Need to think of a new idea as the journeyman saves really haven't gone my way so far and I think I need to start slightly further up the ladder....In the words for Arnie, I'll be back!!

 

[jamie2215]

For a journeyman story, surely sacking is all part and parcel of the journey... don’t just quit straight away, stories are always better when there’s ups and downs and not just walking the league.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

For a journeyman story, surely sacking is all part and parcel of the journey... don’t just quit straight away, stories are always better when there’s ups and downs and not just walking the league.

The story came to an end as I couldn't get another job mate....read above...applied for 20+ jobs and not one interview and most of them club's only had 1 or 1.5 star rep