It's generally felt across the media that we achieved above expectations this season and that we were one of the 'feel good' stories of the division this year.
The board are extremely pleased with my performance as manager, stating that I'm 'putting a smile on the face of every single supporter'.
The Boss's Thoughts
Summing up this season, I have to say I'm pleased. After the disappointment early in my career with Follo, I wasn't sure what to expect as I moved across to Sweden to take on the task of managing this recently relegated team. But it's been a joy, the lads have been fantastic all year and I think they've shown growth and progression as a team as the season has gone on. We finished strongly and with a better start, there's no reason why we wouldn't of ****** the league this season!
I think we found our best formations towards the end of the season too, so if we can kick start the next campaign with these already in place and the lads familiar with the style of play I'm looking for, then there's no reason why we can't hit the ground running.
So on to next year... Most of these lads have shown me they deserve to stay at the club and will be rewarded with new contracts. I think if I can keep most of the squad together, with two or three decent additions, then we can really challenge to be champions and gain automatic promotion next season.
The Swedish leagues run from March (pre season) to around the end of October/start of November, so there is a 4-5 month gap in between. Here's what's been going on during that time period.
End of Season Finances
The club have announced losses of £30k over the past financial year. During this time, the club's turnover totalled £375k. On 7th November, the club's financial situation looks relatively healthy with over £150k in the bank.
Sponsorship
The chairman, Hakan Wifvesson, has announced two new sponsorship deals. A 2 year deal worth £76k per year, and a new main kit sponsorship deal for one season, worth £13,500. The total amount of sponsorship money expected to come into the club over the next year is just over £90k.
Squad Bonuses
We have paid out bonuses to the squad totalling £750 for last season's performance in the Division 2 Sodra Gotaland.
Membership Fees
The board have announced that membership fees brought in a total of £19,000 to the club this season.
Affiliations
The club retain only one affiliate club. That is senior affiliate Djurgardens IF from the top tier of Swedish football.
Next Season's Budgets Are Set
The board have set the budgets for next season...
The transfer kitty will be set at £16,600.
The wage budget is set at £3,600 per week. The club are currently spending £3,200 per week on wages.
The new scouting budget will be set at £4,500. The board have indicated that they will only allow scouting of players in Sweden.
All Backroom Staff Retained
I have retained all members of my backroom staffing team for another 2 years. Every member of the coaching, scouting and medical team were offered new deals to stay on with the club, and they have all gratefully accepted.
New Coaching Badge For Ball
I will spend the next 4 months studying for my next coaching badge, before the season starts. The board have agreed to fund the £600 for my to attain my National B License and further develop my coaching skills.
Ball Offers New Contracts To A Number Of Players
New contracts were offered and agreed with a number of players from the first team squad. They included Adriano Kalisiak (RB), Marcus Horten (CM), Aram Abed (CB), Kofi Yeboah Addae (RB), Nicolas Sharro (GK), Jonas Crona (CM), Norilla Amiri (AMR), Karlos Touma (ST) and Daniel Thulin (LB).
Players Leave FC Rosengard After Contracts Expire
A number of our players have left the club after their contracts expired and I decided not to retain their services. They include Nehar Maliqi (GK), Egzon Sekiraca (AMR), Linus Fridolf (LB), Mathias Redstead (CB), Theo Ankraw (CM) and Isaac Wigermo (RB).
Malmo FF have once again been ranked as the number 1 team in Sweden. They are following by IFK Goteborg and Djurgardens IF in 2nd and 3rd. We find ourselves way down the rankings, although our stature has improved over the past season following our good showing in the league.
Two of our top performers last season were young loanees. Isac Eklof was our top goalscorer and Bilal Smajic topped the assist charts for us. So I felt that going into next season, one of my priorities should be to try and tie down both of these promising youngsters for another year on loan, should their parent clubs permit it. I'm pleased to report that we have successfully secured both players for another season on loan
Cascalheira Leaves Club in Favour of League Rivals
Philip Cascalheira has left the club on a free transfer, to join Division 2 Sodra Gotaland rivals IFK Hassleholm. Cascalheira was rotated throughout the midfield for us last year, making 15 appearances with an average rating of 6.88. I tried to keep him here for another season, but he chose to accept a contract from Hassleholm instead. I'm out to make him regret that decision this season!
My first signing this year is that of Marcus Lindstrom who joins us from Superettan side, Akropolis IF. Lindstrom made 7 appearances in that division last season, two tiers above where we are at. He offers fantastic work rate, teamwork and leadership in the centre of the pitch, playing as a defence minded midfielder. Lindstrom joins us on a free transfer.
I've raided Akropolis IF again for my second signing before next season kicks off. This time, I've brought in central midfielder Cesar Weilid for a fee of £1,000. Weilid has good determination and concentration, will act well as our box to box midfielder role, with good passing ability to shift the ball through the midfield. He also offers good pace and acceleration to get up and down the pitch, and at 21 years old can still improve a lot over the next few years. View attachment 76372
22 year old Swedish goalkeeper, Oskar Williams, has joined us on a free transfer. He will predominantly act as a backup keeper to Nicolas Sharro over the next season, but we'll monitor his progress closely. The young goalkeeper joins us from Karlslunds IF.
I was keen to bolster the central defence position before the new season started, and have managed to do that through a loan signing. 18 year old Kevin Siiteri will join us on a season long loan from our senior affiliate club, Djurgardens IF. The youngster probably won't be a regular first team starter, but will provide good cover over the course of the season.
During the pre season period, I arranged for us to have 7 friendlies over a period of 5 weeks. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how it's gone. I set up games with teams both higher and lower than us in the Swedish football structure.
We thumped the likes of Byttorps IF and IK Virgo who are lower league than us, putting 4 goals past each opponent. Against the likes of IFK Hassleholm, who finished 3rd behind us last year, we earned a 2-2 draw. Gunnilse IS were the side that beat us in the playoffs last year, and again we earned a 3-3 draw against them. Our final game was against Prespa Birlik who won our division last season, and we beat them 2-1 which was a decent way to round off pre season. Our only defeat came against top tier Djurgardens, who still only managed to beat us 2-0 despite them being 3 divisions above us!
Plenty of positives to take from this run of games, we've predominantly focused on fitness in training and the squad looks ready and raring to go for the new league campaign.
Haytham Chebil played in every one of our pre season friendlies and was in fantastic form throughout, contributing 4 goals and 3 assists in those games. Appearing in 5 of the 7 friendlies, Jonathan Hall gave a very good account of himself, again showing why he is such a key figure in this team I have built and I'm sure he'll be pivotal to our success this year. I have to give a mention to Aram Abed here too. He only made three appearances in pre season, but each time he gave a solid performance for us at centre back. He wasn't necessarily going to be a first team starter for me as we headed into the new season but this pre season campaign, he has given me something to think about.
We go into the new season in a pretty good place according to the dynamics of the squad. The team cohesion is finally in the green, with the players also having plenty of support for me and a very good dressing room atmosphere amongst them too.
Isac Eklof will be out for up to 4 weeks and will be a big miss at the start of the season. Hopefully Karlos Touma can step up in the striker's role and help get us off to a good start by banging a few in.
The Board Expects...
The board have given me their expectations for the upcoming season. For the league campaign, they have demanded promotion by winning the league. So last year I felt I had it pretty easy, this year the pressure is most certainly on!
The bookmakers have released their prices for the upcoming Division 2 Sodra Gotaland campaign, and this year they've made us 4-1 favourites to win the title! Clearly, the additions I've made to the squad combined with our 2nd place finish last season, have convinced the media and bookies alike that we have an excellent chance of topping the league this year. According to the bookies, our closest rivals will be Hogaborgs BK and IFK Malmo priced up at 5-1 and 6-1 respectively.
They've given us huge odds of 200-1 to go down, so relegation should be far from our minds this season.
I've added a bit ore experience to the team with the signing of 30 year old left back, Jonathan Hellstrom. He joins us on a free transfer after being released by Sandvikens IF who are in the division above us in the Swedish leagues. He made 20 apearances for them at that level last season, so can offer some real value to our team in our push for promotion this year.
Our final signing before the transfer window shut was that of 22 year old Swedish midfielder Carl Lext. Carl joins us on a free transfer following his release from Superettan side Orgryte IS. Lext made 16 appearances in that league last season, 2 tiers above where we are currently, so he has been playing at a much higher level. To put it bluntly, he is a bit of a coup for us. Lext offers excellent passing ability from the centre of the park, works really well in a team and has a good work rate and determination too. I think he could become a key player for us over the next few months! The Month Ahead...
A busy first month in the league will see us play 4 games in 11 days! On paper, we have an opportunity to get off to a good start with our opening 3 games being against teams that are expected to finish in the bottom half of the table, before we meet IFK Hassleholm who finished just behind us in 3rd last season.
So after 5 months of waiting, the first day of the new season finally arrived. Our opening day opponents were IFK Trelleborg, who'd finished 10th in our division last year, and who we'd recorded 1-0 and 3-2 victories over during last year's competition.
Being away from home on the first day of the season is never easy, and I decided to play it safer and go with a 4123 holding midfielder formation, rather than our more attacking 4231. IFK Trelleborg lined up with a flat 442.
This was a very disappointing result to open the season based on the balance of play throughout the match. After we'd taken an early lead through Haythem Chebil inside 3 minutes, we went on to dominate the whole game, without finding the back of the net again. IFK Trelleborg only really came into it in the final 10 minutes and made us pay for all our missed chances with a late equalizer and we shared the points. Division 2 Sodra Gotaland FC Rosengard 3 - 2 Nybro IF
Only 3 days after the game with IFK Trelleborg, we were turning out again, this time for a home game against Nybro IF. Despite being predicted for a relegation battle this season, Nybro had opened their season with a 1-0 victory at home to Osterlen FF.
Back on home ground and seemingly against weaker opponents, I opted for our more attacking 4231 lineup. Smajic came into the side down the right wing for this one following his suspension for the previous game. Jonathan Hellstrom and Carl Lext come in for Jonas Crona and Daniel Thulin who are rested.
Talk about leaving it late....As we headed into the final few minutes of the match, we found ourselves staring a very unlikely defeat in the face. We'd dominated this match with nearly 60% possession and had near on 20 shots on goal against our opponents 2! They'd scored both shots and were 2-1 in front. However, 2 goals in the 91st and 94th minutes gave us a deserved 3 points on the day!
Next up were newly promoted Kalmar AIK FK. They were predicted to finish last this season and had lived up to that billing in their opening two games with a 1-0 and 2-0 loss on their record already. I was aiming for us to pile on the misery for our struggling opposition.
We stuck with the attacking 4231 formation for this one. Thulin came back in at left back for Hellstrom and Alexandersson comes into the attacking midfield role as I opt to give Jonathan Hall a rest. Kevin Siiteri is also given his first start of the season at centre back in place of Aram Abed.
Another game we completely dominated from start to finish and only won by a very small margin. My heart sank as Kalmar found themselves with a golden opportunity in the 95th minute to grab a draw too, but thankfully their striker Borgh blasted over from about 5 yards! Still, it's another 3 points in the bag and we've opened the season with a 3 game unbeaten run, keeping us near the top of the league in these early stages.
This was easily going to be my most difficult test of the season so far, with IFK Hassleholm having won their opening 3 games of the season and sitting pretty at the top of the table. Not only had they won their opening 3, but they had scored 4 goals in each game too as they'd thrashed BW-90 IF, Eskilsminne IF and Lunds BK already!
We were still favourites for this one so I stuck with the 4231 setup, but changed our mentality to control from attacking in order to compensate for the better opposition today! Jonathan Hall comes back into the starting lineup in place of Carl Lext who is a bit jaded. Horten also comes into the DM role for Lindstrom who is also struggling for full fitness. Finally, I dropped Gerzic at centre back in favour of Abed.
We'd played IFK Hassleholm in a pre season friendly which had ended in a 2-2 draw in a game where we'd probably been slightly the better side. This time round, Hassleholm were the better team with more possession and more shots on goal, but the outcome was the same with another 2-2 draw. Chebil got himself on the scoresheet again for the 3rd time in the opening 4 games of the season. League Table
This Month; Played 4, Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 0, Goals Scored 8, Goals Conceded 6
We sit 4th in the league after the opening 4 fixtures, having made a solid and unbeaten start to the season.
Player of the Month
Bilal Smajic
AMR Appearances: 3
Goals: 1
Assists: 3
Chances Created: 4
Average Rating: 7.2
After missing the first game of the season, Smajic has come in and had a major impact in the 3 games he has played in this month, contributing to 4 goals.
£20k losses this month but the club is not in the red yet.
Club Record For Gerzic
Adnan Gerzic has set a new club record for the most league appearances by any one player. He set the new record of 115 games in the match against Kalmar AIK FK.
Season Tickets
The ticket office have confirmed that we have now sold a total of 119 season tickets for this season. That's 2 more than last year
4 games in May, 2 home and 2 away. We'll kick off as heavy favourites I'm sure to Torns IF. That will be followed up by two tough games against Lunds who have started very well and Eskilsminne who were a bit of a bogey team for us last season.
Hammarby IF Lift Svenska Cupen After Penalty Shootout
Hammarby IF have lifted this year's Svenska Cupen following a penalty shootout victory in the final against Malmo FF. It is Hammarby's first cup final success having finished runners up on 3 previous occasions in 1977, 1983 and 2010.
We kicked off May with a home game against Torns IF and we were heavy favourites for this one at odds of 1-6. But Torns were coming into this in decent form, having won their previous two fixtures 2-0 and 3-0.
The 4231 was the favoured formation again for this one. The injured Alexandersson made way for Carl Lext in centre mid. Marcus Horten was dropped for Lindstrom to come back into the team. Karlos Touma recovers from injury to come back into the strikers role, with Eklof making the bench following his recent recovery from injury too. Finally, Oskar Williams is given his first start in goal.
Goals in either half from Haytham Chebil and Karlos Touma earned us a good solid 2-0 win. We kept possession extremely well in this match and made it count, keeping our first clean sheet of the season in the process. Division 2 Sodra Gotaland FC Rosengard 2 - 0 Eskilsminne IF
Eskilsminne IF were my bogey team last season, having played them 3 times and lost 4-1, 3-2 and 2-0! So revenge was on the agenda today for my lads and me.
Despite not beating this lot in 3 previous fixtures, the bookies still made us 1-6 favourites to win this game, and as such I kept our attacking 4231 lineup. I also made no changes to the starting lineup for the first time this season.
Well we did it, we broke our duck against Eskilsminne with a pretty comfortable 2-0 victory. Another goal for Chebil who has been in sensational goalscoring form so far this season. And another clean sheet as well as the defence seems to be doing better following the dropping of Gerzic (CB) and Sharro (GK).
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland Lunds BK 2 - 4 FC Rosengard
Lunds BK had started the season OK and were only 2 points behind us coming into this one. They'd won 4 and lost 2 in their opening 6 games.
As they were expected to play a pretty attacking formation with an attacking midfielder, we reverted to the 4123 setup ourselves with the defensive midfield role to counter that threat. Addae (RB) has picked up an injury so Kalisiak replaces him, and Crona comes in for Jonathan Hall as I rotate my midfield.
We were cruising at 3-0 in this game, when Lunds started to mount a late comeback and it looked like it was going to be squeaky *** time for the last few minutes. But a penalty enabled us to restore a 2 goal lead and make it 4-2 and from there we saw the game out for another 3 points. Chebil and Smajic were both on the scoresheet again with both wide men in unbelievable form this season so far.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland FC Rosengard 3 - 1 BW-90 IF
BW-90 IF were another team that were promoted last year, and another team that were seemingly struggling to adapt to the division, as they sat down in 13th position in the table with only 1 win from their opening 7 games.
Thulin was suspended for this one, so Hellstrom came in at left back. Carl Lext was rested and Cesar Weilid is given his first start of the season and a chance to impress. Jonathan Hall also comes back into the starting lineup in place of Jonas Crona. As he continues to make a return from injury, Isac Eklof is given his first start of the season.
This turned out to be as easy a win as was expected before the game. Without ever really looking in trouble at all, we cruised to a comfortable 3-1 defeat to make it 4 wins from 4 in May. Amiri came off the bench early for Chebil who picked up a knock, and went on to score 2 goals from the left inside forward role.
We'll have a busier month in June, with 5 games to play, 3 of which will be away from home. It will be a tough test this month and an opportunity for us to really show what we are about as we take on the teams in 2nd, 3rd and 6th.
Our first game of the month would see 1st vs 2nd in the table as we invited Osterlen to the Rosengard IP stadium. Our opponents would leapfrog us into first if they managed to beat us in this one, but if we grab the victory it could be huge for our title ambitions.
We went all out for the win with our most attacking setup. Only change to the starting lineup saw Addae come back in a right back.
A good solid performance, resulting in a 2-0 victory. We were dominant in possession throughout and created double the chances of our opponents. An early own goal put us in front and we secured all 3 points with a last minute strike from substitute Karlos Touma. Division 2 Sodra Gotaland IFK Berga 1 - 0 FC Rosengard
IFK Berga may be slumped down in 12th place but they came into this game off the back of their first win of the season, so would be in high spirits and determined to string a run of games together. On the flip side, we were looking for a 6th straight win and to increase our 4 point lead at the top of the table.
We stuck with the same formation and starting 11 that had beaten Osterlen in the last game.
Well I wasn't expecting that...Berga put up a great fight and turned in a really good performance to their credit. There may be a big gap in the table but they gave a good account of themselves today and in a game that could of gone either way, they managed to grab a massive 1-0 win for them and consign us to our first defeat of the season. Now to pick my lads up again as we aim to bounce back quickly from this surprise loss.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland FC Rosengard 3 - 3 Hassleholms IF
Hassleholms IF were up next and I was looking for my boys to bounce back after the shock defeat to IFK Berga. Hassleholms have been decent this year, with only 1 loss from their opening 10 games, and are quickly becoming known as the draw specialists as they've drawn half of their games this year.
Carl Lext comes into the starting lineup after a couple of games rest. Bilal Smajic is on international duty and is replaced by Amiri on the right wing. And Karlos Touma starts up front in the stiker's role. We kept the same formation but pulled back from an attacking mentality to controlled.
A game of two halves this one...we lost the first 2-0 in a 45 minutes that was pretty close on the stats. But the second half was a different story and we dominated from start to finish, scoring 3 goals in the opening 18 minutes to put ourselves in front. Hassleholms levelled up through a spectacular free kick and we share the points with the draw specialists.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland Hogaborgs 0 - 0 FC Rosengard
A tough away game up next against 3rd place Hogaborgs, who were predicted pre season to finish 2nd behind us in the league. And we came into it off the back of 2 games without a win. Hogaborgs themselves have not lost a game all season so far, with 6 wins and 5 draws to their name. They've also only conceded 5 goals in those 11 games, keeping 7 clean sheets in the process.
We started with the 4123 DM formation, with Crona coming into the starting 11 in place of the injured Jonathan Hall. Daniel Thulin also comes in at left back for Hellstrom who hasn't been in the greatest form.
The first half was tight with neither team really finding a way through and it was clear to me standing on the sidelines why this team had the best defensive record in the league....they were really well organised and it was extremely tough to find a way through. It seemed pretty clear the game would be settled by only one goal, potentially a piece of individual magic would be required to seal all 3 points. It was Hogaborgs who cranked up the pressure in the second half and squandered a couple of really good chances to go in front. We didn't really create anything and I'll happily take the point that we probably didn't deserve today.
Our final game in what had so far been a pretty poor month was against IFK Malmo. With home advantage on our side and the fact our opponents were 6 places behind us in 8th, I was really looking to end the month on a win and stop this run of 3 games without a victory.
We reverted back to our more attacking formation for this one and I was forced into some changes due to some injuries that had been picked up. Gerzic, Alexandersson and Addae come in for Kalisiak, Crona and Abed.
Bore draw. 3 draws in a row now and back to back 0-0s. The only real action of this game was our penalty in the first half which Karlos Touma blasted over the bar.
This Month; Played 5, Won 1, Drawn 3, Lost 1, Goals Scored 5, Goals Conceded 4
The attack has been awful this month, but on the flip side we've been good defensively, keeping 3 clean sheets. But only 1 win in 5 sees us drop to 3rd in the table.
Player of the Month
Kevin Siiteri
CB Appearances: 5
Goals: 0
Assists: 1
Key Tackles: 7
Average Rating: 7.17
Kevin has been ultra consistent this month being the only player in the team to score above 7.0 rating in every game.
We lose money every month but with the windfalls at the end of the season I'm not worried.
New Contract for Amiri
Winger Norilla Amiri, has put pen to paper on a new 1 year deal with the club. His new contract sees his status set as squad rotation and he'll earn £130 per week with us over the next 12 months.
We are half way through the season and will now repeat out fixture list starting with IFK Trelleborg. Hopefully we can start the second half of the season as well as we started the 1st.
European Competition Winners 2018/19 Here's the update from around Europe as the major competitions have now come to a close for the 2018/2019 season...
English Premiership Winners: Chelsea
English Premiership Runners Up: Manchester United
English FA Cup Winners: Chelsea
Carabao Cup Winners: Chelsea Spanish La Liga Winners: Real Madrid
Spanish La Liga Runners Up: Sevilla
Copa del Rey: Real Madrid German Bundesliga Winners: Borussia Dortmund
German Bundesliga Runners Up: Bayern Munich
DFB-Pokal Winners: Bayern Munich French Ligue 1 Winners: Paris Saint Germain
French Ligue 1 Runners Up: Olympique Lyonnais
Coupe de France Winners: Paris Saint Germain
Coupe de la Ligue Winners: Paris Saint Germain Italian Serie A Winners: Juventus
Italian Serie A Runners Up: AC Milan
TIM Cup Winners: Inter Milan Holland Eredivisie Winners: Ajax
Holland Eredivisie Runners Up: Feyenoord
KNVB Beker Winners: Feyenoord Portuguese Primeira Liga Winners: FC Porto
Portuguese Premier League Runners Up: Benfica
Taca de Portugal Winners: FC Porto
Taca da Liga Cup: FC Porto Scotland Premiership Winners: Celtic
Scotland Premiership Runners Up: Aberdeen
Scottish Cup Winners: Aberdeen
Scottish League Cup: Celtic UEFA Champions League Winners: Paris Saint Germain
Champions League Runners Up: Real Madrid UEFA Europa League Winners: Olympique Lyonnais
Europa League Runners Up: FC Porto UEFA Super Cup Winners: Chelsea
UEFA Youth League Winners: Benfica U19s UEFA Youth League Runners Up: Atletico Madrid U19s
We'd drawn 1-1 with IFK Trelleborg on the opening day of the season, and our opponent's were now sitting mid table half way through the season.
I needed a win badly to get us moving in the right direction again and stop the slide down the table, so we went attacking for this one. Eklof came in up front and Smajic was back from international duty so went straight back in the starting 11. Lext was dropped for Crona and Kalisiak came back in at right back.
And back on the winning trail we are....a really good solid 3-0 home victory this was. In a tightly contested affair, it was our quality which came out on top on the day. Goals from Crona, Smajic and Eklof secured all 3 points. Division 2 Sodra Gotaland Nybro IF 2 - 0 FC Rosengard
The earlier fixture against Nybro had seen me ****** all 3 points in the final few minutes in a nail biting 3-2 win. Now away from home, I was expecting them to come at us for revenge, and they were doing well this season currently sitting 5th in the table.
I stuck with the same formation for this one, but was forced into one change. Gerzic was suspended at centre back, so Abed came back into the starting 11.
Not good lads....that's all I had to say in the dressing room after this defeat! We just wasn't good enough and this will really hurt in our title bid as we slip off the pace of the front 2 who both won!
We needed to get back to winning ways and had the perfect opportunity here as we played Kalmar AIK, who were sitting bottom of the league with only 2 wins to their name this season.
I was forced into a couple of changes for this one with Isac Eklof and Marcus Lindstrom picking up injuries since the last game. Carlos Touma and Marcus Horten came in to replace them. Kevin Siiteri is suspended and is replaced by Adnan Gerzic.
A good solid 3-0 win, with 2 goals in the last 6 minutes sealing the points for us today. 2 goals up for Karlos Touma who makes the most of his chance back in the starting lineup.
Svenska Cupen 1st Round FC Rosengard 2 - 3 Osters IF
1st round of the Svenska Cup was up next and we'd bagged ourselves a home draw against Osters IF from the Division 1 Norra, one tier above us in the Swedish football structure.
We went with a more defensive outlook for this one and as I didn't expect major things in the cup and with our focus being very much on the league this season, I took the opportunity to rest some players and hand starts to some of the fringe players in the squad. Sharro, Holmstrom, Amiri and Redzic came into the team.
We gave a very good account of ourselves in this one and at one point even found ourselves 2-1 up. However, the extra quality of our opponents who sit in 4th in the league above, told on the day and they ensured their passage to the next round with a 3-2 win against us. Good effort from my lads despite the loss.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland Torns IF 1 - 2 FC Rosengard
Our final game of the month would be an away visit to Torns IF, who were down in 12th position in the table. I'd normally feel pretty confident about this game but our injury list was growing by the day and we were missing a number of first team starters for this one so I wasn't sure what to expect.
With Torns expected to play a pretty deep and defensive formation, we started with a more defensive formation of our own with a view of drawing them onto us and then catching them on the counter....I felt if we set up for all out attack, we'd leave ourselves exposed for their counter attacking style. Williams comes back in goal, Gerzic is returned to the back 4, Jonathan Hall makes way for Lext, and Smajic (injured) is replaced by Amiri down the right as Chebil comes back in on the left. Karlos Touma also returns up front.
Despite a late consolation goal from Torns, everything pretty much went to plan today as we got a good 2-1 away win under our belt to finish off the month on a high. We played well and were good value for the win, even with some key players missing. Amiri and Touma got the goals for us today.
This Month; Played 5 (1 cup), Won 3, Drawn 0, Lost 2, Goals Scored 10, Goals Conceded 6
IFK Hassleholm, Hogaborgs and ourselves have pulled away at the top and it looks like it'll be between us 3 for the league title, although Hassleholm do have a nice 7 point buffer over us at the moment.
Adnan had found himself dropped from the team last month and although he has only played 3 games this month, I had to give him the player of the month as he's been outstanding and his performances have shown his determination to force his way back into my side. Exactly what I want to see from my players!
It's crunch time as August will be a massive month for us. By the end of it we'll either be in with a real shot of winning the title or be out of the race altogether. We start with a home game against league leaders IFK Hassleholm and defeat in that game could mean curtains for our title hopes immediately.
Gutted you missed out on promotion last season. Doing ok this season though the next game is pretty much a must win. Good luck with the rest of the season. Enjoying this a lot
Gutted you missed out on promotion last season. Doing ok this season though the next game is pretty much a must win. Good luck with the rest of the season. Enjoying this a lot
Cheers Ralph. It's certainly looking like a 3 horse race this year. Hoping we can end strong and make a real push for the title as I really don't fancy the long winded and difficult playoff procedure that's in place in Sweden again
IFK Hassleholm came into this at the top of the table and having won 8 games in a row in the league. Their 7 points above us and should we suffer a defeat here, 10 points would surely be too much of a gap to bridge with only 8 games left.
Needing a win, I started out the game with an attacking outlook and formation. No changes to the starting 11 from the previous game.
WOW what a comeback from my lads....3-0 down inside 37 minutes and looking like any hopes of winning the title this year were long gone. But the boys responded magnificently and turned the game on its head, bringing it back to 3-3! And from there we should have won this game as we went on to hit the crossbar twice and were totally dominant after we'd levelled the scores. Gutted to have conceded 3, but I can only be proud of the boys for their response.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland Eskilsminne IF 0 - 1 FC Rosengard
Up next was an away game at Eskilsminne IF, who'd been our bogey team last year, but who we'd turned over 2-0 already this season. So this would probably very much depend on what Eskilsminne turned up for this one. As for their league performance, they started the game in 10th position in the table.
Being away from home against a side I really didn't know what to expect from, I went with our more reserved holding midfielder formation. The only change to the starting lineup from our previous game being Yeboah Addae coming in at right back for Kalisiak who is rested.
A first half strike from Norilla Amiri was enough to win this one. The defence did a sterling job in keeping Eskilsminne out too and we pick up a very good 3 points on the road.
Last time we played Osterlen, they were 2nd in the league after making an impressive start to their season. However, since then things have taken a turn for the worse for our opponents and they've slipped down to 8th position and are now without a win in 11 games! We'd be looking to pile on the misery for them today and keep our title hopes alive. 1st place IFK Hassleholm took on 2nd place Hogaborgs on the same day, so it was a good opportunity to make up points on at least one of the top 2.
No changes to the formation or starting lineup from the team that beat Eskilsminne IF 1-0 the previous week.
We made the perfect start to this game, Karlos Touma opening the scoring inside 8 minutes with a powerful strike to put us in front. And by half time it would be fair to say we were firmly in control at 4-1, after an own goal and Touma completing a 1st half hat trick! But out of absolutely f*cking nowhere Osterlen started to mount a comeback in the 2nd half and by the 71st minute it was 4-3! Some sharp words were shouted at the lads from the touchline and some subs made to ensure we held onto this lead....and you can imagine the sigh of relief when Crona slotted home in the 88th minute to put us 5-3 up. Osterlen did hammer home a late penalty but it was only one final consolation. Hogaborgs and IFK Hassleholm drew which sees us move into 2nd and within 5 points of top spot.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland FC Rosengard 3 - 1 Lunds BK
Lunds BK were up next as we invited them to the Rosengards IP stadium. Lunds found themselves in mid table but were on a bit of a poor run with only 1 win in their last 6 games.
Being heavy favourites for this game, we reverted back to a more attacking formation, but with no changes to the starting lineup from the previous two games.
This was a pretty tight game and although we had the better of the possession, it was Lunds who created more chances. However, it was the quality of chances created on the day which counted as we secured a 3-1 win against our mid table opponents. And even better for us, title challengers Hogaborgs and IFK Hassleholm both drew their games so its 2 points over both of them in the race to lift the title.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland BW-90 IF 1 - 3 FC Rosengard
Our final game of the month was an away trip to 13th placed BW-90 IF. We'd dominated our earlier season fixture against them ending in a 3-1 win, and I was looking for a similar performance here.
BW-90 were expected to start the game with an attacking outlook, playing a 4231 formation, so I setup with a holding midfielder to counter the attacking midfield threat. Lindstrom and Smajic come back into the starting lineup in place of Amiri and Horten.
The lads gave me another dominant performance as they did the last time we played BW-90, and again the score finished 3-1 to us. A good way to end a very strong and unbeaten month for us as we head into the last 4 games with a real shot at this title.
This Month; Played 5, Won 4, Drawn 1, Lost 0, Goals Scored 15, Goals Conceded 9
We've moved above Hogaborgs to 2nd position and sit just 1 point off top spot IFK Hassleholm. They do have a game in hand over us, but the advantage being they will have to cram an extra game into the final month of the season.
Player of the Month
Viktor Alexandersson
MC/AMC Appearances: 5
Goals: 2
Assists: 4
Key Passes: 22
Average Rating: 8.18
With Jonathan Hall out through injury, Alexandersson had an opportunity to get a run of starts in the first team....and boy did he take that opportunity. The lad has been in scintillating form this month with the highest monthly average rating from any player I've managed so far in my career to date! He's been simply awesome.
Still satisfied with my performance. Bit ****** to be honest that they are not at least pleased....I think we're doing a great job this year and to be in the running for the title with 4 games left, they should be pretty happy with that.
One of our best players of the whole season, Haytham Chebil will now miss the final month and last 4 games. Gutted for the lad and he'll be a big miss.
To be almost even toward the end of the season is a good position for us, as we know we'll see a cash windfall at the end of the league campaign which will make the bank balance strong for such a small club.
The final 4 games of the season are upon us and we've given ourselves a shot. If we can finish strong and hope IFK Hassleholm stutter at all, we could take the title! Clearly, the highlight fixture of the month is the game against 3rd place and title challengers Hogaborgs. Beat them and we probably put them out of the running and make it a 2 horse race between us and IFK.
IFK Hassleholm had drawn their game in hand so we went into this game only 1 point behind them with 4 games left. We've only lost 2 games all season and this is one of the teams that has beaten us...so I'm looking for my lads to show them what we are about today and get some revenge. IFK Berga come into the game sitting 9th with some indifferent form, winning 2 of their last 5 games.
Knowing that we need a win to keep our title hopes alive and that our next game is a crunch one against Hogaborgs, I decide to go all out attack for this in search of goals and a crucial victory. Smajic is on internation duty, so replaced by Amiri. Chebil is injured so replaced by Eklof who will play in an unfamiliar left inside forward role. Kalisiak comes in at right back for the suspended Yeboah Addae.
This was a close fought game with both teams having their fair share of the highlight reel. Luckily it was us that just edged it. I was livid when the ref awarded them a late penalty (which in my opinion was never a pen) to equal things up. But the lads showed great character and got the lead back through an Amiri goal and we walk away with a vital 3 points. IFK Hassleholm and Hogaborgs BK both recorded wins in their games too. Division 2 Sodra Gotaland FC Rosengard 0 - 2 Hogaborgs BK
It potentially all comes down to this game for both teams today. It's 2nd vs 3rd in the league and the losers probably don't have a shot at the title anymore. And to be honest a draw could potentially f*ck both our chances if IFK Hassleholm win their game against bottom of the league Kalmar AIK.
We stick with the same attacking formation from the previous game with the only change to the starting lineup being Horten for Lindstrom in centre midfield.
In the first half an hour they were all over us and when they scored to take the lead, it was no surprise on the basis of play. I had to change it up and the tactics were altered to introduce a holding midfielder to attempt to break up their attacking play. But it didn't work and this was simply an awful performance from us today...we were outclassed. The stats make it look tight but we didn't have one decent chance, every one of our shots was a hopeful shot from outside the box which didn't even come close to finding the back of the net. IFK Hassleholm won and go 4 points ahead of us with only 2 games left, so our chances of winning the title have all but disappeared with this loss. Also, by losing to Hogaborgs, we have dropped behind them in 3rd, on the same points, so it's pretty much between us both for the playoff spot.
Division 2 Sodra Gotaland Hassleholms IF 1 - 3 FC Rosengard
Our penultimate fixture was away at Hassleholms IF. I had the dejection in the squad at all but losing their shot at the title, but I had to pick the lads up as we still had a shot at the playoffs again if we could get a couple of good results in our last 2 games.
We went attacking, needing a win, with Addae and Smajic coming back into the starting 11.
The lads bounced back well from the Hogaborgs defeat and turned in a good performance here and fully deserved our 3-1 win. A big 3 points keeps us in the hunt for playoffs....but wait, its not over yet as IFK Hassleholm only managed a draw in their game, meaning that they haven't quite won that title yet!!
So for the 2nd season in a row, it comes down to the final day of the campaign and again we find ourselves in 3rd place. As with last season, its out of our hands. We need to win and hope that either Hogaborgs or IFK Hassleholm lose and we make the playoffs. If we win and they both lose, we'll leapfrog them both and win the title. A very unlikely scenario but as we all know in football, anything can happen!
We play 5th place IFK Malmo away from home.
IFK Hassleholm play 6th place Torns IF away from home.
Hogaborgs BK play 10th place IFK Berga at home.
Its the day of the final game and we have IFK Malmo away. A tough fixture against the team sitting 5th in the league. A win could mean 1st, 2nd or 3rd depending on other results. A loss would mean no promotion and no playoffs!
We started the game with the 4123 formation, in an attempt to control the midfield and win the game from there. I was also concious not to go a goal down and put ourselves up against it.
We finish the season with a 2-1 loss which in the end is only enough to get us a 3rd place finish as Hogaborgs and IFK Hassleholm both win their final games to take the top 2 spots in the division.
Gutting to not even make the playoffs. We only lost 4 games all season but came up against a fantastic IFK Hassleholm and Hogaborgs who only lost 1 each all season!! Our points tally this year would have won us the league by 4 clear points last season! We made some good progess this year and I feel we deserve better than just 3rd at the end of the year but it is what it is!
Player of the Month
Karlos Touma
ST Appearances: 4
Goals: 3
Assists: 0
Shots on Target: 6
Average Rating: 7.33
Touma finished a good season with a decent tally of goals and continued that form into the final month of the year.
