April 2020 Review
April 2020 Review
Results
Swedish Premier Division
Ostersunds FK 1 - 1 IFK Norrkoping
View attachment 82275
First game of the season would see us face the team we have upcoming in the final of the Swedish Cup too, so both teams would more likely be coming into this on a high. This was my 100th game in football management so I was keen to celebrate with a win. Unfortunately I couldn't as we picked up where we left off last year, conceeding late equalizers and ending games with draws that we should have won!
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 0 - 0 BK Hacken
View attachment 82274
Definitely continuing last year's trend. 2 games into the season and 2 draws on the board. This team seems to have a serious lack of determination to win games and it's starting to really **** me off. My tactics are clearly spot on as I completely dominate games, but the team can't get wins on the board. If things don't improve, there could be a complete overhaul within this team at the end of the season.
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 2 - 0 Hammarby IF
View attachment 82273
2 goals in the final 10 minutes, both from corners, secured us our first win of the season. It was looking for a long time that this was going to be total domination and just another draw, but we got our just rewards in the end and the players put a smile on my face.
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Goteborg 1 - 2 IFK Norrkoping
View attachment 82272
On paper this would be our toughest test early in the season. And it wasn't easy, but I'm delighted to walk away with the 3 points and back to back league wins after a very even game. We looked wobbly towards the end and the team is definitely nervous when we're being attacked in the final 10 minutes of games, but they held on today for a good win!
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 2 - 2 Osters IF
View attachment 82271
Osters came with a clear gameplan to sit deep and play for a draw - you could tell that from their lineup straight away. So I didn't want to leave us open at the back by pushing forward....instead we played a counter mentality, trying to draw our opponents out from their own half so we could hit them on the break. Within 6 minutes, we had our first goal and the tactic had seemed to be a good choice. Half time came and at 1-0 up we had looked solid, restricting our opponents to only 1 shot in the first half as we created 7 chances of our own. The 2nd half was pretty boring until the final 10 minutes when it sprung into life. Some poor goalkeeping from Linner at our end allowed a soft equalizer, only for us to hit back immediately with a goal from Eric Smith to give us our lead back. But then the late goal curse struck again as Osters fired in a 90th minute corner, Olsson got up and headed his second of the game. A poor draw for us at home to lesser opposition who got what they came for.
Swedish Premier Division
Orebro SK 0 - 2 IFK Norrkoping
View attachment 82270
Orebro were up next and last season this game had ended in a 3-3 draw so we were expecting a goalfest maybe? Emil Nielsen had started the season in fine form for them scoring 5 goals in 5 games, so we'd have to watch him closely. We were definitely the better side in the first half and went a goal up through Eric Smith again following a beautiful pass through on goal from new signing Nikolic, who now had 3 assists in his first 3 games for the club. Midway through the 2nd half, Nikolic got himself on the scoresheet with a fine finish to the bottom corner from just outside the box. Finished up with a good 2-0 away win!
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 2 - 1 Malmo FF
View attachment 82269
Our final game of the month would be against Malmo. They were the only team to beat me as Norrkoping manager so far, and had started the season with 6 wins from 6 games, an impressive 100% record as they bid to retain their status as Swedish champions. A solid first half display saw us take a 1-0 lead down the tunnel at half time. I told the boys to keep it up. It looked like we would relinquish the lead when the ref awarded them a soft penalty 10 minutes into the 2nd half, but goalkeeper Mitov Nilsson pulled off a fantastic save, back in the team today after a recent injury. Malmo did continue to attack and bagged the equalising goal midway through the half. But we fought back with lots of spirit and took the lead again only 2 minutes later, with a great strike from 20 yards from Mikael Anderson. We expected Malmo to crank it up a notch for the final 20 minutes now as they wouldn't want to suffer a first defeat of the season. They did exactly that but wern't able to find a way through our defence. We were brilliant today and I'm proud of the team as we secured a huge win against the pre season favourites for the title.
League Table
View attachment 82268
An undefeated start to the season sees us sitting comfortably in the top 4 who seem to be already pulling away from the pack.
Player of the Month
Eric Smith
MC
Appearances: 6
Goals: 4
Assists: 1
Headers Attempted/Headers Won: 56/41
Average Rating: 7.67
Eric has rejoined the club after he was sold to rivals AIK a few seasons ago. I took a decision to bring him back here as I felt he would improve our midfield significantly and the lad felt he had unfinished business here too. He had to win some of the fans back over and has done exactly that with his outstanding performances this month. He has won 4 man of the match awards in 6 games!
Squad News
Gudmundur Porarinsson has reached 100 appearances for the club.
The team have equalled and surpassed the previous club record of 13 games unbeaten.
Manager Views
Very happy with the first 7 games of the season, maintaining an unbeaten record. We have the cup final to look forward to next month and I am delighted we are going into it in a rich vein of form.
I completed my National B License this month, so have added that qualification to my CV.
I also reached 100 games in football management this month.
April 2020 Review
Results
Swedish Premier Division
Ostersunds FK 1 - 1 IFK Norrkoping
View attachment 82275
First game of the season would see us face the team we have upcoming in the final of the Swedish Cup too, so both teams would more likely be coming into this on a high. This was my 100th game in football management so I was keen to celebrate with a win. Unfortunately I couldn't as we picked up where we left off last year, conceeding late equalizers and ending games with draws that we should have won!
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 0 - 0 BK Hacken
View attachment 82274
Definitely continuing last year's trend. 2 games into the season and 2 draws on the board. This team seems to have a serious lack of determination to win games and it's starting to really **** me off. My tactics are clearly spot on as I completely dominate games, but the team can't get wins on the board. If things don't improve, there could be a complete overhaul within this team at the end of the season.
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 2 - 0 Hammarby IF
View attachment 82273
2 goals in the final 10 minutes, both from corners, secured us our first win of the season. It was looking for a long time that this was going to be total domination and just another draw, but we got our just rewards in the end and the players put a smile on my face.
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Goteborg 1 - 2 IFK Norrkoping
View attachment 82272
On paper this would be our toughest test early in the season. And it wasn't easy, but I'm delighted to walk away with the 3 points and back to back league wins after a very even game. We looked wobbly towards the end and the team is definitely nervous when we're being attacked in the final 10 minutes of games, but they held on today for a good win!
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 2 - 2 Osters IF
View attachment 82271
Osters came with a clear gameplan to sit deep and play for a draw - you could tell that from their lineup straight away. So I didn't want to leave us open at the back by pushing forward....instead we played a counter mentality, trying to draw our opponents out from their own half so we could hit them on the break. Within 6 minutes, we had our first goal and the tactic had seemed to be a good choice. Half time came and at 1-0 up we had looked solid, restricting our opponents to only 1 shot in the first half as we created 7 chances of our own. The 2nd half was pretty boring until the final 10 minutes when it sprung into life. Some poor goalkeeping from Linner at our end allowed a soft equalizer, only for us to hit back immediately with a goal from Eric Smith to give us our lead back. But then the late goal curse struck again as Osters fired in a 90th minute corner, Olsson got up and headed his second of the game. A poor draw for us at home to lesser opposition who got what they came for.
Swedish Premier Division
Orebro SK 0 - 2 IFK Norrkoping
View attachment 82270
Orebro were up next and last season this game had ended in a 3-3 draw so we were expecting a goalfest maybe? Emil Nielsen had started the season in fine form for them scoring 5 goals in 5 games, so we'd have to watch him closely. We were definitely the better side in the first half and went a goal up through Eric Smith again following a beautiful pass through on goal from new signing Nikolic, who now had 3 assists in his first 3 games for the club. Midway through the 2nd half, Nikolic got himself on the scoresheet with a fine finish to the bottom corner from just outside the box. Finished up with a good 2-0 away win!
Swedish Premier Division
IFK Norrkoping 2 - 1 Malmo FF
View attachment 82269
Our final game of the month would be against Malmo. They were the only team to beat me as Norrkoping manager so far, and had started the season with 6 wins from 6 games, an impressive 100% record as they bid to retain their status as Swedish champions. A solid first half display saw us take a 1-0 lead down the tunnel at half time. I told the boys to keep it up. It looked like we would relinquish the lead when the ref awarded them a soft penalty 10 minutes into the 2nd half, but goalkeeper Mitov Nilsson pulled off a fantastic save, back in the team today after a recent injury. Malmo did continue to attack and bagged the equalising goal midway through the half. But we fought back with lots of spirit and took the lead again only 2 minutes later, with a great strike from 20 yards from Mikael Anderson. We expected Malmo to crank it up a notch for the final 20 minutes now as they wouldn't want to suffer a first defeat of the season. They did exactly that but wern't able to find a way through our defence. We were brilliant today and I'm proud of the team as we secured a huge win against the pre season favourites for the title.
League Table
View attachment 82268
An undefeated start to the season sees us sitting comfortably in the top 4 who seem to be already pulling away from the pack.
Player of the Month
Eric Smith
MC
Appearances: 6
Goals: 4
Assists: 1
Headers Attempted/Headers Won: 56/41
Average Rating: 7.67
Eric has rejoined the club after he was sold to rivals AIK a few seasons ago. I took a decision to bring him back here as I felt he would improve our midfield significantly and the lad felt he had unfinished business here too. He had to win some of the fans back over and has done exactly that with his outstanding performances this month. He has won 4 man of the match awards in 6 games!
Squad News
Gudmundur Porarinsson has reached 100 appearances for the club.
The team have equalled and surpassed the previous club record of 13 games unbeaten.
Manager Views
Very happy with the first 7 games of the season, maintaining an unbeaten record. We have the cup final to look forward to next month and I am delighted we are going into it in a rich vein of form.
I completed my National B License this month, so have added that qualification to my CV.
I also reached 100 games in football management this month.
