Nothing to Something - Story of my Life

[sieni]

FM14 finally bought on steam sales and it is time to go for the first, and hopefully last save for 2014. In FM13 I had a youth fountain-type save coming up through the lower divisions of Spanish football. This time around it's going to be a bit.. well actually a lot different to keep things interesting.

Intro

This time I will be starting off with a rather small club in Finland. The goal is to succeed as a manager and move up in my career changing clubs. Well, that would be easy and boring so I will constantly be keeping an eye on Finnish football trying to raise its stature on the world map. The focus is on Finland simply because I'm a passionate Finn hoping for Finnish football to finally create some world class players since Litmanen and Hyypi?. Pukki simply isn't doing it right now (hoping for Joel Pohjanpalo to come through the ranks in Germany, fingers crossed).I will be updating this post probably on a seasonal basis as I don't have that much time with work/school/alcohol. Mostly it will be an update per season or half a season, once or twice a week.

Hope you enjoy whatever is to come!

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Taking off!
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View attachment 440216
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FC KooTeePee appoint Oksanen as manager!
My first team will be a team coming from the city of Kotka in southern Finland. They play in the Finnish first division and season expectations are not very high, which is fine.I will be aiming to play direct football and try to get the maximum out of my weaker squad. Higher tempo placed strategically will hopefully secura us a mid table finish, more than is expected. I will be hoping to bring in a couple reinforcements to strenghten our squad while also trying to keep us well under the wage budget.

The squad has a couple of decent young players which I will discuss more in later pots. Either way I believe that with a couple of good runs during the season we have a good chance of finishing in the upper half oof the table.

NEXT UP: Start of the season transfers and pre-season recap. Keep yourself up to date! (K)

 

[sieni]

Starting up season one

Going for season one!
Looking at the minimum requirements for the season the squad is decent. We had a couple of standout players such as defensive midfielder Valeri Minkenen, central defender Toni Lindberg and Estonian national goalie Kert K?tt. We are especially lucky to have Kert in our goal an will be looking toward some grat saves during the season.

View attachment 440208
IN:
Jari Litmanen (FIN), 43, AMC/MC
Plaisir Bahamboula (CON/FRA), 23, ML/AML
Antti Pulkkinen (FIN), 25, MR/AMR
Robert Koskinen (FIN), 17, FBL
Kalle K?rki (FIN), 24, MC/AMC

OUT:
-

Jari Litmanen is a great capture. I won't be expecting much from him on the field and he will mostly play the last 30 minutes or such. I will be looking to sign him as a coach or assistant manager when he retires.

Bahamboula is easily one of the best players in this team and I will be hoping for great contributions from the left winger. Kalle K?rki will also play a big role in the upcoming seasons in the more defensive playmaking role.
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Frienlies

We played the offseason very well getting great results in the friendlies against varying opponents. Two out of two from out trip to Estonia and a 1-1 draw against Finnish Premier League side FC Inter Turku gave us a lot of confidence going into the first season.

Friendlies
Games: 10
Won: 5
Draw: 5
Lost: 0

Goal difference: 17-7 (+10)

The Finnish Cup
The cup was a huge disappointment. We lost in our first match in the fourth round to minnows Mikkelin Palloilijat after penalties and were knocked out. Better luck next time!
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NEXT UP: Complete season one!

 

[sieni]

Season one compilation

First season in the bag!
The first season went extremely well regarding the expectations. How did we do?

League position: 4th!

We managed to win eleven (11) and draw four (4) out of the 27 games played this season. The 37 points achieved saw us take the incredible 4th place this season, much more than what was expected. We finished 14 points behind the victors SJK who will be looking forward to playing in the Premier League.

View attachment 440166
Top goalscorer: Samuli Kaivonurmi ( 6)
Most assists: Valeri Minkenen (7)
Best rating: Toni Lindberg (7.19)


Overall we are very happy with the season and will be looking forward to the next one with raised expectations! Hopefully we will not lose too many key players at the end of their contracts. Both Lindberg and Minkenen are running out of time to negotiate and especially Valeri Minkenen is not very willing to continue playing for "Kotkanpojat".
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[sieni]

Pre-season 2015

Expectations were a lot higher this time around with an extremely promising first season. We lost some key players on free transfers but were still hopeful. How did we manage in the friendlies and cup this time around? How did we do in the transfer market?

View attachment 439974
IN:
Konsta Rasimus (FIN), 25, MC (Free)
Jesse Ahonen (FIN), 22, MR/AMR (Viikingit, 0?)
Teemu Pastila (FIN), 22, ST (Gnistan, 0?)
Sami Palosaari (FIN), 17, AMR (Free)

LOANS:
IN: Patrick Aaltonen (FIN), 20, FBR (Honka)
OUT: Samuli Kaivonurmi (FIN), 27, ST (Jaro)

OUT:
Josh Mulvany (USA), FBR (Free)
Erkka L?nsimies (FIN), DC (Free)
Valeri Minkenen (FIN), DM/MC/AMC (Free)
Jesse Miettinen (FIN), DC (Free)
Toni Lindberg (FIN), DC (Free)
Janne Veija, Niko-Kalle Husu, Antti Pulkkinen, Mikko Ryh?nen (Free)

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As you can see we lost quite a few players including player of the year winner Toni Linberg and by far one of our best players Valeri Minkenen. It's a bitter blow, but we managed to strenghten our midfield and attack fairly well. Jesse Ahonen will be our number one force on the right flank while Konsta Rasimus will be distributing pinpoint passes to our brand new DLF Teemu Pastila. The loaned in Patrick Aaltonen will be a good cover for our number one right back.

Friendlies

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Cup run!
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We had a great cup run this season knocking out KuPS and IFK Mariehamn, both fairly strong Premier League sides. HJK overpowered us but that is no reason for disappointment!


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NEXT UP: 2015 compilation! Did we manage to do better than the fourth position last year?

 

[tony100]

Set up looks great mate and your graphics are brilliant. They really add to the story. I don't know much about Finish football but hoping to gain some knowledge trough your story!

 

[sieni]

Season two (2015)

It was a tight race for the title all the way until the last couple of weeks. The main contenders for the Finnish First Division Title were as follows: AC Oulu, FC Haka, FC KooTeePee! Who managed to get it?

CONGRATULATIONS CHAMPIONS FC KooTeePee!

It was very tight and we will always remember the fight with AC Oulu and FC Haka. We'd like to thank our supporters for the fantastic season. See you next year in Veikkausliiga!

View attachment 439550

Top goalscorer: Mikael L?hde (12)
Most assists: Teemu Pastila (12)
Highest rating: Mikael L?hde (7.15)

Player of the year:
View attachment 439546

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Teemu was our main playmakin force treading tons of great passes as well as contributing nine goals. We would have been a lot worse without him.

We will be looking forward to our first season in the top league of our country - The Veikkausliiga! Hopefully we will be able to make some crucial signings as our squad is simply not good enough at the moment.

NEXT UP: I'm running a bit behind at the moment with the updates as it is already season 2017. Hopefully I will manage to update our first Veikkausliiga season as soon as possible. Afterwards I will be able to update you on the progress a bit more often.
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[sieni]

Pre-season 2016

View attachment 439536View attachment 439535



Pre-season press conference
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Expectations?

We have to try and get a respectable mid-table finish to boost our finances and have a bigger wage budget next season. The pre-season league cup has no special expectations and will act simply as a warmup. Hopefully we can make a good cup run but that is also not a priority.

Transfers?

We are really struggling with the wages but at the same time really need some skill. A goalie is a must since we lost Kert K?tt on a free transfer, as well as a couple defenders.

View attachment 439533
IN:
Dema (32, DM/MR/FBR), Free transfer
Eemeli Reponen (25, GK), 0? from KTP
Jukka-Pekka Saranp?? (17, FBL), 0? from Gnistan
Curro Vacas (36, DC/DM/MC), Free transfer
Jaakko Lepola (25, MC/AMC/AML), Free transfer

OUT:
Kert K?tt (GK)
Giorgi Ositashvili (FBL)
Kevin Sawchak (FBR)
Mikael L?hde (ST) on loan to TPS
Olli Kaakinen (AML) on loan to Viikingit
Jesse Ahonen (AMR) on loan to TPS
Niclas Kalatsev (ST/AMCLR) on loan to RoPS

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Comments?

The signings are nowhere near the quality we wanted. Is is going to be tough for us to manage the mid-table finish with this squad. We can actually only hope for a lucky cup run to make it a decent season...

Pre-season League Cup
View attachment 439526

We started off with an incredible victory over derby rivals MYPA. It was an up and down journey but a quarter final position was well beyond our expectations. Bahamboula and camara are in good form going into the season which is encouraging.

Finnish cup
View attachment 439525

We were a step behing all the time and RoPS knocked us out of the cup in the first fixture. It was a tough draw for us so we can't be that disappointed. All eyes on the league now!

NEXT UP! Complete season 2016! How did we manage in the Veikkausliiga?