A Manager's Tale: Luleå of the Swedish First Division

Hi, everybody.

While I'm new to the forum here, I'm not new to the hobby of writing about my experiences in the world of sports management games. I started on the Out of the Park Developments board, writing stories based on their outstanding baseball game, 12 years ago, and since then, I've enjoyed chronicling my adventures there, as well as for several other forums.

I discovered Football Manager two years ago, and it's quickly become my favorite game--although I have much less experience with what most of the world calls football than I do with the other sports I've explored. I've learned quite a bit, enough to know that I have much, much more to learn.

I've also been searching for the perfect place to write, and after spending some time browsing, off and on, for a few months, I think I might have found it. I confess to being a little bit intimidated by the quality of the stories here, and by the classy way many of them are presented. There are some very, very good stories here. I hope I can contribute something that you'll find worth reading, too.

I'm going to tell the story of a fictional manager and his experiences with a largely fictional world of football. The clubs are real, but the players won't be, since I'm using the "fake names" feature. Hopefully we'll all enjoy getting to know a cast of characters that don't come with histories of their own.

I decided to change the setting of my story to the "real" lower leagues of Scandinavia, so I could manage a smaller club. I hope some of you will follow along, and that we'll all enjoy the journey.

Duncan Ross might have read Thomas Wolfe, but he remained convinced that you can, in fact, go home again. That is, if he knew where home really and truly was.

Most football fans knew Ross' name, and knew he'd played for Coventry, Derby, Everton, and England. He was a center back, tough and resolute, but with a touch on the ball that was deft enough to set him apart from the hundreds of other "traditional English center halves" that featured in every non-league side in the country. Ross was good enough to win 60 full international caps and make a very, very good living.

Some fans also knew Ross hadn't grown up in England. His father, Tommy, had played some football himself, but by the time he reached thirty he realized his talents lay in coaching. Tommy Ross took his badges and started off on a coaching odyssey that led him steadily northward. Managing in Finland, Denmark, and finally in Sweden, "Boss Ross" established a reputation as one of the sharpest managers in Scandinavian football. He married a Swedish girl and together they raised a family: two boys, two girls. The younger lad, named Duncan, was a footballer, and rather early on, it became clear he was a good one.

The most difficult decision Tommy Ross ever made was sending eleven-year-old Duncan back to England to live with his brother Samuel and his family. There, Duncan could receive the coaching he would need to make the best of his burgeoning talent. In due time, Duncan signed youth forms for Coventry City, and there began the playing career that led him to the heights of the game.

Intelligent, analytical, and blessed with a talent for getting on well with various kinds of people, Duncan Ross was well-suited for football management. He'd been told that enough times that, eventually, he came to believe it and, in time, he began to think more and more seriously about remaining in the game when his body told him it was time to hang up his boots. At age 34, that's the message his body gave him and, after a testimonial game at Goodison Park, Duncan put away his Everton shirt for the last time. He had already begun studying for his coaching badges. He had also received the blessings of his wife, Kate, who was, to be honest, as eager as he was to begin the next chapter in their lives.

That was four years ago. Since then, Duncan had come to realize that managing in England was not for him. "For better or for worse, people know me here," he explained. "I'll never be simply Ross, the gaffer. That's what I want. It's what my dad got to experience."

5 February 2014


There were just over seven hours of daylight in Duncan Ross' first day as the manager of IFK Luleå, so the fact that his workday lasted well into the night wasn't necessarily as impressive as it might sound. Still, there were board members, backroom staff, and players to meet, and myriad other duties that were part of a new manager's initiation period.

Ross's reputation in football was considerable enough that he might have landed a job with one of the more prestigious clubs in Sweden, or in England, for that matter. Why, then, would he take the reins at a small club in the third level of Swedish football? A club in a city of 45,000 people, only a few hundred kilometers south of the Arctic Circle?

"Because my dad was a manager, I've always paid attention to the way my managers did their job," Duncan explained over a cup of coffee in the Pontus Café. "I watched the way the pressures of the job ate at them. My dad wasn't that way. He didn't want the job to consume him. That's why he didn't want to manage in England.

"I love it here," he said, taking a deep sip from his cup. "It took some persuasion to get Kate to come around, but my mum put her a lot more at ease. And the boys are looking forward to the adventure."

Duncan and Kate had two sons. Tom, now 12, was a promising footballer, a defender like his dad. John, two years younger, was a goalkeeper, and a very good one. Both boys had been in Coventry City's youth academy, where Duncan had done his own early training. "They'll miss their teammates and coaches, but they're already looking forward to settling in with their new teams up here."

"It's going to be an adjustment for all of us," the manager said, as he set his now-empty cup down on the table. "But I'm ready."

12 February 2014


The managers' office at the Skogsvallen stadium was nothing fancy: a smallish room in a nondescript building with dark red siding which was set beside the main stand.

On the wall behind Duncan Ross's desk were three team photographs. One depicted last year's squad, which had defied many predictions by moving five spots up the table from tenth to fifth. Another showed the 2010 team, holding the championship trophy of the Second Division North. The third photo showed a doughty group of footballers from the club's first team, which took the pitch as the nineteenth century was drawing to a close.

Ross could see the Skogsvallen pitch from his window. It was covered with a light frost this morning, as the temperature was still several degrees below freezing. The players would take a while to warm up when they came out for training, he thought.

When the manager arrived, he was told that the club couldn't afford to pay for the release of any of the remaining backroom staff, so Ross was basically stuck with the lads who were there. Fortunately, all of them were, at least, capable.

Two of them were named Gustavsson. Lucas was the assistant manager. He was very good with young players and was decent at man management, but he was otherwise nothing extra-special. He didn't make waves, and he didn't ask for much in terms of salary.

Johan Gustavsson was the goalkeeping coach. He was even more easy-going than Lucas, if that were possible, but his determination impressed the young manager. The team's younger players thought Johan, who was old enough to be their father--if not their grandfather--was a curmudgeon.

The head of youth development was Hampus Anttonen. He was best at developing a player's mental game but, strangely enough, he had almost no affinity for young players. With a National A License, Anttonen had the best coaching credentials of the lot.

Glenn Sahlén was the entire scouting staff when Duncan arrived, and the manager quickly hired a second scout, Jörgen Birgersson, to assist him. Birgersson was a better judge of talent than his boss, who made five times as much money. Maybe I should switch them up for next season, Ross thought.

Could you really have a "head physio" if there were only one physio on the staff? Robin Nilsson, who was very good at his job to be working at this level, held that title with Luleå.

That was the group of men who'd been helping Ross shape his vision of the club over the past week. He'd also had an amiable conversation with Staffan Gustafsson, the club chairman, and the other members of the board. They'd agreed without hesitation to Duncan's plans to sign young players.

"The only thing is, we don't have much money to sign them with," Ross pointed out with a smile. "We're about 2000 krona over our wage budget right now, and I've already figured out I need at least two, maybe three players.

"Someone's gonna have to go."

The next few weeks would give Ross the opportunity to figure out who that someone might be.

10 April 2014

For the past two months, IFK Luleå had been busy with a schedule of ten friendly matches. The rigorous schedule had given Duncan Ross time to evaluate his players, and he felt fairly good about the squad he would lead into the First Division North campaign.

The budget crunch he'd mentioned in February resolved itself, but not necessarily in the way Ross would have liked. Before he could take the field for the first time, Striker Robin Andersson, the team's best player, left the club for Värnamo of the First Division Elite. The club pocketed 35,000 krona on the deal, and the 3,500 krona Andersson earned each week were taken off the payroll, but Ross had now lost the services of the man he'd hoped to lead his team's attack.

"That's football," the manager said, sighing deeply. "Robin had the chance to play at a higher level, and they doubled his pay. Who can blame a man for making the choice he made?"


Most of Luleå's pre-season friendly opponents were, interestingly, clubs from Finland. Some of them gave Ross's lads all they could handle; others were good for helping the players gain fitness and confidence, and not much else.

"I couldn't resist scheduling FC Santa Claus," Duncan said with a grin. "I didn't realize we played them on the 25th until after the fact."

http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/A%20Sweden%20Story/haha_zpsxhnzk6gn.jpg.html

This was the squad that would wear Luleå's blue and white strip as the season began:

Goalkeepers
http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/A%20Sweden%20Story/goalkeepers_zpsxtdtc5eh.jpg.html

Gabrielsson was a solid number one, but Petterson was far from being ready for the first team. A promising 17-year-old 'keeper, Dennis Berggren, might be a better choice if Gabrielsson were to be unavailable for duty.


Defenders
http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/A%20Sweden%20Story/defenders_zpslywb7v0w.jpg.html

Larsson, the club captain, was the starter at left back, with Petterson and either Karlsson or Andersson in the middle. Ross was very happy to sign Viklund as the transfer window closed; he was young, but played with the poise of a more experienced man. Lindahl and Söderström, who was in on a year-long loan from Piteå, were promising teenagers.


Midfielders
http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/A%20Sweden%20Story/midfielders_zpseqw4e7le.jpg.html

When Ross took over the club, he quickly noticed it needed reinforcements in the middle of the park. Journeyman Steen and youngster Johansson were the best of the lot, and while both had some useful skills, neither was the dynamic force Ross wanted in the central midfield.

It took a combination of allowing two players to leave on free transfers and a willingness to pay a few hundred krona more than the board's wage budget, but the gaffer found the money to pay two players he liked very much: Lundmark, a classy veteran, and Peltoniemi, a young Finn who could also play DM. Nilsson, a versatile wide man who could play on either wing, was the starter on the left, with Mahony, an Irishman, on the right. Palm was another good option, especially if Ross wanted additional offensive flair.


Attackers http://s106.photobucket.com/user/BigSix_2006/media/A%20Sweden%20Story/attackers_zpsspgfbyks.jpg.html

Duncan worried that the loss of Robin Andersson had left his club without a true goal-scoring threat. Fröding, who scored nine times in the pre-season, and Ljung, who knocked in seven. put their manager's mind at ease. There wasn't much depth behind them, however. Mahony could lead the line if needed, and Henriksson was promising, but Ross wished he had one more good forward.

In the privacy of his office, the manager admitted his club was probably no better than a mid-table club. That's where the board expected Ross would bring them in at the end of the season. "There are some very strong sides in our league," he said. "Talent-wise, we're probably better than some, but we're going to have a tough time matching up with clubs like Frej and AFC United. Brage will be tough, too.

"We're going to have to play smart, stay healthy, and have the ball bounce our way a few times."

Young Tom Ross shook his head. "Dad's boring," he said, grinning mischievously. "He'll draw all these cool-looking tactics, and then he throws them all away and makes his team play 4-4-2."

Tom's dad grinned, too, and threw one of the wadded-up formations at his son. "What do you know? Just because something has a fancy name, it doesn't make it better."

The twelve-year-old shook his head, whispered "Weak," and bounced out of the room.

Duncan Ross's team was familiar with the 4-4-2 shape when he arrived, and Ross decided to keep it as the team's basic formation. He envisioned the team playing like this:


Ilkka Peltoniemi would miss the team's first match with a wonky ankle, and Hannes Steen would start in his place.

The team had also been training another formation, a 4-1-2-2-1:


"I'm not one hundred percent sure about this one," Ross mused. "I sometimes wonder if I don't need another player with an attacking duty here. Maybe I'll give Pelto that job...or maybe Mahony."

Luleå had used the 4-1-2-2-1 in their 1-2 loss to FC YPA, and the team had not played well, failing to hold onto the ball or generate scoring chances. "That wasn't our strongest side, though," Ross pointed out. "We had a few of the kids playing that night. Our first eleven might have made that formation work better.

"We'll see, won't we?"

What a story - keep this up, and you may be in with a shout for SOTM! Only thing I would add would be some more graphics, but thats me

A quality story so far, good luck with Luleå!

Good luck with Luleå! Brilliant read mate!