“Witamy spowrotem” to my new Football Manager 2024 series in Poland. Kamila Deyna is about to take charge of her first league matches as manager of Wieczysta Kraków. You can read more about the club in the prologue, and you can meet the squad in Chapter 1.
Today’s chapter will take us through the first four months of the 2023/2024 III Liga season. Wieczysta are expected to win their group at a canter… but if you’ve read any of my previous FM stories, you’ll know that things are never quite that straightforward!
CHAPTER 2: A BAPTISM OF FIRE
Sunday 6 August 2023. The first day of the new III Liga, Grupa IV season. Wieczysta Kraków (who finished 3rd last season) began the campaign with an away trip to Wisłoka Dębica (who finished 7th).
This was supposed to mark a triumphant start to Kamila Deyna’s tenure as Wieczysta manager. It did not.
Wieczysta quickly took the game to their hosts, creating several early chances. Maciej Jankowski had the best of them after eight minutes, but the veteran forward’s strike from the edge of the box came back off the post.
Four minutes later, Wisłoka launched their first attack. Hometown midfielder Kacper Maik collected a square ball from Bartosz Grasza, then cleverly turned past visiting midfielder Christoph Knasmüllner before dribbling into the box, where he smashed a shot towards the near post. Wieczysta goalkeeper Błażej Sapielak dived the right way but not quickly enough, and the favourites were already 1-0 down.
A great chance to equalise arrived in the 15th minute. Jankowski cushioned Rafał Pietrzak‘s deep free-kick on to Patrik Mišák just outside the six-yard box, but the Slovakian attacking midfielder struck the post as well. Playmaker Manuel Torres tried his luck from distance a few moments later, though his effort was saved.
Then, on 20 minutes, disaster struck again. A home counter-attack saw Bartłomiej Kontrabecki thread a through-ball to young striker Tomasz Bała, whose low shot glanced in off Sapielak’s outstretched left leg. Two shots for Wisłoka, two goals for Wisłoka.
As sister and assistant Joanna put her head in her hands in despair, Kamila stared blankly and growled, “Co, kurwa?”
Kamila tried to contain her frustration in the dressing room at half-time, but made it clear that a performance like that simply wasn’t acceptable.
The team upped their game in the second half, and teenage inside-forward Dawid Kiedrowicz did pull one goal back in the 64th minute… but it was their only goal of a wasteful performance.
Against all expectations, Wieczysta Kraków had lost on the opening day. It was the worst start imaginable.
AUGUST 2023
Kamila demanded an instant response in Wieczysta’s first home game of the season against Chełmianka. Kiedrowicz got them up and running at the Chałupnika after just two minutes, setting the tone for a very comfortable 4-1 win. That was more like it.
They also made a strong start at Unia Tarnów, who were among the pre-season favourites for relegation, thanks to Jankowski’s 6th-minute strike. But after being carved open by a couple of counter-attacks, they trailed 2-1 at the break, and Kamila’s patience was already wavering.
Sapielak had started both away matches, and the loanee goalkeeper had conceded each of the first four shots on targets he had faced. Kamila was already feeling blasé about Błażej, and she calmly told him, “Pack your bags. I’m sending you back to Odra Opole.”
18-year-old Jakub Murawski – who had played in the Chełmianka win – came on for the second half and was rather more assured as he prevented Unia from scoring again. Though Knasmüllner drew level at 2-2, they couldn’t follow it up, and two more away points were dropped.
More frustration came at home to Karpaty Krosno, who had lost their opening three games. Their utter domination on possession and shots only produced a single Jankowski goal, which was cancelled out by a 94th-minute equaliser against the run of play.
After four games, the Żółto-czarni were in 13th, and their struggles looked set to continue when they trailed 1-0 at KSZO Ostrowiec at the break. But then Kamila got them fired up for the second half, in which right-back Denys Favorov levelled from the penalty spot. Bulgarian midfielder Simeon Slavchev – newly-recovered from an injury – then scored this strike from a tight angle to complete the turnaround.
Then came a more confident performance at the Chałupnika against Świdniczanka. Though Wieczysta again struggled to convert chances early on, they never looked back once Karol Danielak broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time. Favorov and Jankowski put the finishing touches on a 3-0 win, with Murawski keeping his first clean sheet.
Wieczysta had now pulled themselves back up to 4th, but their stuttering start meant they still trailed unbeaten leaders Orlęta Radzyń by five points. Could they now build on those last two results, and prove that they really were serious promotion challengers?
SEPTEMBER 2023
Yes, they could… and then some.
Kamila’s side were in full flow as they recorded back-to-back 4-0 away wins. Janowski fired in a magic hat-trick to vanquish Avia Świdnik. Bottom side Wiślanie Jaśkowice didn’t put up much more resistance.
After their early teething problems, things were going swimmingly for Wieczysta…
…until Knasmüllner became the latest long-term injury absentee by breaking his foot in training. The former Rapid Wien midfielder’s attributes had already declined slightly since moving to Kraków, and the worry was that this would only hasten his demise.
Meanwhile, Wieczysta raced into another 4-0 lead against Podlasie – and by half-time to boot! But then complacency took over in the second half, as they gifted two goals to Podlasie and almost surrendered a third. Nonetheless, they held on to make it five wins on the bounce – and they were now a single point behind Orlęta, who’d stuttered to a couple of draws.
But then came a shocker at Wiązownica, who exploited a shaky defence to go 2-0 up inside 16 minutes. It certainly didn’t help that Wieczysta’s attackers had an off day, getting just two of their 16 shots on target. Though youngster Przemysław Kapek did find the net with one of them, it came too late to avoid a first defeat since opening day.
Orlęta had also lost – surrendering their unbeaten record to a resurgent Chełmianka – and so Wieczysta remained one point adrift. But after Murawski’s dip in form, Kamila had decided it was finally time to recruit a goalkeeper with a bit more experience.
Dorian Ciężkowski might have been only 22, but he was an old-stager compared to Murawski. He was certainly taller and mentally tougher, with a particular liking for big matches. The Kraków-born goalie had spent the past six years in Italy before leaving Cremonese in the summer.
Ciężkowski made his debut in Round 1 of the Puchar Polski. Wieczysta posted a surprisingly comfortable 3-1 win over II Liga side Wisła Puławy, earning them a date with top-flight Warta Poznań in the next round.
Jankowski opened up with his 10th goal of the season, before Favorov converted his fifth penalty in as many attempts! Denys was fast turning into the Ukrainian Matt Le Tissier… just without the dangerous conspiracy theories.
OCTOBER 2023
As if to underline that point, Favorov buried two more penalties at home to Czarni Połaniec. He then headed in a corner from left-back Pietrzak to complete an unlikely hat-trick – and spare the blushes of a misfiring Wieczysta frontline.
Pietrzak was himself on the scoresheet at Siarka, where Wieczysta battled to an unconvincing 1-0 win. With that result, though, they did move into 1st place for the first time this season – leading Podhale on goal difference and Orlęta by one point.
However, match number 13 would prove to be unlucky, as the scoring streak finally ended with a low-quality 0-0 stalemate with Garbarnia Kraków. To rub salt into the wounds, Podhale and Orlęta both won – bumping them back down to 3rd.
Things threatened to go from bad to worse at Sokół Sieniawa, who broke their run of three straight clean sheets with a screamer after just 41 seconds. Fortunately, Jankowski turned the game around with two goals… and then, just SECONDS after returning from a serious knee injury, French playmaker Thibault Moulin completed a 3-1 win by scrambling in a corner.
Wieczysta would have to show their fighting spirit again when Orlęta Radzyń visited the Chałupnika for a promotion six-pointer. Winger Przemysław Koszel silenced the crowd by firing Orlęta ahead within the first three minutes. This time, the Żółto-czarni response was… not great.
Thanks to that calamitous own goal from skipper Michał Pazdan, Wieczysta once again stared at the dressing-room walls lagging 2-0 behind, and with Kamila’s words ringing in their ears. They’d been in that scenario twice before – and just like against Wisłoka and Wiązownica, the best they could do was halve the deficit.
Wieczysta’s first home defeat was a devastating set-back. With the halfway mark looming, they were now three points off new leaders Podhale. For all their star quality and fancy football, they perhaps lacked the composure or the ruthlessness one would expect of the title favourites.
NOVEMBER 2023
November began with Round 2 of the Puchar against Warta Poznań, who were 4th in the Ekstraklasa. Wieczysta played more like a top-flight side in the initial 90 minutes, but they still struggled to create quality chances or hit the target with the few they managed.
Mental and physical fatigue would take its toll on the hosts in extra-time. Ciężkowski made the wrong call to come after a cross and was easily beaten by a header from Warta right-back Jakub Bartkowski, which crushed Wieczysta’s cup dreams.
The board had expected to reach the Quarter Finals – perhaps ambitiously – and failure would come at a price. Torres was particularly unhappy, and despite Kamila’s best efforts to reassure him, it soon became apparent that the impatient Spaniard wanted to leave.
The mood at the Chałupnika soured further after a third defeat in the space of eight days. The Żółto-czarni were simply not at the races against an inspired Star Starachowice team, who leapfrogged them into the top three.
Next up was a daunting trip to Podhale, who were on a sensational run that had catapuled them to top spot. The result was not a surprise goals. Wieczysta shipped three more goals and three more points, leaving them NINE adrift at the halfway stage. Serious questions were now being asked about whether Kamila was the right manager for the job.
They did at least finish the year by winning their next two games. In a repeat of their last meeting with Podlasie, they raced into a 4-0 half-time lead before taking their foot off the accelerator and losing the second period.
That was followed by an even nervier vengeance win over Wiązownica. Favorov’s ninth penalty of the season helped stop the Chałupnika rot.
2023 had ended on a couple of positives for Wieczysta Kraków, but they would still head into the winter break with a nine-point gap between themselves and Podhale. If 2024 was to be a promotion year, Kamila would have several glaring issues to sort out before the league resumed in March.
MID-SEASON REVIEW
As the Wieczysta players broke up for the winter, Kamila and Joanna sat down over a coffee to discuss the first half of the season – and where, perhaps, their team’s promotion challenge had stalled.
[Maciej Jankowski’s last 10 matches, versus the 10 matches before those.]
JD: “You know where our problem is, don’t you, Mila? We’re like the British government. We’re far too conservative!”
KD: “Really? If anything, I don’t think we’re conservative enough. We focus too much on trying to attack as soon as we get the ball, rather than actively controlling the game and breaking our opponents down.”
JD: “No, I just think we need to take more risks. Pazdan’s a ball-player, so let’s get him playing more through-balls! We can afford to push Pietrzak and Favorov further up too, to add more width to our attacks.”
KD: “The forwards certainly have to be more clinical – especially Magic. He’s got 14 goals, but in the last two months especially, he’s become wasteful. He’s not great in the air either, so the wide players need to keep down their crosses to him from now on.”
JD: “At least Manu’s playing well enough on the right wing. Only Denys has a higher average rating than him.”
KD: “Are you sure? He’s got three assists but I expected a lot more, especially considering how productive he was last season. And anyway… he’s leaving.”
JD: “What? Why?”
KD: “He really kicked up a fuss after we lost to Warta. Manu doesn’t trust me very much, and I don’t think he has the right attitude for this club. I don’t care how talented you are. If your heart’s not in this project, you can get out the door.”
JD: “I hope you know what you’re doing, Mila. I think some of the other lads won’t take too lightly to this.”
KD: “It’s a risk I’ll take. But I might have to bring in one or two younger forwards over the winter to replace Manu. If you take out Kiedrowicz, all our best options are quite old and not very quick.”
JD: “That’s true. They also get muscled off the ball quite easily. I think that’s why a lot of our follow-up attacks break down.”
KD: “We also need another left-back and another defensive midfielder. Pietrzak and [Jacek] Góralski are both fantastic players, obviously, but their performances have dropped off. I feel like they’re getting complacent and need tougher competition in those positions to motivate them again.”
JD: “I’ve also noticed that Jacek gets upset whenever he has to play as a defensive midfielder, even though he’s played in that role all season!”
KD: “I know. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? He needs to grow up.”
JD: “Just don’t change too much too soon, Mila. A lot of managers have failed or lost their jobs because they replaced half the team and destroyed cohesion.”
KD: “That’s a good point, Joanna, but we have to do whatever we can to turn things around. Wojtek has already sacked three managers since we were promoted to the III Liga. I don’t want to be number four.”
Thank you for reading. If you want to find out what happened next in this save, please click here.
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