Welcome back to “Nacka’s Yard”, where Nacka FC are getting stuck into their first season as an Allsvenskan club… and it’s been going surprisingly well.
We left things off with Nacka sitting fairly comfortably in mid-table, but how long will it last? Will reality bite us hard and send us crashing back down into the Superettan… or can we somehow keep climbing up the table, and maybe even make a push for the European places?
Now THAT would be insane…
STAFF UPDATE
To begin this chapter, I’m taking a closer look at Nacka’s backroom staff – specifically, our senior coaches, scouts and medical staff.
The Nacka board have been very generous in allowing me to study for all the national and UEFA coaching badges – the last of which I completed in 2030. As you can see, I’m a great man-manager and am good around the kids. On the other hand, I’m as suited to fitness coaching as Eric Pickles.
Our top defensive coach is Aleksandar Tasevski, who’s been at Nacka for six seasons and my assistant for the past four. I’ve also brought in a bunch of Brits to help me out, including our new goalkeeping coach Lloyd Irish, whose last job was at Taunton Town. Now I think about it, that might explain why we still don’t have any decent goalkeepers…
We now have four scouts – more than anyone else in the Allsvenskan. Our chief scout is former Liverpool and Leicester midfielder Astrit Ajdarević – the only staff member who’s been with us throughout the entire save. I believe he is a youth coach at Nacka in real-life.
We’ve obviously got Northern Europe heavily covered, but our scouts are now being deployed across Central, Southern and Eastern Europe and building up their knowledge in those regions. I’ll occasionally send them further afield to scout any international players who come on our radar, hence our growing band of African imports.
And finally, here’s our medical team. Our Head Physio for the past three years has been Espen ‘Gary’ Linaker, who likes to sell crisps and show his undercrackers on TV in his spare time. This is our first season with a sports scientist – Jade Shaw, who came to us from the mighty Tonbridge Angels.
DARING TO DREAM
The summer transfer window was a quiet one for us. Backup goalkeeper Daniel Henareh was sold to GIF Sundsvall for £3,000, while the promising homegrown midfielder Teodor Rönnberg was loaned out to Ettan Norra side Motala.
I also sent Hazem Reda on loan. The Egyptian midfielder was one of the senior players who had struggled most with Allsvenskan football, but a few months of regular football at Superettan leaders AFC Eskilstuna could do his confidence the world of good.
I brought in just the one player this summer. And yes, folks – it’s yet another natural centre-back who can’t head the ball and should actually play at right-back instead!
I’ve had my eyes on Idan Baruchian since he was a teenager at Bnei Shfar’am. He initially rejected us two years ago to stay in Israel and join Bnei Yehuda – but now his contract there had expired, allowing us to poach him on a free transfer. With such great teamwork and stamina, he’s the solid defensive workhorse that we need.
Baruchian could be a long-term replacement for vice-captain César Gamarra. César was hankering for a move to a better team, so I promised to sell him if we got an offer worth at least £1.9million up front. Sassuolo offered us £1.7million in August, but I’ve decided to wait until January – when Gamarra enters the final year of his contract – before cashing in.
I also considered signing another left-back after Jonathan Augustinsson wrecked his knee in late July. It was devastating for the 36-year-old, who’d already announced his plans to retire at the end of the season.
Instead, I decided to put trust in young Emílio Chamboco and see if he could establish himself at left-back – just like his Mozambican mate Nasser Mutambe had on the right wing.
We returned from the mid-season break sitting 10th in the Allsvenskan… but if we had any top-flight nerves, we didn’t show them. Having beaten Falkenberg 2-0 in our final match before the summer, we eventually went NINE games without a defeat – winning SEVEN of them.
Mutambe and Ahmed Fouad were flourishing on the wings, and captain Daniel Ulvestaf was still prolific from midfield, but it was our defence that had really stepped up. Even when we adopted a high defensive line, our centre-backs Alieu Atlee Manneh and Rasmus Andersson were still quick and alert enough to snuff out opposition counter-attacks. It also helped that young loanee goalkeeper Joakim Hjelmberg had recovered from a slow start to become a reliable shotstopper.
Our incredible run hit its peak at high-flying IFK Göteborg, where our devastating counter-attacking game stole an incredible 3-0 win and lifted us into 5th place! Any fears of relegation were fading away – and now we were pushing for European qualification!
Being so high up the league, though, we soon started to suffer from nosebleeds. Our unbeaten run ended at Djurgården, who bounced back from a 1-0 half-time deficit and continued their charge towards their first league title since 2019. And then, of course, Malmö ripped my defence to pieces – and not for the first time either.
Then we had one of those games – at home to another of our European rivals. After a very early Mutambe opener, we absolutely battered Kalmar without being able to increase our lead. Naturally, Kalmar equalised out of nowhere late in the first half, and we had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
But I wasn’t going to throw the water bottle or curse the FM gods. If we could play this well and create this many chances against a team of Kalmar’s quality, it showed that our tactical plan was working.
A narrow win at Helsingborg got us back to winning ways just in time for the run-in. With five games to play, our Allsvenskan status was now secure, and we still had a good chance of qualifying for Europe.
THE RUN-IN
Our European credentials faced their stiffest test against 2nd-placed Halmstad, who dominated possession and led 1-0 at the break. But the game was turned on its head eight minutes into the second half, with this goal made in Mozambique.
Israeli substitute Bar Benitah completed the comeback late on, taking us up into 5th. Our ascent continued at Falkenberg, where striker Noel Sergel scored from another Chamboco assist.
Our Mozambican youngsters had quickly made an impact at Nacka… perhaps too quick for our own good. Mutambe had a minimum-fee release clause of £150,000 in his contract, which was becoming even more of a potential steal with each passing month. And as for Chamboco…
I must have been half-asleep when I negotiated Chamboco’s contract. After 20 games, his weekly wage jumped up from £750 to £1,800 – suddenly making him our highest-paid player.
Literally two days later, Money Milly twisted his ankle and was ruled out for our final three matches. [Groan] Just as well Augustinsson had timed his return to action perfectly!
Another Sergel winner against Elfsborg lifted us to the giddy heights of 3rd place. And despite losing Hjelmberg to a very early injury, we were on course to pick up yet another 1-0 win at AIK… until our Stockholm rivals scored a 95th-minute equaliser. Drat.
So, with just one match remaining in their debut Allsvenskan season, Nacka were on the brink of something truly special. If we could get one more victory, we would finish in the top four – guaranteeing us a place in the Conference League qualifiers next season.
There was even a mathematical chance that we could finish 2nd and get into the Champions League qualifiers… as long as Malmö wet the bed against Häcken. (Spoiler alert: they didn’t.)
So, it all came down to our final match – away to IFK Värnamo, who were bottom of the table and needed a win to avoid automatic relegation. This should be nice and straightforwa…
…ARGHHH, GOD DAMN IT! Those bottling bottlers bottled it!
But wait… IFK Göteborg were at home to Halmstad in their final game. As long as Halmstad could avoid defeat, we would stay in 4th place and qualify for the Conference League qualifiers.
But if Göteborg won, we would drop down to 5th. That would also get us into the Conference League – but ONLY if the Cupen winners from next year also finished in the top four of the Allsvenskan this year. (I told you the Swedish football calendar was weird.) We would potentially have to wait six months to find out if we were in Europe!
Luckily, Halmstad had done us a solid. I always liked you guys.
In our first ever season at the highest level of Swedish football, Nacka FC had finished 4th in the Allsvenskan! We hadn’t quite repeated Brommapojkarna’s title success in 2028, but this little club from the Stockholm suburbs had achieved something that was arguably just as incredible!
Get your passports ready, fellas! Nacka are heading on a European adventure next summer!
SEASON REVIEW
It’s been another remarkable season at Nacka.
Incredibly, for a team which had such a notoriously leaky defence in the Superettan, we only conceded 33 goals in 30 Allsvenskan matches. We didn’t allow a great number of shots, and our opponents didn’t convert many of their best chances either. (Well, except for Djurgården and Malmö… but they’re the two best teams in the country, so whatever.)
After some leaky performances early in the season, I noticed that we were significantly more solid at the back once I started using a High Defensive Line and High Press for ALL matches – not just the ‘easier’ homers. Mid- and low blocks can work on FM24, but it seems the best way to defend is to be proactive.
Atlee Manneh was particularly vital to us at the back. His performances showed that having high mental attributes such as Composure, Concentration and Decisions can be just as important to a central defender as being able to tackle or head the ball. Alieu had the second-highest average rating in the Nacka squad (7.07), behind only this guy…
Nasser Mutambe is quite special, isn’t he?
In his first season at Nacka, Mutambe produced 13 goal contributions in 29 matches – always causing problems with his pace and movement. As well as being named Nacka Fans’ Player of the Year for 2032, he was voted the Allsvenskan’s Rookie of the Year, and came 2nd in the Young Player of the Year vote.
The most frightening fact is… he’s still only 18 years old! He can get so much better than this. He’s going to become the greatest footballer Mozambique has ever produced! Yeah, take that, Eusébio!
And yet I’m afraid we’re going to lose him on the cheap before next season. Nasser won’t consider extending his contract until our squad is “significantly improved”… and while that’s the case, his £150,000 release clause will surely be tempting bigger Scandinavian clubs.
Fortunately, Fouad agreed a new long-term deal this summer. The Egyptian forward obviously didn’t match his 18-goal haul from last season, but 10 goals in his debut Allsvenskan campaign is very promising. He just needs to work on his consistency and off-the-ball awareness, and then we’ll have a real monster on our hands.
Sergel only got seven goal contributions in the Allsvenskan, though, so perhaps we need another deep-lying forward to make our attack even more potent.
Our main priorities in terms of transfers will be in goal and defensive midfield. Hjelmberg had some problems with injuries and consistency but still kept 10 clean sheets in 20 league games, so I wouldn’t mind buying him from Hammarby if we can. I’d also like to reach a long-term deal for Stian Røren – the fearless holding midfielder who surprisingly only got booked twice this year, despite essentially being the Norwegian Roy Keane.
I’ll also need to sort out long-term replacements at left-back and central midfield, now that Augustinsson and Anton Salétros have retired. Salétros was particularly effective at Carrilero, but he sadly rejected my plea to play on for another year. Meanwhile, Augustinsson will stay on at Nacka as an Under-18s coach. Speaking of which…
Our Under-18s won the U19 Superettan Norra – without losing a single match! Just like Nacka’s senior team, the kids will be playing Allsvenskan football next year!
Of course, this doesn’t mean we have a golden generation at Nacka. Our last three youth intakes have given me nothing to write home about… but that’s not a surprise, seeing as our youth facilities and recruitment are still so poor (and Stefan Lindmark is still stealing the boys’ lunch money). Rest assured, there will be big upgrades next year.
And finally, we entered a reserve team into the U21 Allsvenskan for the first time, even though I specifically told the game not to bother! Needless to say, our results were pretty awful.
Football Manager, eh? Bloody hell.
I’m going to take a short break now to plan for Nacka’s first crack at the Conference League… and also to celebrate my birthday. I’ll be 35 years old, by the way – so in FM terms, my physical attributes are about to collapse like a house of cards, and I really should be thinking about retirement.
Anyway, I’ll be back in a fortnight for the start of Season 10! Don’t miss it!
Fuller FM 