Since the Netherlands is not a Nordic country (fun fact for you!), I've opted to change the series name so it still makes sense for where I'm managing. For the purists among you, fear not, this is still very much the same save - i just didn't think it through!
In the last update I revealed that I'd run out my contract with KuPS and had taken the job at FC Emmen, currently sat in 15th place in the Eerste Divisie, Dutch second tier.
The Journey So Far...
If you've missed any of the previous updates, you can read a quick summary on how it's gone so far here. For this season (2024/25), the Board have asked for a mid-table finish which I believe is realistic, and the league will be our only focus, having already been knocked out of the Dutch Cup.
Current Position
The first thing I did once i got through the door was a detailed assessment of the club's current state of affairs. FC Emmen have literally no silverware to their name, and although were predicted to finish 8th this year, are clearly off the pace with just 16 points from our opening 15 games.
FC Emmen 2024/25 - Eerste Divisie League Table at time of taking over
Having spent the last 6 years working in Sweden and Finland, it will take some adjustment to the season running from August to May, rather than in a calendar year. The Eerste Divisie also has 20 teams in it which will make for a much busier fixture schedule.
You will note that one team will be relegated and one automatically promoted from this division. You may also have spotted the "Pl" next to Almere City which denotes the fact that they have already qualified for a playoff spot. That's because the league splits the fixtures into 4 "periods" of 9 or 10 games, and if you finish top for any of those periods then you qualify for the Promotion Playoffs at the end of the season.
This presents an enormous opportunity for clubs who might not be consistently at the top, to still be in with a chance of gaining promotion. We're already midway through the second period and won't get near top spot so if this is a route we want to take, we need to target the third or fourth period instead.
Financially the club are doing ok with a relatively small debt that costs us £33k p/m, but a healthy bank balance, and i have a few thousand p/w left to spend on the wage budget, plus £1M for transfers.
Initially, my main focus was on the staff, of which there were hardly any. We'd retained the AssMan, DoF, GK coach, a scout and a physio but that was it. The only one worth commenting on is the GK coach who's attributes for GK coaching were all 18 and above. I set up adverts for all the vacant positions and within a few weeks had filled them all with good quality staff. We went from our staff being below the league average for almost every attribute, to having the highest ratings in almost every category instead.
Next up was assessing the squad. For the first time in a long time, i opted to prioritise my tactic over the players I had. That meant a few of the lads would be retrained to suit new roles, and i would be planning to bring in some new talent both in the January window and in the Summer as well. The squad as it is is very unbalanced, with just 2 central defenders, but 7 wide attackers. Some will stay on as Inside Forwards but a few will be sold or loaned out.
Not many prospects in the Reserves or U19s either, but i'll wait until the Summer before doing a clear out there.
League Performances
The three games prior to me taking over had seen the team draw once and win twice, not bad results and hardly sackable form but here we are anyway! We kicked off my first game in charge with a win and picked up 14 points from my opening 7 games in charge.
FC Emmen 2024/25 - league fixtures and results (after I took over)
With just two wins from our next 10 games, our form took a bit of a hit and our climb up the table stagnated somewhat. We would go on tot take 13 points from a possible 18 in our final 6 games and despite coming close in the 4th period to topping the league, we failed in our bid to grab a promotion playoff spot, not that we were expecting one. Our league form was enough to see us climb 6 places and secure 9th so all told, not a bad season.
I believe that part of that success was down to my decision to ditch the defensive midfielder in favour of an AMC in the Advanced Playmaker role. While this left us open to counter attacks, it also made us far more convincing in the final third and, most importantly, we have an excellent AP in Oliver Antman - a Finnish national whom i'd tried and failed to sign while at KuPS.
With a top-half finish in the bag, I'd surpassed the board requirements of a mid-table finish and could call the season a success, before turning our focus to planning for next season. That idea was short lived though as news broke that our fairly average 9th place finish was enough to see us qualify for the First Round of the promotion playoffs!
We were drawn against FC Eindhoven, the team we had just laboured to a 2-2 draw against int he final game of the season. Our pre-match prep worked wonders though and we hammered them 4-0 in the first leg at home. We weren't so fortunate in the return, but we held out to qualify for the Second Round with a 5-3 aggregate win.
Next up are Eredivise relegation strugglers Foruna Sittard who were hoping to keep their place in the Dutch top flight. We were drawn at home gain for the first leg and did our best to burst their bubble with a convincing 4-1 win. They sought revenge in the second leg but we managed 3 away goals and ultimately a 7-5 aggregate win to set up a playoff final game with Jong Ajax.
There was some confusion over whether Jong Ajax were eligible for promotion given their senior side were already in the Eredivisie but i noticed that Jong PSV had been promoted the season before and so assumed it was a possibility. Regardless, we could take no chances and would need to be at our best to get past them. We held our nerve in the first leg away and managed a 1-0 win so confidence was high as we went into the second leg at home.
Nothing prepared us for the battering that we would receive as they repeatedly hit us again and again, notching up an impressive 6-0 win and a masterclass of a display.
FC Emmen 2024/25 - Promotion play-off fixtures and results
Against all odds, we'd qualified for the playoffs and some how navigated our way to a final, only to be undone by a superior team. All of this was a bonus though, and so i looked forward to the next season where we might put in a decent challenge for promotion from the get-go.
A Twist in the Tale
That was until the incredible announcement greeting me in my inbox, Jong Ajax were ineligible for promotion after all and so we would take their place in the big time! In almost 20 years of FM, I've never managed such a a bizarre promotion where we finished 9th and got smashed 6-1 in the final, but still went up anyway!
FC Emmen 2024/25 - we're promoted!
Season Review
What should have been a routine start to a new club, where stability was the word of the day, instead turned into a shock promotion and now a scramble to try and ready the team to survive the drop. I'm pleased of course, but am thinking this may have come a season or two too soon for us. Time will tell.
FC Emmen 2024/25 - Season Review
The quote in the screenshot says it all, "It was a season of unlikely yet jubilant success for FC Emmen, who really picked up momentum around October to propel them into 12th place, providing them with a platform to go on and clinch promotion".
In terms of player highlights, our main striker Joseph van Duijn managed 15 goals from 32 games whohc is not a bad return for his first season at the club. My favourite highlight here though is my new AMR, a 22yo Frenchman by the name of Enzo Millot who went down as the signing of the season with 6 goals and 4 assists from 26 games and a 7.07 average rating to go with it. I'm very hopeful for his development at the club.
FC Emmen 2024/25 - End of Season Awards
As for a comparison with the rest of the competition, we led the charts on possession, tackles won and passes made which was pleasing to see. I'm not sure how hard the step up next year is going to be but I'm hopeful that bringing in some strength in depth will see us beat the drop, but only time will tell if we have what it takes.
Thanks for reading the blog, i hope you enjoyed this update. You can follow me on Twitter @fm_athlete and in my FM Slack channel #fm_athlete for more updates throughout the season.