Welcome back to Frank Athlete’s third season in charge at Dutch side FC Dordrecht. With two seasons now under his belt, Frank has established the Sheepheads as a solid mid-table side in the Eerste Divisie, but with ambitions to further his career and reach the pinnacle of football management, can he build on last season’s play off qualification or it will be a year of further consolidation and foundation laying? Let us run, into the fray…
Season Summary
Team: FC Dordrecht
Division: Eerste Divisie
Season: 2023/24
Players in: Ilyes Chaïbi, Free Agent (€0); Alex Schalk, Free Agent (€0); Sontje Hansen, Free Agent (€0); Lewis Shipley, Norwich City (Loan)
Players out: Valentino Pugilese, Etar (€0)
With the team away on their Summer holidays, Frank set to work immediately on bringing in the necessary new recruits for the season ahead. A striker was the number one priority, but the AML position also needed filling and so after consultation with the Scouting team, three new faces were announced. The AML options in Alex Schalk and Ilyes Chaïbi offer some variety as both can play up top or just behind the striker as well as in the wider Inside Forward role, and both arrived on free transfers having been previously unattached to their former clubs. Despite their positional flexibility, Frank still wanted to name an out-and-out striker option and was delighted when Sontje Hansen put pen to paper on a 2-year deal. Having been released from Jong Ajax at the end of last season, Hansen had scored 17 goals in 36 appearances across the last campaign and so the hope was he would better that return for Dordrecht.
With the attacking line-up seemingly complete, attention turned to the defensive positions with just one vacancy in centre back after N’Diaye’s loan agreement was terminated after two years. Despite attempts to sign someone on a permanent basis, none of the candidates had the necessary attributes to help elevate the quality of the defenders at the club and so once again Frank turned to senior affiliate, Norwich City, to bring in Lewis Shipley on a season long loan.
From a tactical standpoint, two tweaks were made to Frank’s 4-2-3-1 set-up. The first was to switch from ‘mixed’ crosses to focus more on ‘low’, meaning they’d avoid losing the ball to taller defenders and give themselves a chance of bagging more goals from crosses. The second tweak was to push the defensive line slightly higher up the pitch, which the coaching team now saw as a potential advantage owing to the pace available at the back.
The final change required was to appoint a new Captain and Vice Captain as both roles had become vacant at the end of last season. Central midfield stalwart, Alessio Miceli took over as club Captain while young academy graduate, Jan van der Avert, would take over as his deputy owing to his extraordinary leadership attributes (20), even at such a young age.
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Having completed the administrative tasks required of him, Frank then set about preparing for four pre-season fixtures and after some hard work on the training ground it was evident that that preparation seemed to pay off as Dordrecht bagged three wins from four, the defeat coming to Eredivisie side, Feyenoord. With that all out of the way, the league kicked off and the Sheepheads would maintain their best start yet under Frank Athlete with three consecutive wins from their opening fixtures, with the final game of August against Jong Utrecht coming in as a 1-0 defeat. This left the side in 3rd place in the league, impressive even for the early part of the season, especially considering the media had predicted a midtable finish.
As September commenced, the team seemed to be trying their best to prove the media right as the three wins from the opening games were swiftly followed by three consecutive defeats. In true flip-flop fashion however, another three wins would be bagged before the month was over, seeing Dordrecht climb back up to 4th place as we headed into October, and what would soon become a nightmare month ahead.
A dull 1-1 draw against senior affiliate, Fortuna Sittard, saw the side complete four games unbeaten but this is where the good form would end, giving way to a run of four consecutive 1-0 defeats to see the team in to November. A draw followed by another defeat to recently relegated Roda JC would be enough for the side to drop down to 12th place and a familiar feeling of underachievement set in to the dressing room. In fact, the team would bounce back remarkably well from this poor run, bagging 6 wins from their next 8 games, drawing the other two in the process. Advanced Playmaker Jari Schuurman and new recruit Sontje Hansen’s performances were a particular highlight over this period, with the pair netting 12 goals between them.
The January transfer window presented an opportunity for Frank to strengthen the squad, but in fact the only activity was the departure of backup midfielder Valentino Pugilese to Bulgarian side Etar. In truth, keeping the form players at the club was a job well done for Frank and his recruitment team and they were pleased to be able to look ahead to the remainder of the season.
The final game of January should have been a routine home fixture against a lacklustre MVV Maastricht, but in the end it proved to be a huge stumbling block. Despite an edgy battle throughout the game, the Sheepheads eventually succumbed to a miserable 1-0 defeat in the 93rd minute. The impact this had on the squad was plain for all to see, and across February and March, Dordrecht would go on to take a pitiful 7 points from 8 games, and finding themselves in 9th place with 6 games to go. Fortunately, the teams around them had also failed to capitalise and so it would be a straight battle for the highest play off places remaining between FC Dordrecht, ADO Den Haag and PEC Zwolle.
A nervy 1-1 draw against FC Volendam kicked off the April fixtures but as it turned out, the team had saved their best until the end anyway, delivering 5 straight wins including a 5-2 drubbing of PEC Zwolle in the final game of the season. 8th place was enough for a play off spot and with the wind in their sails, the team would coast to successive wins across both legs of the First Round, defeating NAC Breda 5-1 on aggregate. This set up a Second Round tie against Eredivisie side De Graafschap who were clinging on to their top flight status, but ultimately came unstuck against a clinical Doredrecht team, who comfortably despatched them 6-1 on aggregate.
For the first time under Frank’s tenure, FC Dordrecht found themselves in the the Third and final round of the playoffs, with two legs against PEC Zwolle the difference between another year in the second tier, or promotion to the promised land. The first leg was away and it took over 70 minutes to bag the first goal, a cool finish from man-of-the-moment Sontje Hansen who then doubled his tally in the 85th minute to see out the tie as 2-0 winners. Complacency would be a big factor in the reverse fixture, and it looked like a nightmare start when PEC Zwolle took the lead in the first minute of the second leg. A first half equaliser from Jacky Donkor meant the lads emerged at 1-1 after the break, and Sontje Hansen was on target again to project them into the lead on 47 minutes.
PEC Zwolle weren’t done though, scoring in the 76th minute and looking ever more likely to score more as the minutes ticked down. In the end, it was a late flurry of goals that sank them with Pascu and then Hansen again scoring in the 87th and 93rd minutes respectively. The boys had done it! A 6-2 aggregate victory and promotion to the Eredivisie for the first time since the club’s relegation in 2015.
The fans went wild, the Board were ecstatic, and even Frank afforded himself a wry smile as he contemplated a season playing the best teams in Dutch football. There’s absolutely no doubt that avoiding relegation would be a a monumental achievement next year, but for now at least the club could enjoy their 2023/24 success and the prospect of an exciting season ahead.
Results Overview
Dutch Cup
Prediction: Second Round
Actual: First Round
Summary: Despite an incredible season in the league, the team couldn’t match their efforts from last season in the cup, and even failed to meet the Board’s expectation of reaching the Second Round. A First Round exit to Eredivisie outfit FC Groningen was the price paid, but at least the scoreline was respectable at 1-0.
Best moment: Despite a narrow defeat, Ruggero Mannes’ performance kept the score low and he was unlucky not to create something at the other end as well.
Low moment: Despite one or two players doing well, it was the poor performances of the midfield and Inside Forwards that ultimately led to defeat. Even goal keeper Joey Koorevaar had a bad game, something that is almost unheard of lately.
Eerste Divisie
Prediction: 11th (excl. Jong clubs)
Actual: 6th (excl. Jong clubs)
Summary: When you assess the results across the whole season, it was quite a Jekyll and Hyde performance to be honest, impressive runs of form always giving way to the complete opposite. In the end though, the wins arrived when they needed to and the team got the rewards they truly deserved for their efforts.
Best moment: Winning the playoff was great, but actually winning all three rounds so comfortably was the real highlight. Dordrecht were undeniably the best team in the end.
Low moment: Some of the senior players had really poor seasons, and in the end it was the desire of some of the academy graduates that were the difference as Frank opted for form over ability, especially towards the back end of the season.
Key Facts & Figures
Looking at the league statistics there are two areas where FC Dordrecht performed particularly well this year: clean sheets and goals conceded. In both of these areas we were ranked in the top two for the season and in fact for 8 out of our 13 defeats the score line was just 1-0. This improvement to our defensive solidity is echoed in our clean sheets record, where we managed 14, two behind NAC Breda.
As we look ahead to the next campaign, we’ll need to improve even further in this area, especially when up against the likes of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV. 31 points and a goal difference of -20 was enough for RKC Waalwijk to retain their top flight status, and in the two season prior to this, the same record would have been enough for survival as well. A change in tactical approach will also be on the cards as we consider how best to withstand the quality of our opponents.
We’ll need to improve our strength in depth too and will be saying goodbye to a few players that aren’t up to standard as we attempt to replace them with better players. Frank and his recruitment team will have their work cut out there and I can see our partnership with Norwich City being utilised once again as well.
In terms of finances, Frank has continued to sign players on free transfers or on loan and so the bank balance currently sits at a healthy €1.5M, that’s without any extra revenues earnt through Eredivisie fixtures and TV rights. What that means for us is that the Board have tripled the scouting budget, almost doubled the wage budget and have provided €200k for transfers. Most of the player contracts do not have a pay rise clause after promotion so we should have the majority of that budget available to allocate as needed.
Around the Grounds
In this section we share some of the other stories from elsewhere in the FM universe that have caught the eye this week…
Searching for my ideal CM(A) player - FMRensie delves into the detail of how he’s gone about finding a suitor for that all important CM(A) role. Some great insight in this one, I only hope Frank is a subscriber as well!
East Meets West - FMEadster returns with an update on Chepiga’s progress at the Portland Timbers. Things are looking very tidy for Russian as the season begins to get going in the MLS.
PAS Lamia 1964 - 1.5: On the Brink - PAS Lamia are feeling the financial strain, but can DGear86 build on their previous success and reach those elusive European places?
Védelem! – 10 – The Seven Year Itch - After 7 years at the helm, manager Glenn Árnason has called time on an unbelievably successful tenure with Honvéd. Here FM Stag takes a look back at just how far the club have come in that time.
The Nordic Journey | #5 | A Rollercoaster Ride - the journey continues for Oaky-FM, as he strives to better last season’s impressive finish.
The 2023 Season - more success is on the cards for the Black Crow Corporation, but there’s a plot twist that could have long lasting repercussions in Seoul.
Miami & Timbers - although not a blog, make sure you tune in to FM Grasshopper and FM Eadster as they stream their joint MLS Save live on Twitch.
Thanks for reading this update, I really hope you enjoyed it. You’ll find more updates from me, as well as blogs from some other fantastic writers at CoffeehouseFM so make sure you check them out. Feel free to leave a comment below, or you can message me @fm_athlete if you feel like getting in touch.
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