Malmo FF - Page 4 - FMFormation.net - Football Manager

**Bfc-Fan** · 27-02-07, 03:22 PM

Why, Romania is in the EU.

**PompeyLibertine** · 27-02-07, 03:32 PM

Was it in the EU when FM came out? Don't think it was...but then again, on the game it says he's "Fgn" so obviously not.

**Bfc-Fan** · 27-02-07, 03:39 PM

Wierd...

**PompeyLibertine** · 27-02-07, 03:52 PM

December 31st

I’d received a fax of possible candidates from Max Shala, I studied the list along with Hasse Borg, who thought it was essential our backup keeper had experience. The one player that really stuck out to me was Magnus Hedman, he’d been out of favour at Chelsea since signing and Hasse commented on the fact he was a model professional with nearly 300 appearances. We decided it was important to get the best possible financial deal for an aging player, so we sent an enquiry to Chelsea’s director of football, Peter Kenyon. He issued us with a quick response and let us know that as Magnus’ contract was due to expire in the summer, we could sign him on a free transfer then. I let Hasse know that I was desperate for a keeper before the start of the season and decided to offer nothing for the player but a contract. Peter Kenyon informed us our offer had been accepted and that Magnus would be allowed to leave if he so wished.

Magnus Hedman

January 1st

Magnus arrived at Malmo Stadion and commented on how happy he was to be back in his home country. We discussed a deal and to our delight he informed us that he wasn’t looking for a final wage before he decides to hang up his boots. We offered a fair contract, which Magnus didn’t even ponder over, he accepted the contract immediately. I was happy we’d signed a vastly experienced player and hoped his past glory days at Celtic and AIK would inspire our younger keepers, including Jonas Sandqvist who would remain first choice. Hedman was a real gentleman and his professionalism could be seen from a mile away, it was a real coup for us in our quest for honours.

**PompeyLibertine** · 27-02-07, 06:02 PM

January 24th

After taking a “holiday” back to England to visit family, I was back in Malmo looking on ways to improve the squad. Bengt Madsen excitedly approached me at the training ground announcing that Daniel Levy had been in contact with him about the possible transfer of Hossam Ghaly, I was intrigued as I knew Ghaly was an excellent player, but I wasn’t sure whether he’d have an interest in coming to Sweden. I asked Bengt about the financial side of the deal and I couldn’t believe it when he told me Spurs had offered him to us on a free, I immediately agreed with Bengt this was an opportunity we couldn’t afford to miss out on. He contacted Mr. Levy to confirm our interest in Ghaly and we were hopeful of the deal being confirmed as soon as possible.

We had some big games coming up in the Royal League and I thought Ghaly would be an excellent addition to our squad. I knew we had good competition in the centre of midfield, but Hossam would be an integral part of the team and with our European jaunt approaching he’d have enough time to settle in to our style of play. Hasse Borg let me know we wouldn’t get the chance to meet with Hossam, but a contract could be sent to him via Levy, we came up with a good package with a strong bonus structure. I was quite pessimistic about our chances of clenching his signature as we didn’t have the chance to show us all of our ideas through Levy.

**PompeyLibertine** · 27-02-07, 06:12 PM

January 26th

SVT2 Sports Announced The Transfer

This was the day we sealed the contract of Hossam Ghaly, what a signing I thought to myself as we went to meet him at Gothenburg airport. The determined midfielder was an amazing signing for us and knew it would create a huge buzz of excitement for the new season. Jacob Larsson the head of the Malmo FF supporters association released a comment about the signing, he said:

“What a tremendous signing for Malmo, I would like to express a huge welcome to Hossam and I can’t wait to see him put on the famous blue of Malmo. This signing shows we can attract great players to our squad and maybe a push in Europe as well as domestic honours was achievable this year. Once again, I would like to thank Bengt Madsen for providing us with an exciting player and would also like to take this opportunity to thank Matt Fry for his continued ability to provide quality players.”

The day was nearing an end as Hossam arrived, we met him at a small restaurant in Gothenburg and he seemed very determined to ensure the success that Malmo was known for. He let me and Borg know that the main reason he joined us was due to the fact our squad was young and was showing a huge amount of potential, he went on by saying he was pleased to be playing in a team with players like Marcus Pode & McDonald Mariga. We went our separate ways and I was ecstatic we’d clinched this deal and could hardly sleep as I started to draft ideas for the new season.

**PompeyLibertine** · 27-02-07, 08:34 PM

Courtesy of SVT2 Sports – The February Month In Brief

Royal League Matchday 4: Halmstad 1 (Emra Tahirovic ’30) Malmo 1 (Nicolaj Agger ’78)

A goal on Nicolaj Agger’s debut kept our Royal League hopes high with two tough games to finish the tournament group stages. It was a brilliant strike as he cut in from the left hand side and curled the ball in to the top corner. Emra Tahirovic carried on his brilliant form against us when he headed home after 30 minutes, but we responded brightly and troubled their keeper all the way until Agger finally broke our deadlock.

Royal League Matchday 5: Malmo 3 (McDonald Mariga ’32, Nicolaj Agger ’46, Marcus Pode ’47) OB 0

I knew this game was important for us, and a win would more or less seal or qualification to the semi-finals, I played the same team who won a point away at Halmstad. McDonald Mariga exceeded his reputation with a stunning free-kick which left Anders Sorensen rooted to the spot as a rippled the net. I encouraged the players at half-time knowing we needed to get the second goal as soon as possible. Agger made it two in two after an easy chance was pounced on by him after some excellent work from Safari. Marcus Pode then rapped the game up with a typical placed shot, I knew our strike force was something for opposition teams to fear and hoped they could both keep fitness and form throughout the season.

Royal League Matchday 6: Malmo 5 (Suleyman Sleyman OG ’15, Marcus Pode ’28, ’41, McDonald Mariga ’30, Nicolaj Agger ’85) Rosenborg 2 (Steffen Iversen ’49, ‘90)

A brilliant attacking game saw us destroy Rosenborg for the second time in the Royal League and seal our place in the Quarter Final draw. Yksel Osmanovski was pulling the strings on the right wing, causing problems for Rosenborg for the entire 90 minutes. An own goal got the game rolling and was shortly followed by a brace from Marcus Pode, sandwiched between the young Swedes double was yet again another free-kick from Mariga. We struggled to keep tabs on Steffen Iversen who pulled a goal back for them early in the second half, but the game was rapped up by Agger on the 85th minute. I was delighted to of qualified for the knockout stages and awaited the draw.

Final Standings

February 25th

Royal League

The draw was made for the Royal League Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals today, I knew we’d done fantastically in the group stages and hoped for an away leg firstly, to gain home advantage in the second leg. Along with the teams who qualified were FC Copenhagen who had won this tournament on both occasions, they were looking to make it an incredible hatrick of Royal League trophies. We drew Halmstad at home, I was disappointed with the draw as we’d played Halmstad numerous times and recently in the group stages, I wasn’t too disheartened though as we had a good record against them. The winners of that game would face either Elfsborg or Lillestrom who had qualified second behind Elfsborg in Group A.

I decided to reward Marcus Pode with a new contract as his form had been fantastic throughout my rein as Malmo manager and approached his agent regarding a new deal. Bengt and I offered a wage rise and an extension that would see Pode stay at Malmo until 2010, we were confident he would sign a new deal as he was a Malmo boy and had declared no interest in leaving us at any stage, despite the interest from other Scandinavian teams. Anders informed me he’d arranged some friendly games for us that would work around the Royal League depending on our progress, the games were against Lyngby, Thisted and Gefle away.

**PompeyLibertine** · 28-02-07, 03:41 PM

March 2nd

On the day Marcus Pode agreed a new 4 year deal at Malmo one player was heading out, we’d received an offer of around £2.5m for our centre back Gabriel. He’d been a strong player for us throughout last season but we decided the money was too good to turn down and accepted the offer from Fluminense. Gabriel had played 15 league games for us last season and played well in all of them, but the fact he was non-EU meant we couldn’t play him often due to the ruling. We knew we were short of cover at the back with Olof Persson and Raoul Kouakou the only other solid defender we had to play centrally so we made it clear to Fluminense’s chairman Rodrigo Horcades we’d prefer the transfer to take place at the end of the Brazilian season (January 2008). He agreed and although I was disappointed to let Gabriel leave, I knew his departure would be critical in the development of our younger non-EU players.

Gabriel

Courtesy of SVT2 Sports – The March Month In Brief

Friendly: Lyngby 0 Malmo 3 (Pape Pate Diouf ’13, ’40, Junior ‘25)

I decided to play a team which probably wouldn’t see a great deal of first team action this season and they didn’t disappoint, a hard-working performance from Diouf saw us clench an easy win. Torje slammed the ball against the post then minutes later Diouf made it 0-1 after a nice passage of play. Junior was brought down on the edge of the area, but the referee deemed it to be a penalty, Lyngby were obviously upset, but I wasn’t complaining. Junior stepped up to take it and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it two. Diouf rapped the game up 5 minutes before half-time with his second goal of the day, we never looked like conceding and it was interesting to see some of the reserve players impress.

Royal League Quarter-Finals 1st Leg: Malmo 3 (McDonald Mariga ‘4, Marcus Pode ’27, Peter Larsson OG ‘90) Halmstad 0

I was fairly nervous as I took my place in the dugout for this match, but my nerves were soon eased when Mariga scored another stunning free-kick, the ball was hit with real pace and left the keeper with no chance. Tahirovic was looking to carry on his rich vein of form against us and he nearly did so, when he saw his shot ricochet off the bar. The tension was eased further, when Pode celebrated his new contract with a neat header, a long ball from Hoiland in defence saw Pode nudge the ball pass the advancing Marcus Sahlman. Half-time came and I encouraged the lads to play the ball a little slower and catch them on the break at any given opportunity. To my surprise Halmstad came out of the blocks very sluggishly and barely troubled Jonas between the sticks until the 71st minute when he was forced to tip the ball round the post. The game was winding down to a finish and I was delighted with our two goal lead, then disaster struck for Halmstads Royal League hopes as Larsson didn’t realise Sahlman was behind him and passed the ball in to his own net. What a result, I could plan for the second leg with much more ease with a three goal cushion.

Halmstad

Friendly: Thisted 0 Malmo 2 (Pape Pate Diouf ‘5, Daniel Andersson ’18)

Another comfortable friendly win and yet another good performance from my second-string, Joakim Nilsson was in fine form and dominated the midfield from start to finish. Two well worked goals was the difference between the two sides as Thisted were totally outclassed by us. They managed just 4 shots in the entire match, 3 of them were off target. Whereas we created chance after chance for our strikers, but unfortunately couldn’t make it three. This was the same team I would be using to play the second leg against Halmstad and was quietly confident they could nick a win away at Orjans Vall.

Royal League Quarter-Finals 2nd Leg: Halmstad 1 (Olof Persson OG ’90) Malmo 0

It was damage limitation for us as we entered the noisy arena, Halmstad fans were expecting their team to push us right to the very end. We started off the brighter with chances falling to Diouf early on, but the game wasn’t up to the high standard of the previous tie. It got to half-time and Halmstad hadn’t forced Sandqvist in to making one save, the crowd let their feelings know and they were met with a barrage of boos as the whistle went. Halmstad came out for the second half much more fired up and the tackles were flying in, although there were no chances for Halmstad…still. I was happy with the way the team were performing and was delighted when the board went up indicating there would only be 2 minutes injury-time. An angled ball from Duric panicked our defence and Persson headed it past Sandqvist, there wasn’t much either player could do, the quality of the ball was fantastic. We were through to the semi’s, we’d be playing Lillestrom who I didn’t know a great deal about, but I was excited nonetheless.

Friendly: Gefle 2 (Tomas Hedlund ‘2, Antouman Jallow ’13) Malmo 2 (Joakim Nilsson ’36, Edward Ofere ‘74)

I’d came in late to the game as I Bengt stopped me in the corridor for a chat on the way to the stadium, he informed me FC Copenhagen had bid for Marcus Pode and that he’d rejected the transfer without my approval. I let him know there was no way I wanted Pode to leave for whatever money was offered and he agreed, we heard a cheer from the home support as Gefle went 1-0 up. I headed to the dugout and took my seat, soon after Jallow made it 2-0, what a disaster this was turning out to be. Nilsson pulled a vital goal back 10 minutes before half-time and I told the players we could win the game at the break. The second half was woeful, hardly any chances for both sides and the rain was coming down making the pitch impossible to play on. Then Edward Ofere produced a moment of magic as he thundered in a 25 yard volley to pull the game level, a beautiful strike which saw some of Gefles own supporters applauding the goal.

Royal League Semi-Final 1st Leg: Lillestrom 2 (Espen Breivik ’17, Knut Overas ’45) Malmo 2 (Marcus Pode ’73, ’83)

A game which had a similar story to the friendly against Gefle saw us go two goals down, but this was going to be a different kettle of fish against a strong Lillestrom side. We were total outclassed in the first half and I thought we were lucky to only be two goals down, I questioned the players passion and they responded well after the break. Pode headed just wide from a lovely worked move down the left starting with Jardler, then Agger put a shot over the bar from just outside the area. I knew we needed at least one goal to take back to Malmo with us and got my wish as Pode thumped the ball home for us, our travelling fans were buoyant and so was I, well, I was more relieved than anything. Only 10 minutes later, Pode sprinted past Simen Aune and put a low left footed shot across the face of the goalkeeper, it snuck in at the far post to send the fans in to raptures. What a comeback for us, this surely would set the tone for the return leg in a week, I knew we could defeat them and reach the final, but we needed to get off to a much better start.

Malmo Fans Celebrating

Royal League Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Malmo 4 (Nicolaj Agger ‘8 Marcus Pode ’40, ’56, ’83) Lillestrom 0

I was excited ahead of the game which could see us make the Royal League final and I had every right to be as Agger started the game off for us with a long range strike which left Heinz Muller stranded. That deflated Lillestrom who never recovered from the early goal, there were chances galore in the first half and Pode made it 2-0 after some scrappy defending saw us capitalise. The game was dead and buried in my eyes, but I warned the players against complacency, Pode netted a superb hatrick for us, we wouldn’t have been in this position if it wasn’t for Marcus and I was delighted with his form. I knew he’d be drawing more attention from rival clubs, but was confident his heart lay with Malmo. We dominated the game and Lillestrom only troubled Sandqvist once in the entire game, we’d done it! We would be playing in the Royal League Final for the first time in our history. I wasn’t looking forward to playing FC Copenhagen in the final though, they’d won the tournament on both occasions, but I told the players we had to break that record and they’d done excellent to get this far.

Sensimilija · 28-02-07, 05:13 PM

[quote=PompeyLibertine]
Olympia, Helsingborg

Ah, Home sweet home :D :D :D

**PompeyLibertine** · 28-02-07, 05:19 PM

Haha, I've got Helsingborg in the next round of the Svenska Cupen at Helsinborg, could be tricky ;)

Sensimilija · 28-02-07, 05:58 PM

haha :D hopefully it'll be more then just tricky :D

nice story you got going here btw :P

**PompeyLibertine** · 28-02-07, 07:44 PM

Ha, you should be supporting the Malmo cause! Cheers, hope it continues for a long time...any suggestions are welcome =)

**PompeyLibertine** · 28-02-07, 07:46 PM

April 1st

I decided to keep with the same tactics that saw us complete the double and reach the Royal League Final. I felt my team had improved from last season and looked at a strong midfield to keep us steady throughout the season. With Hossam Ghaly being an important lynchpin in our team and McDonald Mariga a constant threat going forwards, I knew we’d be able to create a hatful of chances for our youthful strikers. Pode was a key member in our squad and I hoped Agger could continue his early form in to the Allsvenskan, also, Jonas Sandqvist had a tough challenge in keeping his spot with the arrival of Magnus Hedman. Safari had blistering pace down the left wing, coupled with Yksel Osmanovski’s crosses could be the key to our success. Only time would tell. I asked Anders about his views on the team and he drew up his ideal first team for us, oddly he said he’d like to see Junior and Diouf given a chance upfront for the start of the season, I was concerned by his judgement as I knew Pode & Agger would be an incredible partnership for the coming season.

Malmo Tactics