Thanks for joining us again in the city of Kuopio, Finland where the average annual temperature is just 3.4° C. We're entering my 4th year with the club and my 3rd full season in charge as we strive to build on two 3rd placed finishes in the league, a cup win and a record best of reaching the group stages of the Europa League.
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. My goal this year is to challenge HJK for the league title (media predict 2nd, Board expect 3rd), win the Finnish Cup (Board expect a final) and reach the group stages of the Europa League (no Board expectations yet).
Close season
Last season was very up and down and so this year i want to bring more stability in terms of our performances on the pitch. I also struggled to meet the Finnish homegrown rules in some of our league games and so will need to bring in some local talent so we don't have the same issue this year.
Following the departure of Lancini to Inter, I recalled Moreau-Lehmann from his loan as i wanted to promote him to backup striker and needed him fresh for the season ahead. From KuPS 2 i promoted our Spanish keeper, Abel, to replace Paulo after he left for Crystal Palace.
Elsewhere, i needed a new DR and DC for the first XI, a backup DL, and a backup MC that would push Sepalla for his starting place as our RPM. I managed to bring in Peiponen from HJK (DR), Heinonen from FC Lahti (DC) and Makinen also from HJK (MC), all of whom are Finnish and so help bolster our homegrown contingent. For the backup DL role, i brought in Castro, a young Peruvian with real promise and he'll be an ideal understudy to Bruno Dita, our regular DL.
With the squad fully assembled with just those 4 new signings and 2 promotions, my next challenge would be keeping hold of my other star performers from last year. The first to come under off was my first choice centre back, Jean-Clair Todibo who picked up Fans Player of the Season, Signing of the Season and Young Player of the Season last year. Hammarby came in for him and i promptly rejected the offer, he's going nowhere.
Unfortunately Todibo had other ideas and stirred up a storm in the dressing room at the idea of not being allowed to talk to them. His intrinsic value to us is far more than his transfer valuation but i had no choice but to agree a minimum fee with Todibo, which Hammarby then came back and matched. Finding a replacement at the same level was proving too difficult so I had my DoF suggest some targets. He identfied a Brazilian named Iurl who looked almost as good as Todibo, but two years younger and higher potential. We snapped him up for a little shy of £300k.
Next was the biggest upset of them all. The success of my system depends on the athletic and technical ability of our RPM, a role that's hard to fill at his level. Ours is a 20 yo Fin called Sepalla and i've built the team around him, but i hadn't realised that i'd accidentally included a minimum fee release clause in his contract. In came Anderlecht and Stoke City who both met the minimum requirement and despite my best efforts to persuade him to stay, the prospect of English Premier League football was too much for him to resist and he went on his way. I was devastated. To make it worth, Stoke stuck him in the U23s and promptly put him up for loan. I tried to bring him back on a temporary basis but i couldn't afford the 50% wage contribution that they wanted.
I set about trying to identify a replacement but neither I, nor my DoF could find anyone as good, nor with the same potential. In the end I decided our new man Makinen was good enough for the first XI, albeit not quite as good as his predecessor. I'd also just signed a very promising 17 yo MC, Araujo, who was rated good enough for the first team by my coaches, but lacked the familiarity in the RPM role. His attributes told a different story though so i put him on individual training to learn the role and put him in as an understudy to Makinen.
No further departures from the first team but i did bring in a few additions for the future that would sit in the KuPS 2 side for the time being. Kevin Ashbee from Colchester United has some impressive technical and physical ratings and joins for free at the tender age of 18.
KuPS 2024 - Squad List
Preseason Performances
As with last year, I set up 3 friendlies to be played prior to the Finnish Cup qualifying round, while Litmanen (my AM) took care of the other friendlies to be played before the league kicked off in a few months time.
All told we played 10 games, mainly against similar reputation teams and once again came away unbeaten, notching up 9 wins a a draw. We conceded 1 goal while we scored an impressive 19, and with all 22 players now match fit, we were ready to take on the new season.
KuPS 2024 - Friendly results
Cup Performances
We kicked off the campaign in sensational form, winning 4 and drawing 1 of our qualifying games in the cup. We drew IFK Mariehamn in the Second Round who we beat comfortably 3-1 away from home.
Things were going so well and confidence was high, that is until we met FC Lahti at home in the Quarter Finals. No matter what tactical changes i implemented, we were destined to lose the tie 1-0 - a shock upset by all accounts. I was crushed, we were out of the cup before we'd barely got going!
KuPS 2024 - Cup results
League Performances
Our League performances saw us get off to a good start, keeping pace with HJK and last year's Runners Up, VPS. By a third of the way through the season we were top on goal difference, but finally proving that we could run with the big boys.
KuPS 2024 - League Table after 11 games
By the mid-way point we still clung to top spot having added another 5 wins and a draw to our tally from our last 6 games. We were level with VPS but 5 points clear of HJK which highlighted just how bad their season was going for them.
KuPS 2024 - League Table at halfway point
Our leading striker Tuominen picked up a long-term injury at the start of the campaign and so spent most of the first half of the season sidelined. Eventually LASK came in and offered a very healthy £1.2M for him which i couldn't refuse. Our financial stability was wavering and this cash would be enough to see us through for another few months. That meant that Antoine Moreau-Lehmann got the nod as our leading man, with Kevin Ashbee promoted from KuPS 2 as the backup striker.
Things unravelled a little as we headed into the second half of the season as we went 8 games with just 1 win. Two of those games saw us lose to HJK and then immediately draw with VPS a few days later. Meanwhile, three of our starting 11 had been sidelined with long-term injuries and unfortunately their stand-ins weren't up to standard. Our lead slipped and with 5 games to go we found ourselves in 3rd, 6 points off the top now, but still 3 points clear of 4th.
KuPS 2024 - Title race
HJK took full advantage of their game in hand and closed the gap with VPS to 3 points. By the final game of the season, we were safely in 3rd but wouldn't climb any further. Meanwhile VPS and HJK found themselves on level points, meaning the title would be decided on the final day. HJK could only manage a draw, while VPS took all three points and finished on top.
KuPS 2024 - Final Premier League table
Europa League Performances
Our Europa League campaign began against Belarussian outfit Slutsk where we won 4-0 in the away leg, but were held to a 2-2 draw in the home return. The aggregate win saw us meet Laqi in the Second Round whom we beat 6-1 in the first leg, followed by a comfortable 3-0 away victory to see us through to the next round.
The 3rd Qualifying Round paired us with Teplice and we did well in the first leg to hold them to a 0-0 draw. I hoped we could play our usual game and scrape a 1-0 away win to go through but it wasn't to be, they trounced us 3-0 and we were out of the competition.
KuPS 2024 - Europa League results
Season Review
All told, another tough season for KuPS. A poor Cup run and a poor end to the season had me contemplating my future at the club. We'd not achieve what i'd wanted to but the lack of resources coupled with the challenging Homegrown rules had made it almost impossible to compete with the likes of HJK, and now VPS. Their consistent performances in Europe meant a gulf had started to form between them and the rest of the league.
I did at least have some personal successes, including back-to-back Manager of the Month Awards for April and May, plus the completion of my National A and my Continental C coaching licences.
The End of an Era
As my contract was coming to an end, i declined early negotiations for a renewal and pondered my next move. Do i stick it out and hope some of my youngsters coming through will be enough to see us win the league, or do I move on to pastures new and find a new challenge?
In the end, my heart wasn't in it with KuPS and so i told the Board i would be resigning when my contract expires at the end of this month. I applied for jobs at higher reputation clubs and got offered a few interviews with Molde, Nottingham Forest and FC Emmen.
Naturally, Molde would be the preferred choice but despite the interview going ok, they decided to go in another direction. As for the other two, both offered me a job and so i had a decision to make.
Nottingham Forest were struggling at the bottom of League 1 with no money and half a dozen loan players on the books - what a project it would be to rebuild them to their former glory. The downside is, it's England which is my ultimate destination and i wonder if this opportunity has come too soon.
On the other hand, FC Emmen presented a different challenge. They had no silverware to their name, found themselves in 15th in the second tier of the Dutch league, and had a few promising talents in the squad. The downside is their limited resources and low reputation might make it hard to bring in the right players.
I went back and forth a few times, before making the decision that to some extent i'd already made once i received the job offers. I accepted the contract and called my travel agent to book my flight.
Let's hope the grass is greener in... the Netherlands.
FMathlete hired as new FC Emmen boss
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.