Falkenbergs were relegated with the lowest points of any side this century: a paltry 10 points. Hans Eklund’s side were in trouble from the start as they lost their opening four fixtures and indeed their only win before the summer break was against champions IFK Norrkoping. But that proved to be the high point of an awful season in which very few players can come away with any credit. A final day 0 -7 defeat was the final embarrassment in a series of 17 matches where they failed to win meaning their last league win came back in July against the other side to be relegated: Gefle. Eklund was probably fortunate to keep hold of his job at times as his side were truly awful, but the fact he remained in charge reflects the fact the board knew their team were in trouble throughout the year. Despite losing a couple of decent players at the start of the year, namely the Wede brothers to Helsingborgs, their recruitment over the winter seemed to have left them with a decent squad. However some of the players who were expected to contribute most failed to flourish and a particular relevant example was centre forward Hakeem Araba who scored a single goal this year. Injuries and suspensions played their part as well with their effective squad size often being cut down significantly. A particular failing of the team was the defence which conceded a total of 84 goals, another high for this century and almost three every match. That will be one area the club have to look at if they want to get back into the Allsvenskan any time soon. Amongst the chaos of a side who were clearly not good enough to stay in the league, 18 year old Jesper Karlsson stood out as the only shining light in the season. The youngster was promoted to the first team squad when fellow youth team graduate Gustaf Nilsson picked up a serious injury early in the season before he completed his move to Brondby. Karlsson ended the season scoring a quarter of the team’s goals and putting in a level of performance that was admirable. He will stay in the Allsvenskan without doubt. For the rest of the squad there is likely to be serious changes for their first Superettan campaign after 3 years in the top division. Eklund will have a real challenge on his hands to transform the squad into one fit to win promotion as the club are so far below what is required.
