FM16: The Frozen Throne

[DodgeeD]

Nice move! As you say, it makes sense and takes you back to your roots at a time when your manager perhaps needs a break from the rigours of club football

[Rikulec]

Nice move! As you say, it makes sense and takes you back to your roots at a time when your manager perhaps needs a break from the rigours of club football

Exactly my thinking.

[deltablue]

Pity it went so wrong at Malmo. Good luck at Iceland.

[Rikulec]

Pity it went so wrong at Malmo. Good luck at Iceland.

Thanks, hopefully things won't go balls up this time!

[tastaiwan]

After a (successful) spell in Iceland, do you plan to return to Sweden or take a detour to Denmark?

[Rikulec]

After a (successful) spell in Iceland, do you plan to return to Sweden or take a detour to Denmark?

After recharging my batteries I'm going back to Sweden, my work there isn't done yet.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - October 2032 - Iceland

Nations League





Ireland are simply out of reach for us.

The Belarus game was... strange. We attempted to hit them first and hit them hard, but it backfired and we were lucky not to concede anything in the first half. We were also helped by the woodwork twice. And then in the 31st minute a fantastic cross from Björn Blöndal landed right at the feet of Eiríkur Ari Geirsson on the far post. The 17-year-old got his second goal in his second national team appearance. The second half was a completely different story. Tactically we let our foot off the gas, but it resulted in loads of goalscoring chances for our players. The hosts' greyed out goalkeeper performed some absolute miracles on his line though. Denying a seemingly unstoppable header and an open goal situation were the two particular highlights of his game. That wasn't enough to save his team though as we scraped a crucial victory.

Unlike our previous confrontation, this time Ireland didn't strike us guns blazing right out of the dressing room. Instead, they played their game very patiently and pretty much waited for our mistakes. And this time Robert Hayes turned out to be extremely prolific - in the 27th minute he managed to beat our goalkeeper with an extremely precise effort despite some good pressure from our defenders. On the other hand though, less pressure from them meant more space from us. We even had a period of advantage just before and just after the break. In the 45th minute a good drilled cross from Auðunn Gunnarsson reached Birkir Petúrsson, who equalised with a powerful, yet conscious effort. As time passed though, Ireland were slowly rebuilding their control and in the 60th minute Tony Reilly handed the lead back to them. And twelve minutes later the visitors dealt us the final blow through Robert Hayes. We're out, but this time we did put in quite a decent fight, which is... well, progress.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - November 2032 - Iceland

Nations League





Two good results, I'd have prefered to keep a clean sheet against Luxembourg though.

After our previous confrontation I knew what to expect from Belarus and wanted to beat them once again. And this time round things went much more smoothly. We grabbed the lead after just eight minutes of play. Björn Blöndal pulled away from two opponents on the right wing with a fantastic run and delivered a pinpoint cross exactly where Auðunn Gunnarsson was hoping to bang the ball into an empty net. After that goal we didn't need to push them very hard and instead we focused on calmly controlling the flow of the game. Belarus rarely threatened us, most of their shots coming from outside of the area. I'd say the scoreline flattered them in the end, we all but dominated on the pitch.

The trip to Luxembourg was never going to be much more than just a morale booster. I decided to field a couple of young players, including Eiríkur Arni Geirsson up front and Gunnar Logi Ingason making his debut in the middle of the park. The scoring began in the 13th minute. Our left back Kristján Pétursson delivered a wonderful cross to the far post and Blöndal scored his 16th goal in the national team. Six minutes later Birkir Pétursson made it 2:0, Blöndal with the assist after a nicely built passing move through the middle. For the next goal we had to wait until the 32nd minute. Blöndal played the ball in from the right and young Geirsson once again proved his ability to find himself in that tiny little bit of space in the box. Just before the break Birkir Pétursson doubled his goal tally, Kristján Pétursson with his second assist of the day as well. Blöndal made it 5:0 in the 51st minute, allowing our left back to complete a hat-trick of assists. Of course we couldn't have done without a little slip up - in the dying minutes an awful backpass allowed Marc Teixeira to go around the goalkeeper and tap the ball in. Not that it mattered much, but it was definitely frustrating.

[Rikulec]

Needless to say I'm not very pleased with that draw. I think we could be aiming for full points against Kazakhstan, maybe get something at home against Sweden or even Croatia, but anything more than that would be a huge bonus.

[Rikulec]

This came as a pleasant surprise, even though I obviously can't go there at the moment.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - March 2033 - Iceland

World Cup Qualifiers





It's good to have this game out of the way.

Actually we did put up a relatively decent showing against one of the top teams in the world. We even completed almost 80 more passes than they did. But despite the first half being actually quite even, we conceded four goals within the space of these 45 minutes. The first half chance for the hosts came up in the 9th minute of the game and Mohamed El Moubarki hammered the ball into the back of the net from just outside the penalty box, immediately showing the gulf of class between the two teams. Six minutes later Francis Enoh delivered another wonderful finish, giving our goalkeeper Eggert Björgvinsson absolutely no chance. The quality of finishing in that France side was absolutely immense - in the 23rd minute Björn Blöndal misplaced a pass near our own box, which led to Jerome Astruc making it 3:0 with an amazing drilled shot at the far post from the corner of the penalty area. And he doubled his goal tally just sixty seconds later, tapping the ball into an empty net after a counter attack. Despite that description sounding like a proper spanking, these were pretty much the only chances we allowed in the first half. Apart from that, we constructed a few promising offensive moves and even created a couple of one-on-ones, unfortunately neither Blöndal nor Birkir Pétursson managed to beat the French goalkeeper. The second half was a relatively similar story, this time Björgvinsson put in some wonderful saves to keep the damages down though. Despite a bad-looking result, I'd say it was quite a respectable performance from us.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - June 2033 - Iceland

World Cup Qualifiers





Are we seriously this bad?

We entered the first Sweden game full of hope that we could actually aim for not losing this one. The only worry was the injury of our goalkeeper Eggert Björgvinsson (who's really not good anyway), who was replaced by Þorkell Lárusson. The opening minutes showed some signs of promise as we seemed to be taking advantage, the most interesting situation being a saved free kick effort from Elmar Baldvinsson. Time passed though and Sweden were gradually becoming more and more dangerous in their play. Lárusson put in a couple of good saves to keep it goalless at half time though. Then I discovered making three subs quickly might not be the best of ideas - when Björn Björdal got stretchered off with a spine injury in the 60th minute, I couldn't replace him with anyone. And then we fell apart. Marcus Lindström was the one to break the deadlock shortly after we got reduced to 10 men. Goals from Tim Ekvall and Henrik Alm shortly followed. All in all though, our performance was by no means satisfying and we deserved to lose.

The return leg got off to a disastrous start. In the 2nd minute Ólafur Sverisson missed a header mid-air, thus allowing Michael Tegström to go one on one with Lárusson and beat him comfortably at the near post. And we couldn't find enough will in ourselves to put up a fight. The goals just kept flying in. 33rd minute, Tegström once again, 2:0. 43rd minute, Andreas Arvidsson, 3:0. 56th minute, Bo Gustafsson, 4:0. 85th minute, Tegström for a hat-trick, 5:0. Pretty much the only bright moment for us in the whole game came three minutes later - Auðunn Gunnarsson scored the consolation goal from the penalty after winning it himself. Not that it stopped us from embarassing ourselves...

[Dexter_Morgan]

Surprised at the start to this campaign, looked slightly promising in the Euros

[Rikulec]

Surprised at the start to this campaign, looked slightly promising in the Euros

Only slightly. We don't have the quality to challenge for qualification, on the other hand we shouldn't get beaten so badly neither. There's still some room for improvement though and I'll be looking to make it happen.

[dllu]

You must be the first NT manager I've seen on FM16 who has actually done worse than IRL!

I know, the current golden generation of Icelandic footballers have all long since retired in your game, but still...

[Rikulec]

You must be the first NT manager I've seen on FM16 who has actually done worse than IRL!

I know, the current golden generation of Icelandic footballers have all long since retired in your game, but still...

Well, I have to admit I'm not the best FM player round here.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - September 2033 - Iceland

World Cup Qualifiers





That's it. We're hopeless.

After such a start to the qualifying campaing, I viewed the home game against Kazakhstan as the only chance to regain at least some trust and respect from the fans. And we messed it up. Yes, you can point at the statistics or just the overall flow of the game which show that we were the better team. Why would it matter though? We failed to score against Kazakhstan at home and it's not even like we created gazillions of chances and just wasted them. There were a couple, no sitters by any means though. A miserable showing that almost had me make my mind up.

And then we travelled to Croatia. Before the 10th minute the woodwork had already saved us twice. And on that mark it seemed that it would happen once again, but after a wonderful strike from just outside the box bounced off the far post, Damir Juranovic was there to pounce on the rebound and give the hosts a deserved lead. We didn't even take a shot on goal until the second half. And the Croatians simply kept storming our goal no matter what I tried tactically. Out of numerous situations in front of our goal, two more ended up in the back of the net - first Nikica Crepujla doubled the hosts' lead in the 61st minute and then in the 78th minute Zlatko Miskic sealed our fate. We seem to have no quality in the team whatsoever.

[Rikulec]

There was no point carrying on. That makes it three miserable failures in a row. Am I burning out already?

[Rikulec]

So it's 18th November 2034, Husqvarna have just been relegated from the Allsvenskan, their finances are insecure and they have a lot of overpaid players in their ranks. As much as I'd like to finally get back into management, I'm not taking this.

[Rikulec]

A month later this came up. They've overachieved last season by finishing 7th despite being predicted to battle relegation. Well, I said I wanted to rebuild myself at a smaller club, didn't I?

[Rikulec]

Not quite the money Iceland had been paying me, but I imagine my manager would have a decent savings account by now.



Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - New Club - GIF Sundsvall



As I said, at this point I'd take anything. Well, almost anything.

Club Name: GIF Sundsvall

Nickname: Giffarna

Year Founded: 1903

Status: Professional

Stadium: Norrporten Arena (8,500 capacity, 8,000 seated)



Still yet to win the top division. Odd, anyone?



Just don't go balls up.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Hopefully this spell in Sweden goes better

[Rikulec]

Hopefully this spell in Sweden goes better

It certainly can't go much worse than the previous ones!

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Board Expectations:

Allsvenskan: Avoid relegation

Svenska Cupen: Group Stage

My Expectations:

Allsvenskan: I can't really argue with the expectations. The first season is the season of assessment.

Svenska Cupen: I'm not too fussed, we've met the requirements already.

Budgets:

Transfer: £0

Wage: £21,797 (currently spending £21,738)

Balance: -£351,827

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Friendlies



Just one game and as usual my assistant took care of it.

Transfers



With limited resources we managed to put together what I believe to be a relatively decent squad. Red lines mark my arrival.

Pavel Pribyl - I was lucky to be offered a quality goalkeeper by his agent. Given that we had literally no one to play between the sticks in the whole club squad before, this transfer was a necessity.

Horacio Ferreyra - and a backup goalie joins us as well, and he seems to be quite talented. Yeah, the agents did a good job this winter.

Achim Dörfler - joining us from my former club, Dörfler will provide us with priceless experience and some quality in the AMC spot as well. Hopefully he'll meet my expectations as he'll be playing in a vital position for my vision of the team.

Thomas Sørensen - not much more than a backup option, but a good one to have.

[Rikulec]

Yeah, whatever.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - March 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Svenska Cupen





Our play isn't half as bad as these would suggest.

Ambitiously enough, we tried to hassle Hammarby high up the pitch with our 4-2-3-1. We attempted to recover the ball as close to their goal as possible and play a kind of possession game. And it all got torn to pieces in the very first minute - Bronson Mweemba converted a wonderful through ball from Ludvig Wahlberg to put the hosts in front after just forty seconds of play. What happened next was grotesque at times. Surprisingly we controlled the flow of the game pretty much as planned, but they kept hitting us on the break almost continuously. Counter, counter, counter. We were 2:0 down after just ten minutes, Nikola Mitic with the second goal. In the 32nd minute we finally managed to break through and get one back through Pontus Andersson's header, but that helped little. Hammarby just didn't know mercy. After the break they added two more goals, Wahlberg and Mweemba again with the executing touches. The fact that our defence was proper shambles didn't help us much.

The home game against Superettan side Elfsborg was supposed to be our chance for a recovery. The early signs were good - central midfielder Viktor Hedberg gave us the lead after eleven minutes of play, finding the ball at his feet ten yards away from goal after a deflection. We saw much more of the ball and generally seemed to be controlling things, but once again the opposition looked worryingly dangerous on counter. And finally in the 61st minute they got what they wanted. A free kick came in from the left and Pavel Pribyl made a bad decision of rushing out, allowing Teppo Leskinen to slot the ball into an empty net. And just three minutes later we found ourselves trailing - Nicolas Krafth put the visitors in front after a nice drilled cross from the right wing. Despite racking up 60% possession and being the better team on the pitch, we failed to respond to that. At this point we were mathematically sure that our cup campaign went balls up.

It seems like 60% possession and getting in front in the 11th minute was the kiss of death for us this month. When our Norwegian striker Thomas Linnerud converted a wonderful cross from the left by Hugo Silva, I thought we would finally grab our first victory against much weaker opposition. But AFC United weren't having that. Counter, counter, counter. 34th minute, Benjamin Loose. 77th minute, Oscar Bohman. This time we didn't even look nearly as good as in the previous games. I guess I need to find a tactical solution soon if I don't want to put the team in a difficult position come the league season.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Hope things improve after that tough start

[Rikulec]

Hope things improve after that tough start

I can tell you we seem to be figuring some things out.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - April 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





Hey, that's not a bad start!

To be honest, prior to the Örebro game I was absolutely clueless about what to do with my tactics to finally make them work as intended and stop the ridiculous stream of counter attacks being launched our way. Well, we got that going for ourselves - we simply gave the initiative away and got pushed against the wall, having to defend desperately. And in the 31st minute the visitors found their way through - Júnior Mineiro had his initial shot stopped by Pribyl, but our goalkeeper was helpless with the rebound. I hoped we would recover and try to push for an equaliser after the break, but it took Örebro just twenty seconds of the second half to make it 2:0 through Fabrice Delmas. Thirty minutes and some tactical tweaks later we finally started to look like a proper football team though. I might have found the recipe accidentally, going for the hit and hope method on the team instructions screen. In the 83rd minute Amáncio Meneses reduced the visitors' lead, scoring in a one on one situation. Our dreams were crushed three minutes later though when Leif Svärd unleashed an unstoppable strike from a free kick which went in off the crossbar. We still fought back and in the 90th minute Jan-Philipp Faltermeier made it 2:3, but it was too late for us to carry on and we ended up losing, but at least we lost with dignity.

Whether my tactics would work or not, the Ljungskile game was going to tell us. Everything started off rather slow, but as usual it was us who saw more of the ball. That didn't mean creating chances though - we lacked that creative spark up front for large portions of the match. But it was also us who remained concentrated right until the half time whistle - in the 45th minute a nice counter attack ended up with Pontus Andersson delivering a perfect cross for Faltermeier to give us the priceless lead. To make things even better, the German got his third league goal of the season almost straight out of the dressing room as well, slotting the ball into an empty net following a wonderful through ball over the defenders' heads from Martin Lindström. With little trouble we carried the result until the final whistle. Smooth.

Next up, Östersunds. That was probably our best performance of the month. We got things going well for us almost straight away - in the 5th minute Achim Dörfler delivered a wonderful cross from a free kick and our centre back Johan Johansson smashed the ball home with a powerful volley. That seemed to inject loads of confidence into the side as we circulated the ball with precision and cool heads. We also created some opportunities to extend the lead, but the quality of our finishing was below satisfactory. It took us right until the 91st minute to finally grab what we deserved - a good square ball from David Hallingström was met with a good execution by Pontus Andersson. A nice victory in front of a sold out stadium, always a good boost of confidence.

Djurgården were always going to be a tough opponent. A quick summary - they had more chances, but the quality of ours was much better and I'd even say we should have grabbed a win there. The visitors' goalkeeper Cammy Thomson pulled off a couple of wonderful saves, including miraculously stopping a close range effort from Meneses. The Portuguese finally got what he deserved in the 33rd minute though - he found himself on the end of a nice cross by Hallingström and all he had to do was just tap the ball in. The visitors picked themselves up a bit after the break and looked slightly more dangerous, but still they couldn't get through our well organised defensive block. Their frustration led to the most outrageous shot attempt I've seen on this FM - Pribyl only stood and watched as a 45-yarder unleashed by Giuliano Leclercq bounced off the crossbar and into his hands. We finally gave in though - in the 76th minute a drilled cross from the right found Mattias Acar in a bit of space. As I said, we had the better chances, but I can't be too mad about the draw. Djurgården are simply a better team than we are.

The media say Assyriska are the weakest team in the league. You can only imagine my face when we conceded after exactly 19 seconds of play in an extremely dumb way. A deep cross aimed at no one really suddenly came hurling towards the goal. Pribyl attempted to catch it, but the ball slipped out of his hands and landed at the feet Jaume Pelach standing a few yards away from an empty goal with no defender in sight. Luckily our response came quickly - a wonderful cross from Andersson landed on the head of Faltermeier and the German knew exactly what to do with it. When we got awarded a penalty in the 39th minute, I thought we'd get it. When Viktor Gustavsson smashed it straight at the goalkeeper, I thought it would turn out to be the kiss of death. We went on to pull off multiple attempts, including an overhead kick from Johan Johansson, but we simply couldn't find the target. But Faltermeier came to the rescue - in the 76th minute he doubled his goal tally after a wonderful cross from Zachrisson. Huge sigh of relief was let out.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Much better now, interesting to see Malmo are really struggling

[Rikulec]

Much better now, interesting to see Malmo are really struggling

This league really seems quite random at times.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - May 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





I swear this game hates me.

Don't believe what the scoreline is telling you. We could - should? - have beaten Göteborg. We wasted two wonderful chances before gifting away the first goal in the 10th minute. The hosts' offensive move looked promising, but it was stopped on the edge of our penalty box. Martin Lindström attempted to pass the ball to Pribyl, but he underhit it and Precious Chibuike was presented with an easy goal. Their second attack came six minutes later and obviously they took their chance to make it 2:0, Anton Berntsson on the scoresheet. To this one we responded immediately through Jan-Philipp Faltenmeier, Achim Dörfler with the assist. Thirteen minutes and another clear cut chance later we conceded the third one though. Peter Börjesson played the ball in from the right wing and Berntsson doubled his goal tally. Then in the 47th minute Chibuike received another gift from our defence and once again he knew exactly what to do with it. We still had some opportunities to get back into the game, but our finishing was horrific. The Göteborg curse is not going away yet.

Next up, Qviding. I feel sorry for each and every of the 8,070 fans who turned up to watch this horror showing. The teams only managed one shot on goal each, which already pretty much tells the whole story. We had a couple of chances to get in front, but they were nothing special really. It was visible that we were lacking confidence following the heavy defeat three days earlier. Finally the visitors got what they came for in the 79th minute. Nenad Rajkovic attempted a headed effort from a very difficult position and sent the ball flying very high up, yet Pribyl somehow managed to let that in despite having loads of time to react properly. Oh, and we also lost Achim Dörfler for two weeks to a knee injury. Fantastic.

Degerfors were going to be a difficult opponent for us. I was really happy when in the 14th minute we launched a perfect counter attack after their corner and Faltenmeier got his seventh goal of the season, Amáncio Meneses with the assist. That didn't change much though - we were forced quite deep inside our own half and were reduced to panic clearances at times. Tomas Pribyl performed some great stops on his line and grabbed a well deserved 8.1 rating. In the 56th minute he could do nothing though as Stanislav Nedilko received a wonderful through ball and had an almost empty net in front of him. We looked slightly better than before the break and with time we even built some initiative, but at the end of the day it's still us who will be more satisfied with the draw.

A week later we travelled to Akropolis to play a game that turned out to be the ultimate fest of helplessness from us. We had more than twice as much shots as they did, but the vast majority of them was forced and from unprepared positions. And the hosts only struck once. That was enough. In the 50th minute a deep cross landed at the feet of Daniel Olausson, who was standing at the far post completely unmarked. We kind of woke up in the dying minutes of the game and had a couple of chances to bring things back level, but once again our finishing was a huge letdown. Not very encouraging...

The Helsingborg game wasn't the kind of 0:0 you probably have in your minds. It was the kind of 0:0 that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the first to the last minute. It was the kind of 0:0 that has fans on both ends hold their heads in disbelief after numerous wasted goalscoring chances. I have no idea how we could manage not to find the net even once. The return of Achim Dörfler combined with a couple of personal tweaks in the starting eleven seemed to have given a huge boost of confidence to the team that started to play really well, but once again we lacked the final product. It was especially Faltenmeier who could have put his name on the scoresheet, but he simply didn't have his day. Helsingborg also had their opportunities, but another good game from Pribyl ensured that we wouldn't receive any damage. If only our frontmen had played as well as the goalkeeper did...

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - June 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





I'll happily welcome the summer break.

We thoroughly deserved to get beaten by Åtvidaberg in what probably was our worst performance since I took over. We got pushed against the wall pretty much from the very beginning of the game. For some time we managed to hold onto the goalless draw, mainly thanks to Tomas Pribyl, but when we finally fell, it was a quickfire double. In the 21st minute Francois Diallo found himself at the end of a wonderful cross from my old friend Martin Gajdosik and just three minutes later Viktor Åström applied the finishing touch to a nice passing move that left our defenders looking at each other, completely clueless. Apart from a couple of promising counter attacks we had nothing to offer to respond to that. I was glad to hear the final whistle, it really put us out of our misery.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - July 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





A much better set of results despite a tough calendar.

Häcken have had a very strong start to the season and despite a little stutter they were obviously going to be an extremely difficult opponent. They didn't even need one minute to erase any doubt as to who was the favourite to win - Frode Grungstad scored after exactly 37 seconds of play, Pribyl with not his best save attempt. To my surprise though, we actually put up a damn good fight after conceding so early on. In the 14th minute we brought things back level. Pontus Andersson played a wonderful cross to the far post and Jan-Philipp Faltermeier was there to tap the ball in. To my even bigger surprise, before the break we scored two more goals in quick succession. First Faltermeier got his second in the 36th minute and just three minutes later Achim Dörfler made it 3:1, sending the fans ecstatic. The celebrations were spoiled very quickly though - we recovered the ball after their kick off, but aggressive pressing caused Pribyl to kick the ball straight at one of the attacking players and Grungstad doubled his goal tally thanks to that. In the second half we played relatively well and didn't have much trouble holding Häcken off, but the 77th minute was a show of pure class from them - a wonderful passing move ended with Oskar Holmqvist unleashing a beautifully curled shot from 20 yards out that went just inside the far post. On one hand we wasted an opportunity to beat the leaders, but on the other hand it was a damn good game of football.

Next up, my old friends Malmö. To my surprise, they lined up with some weird variant of 3-5-2 that included players both in the DM and AM strata. Whatever. They were struggling and we set out to beat them. And of course it backfired - a counter attacking move from the visitors ended with Hrvoje Abramovic giving them the lead in the 14th minute. Seriously, the guy couldn't hit the barn door when I was managing him, and now he applies a clinical finish? Come on. Luckily the home fans were just about to witness a wonderful awakening. Thomas Linnerud wasn't really having a spectacular season, euphemistically speaking, but this game was his one man show. 29th minute, Faltermeier with a through ball, Linnerud, 1:1. 67th minute, Andersson from the right, Linnerud, 2:1. 77th minute, Sertaç from the left, Linnerud, 3:1. The only moment of glory left out for Malmö was the Dmytro Yerokhin goal in the 90th minute that really changed nothing. It was such a relief to end our seven games without a win streak.

Another week, another title challenger to face. I have some fond memories of playing against AIK, but the side I used to beat the crap out of regularly is now long gone. That's exactly what Joakim Olausson told me in the 4th minute by putting the ball past Pribyl after a terrible misunderstanding in our back line. The whole game was all but domination from the hosts, but we did have that one break. In the 34th minute Lars Jacobsson played a brilliant one-two with Viktor Hedberg, faced the AIK goalkeeper and calmly slotted the ball right under his armpit. That really angered our opponents, but Pribyl was having a blinder between the sticks and really didn't look like letting anything in. In the 65th minute he was helpless though as Max Petitjean skinned past two of our defenders and caught him wrong-footed with a near post effort. I'd like to say that we lost after a good fight, but to be fair it was only Pribyl who attempted to deny the opponents single-handedly... and nearly managed to do it.

As you can see, prior to our confrontation Örebro had hit a wonderful patch of form. And we came to their ground and wiped the floor with them. The initial hour of play reminded me of my best times at the title-winning sides I've built throughout this career. Faltermeier opened the scoreline after just 50 seconds of the game, beginning his wonderful afternoon. Sixteen minutes later the German doubled his goal tally. Our new signing David Cunningham played a fantastic drilled ball across the penalty area and the winger had an empty net in front of him. And the hat-trick was completed almost straight after the break. André Zachrisson put in a cheeky ball from the right, it bounced off two defenders before falling to the feet of the ruthless Faltermeier. I didn't even realise what was happening when Thomas Linnerud made it 4:0 in the 53th minute with an easy rebound. After that goal Örebro were finally starting to wake up. Agnaldo scored the first goal for them in the 65th minute and twenty minutes later Fabrice Delmas calmly converted a penalty he had won himself. Delmas had a great chance to make it 3:4 just two minutes later and cause me to eat all my fingernails, luckily he missed the target. What a great and unexpected result for us.

Transfers

Sigi Perry - God bless the agents. The American's versatility is a huge asset for him, but in my side he'll be a starter in the centre of our defensive block. Definitely an improvement on what we had before.

Diego Alejandro Soto - a bit of Latin passion in midfield will surely come in handy. In all seriousness though, we really needed a strong defensively-minded midfielder and that's exactly who we managed to bring in.

David Cunningham - the Englishman joins us on loan until the end of the season from our parent club Southampton. I'm sure he's going to win us a few points.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Tbh considering you took over an over achieving side and you are only 2 points off last seasons position i'd say you are doing well so far

[Rikulec]

Tbh considering you took over an over achieving side and you are only 2 points off last seasons position i'd say you are doing well so far

I agree, and there's also this wonderful feeling of constant improvement, soemthing I haven't properly experienced since I left Odd.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - August 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





It's been a while since I last had one of these months!

The start was rather slow though. The Ljungskile game was the most boring kind of 0:0 you can stumble upon. There's not much to write about really as not much happened in the game, with maybe some three highlights over 90 minutes. A poor showing from both sides.

The trip to Östersunds made up for it. Pretty much the whole first half was awful for us - we saw more of the ball, but seemed incapable of doing anything productive with it and the hosts were much more decisive in their offensive moves. That contributed to the half time result which found us trailing by two goals - first Vitor Ferreira performed a fantastic individual run, beating two defenders with the ball before cutting inside from the left and finding the top far corner with a precise effort, and in the 42nd minute Niko Kolehmainen scored after an indirect free kick. Luckily the second half was a full turnaround - Östersunds were forced to defend deep on their own half, sometimes desperately hoofing the ball to safety. But the goals came. In the 58th minute a wonderful cross from Sertaç Bilgin found David Cunningham unmarked on the far post and nine minutes later Linnerud rebounded his own shot from close range. We still had plenty of time and opportunities to get in front, but we just didn't make it. Still, the second half was a great show from the lads.

As soon as I realised we were going to play the bottom team at home, I knew there would be trouble. An early goal from Cunningham - Bilgin with the assist once again - calmed me down a little, but still it was quite a shaky game for us, pretty much as I had expected. We seemed to be in control, but Assyriska looked scarily dangerous on the break. And finally they took their chance - in the 58th minute a defensive mix-up on our part allowed Alex Friberg to grab an equaliser. Luckily their happiness only lasted for ten minutes - Cunningham added an assist to his goal and Jan-Philipp Faltermeier made it 2:1 with a simple tap-in. Not without trouble, but we carried a deserved result right to the final whistle.

Then the Djurgården game - an identical result, yet a whole different story. I have to admit, it should have been at least the other way around. By no means did we deserve to get any points from that clash - the hosts all but battered us. The sole reason why they didn't was Tomas Pribyl. He does make mistakes sometimes, but when he's on his good day, he performes true miracles on his line. In the 45th minute the deadlock finally got broken and it wasn't Djurgården who broke it - Faltermaier played a square ball along the edge of the box and Martin Lindström got his first goal of the season with a precise first time effort. The hosts finally responded shortly after the break, Neto beating Pribyl from close range after a drilled cross from the right wing, Sigi Perry at fault for not intercepting it. Our opponents looked like they were going to get in front, rarely leaving our half, but then in the 83rd minute a lucky hoof allowed us to put a counter attack together and Thomas Linnerud got hacked from behind in the penalty area. André Zachrisson stepped up to the spot and secured a victory for us with a well executed strike.

Next up, Qviding, possibly our most comfortable win since I took over. It felt good to watch a game where we grabbed the steering wheel almost straight away and the opponents posed next to no danger at all. Our first goal came in the 17th minute, Cunningham with an easy finish after Bilgin's cross. Eleven minutes later Linnerud extended our lead with a perfectly aimed header from ten yards out that went in off the post. The scoreline was sealed by Jan-Philipp Faltermeier straight after the break as the German rebounded a shot from Linnerud that got saved by the Qviding goalkeeper. If only we could play like this every week!

Last but not least, IFK Göteborg. Oh boy, I passionately hate playing them. Prior to this match, they had beaten me in every confrontation since we parted ways. And for the first thirty minutes it looked like this time would be no different - the visitors' undisputed domination was finally confirmed by a goal from Régis Neveu in the 26th minute. Some tactical tweaks led to a radical change in the way we played though and just five minutes later Thomas Linnerud grabbed an equaliser. From then on it was us who looked like the better team, but it was Neveu who doubled his goal tally, which saw us trailing by one goal at the break. In the 53rd minute though came a play that probably sent the crowd mental - Linnerud seemed to have lost the ball while fighting with his back to goal inside the box, but it was quickly recovered, we exchanged a couple of passes before it rolled to the feet of our Norwegian striker again. Everyone though he would attempt a shot, but instead he played a backheel pass that literally left all Göteborg defenders and their goalkeeper standing and wondering what the hell happened as Lars Jacobsson slotted the ball into an empty net. Then we continued to push for another goal, but of course it wouldn't be Göteborg if they didn't score a lucky goal after our silly defensive mistake in the 70th minute. It was us who had the final say though, and we did it in quite some way. In the 86th minute Sertaç Bilgin received the ball in the corner of the box and misplaced a cross so badly that it actually went in right by the far post. And just sixty seconds later a classic triangle attacking move ended with Jacobsson squaring the ball out for Linnerud to give us the winner. Two minutes that shook Göteborg, two minutes that showed immense potential in our side, two minutes that will surely be remembered as a huge moment for us.

Svenska Cupen



We took much longer to get going than we should have.

I thought we would come out guns blazing against a Division 1 Norra side Nyköping, but instead we allowed their striker Björn Johansson to head the ball into the net in the 10th minute of the game. The response came ten minutes later. Lucas Sundström, a youth striker who was given his chance, played a wonderfull pass into the box and Jonas Eriksson equalised with a classy drilled shot. We managed to grab the lead before the break through Jan-Philipp Faltermeier, Pontus Andersson with a wonderful cross from the right wing and the German with an easy finish. The Swedish right winger made it 3:1 himself in the 49th minute, rebounding his own shot that got saved by the goalkeeper. The final goal was scored by our right back David Hallingström, who put in a cross so bad that it went in. Whatever.

Youth Intake



Only one player worth any attention, and for some reason I don't think he'll turn out to be a world beater...

Martin Samuelsson

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - September 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





Our unbeaten run extends to eleven games and suddenly we throw our names in the hat for the European spots.

We got the business done really quickly against Degerfors. Our lone striker Thomas Linnerud needed only six minutes to grab a brace for himself. First he converted a lobbed through ball from Achim Dörfler and then he squeezed the ball in from a tight angle under two defenders' pressure after a near post cross from David Cunningham. There's not much story to tell about what followed, the only thing worth mentioning is Tomas Pribyl's performance - our Czech hero received an 8,5 rating for stopping the visitors in a couple of dangerous moves. As I said before, he looks unbeatable when he's on his day.

We were really close to ending our great run away at Helsingborg, which is no surprise given their quality and the form they're on in the league, storming the top three in the final stage of the league. The first sign of trouble came in the 22nd minute when one of our key players, centre back Sigi Perry was forced off the pitch with a twisted ankle. Our integrity at the back took a massive blow from that and just five minutes later Robert Kotwica gave the hosts a lead, scoring from a tight angle after a nice passing move following a corner. We went on to pursue the equaliser, but were held off well. Even though we managed some shots on target, they were mostly weak and from unprepared positions. And when I was starting to come to terms with a loss, in the 86th minute David Cunningham played an absolutely unexpected, Beckham-esque deep cross from the right and Jan-Philipp Faltermaier was presented with a sitter. What a goal, what an assist, what a result. The run goes on!

Akropolis is a side weaker than us, but in the confrontation we caused ourselves some trouble we really shouldn't have. Poor concentration at the back in the 5th minute allowed Yazid Belahmeur to score after a nice deep cross. Luckily we had the mighty Faltermeier to equalise just three minutes later, Cunningham with the assist once again. These guys are just a pleasure to watch really. The loanee Englishman gave us the lead just before the break, scoring at the near post after a good cross from Sertaç Bilgin. The second half brought the awakening of Linnerud - in the 54th minute he finished off a wonderful passing move with a powerful left-footer that went in just under the crossbar and in the 84th minute he doubled his goal tally after André Zachrisson's cross. The latter goal was preceeded by Yazid Belahmeur's second goal just two minutes earlier. With some better defending we should have kept a clean sheet in that game though.

And finally Åtvidaberg, a choke I didn't think we were capable of performing. Everything looked safe and sound in the first half and we built a two-goal advantage. In the 10th minute Linnerud rebounded a poorly saved Cunningham's header to give us the lead and seventeen minutes later he headed the ball in himself, Zachrisson with the assist. The second goal was his 14th in the league this season, which means he's moved one clear of IFK Göteborg's Anton Berntsson, which means he's now second only to Faltermeier who has 16. Back to the match though - we still looked to be in control after the break, but in the 61st minute Jimmy Wålemark got one back for the visitors with a beautiful header. That injected some nervousness into our play and it was getting bigger and bigger as time passed - up to the point where Pontus Andersson, who got brought onto the pitch only like ten minutes earlier, lost his composure in a goalmouth scramble and slid the ball past his own goal line. This might not have been my best substitution...

[DavidBeckham]

Good luck for your European push mate!

[Rikulec]

Good luck for your European push mate!

Thanks, although a top half finish would really be enough this season to give me satisfaction.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - October 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





We lose one player to injury and suddenly the team gets torn to pieces.

During the break preceeding the Häcken game we received dreadful news - Diego Alejandro Soto picked up a back injury and would be out for a few weeks. This, combined with Perry's twisted ankle, meant we were missing two of our absolutely key players in such a tough clash. No wonder it went the way it went. The only positive aspect of our game was Tomas Pribyl's heroics. This guy kept our hopes of snatching a draw alive for the majority of the game, performing some unbelievable saves. When we gave away a penalty in the 56th minute, I thought that would do it, but no - our mighty goalkeeper stopped that as well. It wasn't until the 77th minute when Eucrésio Tadeu finally found a way past him, dealing us a massive blow and pretty much putting an end to the match. The Brazilian added another goal just before the final whistle to hurt us even more.

I expected Malmö to be our easiest opponent in the final five games of the season. Oh boy, how wrong I was. They really gave us a proper chasing back there. Everything started rather quickly with Gaizka Hernández finding a way past Pribyl in the 8th minute of the match. With more than just a bit of luck we managed not to take any more damage before half time, at which point I made some desperate chances in order to try to get back into the game. Nope. Malmö were just too good for us. They added two more goals and there could have easily been more. In the 55th minute Noa Rouviere made it 2:0 with a nice header following a cross from Hernández and three minutes later the Spaniard doubled his goal tally, simply running around our awfully positioned defenders. What a horrendous showing.

Our midfield without Soto is non-existent. The Hammarby game brought further proof to that. We couldn't recover the ball. We couldn't keep it at our feet. We couldn't keep formation at the back. We couldn't create anything up front. And the hosts didn't really do much more than it was absolutely necessary. In the 20th minute they got the lead thanks to an easy tap-in from Jon Fure and in the 79th minute a nicely constructed passing move set up Bojan Ostrovljanovic for a precise effort from just inside the box that beat Pribyl on the near post. We were simply no match for the opponents.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Shame about that run after looking like a European push in your last post Hopefully you'll pick up a few points in the last few games and build for next year

[Rikulec]

Shame about that run after looking like a European push in your last post Hopefully you'll pick up a few points in the last few games and build for next year

It was always going to be extremely difficult with our run-in, and after tearing our heart out from the midfield we simply had no resources to put up any fight.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - November 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan





At least we didn't lose them both.

The most important information - Soto recovered from his injury and was able to start the second Hammarby game. And straight away it became a whole different story than the first one. This time it was us who had more of the ball and created more chances, but it took the visitors only one break to get in front - in the 20th minute Bronson Mweemba scored from close range after a well constructed passing move. To add to our frustration, our offensive attempts ended up as two woodwork hits before the break. It took us until the 79th minute to finally equalise. A beautifully led counter attack set up David Cunningham for a one on one situation and the Englishman applied a clinical finish. And right when I thought our losing streak would come to an end, in the 92nd minute Roger Karlsson took advantage of an awful save attempt from Pribyl to give the visitors the winner. Balls.

And finally AIK at home to round off this season. It started really well for us - in the 12th minute a mistimed sliding tackle from the visitors' defender allowed Jan-Philipp Faltermeier to bang the ball into an empty net from close range. The whole game was fairly even and there weren't too many goalscoring opportunities on either end of the pitch, yet we let our concentration at the back slip once in the 39th minute. Íslelfur Aðalgeirsson was the goalscorer, Pribyl at fault once again with a poor deflection. After a rather boring and uneventful second half we finally stopped losing, but I'd rather have won that really.

Transfers

Fonseca - the Portuguese midfielder joins us on a free transfer after his agent offered him to us. Some cracking stats for this level, he could form a really strong partnership with Soto if they get along well.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Review - 2035 - GIF Sundsvall

Allsvenskan

Results

Competition Performance: 8th

The aim was to avoid relegation, so of course I'm happy that we managed to finish in the top half of the table. As you can notice, the results came in streaks. If we can repeat our play from that time when we went eleven games unbeaten, we should be fine next season.

Svenska Cupen

Competition Performance: Group Stage

We performed dreadfully in the group, but we will get a chance to do better next year.

Squad

There is enough quality in the team to consolidate in the top half, with a few right additions here and there we could be even challenging for Europe.

Transfers - Finances

The winter wasn't spectacular, but the business we made in July shot us up at least one level. The signings of Perry, Soto and Cunningham allowed us to become a really decent team. That was a great transfer window for us. Oh, and Fonseca has also performed very well in the two games he's played.

Is there any money in this league at all? We're operating on a shoestring budget that makes it really difficult to make a difference on the transfer market. Only a really good European run could probably get us out of this mess.

Player of the Season

1st - Pavel Pribyl - a 7,17 rating despite 45 goals conceded really says it all. The guy is doing his best. Some of his performances between the sticks were out of this world. Yes, he also made a couple of blunders, but over the course of the season he's saved us loads of points, especially during our unbeaten run. Hopefully he still has more to offer.

2nd - Jan-Philipp Faltermeier - the surprise top scorer. Delivering 17 goals from 30 games on the left wing, the German won us a fair few games and more often than not provided great finishing to some wonderful crosses. And he's still 25, which means we're likely to see more of that next season.

3rd - Thomas Linnerud - the experienced striker didn't shine in every game, but when he did, he was a joy to watch, his backheel assist in the home game against Göteborg being the highlight of the season. 14 goals in the league isn't too shabby either.

Next Season

Realistically I think we could be aiming for 4th-6th. European places aren't out of the question as well.

[Rikulec]

Just a confirmation of what we already knew.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Good season all in all, obviously the defence needs some work still but you'd have have been in Europe if it wasn't for that bad run at the end, a few more in and you'll be challenging

[Rikulec]

Good season all in all, obviously the defence needs some work still but you'd have have been in Europe if it wasn't for that bad run at the end, a few more in and you'll be challenging

Thanks. Yeah, I'm reasonably happy, but we simply can't afford to do anything spectacular in the transfer window. Hopefully I'll do my best with the budget available.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2036 - GIF Sundsvall

Board Expectations:

Allsvenskan: Mid-table finish

Svenska Cupen: Group Stage

My Expectations:

Allsvenskan: We have to do better than last season, so 7th is a minimum.

Svenska Cupen: It would be nice to qualify from the group.

Budgets:

Transfer: £0

Wage: £21,537 (currently spending £21,529)

Balance: -£249,321