FM16: The Frozen Throne

[Gizmo7]

Thread name change - The Frozen Koln?

[ashton321]

Gutted to see you leaving Scandinavia but can understand the reasons why. Good luck in Germany

[Rikulec]

Thread name change - The Frozen Koln?

Nah, clever idea though.

Gutted to see you leaving Scandinavia but can understand the reasons why. Good luck in Germany

It was a tough decision to make, but I hope things will turn out well. It's certainly a step up, and that was a major factor.

[Rikulec]

Two screenshots to let you know what I'm dealing with here.

On one hand, our financial situation is dreadful. On the other hand, we have a quality squad that is packed with Germans. The plan? Simple - heal our finances while trying to transform the first team into an all-German one.

[Rikulec]

This should come in handy.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2046/47 - 1. FC Köln

Board Expectations:

Bundesliga: Top half finish.

DFB-Pokal: Quarter Final.

My Expectations:

Bundesliga: The first season at a new club is always a period of assessment. I just hope we meet the board's expectations.

DFB-Pokal: A decent run would be a nice bonus for us.

Budgets:

Transfer: £11,831,792

Wage: £1,062,133 (currently spending £972,158)

Balance: £22,455,422

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2046/47 - 1. FC Köln

Friendlies



A nice unbeaten preseason and a great morale boosting win at the end.

Transfers



Three reasons to be happy. We made a £20M profit, we cut our wage spendings from £1,1M to just £625K, and our squad now looks like this.

Sayed Dawood Faqiryar - a lot of money to spend on an 18-year-old, but I believe he could be the future of German football.

Milos Stolic - one purely for backup. His versatility might come in handy at some point.

Oliver Wohlert - really pleased with this capture. Wohlert brings in a lot of experience and quality and looks like he still has a couple of seasons left in him.

Mario Krsmanovic - quality German right backs are never cheap, are they? Gotta love his all-roundness and the ability to play on all positions on the right side though.

Rico Becke - the second centre back we've signed this window. He will start the season as number three, but he has potential to break into the first team if someone underperforms.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - August 2046 - 1. FC Köln

DFB-Pokal



Not a bad first game in charge.

Funnily enough, we struggled immensely to get anything past an Oberliga side Halle from open play, so we just resorted to banging the goals in from set pieces. In the 16th minute our talented right winger Benjamin Holz put a cross in from a corner and our legendary striker Dennis Knetsch opened the scoreline, heading the ball home. Twenty minutes later another corner, this time from Jorge Currás, was converted by a centre back Kai Heinzmann. What happened next was a rather unlikely event - two penalties and a 20-yard free kick allowed our right back Mario Krsmanovic to complete a hat-trick on his debut. In the 56th minute we made it 6:0 and we finally broke through, scoring from open play. Knetsch received the ball with his back to goal and confirmed his extraordinary abilities with a nice turn-and-shoot move. The next goal was another free kick though. A cross from Holz was headed on by Heinzmann and the other central defender Marc Leese got his name on the scoresheet. The final goal was was scored in the 76th minute. Substitute right winger Christoph Adolf (yeah, I know...) put in a wonderful cross for Tim Schwarz to tap the ball in from close range. What a way to start the reign at a new club, eh?

Bundesliga





Well, that wasn't a very warm welcome.

It all started in the 8th minute. A quickly taken free kick caught our defence off guard and Hendrik Bönisch put Bayern in front with a close range effort. Five minutes later they doubled their lead, this time thanks to Francisco Sepúlveda applying a classy finish to a quick counter attacking move. In the 32nd minute we found ourselves deep in the ****, or 3:0 down, however you prefer to put it. It was Sepúlveda again who found the back of the net, converting a square pass from the left wing. Some of our tears were wiped off in the 40th minute when centre back Rouven Flüchter gave us the consolation goal after a corner taken by Holz. We did try to put up a fight, but it was all over when Oliver Wohlert got himself sent off for a second yellow card in the 68th minute. Two more goals from Bönisch allowed him to complete a hat-trick and sent us plumetting right to the bottom spot in the table. Ouch.

[lewis999]

Unlucky with your first game but that's the hardest game out of the away. Some good signings there too and congrats on the all-german club. I hope to get somewhere close to that soon. Interested to see how you go about playing possession football in the Bundesliga. It's a hard league.

[Rikulec]

Unlucky with your first game but that's the hardest game out of the away. Some good signings there too and congrats on the all-german club. I hope to get somewhere close to that soon. Interested to see how you go about playing possession football in the Bundesliga. It's a hard league.

I'm currently trying out the same tactic that brought me the European success last season with Hobro, a rather simple 4-3-3. There's still not enough material to base any evaluation on though. As for the hardest game being out of the way, not really - in the next two games we're up against Schalke and Stuttgart, both regular title challengers. The schedule isn't very kind to us.

[lewis999]

I'm currently trying out the same tactic that brought me the European success last season with Hobro, a rather simple 4-3-3. There's still not enough material to base any evaluation on though. As for the hardest game being out of the way, not really - in the next two games we're up against Schalke and Stuttgart, both regular title challengers. The schedule isn't very kind to us.

Ahh yeah you are a lot further in front than me. Although Gladbach are very good on my game, Bayern and Dortmund as you would expect are still very, very good. Good luck with Schalke and Stuttgart then, sounds like you may need it.

[Rikulec]

He'll no longer be listed as German.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - September 2046 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





This didn't start well.

Schalke (or Gelsenkirchen, as the game insists on calling them despite my efforts to change that) were never going to be an easy opponent, that's for sure. And you could say we gave them quite a decent run for their money. This was a surprisingly even game, but the difference in quality was enough for them to come out on top. In the 20th minute Elliot Philippe put the hosts in front, having received a wonderful 40-yard pass from the middle of the park. We equalised six minutes later, Rouven Flüchter jumping the highest after a corner taken by Benjamin Holz. Our celebrations didn't last long though, in the 31st minute Kai Ermen made it 2:1, finishing off a wonderful passing move. We could have fought for another equaliser, but we kept giving the ball away in the attacking third, leading to quick counter attacks. One of them ended with Philippe doubling his goal tally in the 63rd minute, stripping us off any hope.

Stuttgart, on the other hand, was a complete and utter disaster from start to finish. Everything began in the 15th minute with a Renato Dirnei goal, the ball arriving from the right wing. Fifteen minutes later Flüchter commited a foul from behind in our own penalty area, resulting in two things - a straight red, and a penalty calmly converted by Yusuf Yaşar. And seconds before the break they made it 3:0, Jorge Wagner getting away from his marker in the box and finding the net after an indirect free kick. In the second half we somehow managed to keep them at bay, but never looked like doing anything more than that. What an awful performance.

The trip to Hertha was supposed to be easier than the previous three games. And well, we managed to bring our first point home. The opening minutes were quite even, but we came at them really hard from around the 20th minute onwards, which quickly resulted in a lucky goal from Tim Schwarz, who scored with the help of the hosts' goalkeeper and the goalpost. We looked really dominant for some time, but then the tables turned after half time. Suddenly we were a team unable to put three passes together again. We kept holding onto the result quite desperately, and of course we gave it away in the 90th minute. A stupidly aimed sliding challenge from Mario Krsmanovic allowed Kevin Marco to equalise from point blank range.

We received woeful news prior to the Dresden game. Both our goalkeepers were out injured, meaning we would have to play a greyed out one both in this game and against Düsseldorf. The match itself started wonderfully for us though - in the 4th minute a good cross from Benjamin Holz was met with a calm finish from Tim Schwarz. Despite grabbing an early lead we couldn't build on that though, and just before the break we allowed the visitors to equalise through Michele Tabanelli. We managed to get off to a decent start in the second half once again, and finally in the 63th minute Dennis Knetsch made it 2:1 with a close range header. Four minutes later we lost Abdul Quansah to a second yellow card though, and things got complicated. With ten men and a terrible goalkeeper, we simply couldn't hold them off. Maik Adrian equalised in the 77th minute and fifteen minutes later Durmuş Öztürk gave the visitors a win after a corner kick. Balls.

The Düsseldorf game was the worst kind of 0:0. There's not much to talk about, as not much really happened on the pitch. Neither team deserved to get anything from that. Our situation was made even worse though, and I can see the board's anger hovering over my head.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - October 2046 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Honestly? I have no idea why.

We started the month with a home game against our bitter rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach. To be fair, I thought we would be up for another hammering, which would possibly put my job in serious question, but actually the opposite happened. Suddenly we started to look like a proper football team. We absolutely dominated the first half and, after some wasted chances, finally got in front in the 40th minute through a wonderfully placed effort from just outside the penalty area by Tim Paterok, who was celebrating his 125th game for the club. Four minutes later we doubled our lead. Benjamin Holz took a corner from the left side and Johannes Eigler got away from his marker to head the ball home from ten yards out. Gladbach got one back in the 84th minute through Maurizio Montebelli - their goalkeeper with the assist, Kai Heinzmann at fault for missing the ball mid-air - but four minutes after that we scored the final goal. A nice passing move ended with Tim Schwarz finding Thomas Gabel with a perfectly timed through ball and the striker finding the net with a classy effort. What a way to end such a miserable run we were on.

Next up, Bremen. Tough opposition on paper, but they turned up with a surprisingly weak side. We fully deserved to drive home with three points. Once again we waited until the dying minutes of the first half to open the scoreline - in the 43rd minute Dennis Knetsch received a difficult pass from Paterok, but proved his huge class by unleashing a perfect tight angle left-footer that went in right under the crossbar. We kept pushing on, but then were caught in the break. In the 75th minute Dominik Ehlert was left unmarked after a drilled cross and did what everyone expected him to do. Luckily we only got started then. Five minutes later Knetsch doubled his goal tally with a nice header and after further six minutes Christoph Adolf grabbed the last goal of the game, Johannes Eigler with both assists. Two wins in a row! Who would have thought?

We balanced on a very thin edge of frustration against Leverkusen. A strong start we made couldn't stop the visitors from getting in front with their first attack of the game in the 9th minute, Adam Masson with the goal. In the 29th minute Tim Schwarz equalised by placing the ball in an empty net after a failed clearance, but just five minutes later we got caught by a cross once again and Robert Brandstetter made it 2:1 to Leverkusen. And once again we kept the fans waiting, but rewarded them for their patience. In the 77th minute Abdul Quansah netted an equaliser with a nicely executed header from Oliver Wohlert's free kick and seven minutes later Schwarz scored his second goal of the game with a wonderful power strike from the left corner of the penalty box. And thus, we climbed out of the relegation zone all the way to the 11th place. The only way is up, surely?

DFB-Pokal



Of course.

My habit of playing weakened teams in domestic cups has bitten me in the arse once again. This time it was a 2. Bundesliga side Paderborn who proved to be too strong for our second (well, first and a half) string. The first two blows came in very quick succession. The visitors got in front completely against the run of play in the 20th minute through Alexander Baierl's goal, and less that sixty seconds later Milos Stolic got so frustrated that he decided to go for an early bath by picking up his second yellow card in a very silly situation. We managed to fight back and equalise in the 33rd minute - Abdul Quansah with a drilled cross from the left and Thomas Gabel with a close range shot - but that was all. Our horrendous finishing combined with Paderborn's clinical shots put us where we are. It was a night to remember for their striker Christoph Fromme, who grabbed a hat-trick, scoring three goals between the 64th and 74th minute. All coming from close range tap-ins following crosses. Yes, we were that bad.

[Rikulec]

Just for the record.

[nie jem frytek]

Could you post your history screen, please? I mean that one, where all your clubs will be listed?

[Rikulec]

Could you post your history screen, please? I mean that one, where all your clubs will be listed?

This one?

[nie jem frytek]

Yeah, this one.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - November 2046 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Could have been better.

Let's face it. Despite a poor start to the season, Dortmund are one of the top sides in Europe at the moment and, given how early on we are in our development, they were always going to give us a spanking. The experienced wingers of their 4-4-2 were unstoppable, but it was the striker Tim Girth who became the hero. In the 6th minute he opened the scoreline following an inswinging corner from the left. Oh, have I already mentioned wingers? In the 31st minute our left back Johannes Eigler was sent off for a second yellow card. Ten minutes later Girth made it 2:0 with a close range strike. The hat-trick was completed in the 52nd minute, this time we failed to deal with a cross from the right side. Tim Schwarz gave us a very slight hope six minutes later - Dennis Knetsch with the assist - but less that two minutes after that we got silenced by a goal from Edu. As I said, this was simply bound to happen.

Changes were made following the Dortmund trip. Most importantly, the wingers have been retreated to MR/ML positions. And it worked... maybe not wonders, but it definitely worked okay against Bochum, admittedly one of the weakest teams in the league. Don't let the scoreline mislead you - we were dominant like never before. Only a wonderful performance from the visitors' goalkeeper Godwin Ekpeyong prevented them from conceding much more. Most notably, he saved a penalty taken by Mario Krsmanovic in the 32nd minute of the game. I was getting more and more frustrated with time, but finally the 73rd minute came and we got bailed out - Abdul Quansah put a drilled cross in from the left wing and Thomas Gabel managed to get away from his marker before scoring with a first time effort. Huge sigh of relief was let out.

Oh, did I say frustration? And do you remember when I faced Mainz in the Champions League back at Hobro? Well, it all comes back. We were the better team, with 61% possession and more good goalscoring opportunities. But we kept fluffing them into stands, sometimes in a very embarassing fashion (missing an open goal from eight yards out, for instance). The first half played out at 0:0, but we got off to a strong start after the break, and finally broke through - in the 53rd minute Dennis Knetsch pulled off a wonderful individual run before slotting the ball home with a classy effort from a tight angle. Yes, that's exactly what we're paying him £115K p/w for. Wasting absolute sitters after that is not. Of course, if you don't take your chances, the other team will. Between the 59th and 72nd minute we conceded from three counter attacks. First Pipoca grabbed a brace for himself and then it was Kai Bernhardt who scored the final goal of the game. Mainz, I'm getting real tired of your ****.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - December 2046 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Have we already found our sweet spot in the table?

As one of the top teams in the league, Wolfsburg are certainly not an easy opponent. The result might suggest that we gave it a good go, but that was true only for like twenty minutes or so. We fell behind early on to a Linus Wache goal early on, but in the 19th minute we managed to equalise - Benjamin Holz played a short pass into the area and Dennis Knetsch surprised the goalkeeper with a powerful volley aimed at the near post. We couldn't follow up on that though, and Wolfsburg grabbed the steering wheel. In the 39th minute a goal from Vincent Koné sent them back in front, and shortly after the break Wache doubled his goal tally, which saw us trail by two. The only answer we could manage was a quick counter attack in the 77th minute that allowed Knetsch to face the visitors' goalkeeper and slot the ball past him. We weren't bad, but we weren't good enough.

The Ingolstadt game went pretty much as the scoreline suggests. Both teams shut each other out, there were a couple of chances on both ends of the pitch, but none of them was a real sitter, and eventually no one managed to find the back of the net in this rather disappointing draw.

We finally managed to grab three points against Hoffenheim, but it was a schoolbook definition of a scraped victory. Or maybe hard fought would be a better phrase. In the first half we had more of the ball - much more, in fact - but struggled to break through the visitors' condensed defence. Finally we managed to do so in the 35th minute. Marc Leese delivered a powerful cross from the right wing and Benjamin Holz scored his first ever goal for the club, calmly placing his shot out of the goalkeeper's reach. We couldn't keep up our level of performance after the break, and resorted to holding off Hoffenheim's attacks. To make our situation even worse, in the 75th minute Rico Becke picked up a silly red card for a ridiculous two-footer in the middle of the park. With some help from our goalkeeper Lukas Reichert and the linesman flagging for offside where our last line of defence failed, we held on though. We held onto an extremely important victory.

The players just refuse to go easy on me and actually play some decent football. Against Kaiserslautern we were once again losing the ball in seemingly easy situations, simply giving it away and then not organising ourselves at the back quickly enough. To add to my frustration, we conceded both goals from set pieces. In the 12th minute Moha made it 1:0 after a free kick from the right wing, absolutely no one marking him right in front of goal, about five yards out. And in the 57th minute a corner kick led to the hosts doubling their lead through a header from Ismael that took a deflection on its way to the back of the net just before Reichert flapped his hands in an effort to catch the ball. I guess this save attempt could serve as a perfect summary of our performance.

Hannover were... simply, they were beatable. And we proved so in the very beginning of the game - in the 3rd minute a beautifully constructed passing move through the middle ended with Abdul Quansah receiving a nice through ball from Oliver Wohlert and calmly slotting his shot past the rushing goalkeeper. Seriously, left backs with more clinical finishing than strikers seems to be a thing on this version of FM. Everything was going well right up until the 47th minute. Christoph Adolf lost the ball on the right side of the box, leading to a corner, but guess what? Dennis Knetsch decided to throw a hissy fit about it and claim a foul, for which he picked up his second yellow card. Way to go, star. Even more funnily, karma came back to bite us in the backside in the 72nd minute when Kai Heinzmann actually commited a foul in our own area, allowing Jannis Drewes to equalise from the spot. Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?

[Rikulec]

This brought a smile to my face.

[lewis999]

Not the worst start to the league mate, only halfway through. What's your boards expectation and media predictions? It's quite a tight league, a few wins on the spin and you will be in the top half.

[Rikulec]

Not the worst start to the league mate, only halfway through. What's your boards expectation and media predictions? It's quite a tight league, a few wins on the spin and you will be in the top half.

The media predict us to finish 8th, the expectation is to finish top half.

[lewis999]

The media predict us to finish 8th, the expectation is to finish top half.

Ahh you'll do that I think. Only 4 points off that and only 3 off the top half.

[Rikulec]

Ahh you'll do that I think. Only 4 points off that and only 3 off the top half.

Well, here's hoping. Cheers mate.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - January 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Friendlies



All about fitness.

Bundesliga





No surprises here.

We made some progress in comparison to the previous clash with Bayern though. Of course, we were once again pushed against the wall and dominated, but at the same time we looked relatively dangerous on the break and managed to get the ball in behind a few times. Our stronghold fell in the 35th minute when a foul commited in the penalty area by Abdul Quansah led to Francisco Sepúlveda opening the scoreline from the spot. And the Chilean was just getting started. In the 63rd minute he made it 2:0, beating Lucas Reichert in a one on one situation, and in injury time he completed his hat-trick with a close range header. As I've already said, we had a couple of good chances, but ultimately failed to put a decent challenge together. Sometimes you just come across a team that's too good for you.

[Rikulec]

Just look at these numbers.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - February 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Fantastic month and we creep into the top half.

To be honest, I wasn't too hopeful ahead of the Schalke clash. I made some tactical changes following the Bayern game, hoping to make the team more compact and dangerous on the break... and it worked! I would even take a risk and say that it was us who were the better team in the first 45 minutes. No goals were scored, but we managed to create a couple of really good opportunities to get something in. And then the 49th minute came. Oliver Wohlert played the ball in from a corner, Kai Heinzmann jumped the highest and he managed to find the back of the net with a wonderful header. That seemed to have woken the beast up - Schalke started to look more and more dangerous, but a good defensive display followed by a fantastic performance from Lukas Reichert ensured that three points would stay in Köln.

Next up, another high-flyer - Stuttgart. Even though we had more of the ball (55-45% possession), the hosts had the real advantage and we were extremely lucky that they missed the target completely in two wonderful, almost open goal opportunities they managed to create before the break. Still, it was nowhere near the hiding we received from them in our previous meeting. We actually managed to stand up to them. It took them a true moment of amazing flair to finally break through our back line - in the 76th minute Max Aures was allowed to turn around with the ball about 20 yards away from our goal and immediately unleashed a powerful driven strike right into the far bottom corner. To everyone's surprise though, we responded to this absolute belter of a goal in just a minute - a cross from Mario Krsmanovic reached Dennis Knetsch on the near post, and our top scorer knew exactly how to deal with that. A fantastic point to steal.

Hertha was the first game of the month that I had actually expected us to win. And it wasn't a beautiful game. We had the advantage, but the visitors' tight defending ensured that we wouldn't get close enough to the danger zones to actually create some goalscoring positions. We resorted to hopeful shots from rather hopeless situations. But you all probably know how these games like to be settled - set pieces, that's right. In the 58th minute a corner taken by Abdul Quansah landed dead on the head of Rouven Flüchter before bouncing off the crossbar and landing just behind the goal line. That was the third goal of the season for our centre back and the third game without defeat in a row for us.

To round the month off, we travelled to Dresden for a potentially tricky tie. And we got off to the best start possible - once again we used a set piece to break through, Knetsch scoring from Tim Schwarz's free kick in the 7th minute. The hosts didn't take that too kindly though, and they came at us furiously. Finally in the 28th minute Patrick Neubert pulled off a wonderful individual run, starting next to the touchline and ending it right in the middle of the box before beating Reichert with an unstoppable strike. The pressure didn't loosen at all right up until the break, but we somehow managed to hold on. And then we punched straight away - in the 46th minute a clever pass from Krsmanovic was converted into a goal by a brilliant effort from Sayed Dawood Faqiryar just outside the congested penalty area. Ten minutes later everything was done and dusted - a through ball from Schwarz reached Knetsch making a perfectly timed run, and the striker calmly scored in a one on one situation. Ten points from four games, who would have expected that?

Youth Intake



It's been a while since I've seen such a good one!

Necati Kara

Richard Stemmer

Antun Scrbec

Tom Bernertin

Friðrik Þórir Jóhannsson

[ashton321]

Cracking month there pal. Hopefully you continue the climb up

[Rikulec]

Cracking month there pal. Hopefully you continue the climb up

Thanks, we've finally started to look like a proper football team, let's see where this is going to take us.

[lewis999]

Much better month and you're well on your way up now, well done on turning it round mate.

[Rikulec]

Much better month and you're well on your way up now, well done on turning it round mate.

Cheers Lewis.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - March 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Another good month allows us to consolidate in the top half.

The game against Düsseldorf strugglers looked easy on paper, but we all know how they sometimes like to turn out. This time though it was a classic 2:0 game, with one side easily in control over the events on the pitch. We opened the scoreline in the 38th minute. Christoph Adolf put in a low cross from the right wing, the ball took a slight deflection and Dennis Knetsch tapped it into the net from point blank range, the goalkeeper barely troubling him. We could have scored much more than that, but resorted only to doubling our lead through Mario Krsmanovic's penalty in the 50th minute of the match. Still, we cruised to a confident victory without any real trouble.

A week later we travelled to Mönchengladbach for a prestigious derby game. And we couldn't have asked for a better opening - the clock read 17 seconds when Oliver Wohlert received a cross from Benjamin Holz on the right wing and placed the ball in the back of the net. How about that for setting the scene early on? We followed up on that in the 24th minute, and what a follow-up it was. Krsmanovic received the ball outside the box and carried it for a few yards before unleashing an absolutely unstoppable strike that went in just under the crossbar at the near post. The power on that was just incredible. Sxiteen minutes later we made it 3:0, and it was a whole other kind of a beautiful goal - we overloaded the box and simply played around the Gladbach defence with quick short passes, which ended with Abdul Quansah scoring in a one-on-one situation. The hosts responded to that just a minute later with an Amar Singha Roy goal, but that was all they could muster. Another classy win for the Köln outfit.

Next up, Bremen. It was quite an important game - a victory would have pushed us closer to 7th and allowed us to dream about snatching a European spot. And it turned out to be a definition of a scraped victory. The first half was rather uneventful with 0:0 on the scoreboard. We finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute of the match, and once again it was Quansah who proved his extraordinary attacking ability, this time rounding off a nice attacking move with a composed finish from just outside the six yard box. From then on we were extremely lucky to keep a clean sheet. The visitors had a few great chances to equalise, including a situation where Lukas Reichert performed a miraculous double save to keep us in front. We got what we wanted though, and at the end of the day that's all that matters.

And finally, Leverkusen. This wasn't a game of two halves, but a game of two parts. The first one, lasting for exactly half an hour, was us absolutely dominating the game and barely allowing the hosts off their own half. In the 24th minute we grabbed the lead, Dennis Knetsch converting a through ball from Oliver Wohlert. Six minutes later the turning point came though - we were presented with a wonderful opportunity to double our lead, but Krsmanovic smashed his penalty kick right at the goalkeeper. Leverkusen sniffed their chance and equalised just three minutes after that, with Johannes Berg converting a cross from my old friend, Waleed Ibrahim of Hobro fame. It was also exactly the same duo that produced the 2:1 goal in the 53rd minute. To make things even worse for us, Wohlert got himself sent off in the 82nd minute, pretty much reducing our chances to zero. And that's how many points we got in the end.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - April 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Holding onto 8th is the aim now. Four games to go.

We might have lost to Dortmund, but we gave them a really good go. There were no goals before the break, and neither team emerged as the better one. We had our chances, but kept getting denied by good goalkeeping or poor finishing. The deadlock was broken in the 56th minute, and it was a goal for the visitors - a cross from the left was converted by Syahrul Lubis. We didn't take long to respond though - four minutes later Dennis Knetsch headed the ball across the area for Benjamin Holz to tap it into the net from close range. Dortmund had the final say though. In the 74th minute poor marking from our defenders allowed Malte Niemeyer to beat Reichert in a one-on-one. It was a respectable performance from us overall, but one that left us hanging.

Our only victory of the month was against Bochum, and it was a damn hard fought one. I made the mistake of underestimating the opposition, and it backfired - in the 26th minute Daniele Basile put the hosts in front, following us failing to deal with a seemingly simple through ball. That woke us up a little bit, and seven minutes later we grabbed the equaliser. Armin Bastians set up Knetsch with a nice pass and our striker knew exactly what to do when he faced the goalkeeper. Seconds before the break we conceded once again though. Oliver Wohlert, who had been playing terribly beforehand, ended up putting a clearance in the back of our own net after a corner. And then we waited. We waited excruciatingly long. In the 90th minute we finally brought things back level - Knetsch was rather lucky to have the ball land on his head after a long hoof, but once it happened, there could be only one outcome. And just as I was starting to be quite happy about that, Marc Leese attempted a powerful 25-yarder with one of the last kicks of the game... and ended up netting an absolute belter! Needless to say, there were scenes in my room.

Mainz will just always be Mainz. We might batter them, have 57% possession and almost three times as many shots as them, but they only need to come in the near proximity of our goal to immediately make me tear hair out of my head. Sacha Lorentz put them in front in the 21st minute with a very unlikely goal from a tight angle - Reichert could have done much, much better - and nine minutes later Niklas Eibeck volleyed the ball home after a cross from the left wing. We kept trying, creating chances and taking decent shots, but nothing would go past their bloody goalkeeper, who casually decided to play an absolute blinder between the sticks. Looks like our bogey team is being born right in front of your eyes.

The Wolfsburg game was a whole different story. This time it was us who were battered, and we fully deserved to lose. Their star striker Damián Martínez opened the scoreline in the 18th minute of the game, the assist coming from the right, no one really marking the scorer on the far post. Ten minutes later we found ourselves 2:0 down after Reichert ended up punching Cabeção's cross into his own net, the goal going to the Portuguese for some reason. Wolfsburg grabbed the third in the 54th minute, this time it was Alessandro Bolognesi who put his name on the scoresheet, finishing off a nice individual move from Martínez. Our only answer was a Benjamin Holz goal in the 72nd minute, Bastians with the assist. We were simply not good enough, but this defeat was always to be expected.

[Rikulec]

He's certainly working hard for his legendary status at the club.

[flash0]

Fingers crossed you can hold onto 8th mate.

[Rikulec]

Fingers crossed you can hold onto 8th mate.

Update will be out in less than an hour, so you'll find out soon.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - May 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





And we did it, just.

The Ingolstadt win was probably much more confident than I had felt while playing this particular game. We grabbed the lead in the 21st minute. Benjamin Holz was brought down on the right side of the penalty area and Mario Krsmanovic performed the execution to break the deadlock. From then on we dominated the game, but struggled to bury any of the chances we managed to create. I was getting more and more afraid that the visitors would catch us on the break and deny us the win. Luckily we managed to double our lead as late as in the 88th minute. Tim Schwarz found Dennis Knetsch with a perfectly timed through ball, and our top scorer finally made it 2:0 with a calm finish in a one-on-one situation.

Next up, Hoffenheim, or how to give away points in a really stupid manner. We were the better team right from the start, but simply couldn't apply the finishing touch to any of our attacking moves. And then we got frustrated. Or, to be more specific, Sayed Dawood Faqiryar got frustrated. In the 41st minute our defensive midfielder got himself sent off for a silly two-footer in the middle of the park. Sometimes I just struggle to understand the logic behind some of these tackles. Of course, this irresponsibility had to be punished. In the 57th minute a drilled cross sliced through our defence and Ibrahima Asante - a striker that is almost sure to become the future of German football - found the net from close range. Despite playing with ten men, in the final minutes we managed to put real pressure on Hoffenheim, creating chance after chance, but simply nothing went in. Balls.

We had twice as many shots as Kaiserslautern, but while they were deadly in front of goal, we struggled with our finishing once again. Falling behind to a silly goal early on probably didn't help either. In the 11th minute a corner arrived into our box, the initial shot rattled the crossbar, but the rebound from Tobias Gustavsson was a very easy one for the visitors' striker. We managed to respond to that seven minutes later - Dennis Knetsch fought hard to win the ball on the edge of their penalty area, and immediately unleashed a powerful strike down the bottom corner, out of the goalkeeper's reach. That was a really classy strike from our star player. The following minutes weren't kind to us though. Five minutes before the break a poorly aimed tackle from Abdul Quansah allowed Dennis Buse to put the ball in an abandoned net. And finally in the 57th minute Gustavsson doubled his goal tally after a low cross from the right wing. Poor marking and poor goalkeeping at this one. Not that it really mattered anyway.

In order to get back to 8th - the Kaiserslautern defeat sent us one place down - we needed to achieve a better result away at Hannover than they would at home against Bayern. Our game wasn't your typical 0:0 borefest - both teams had their chances, with us probably creating the better ones. As you can see though, nothing went in. It wasn't a big problem - Bayern won 4:1, with great help from the amazing Francisco Sepúlveda (43 league goals!). And so, our target for this season has been met.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Review - 2046/47 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga

Results

Competition Performance: 8th

Long story short, we met the board's expectations and the media prediction. 8th is certainly not a bad result in my first season in charge of a Bundesliga club, but I have a feeling that we could have done better than that. The awful start we made certainly didn't help. I'm confident we're going to do better next season.

DFB-Pokal

Competition Performance: Second Round

The less said about the Paderborn game, the better.

Squad

Bags of potential in this group of German youth. It's a shame that Krsmanovic decided to play for Serbia though.

Transfers - Finances

We made a very tidy profit, and brought some quality into the squad. I'm happy with our summer business.

Cutting the wage budget in half (from £1,1M to just £600K per week) has worked wonders for our financial situation. We should be safe now.

Player of the Season

1st - Dennis Knetsch - our top scorer, club legend, and probably the best player we currently have on our books. 15 league goals is his worst result since 2041 though, and I believe I can get much more out of him next season, now that I've finally figured out how to put this team together.

2nd - Tim Schwarz - what an exciting prospect. Some amazing attributes at 20 already, and he's been a key player for the side this season. I'm confident he's going to develop further and be really decisive in our upcoming campaign.

3rd - Abdul Quansah - moving him to the left back slot has worked really well in our 4-1-4-1. He's a constant danger bombing forward, using space created by the wide playmaker. On a few occasions he also proved his goalscoring ability. What a player to have, and he still has room for development.

Next Season

With a couple of additions to the squad, I hope we can challenge for the European places.

[Rikulec]

Since we have the money, why not max things out?

[Rikulec]

Wings of fury!

[Rikulec]

We say good bye to a long-serving club legend this summer.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2047/48 - 1. FC Köln

Board Expectations:

Bundesliga: Europa League qualification

DFB-Pokal: Quarter Final

My Expectations:

Bundesliga: The expectations seem a bit harsh, but if our new signings prove their quality, I can see us meeting them.

DFB-Pokal: Not really important.

Budgets:

Transfer: £13,127,053

Wage: £786,569 (currently spending £606,810)

Balance: £19,634,563

[Rikulec]

]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2047/48 - 1. FC Köln

Friendlies



A busy pre-season was carried out well.

Transfers



My favourite way of doing business.

Maxym Romanenko - I swear he was German when I signed him! Apart from that, his quality combined with versatility will surely come in handy for us.

Kai Ermen - if he lives up to his attributes, he'll be a game changer for us. I'm thrilled to have snapped him up, he has everything it requires to take us to another level. What a capture.

[lewis999]

Brilliant finishing position their mate. Also some world class free transfers, especially Ermen. Did you approach to sign him in January?

[Rikulec]

Brilliant finishing position their mate. Also some world class free transfers, especially Ermen. Did you approach to sign him in January?

Thanks for the comment as always. I've been trying to sign Ermen since January, yes, but I was only able to do so when budgets for this season were announced at the end of May. He was unhappy at Schalke and kept rejecting their offers, and for whatever reason nobody else tried to snap him up.

[lewis999]

Thanks for the comment as always. I've been trying to sign Ermen since January, yes, but I was only able to do so when budgets for this season were announced at the end of May. He was unhappy at Schalke and kept rejecting their offers, and for whatever reason nobody else tried to snap him up.

Ahh right, very surprising but very good for you, he looks fantastic. I think you will get top 5 this season.

[Rikulec]

Ahh right, very surprising but very good for you, he looks fantastic. I think you will get top 5 this season.

If we can get all our players firing, I see no reason why we shouldn't. Cheers mate.

[Plumber]

You seemed to have had some good luck with those signings pal. Fingers crossed next year will be your year

[Rikulec]

You seemed to have had some good luck with those signings pal. Fingers crossed next year will be your year

Thanks, I was really lucky with the transfers indeed.