FM 21 - Tromsø IL

[SimpleFM]

Europe...

Breezed passed Sutjeska 11-3 on aggregate and now head to play the runners up from the Romanian league Viitorul Constanta. They look far better opposition so will need to be on our game.

Erlien scored 4 goals on his return to the first team, he played in the position vacated by Wallem

Edited January 22, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

Transfers...

I got greedy and spent some cash, I read an article online about Albert Braut Tjaaland. Hes the cousin of Erling Haaland and scored lots of goals, infact he scored 64 goals in 37 matches for Bryne  during his youth career before moving to Molde. The same path as his famous cousin. Hes not as good in FM as Erling was at the same age, I've also bought him when hes 19 so missing a few years of early development as well. He looks like he can at least be very decent player for this league, hes tall and moderately fast, just like his cousin. I will be giving him games straight away.

The other transfer was a 16 year old winger who could play straight away for Tromso, his personality sucks but we can try and change this. At 16 hes got plenty of upside and room to grow.

I felt guilt pushing the club back into debt again but I am really hoping we can make the group stages of the EC2. Call it an all in approach.

[SimpleFM]

August 23...

August was a huge month of games, there 9 in total and we had to rotate around heavily.

Our Conference League adventure continues, we totally thrashed both Viitorul and Zorya to make it through 3 rounds so far, we are now into the group phase. I actually really enjoy this competition in the early stages of playing a small team, you get to play some different sides and travel to odd locations.

We scored lots of goals in August, there was 3 games in a row of 6 scored, the good part is the goals are coming from all over the pitch, everybody is stepping up and we are running very hot. During the month of August we scored a total of 43 goals and conceded just 9.

Nice little cushion at the top now,  also a fairly big gap opening up in the top 4 to the rest of the league. I honestly thought Bodo/Glimt would be really strong this season but they are struggling a little but I am most surprised with the form from Odds, they have shot up from almost nowhere this season and have finished 6th, 11th and 6th against last season.

I am very happy with how most of the squad is playing

Steffen Lie Skalevik has been sensational for us, kicking on his form Sarpsborg last season and his fellow Sarpsborg alum Simen Nordli has been equally as good for us.

Vegard Erlien, he stepped in the spot left by Wallem and we didnt miss a beat. Hes scored 11 goals now and is back to the player from the promotion season where he scored 20.

Transfers...

Sadly some things happened beyond my control with transfers as the board accepted 2 bids and the 3rd was too good of a price to say no

We hit almost 3 million in debt and on the very last day of the window the big fish came knocking and we lost 2 players who were very important and another who will leave as the end of the season but was also equally as important to us.

Not happy to see any of the 3 leave, at least we managed to get Dortmund to add in a loan back and all 3 transfers have profit from sale clauses

As always in football, its the next man up!

Players OUT...

 

Elias Solberg - He was just starting to show his talent as well, he leaves after 13 games, 5 goals, 5 assists and 7.39 rating this season

 

Sigurd Gronil - He was in super form as well, he leaves with 17 games, 8 goals, 16 assists and a rating of 7.58 this season

 

Jakko Ronko - I was happy Dortmund was kind enough to let him finish the season here at least and the price was too good for me to say no. I will work out how I am going to replace him when the season is over, we might have an inhouse solution and Forsberg is good enough to be first choice and was actually playing better than Ronko to begin with.

Players IN..

I was not totally unprepared for Solberg or Gronli to leave, they had been wanted for ages but I thought we might have got away with it on the last day of the window. I was sadly mistaken.

I had been tracking the player stats down in the OBOS-Ligaen and Anton Saletros was the leading assists  and most key passes down there, he is yet another player from Sarpsborg to join us. He will offer nice cover and helps the loss of both my centre midfield pairing.

Finances...

Looking far healthier here, we are well under the wage budget as well. The transfers added in around 11 million and we banked a further 2.5 for making the Conference League Group stages.

While the sales are going to hurt the club in the short term, there is no doubt we can turn these funds into good players and a more of them to really help build the club up from the bottom.

Edited January 22, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

Club Updates...

I set about using some the new funds to make some improvements around the house

Pushed up both Youth Recruitment and Academy Coaching

I've also had the board agree to allow more coaches, we can finally have more than 2 and work on specialised training and schedules with decent coaches.

Then we needed a new face to run the upgrades

Maxim Savostin will join as our new HOYD, hopefully he can be the key to unlocking some high quality youth prospects. Hopefully not too many Russians!

[SimpleFM]

Europa Conference League...

Feyenoord will be tricky, they won the first every version of this trophy.  I fancy to get a few points in the other games, a few wins would be great so we can collect the 175k per win fee.

Our stadium the Alfheim Stadium is sadly not big enough to host games, so  we are going to rent and play games down at the Aker Stadium the home of Molde, you need a capacity of 8000 and we dont have that so we will be playing in Molde for this campaign.

Surely there is a stadium between Tromso and Molde that can hold 8000?

I will be asking the board to expand the stadium, maybe we can get them to add the required 1500 seats so our fans are not asked to drive 19 hours south to see us play.

Edited January 22, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SixPointer]

Just catching up on this. Amazing progress with tromso. I club I toyed with before choosing Odd. Signed a lot of similar players. Very interesting to see wallem doing well. I’ve had him out on loan. 
 

must say am enjoying your save will be following from now on. Best of luck 

[SixPointer]

Big fee for gronli as well. I managed to pick up for free when he’s tromso deal expired 

[SimpleFM]

8 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Just catching up on this. Amazing progress with tromso. I club I toyed with before choosing Odd. Signed a lot of similar players. Very interesting to see wallem doing well. I’ve had him out on loan. 
 

must say am enjoying your save will be following from now on. Best of luck 

I've been following your save in Odd as well, has made this season interesting as I feel like I am playing against your save for the title.

I also noticed we signed similar players, kind of to be expected when shopping local. There are some good players, I have no problems signing a good solid older veteran as well.

Waiting for a batch of good regens to come through.

Wallem was good this season, had been quite before before but I think this was his breakout year and he got a big move as a result.

Gronli was a sad loss, he was on fire before the sale but I knew this would come so I try to get targets in mind ahead of time. 

 

 

[SixPointer]

9 hours ago, SimpleFM said:

I've been following your save in Odd as well, has made this season interesting as I feel like I am playing against your save for the title.

I also noticed we signed similar players, kind of to be expected when shopping local. There are some good players, I have no problems signing a good solid older veteran as well.

Waiting for a batch of good regens to come through.

Wallem was good this season, had been quite before before but I think this was his breakout year and he got a big move as a result.

Gronli was a sad loss, he was on fire before the sale but I knew this would come so I try to get targets in mind ahead of time. 

 

 

Think this is my year to give gronli the number ten role. He has a decent loan spell at haugensund 

[SixPointer]

9 hours ago, SimpleFM said:

I've been following your save in Odd as well, has made this season interesting as I feel like I am playing against your save for the title.

 

 

Haha like the idea of it. You play at lot faster at the minute but does make it interesting 

[SimpleFM]

2 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Think this is my year to give gronli the number ten role. He has a decent loan spell at haugensund 

I couldn't get him to work as a 10, he played better deeper but he does appear to be a natural 10.

[SimpleFM]

2 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Haha like the idea of it. You play at lot faster at the minute but does make it interesting 

I have a few days off during the week and usually power through. 

How is Albert Braut Tjåland on your save? He's the cousing of Erling Haaland and he's banged in the goals since I bought him.

 

[SixPointer]

52 minutes ago, SimpleFM said:

I have a few days off during the week and usually power through. 

How is Albert Braut Tjåland on your save? He's the cousing of Erling Haaland and he's banged in the goals since I bought him.

 

He’s not has a game yet. I only Just got him this summer. Yeah haaland cousin. Couple of the people I work with in Norway are molde fans. And the reckon he is actually better than what Erling was 

[SimpleFM]

August 23...

Form dipped a little, we drop a big game to 2nd place Odds but redeem that with a win against Standard in our opening game of the EC2

Again beat Bodo/Glimt and make the final of the cup, first chance to win some silverware. New signing Tjatland was great in this match with a brace and Hes really coming along nicely.

Still maintaining a lead on the table, the loss to Odds was annoying as it would have put us 9 clear, with 8 games to go we should still be favourites for the title. We will have to play many of the top 8 in our last few games and with EC2 games also coming fast and in-between as well.

Edited January 23, 2021 by SimpleFM

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice reading this and seeing how you compare with Odd in the other thread. The region has some great young prospects for sure.

The Eliteserien is a league I looked carefully at but have never managed in (did a year at AGF Aarhus in Denmark instead). 

Good luck.

[SimpleFM]

Norway...

I have still been playing away as Norway manager in the background.

Its been a breeze so far, I am yet to lose a game. I took charge before the 2-0 win over Turkey in September 2022. We didnt manage to make it out of the Nations League B as the damage was done and Sweden made it up.

In the Euro Qualifiers, we breezed through what was a fairly easy and simple group in all fairness.

I will at least be playing the Euros when they come around, I will see if we stick longer than that. I do find managing both club and country slightly annoying. I would also like to see if some of my Tromso players can earn callups without me calling them up. I have yet to use a single Tromso player anyway but it adds a nice little layer of progression when you can see your players earn call ups.

Still around 6-7 months to work out who will make the squad, for now its simply get the ball to Haaland

Edited January 23, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

October 23...

Back to Tromso and club football

Fatigue and a few injuries were a factor at the start of this month, I rotated in a 2nd team VS Viking and we were thrashed. It didn't help either, we lost 2-0 to Feyenoord but in truth we also played very well but failed to score.

Picked up 3 more wins from 4 to complete our fixtures for October.

Albert Braut Tjaland had a fine month, hes pushing for a more permanent starting spot.

There is 4 games to go now, we are very close to our first title. The 4 point lead over Kristiansund could actually be 1 point  as we will play them in our next game. This could be the most important game of the season.

Edited January 23, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

November 23...

Champions of Norway!

The draw vs Kristiansund had me a little worried but we then win 2 straight and secure the title with a game to go. I didnt want to push it for the last game,  we have to play Bodo/Glimt in that match and then Brann in the Cup final straight after, it was key to secure the title and rest players ASAP

Fantastic achievement in our 3rd season in the Eliteserien!

We are also doing very well in the EC2, thrashing Panathinaikos away and taking a nice draw away to Standard, we will play Feyenoord at home for top spot in the group in our final game.

 

[SimpleFM]

December 23...

Brilliant finish to the season, we bring home the Cup and thrash Feyenoord at home to take first place in the EC2 group.

Great season and great finish as we secure a double and secure a passage through to the 2nd knockout round.

Some really standard out performers in our historic double season

Steffen Lie Skalevik - New signing, was signed to lead the line and score us 20 goals and he achieved this with 24 and added 7 assists as well.  Does have Albert Braut Tjaland breathing down his neck now to take his place but is good enough to lead us to glory again next season.

Vegard Erlien - Bounced back his season, initially he was a bench player but when Wallem left he was asked to step in again, he finished with 16 goals and 9 assists

Simen Nordli - A another new signing, he really added something for us  in the problematic AM position, hes the first player to really make the position his own.

Poul Kallsberg - Looking to be a break out season for Kallsberg, he exploded with 15 goals, he could have had more than 20 if his finishing was better, hopefully more of the same again next season

Axel Wallenberg - The new left back was superb, he led the league in assists! Hes still only 22 so I am hoping he can improve a little more as well. Great first season in Norway.

Bjorn Inge Utvik - How 3 players from Sarpsborg who were relegated the season before made my best best performances list is a mystery. Utvik was a rock in defence, he played the most games of all my players as well.

Club Updates...

Asked the board to upgrade the facilities and they obliged, we had a decent standard anyway but moving up a level is surely only going to help the longer term project we are looking to create.

[SixPointer]

Nice work mate. How did tajland get on? I’ve got him this season but no played any games yet am still licking my wounds from loosing title 

[SimpleFM]

5 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Nice work mate. How did tajland get on? I’ve got him this season but no played any games yet am still licking my wounds from loosing title 

He finished with 9 goals in 10 starts, had a few sub appearances as well. 

Still only 20, so just need to keep giving him runs and he should develop into a very good player for this league. I dont see him getting close to his cousin

[SimpleFM]

Pre-season 24...

After the highs of last season, its time to build on that and go again.

The media thinks we are going to be close to defending the title, they have installed Molde as our main challenger. Kristiansund will be better and higher that the 6th place they are being assigned, they have been super solid this save

Transfers IN...

Did all my first team transfers from the local market this window, we spent a fair amount of money as well, we are trying to really cement our status in the league and also become the first team to go back to back. There has been 4 winners in 4 seasons.

While most of the team last year was great, we lost a fair bit of quality in the middle of the park and we set out to sign the best 2 local CMs that were available.

Also right on the limit of 9 foreigners with 8, so it was important that we only signed Norwegian players for the first team.

Joshua Kitolano -  Great talent and nice signing for us, also at 2 million he has re-sale upside. Still not exactly sure what his best position is, we will be asking him to play CM and working on the exact role.

Edvard Tagseth - A player I like, I wanted to add some work rate to the middle, he had been playing very well in Rosenborg in a deeper role and we will ask him to play with a little more freedom to dictate so I expect he should contribute to goals and assists

Erlend Reitan - A sold pro, had a few good seasons at Rosenborg, we needed somebody to replace Ronkko and Reitan will suit that need. Also a good sign we can poach players from a club like Rosenborg.

Sondre Hove - A very young talent that we can work on for a few seasons in the hope he can become a star for us, he is a little shorter than I would have liked  so I will ideally look at improving his jumping reach and heading.

Adam Stromberg - He cost me a lot for a player his age based in Norway but I feel he could be bargain in the making, has great teamwork and work rate and can play straight away. He will however have wait his time behind Wallenborg

Players OUT...

Nothing too exciting or noteworthy that left, sold off a few players to promote others and open space to the new guys.

There was a large amount of players who let us on loan, they will continue their development. I am interested to keep an eye on Vegard Blattmann, he goes back to Sarpsborg where he scored 21 goals to fire them into 1st place and promotion up the league last season.

Here is how we lined up for the 2024 season

Good depth all around, hopefully the break out seasons the players had last season can go on further this season. We will also look to spread the load around more, I have more faith in the squad than last season so hopefully fatigue and injuries is less of an issue

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

Here we go again!

Can we retain the title? sneaky run in the Europa Conference League?

How will our Champions League adventure go?

March 24...

I was unware there was a super cup in Norway, we were drawn against Kristiansund and just like against Brann, we didn't come with out best performance in a cup final. Still though, we get a win and add a 3rd trophy

We were drawn against Rangers in Europe, much to my surprise we skipped passed them

We also open up with 2 wins and a draw in the league.

next up is FC Utrecht, we avoided some of the better teams in Werder, Zenit and Arsenal

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

April 24...

Was looking bad after the 1-0 home loss to Utrecht, so I decided to rest everybody against bottom club Sandnes and they thrashed us 3-1..

However it worked, we came out fired up and thumped them 5-0 on their patch. Our reward is Arsenal.

Defence of the cup also started, I dont really care about this anymore so we play rotation squad in both matches and win through on both

[SimpleFM]

May 24...

What a pulsating tie we had against Arsenal, the 3-3 away game had me excited. In the end, their class shone through and they win by scoring the winner in the 89th minute....so so close. We missed a chance to make it an all Scandinavian final as well.

Arsenal would go on and win the final, they thrashed Kobenhaven 3-0 to win.

We have a new European challenge on the horizon now, we will start our Champions Path games to the group phase in July and we need to build form and cohesion. 

Back in the domestic front, we have a great run in the league winning all 5 games this month.

 

[SimpleFM]

June 24...

Well June was an interesting month, we lost to bogey side Stabaek form nowhere again, then send out a 50% fist and 50% reserve side against Stromgodset in the quarter final of the cup and lose that.

I am not too stressed about losing that game, we have bigger games coming and honestly I didn't want to have more games

With a game in hand we are 2 points clear, Kristiansund are yet again just hanging around the top, we have a push from Brann as they continue to build. What is more interesting is seeing last seasons 3rd place side Odds are in the relegation zone, they lost thier manager in Bernd Schuster who left for Getafe after guiding them to 3rd last season and winning a couple of trophies in his few years there. Also Rosenborg are also finding life very hard,  I would assume them losing both Tagseth and Reitan to Tromso is not the reason for their poor form?

Edited January 26, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SixPointer]

How’s reitan playing? I’ve got him in this summer. Was transfer listed. 
 

Loving how tight the top 4 is. Also great to see the mighty Rosenberg struggling. 

[SimpleFM]

July 24...

7 games in June and 7 games we win.

In the league, we win all 4 games and win them comfortably. Starting to assert our class in the league and hopefully we can pull away, I ideally would rest players before Champions League matches.

We started our Champions League campain here in July, first up was Finish Champions HFK Fotboll. They lost the single game all of last season so I was expecting it to be harder than it was but we blasted them of the park. Next up was the Champions of Luxemburg, we predictably win that and even easier than the first tie against HFK.

We now have to play Austrian Champions Red Bull Salzburg, this will be a test for sure. While they also only lost the single game all last season as well, they have far superior players to HFK and also Tromso

Edited January 26, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

6 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

How’s reitan playing? I’ve got him in this summer. Was transfer listed. 
 

Loving how tight the top 4 is. Also great to see the mighty Rosenberg struggling. 

Hes solid, hes really not a going forward type fullback but hes great at locking down his area. He does have 4 assists in 19 starts. His competition Forsberg has 8 assists and 2 goals.

Your boy Kitolano has been the disappointing signing, Hes not offered much, not sure how to get the best from him

[SimpleFM]

August 24...

Big month for Tromso coming up

Firstly, Champions league and oh boy we played beautiful.

RBL are dispatched 4-0 in Norway, not sure ive seen us play that well. They did manage to get us 2-0 in the way game but the game was tight and I felt the 2-0 was flattering to them. So next up and for a place in the Group Stages, we play Kobenhaven, the finalist from the Conference League. The Danish giants won the Danish Supaliga last season and lost 3 games in doing so.

Again, we turn it on when it matters the most, easily and very easily dispatching the Danish giants. We are now headed to the group phase! We probably wont win a game, this season was about making the groups and banking the almost 14 million for doing so.  If we can grab 1 win, then we can add another 2.5 million to the bank balance. We are also playing home European games at Lerkandal, the home of Rosenborg. This is netting us some handy gate receipts along the way as they can fit almost 22k fans into their stadium. I was at least happy we played the early rounds at home in Tromso, our fans could finally see European games at home home

In the league, we thrashed a very struggling Rosenborg, draw to a new bogey side Sandnes, they beat us last match and get a draw here and do so while sitting rock bottom..whats up with that?

We did lose a big game to Brann, I was torn with this game as it was after the loss to RBS and 3 days before the huge game against Kobenhaven. As as result, I decided it was ok if we lost, I would make back those points later so I sent out a team with returning injured players and 2-3 first 11 players.

We are now 5 points clear, with 9 games to go. Its a little tighter than I would have liked but I am confident

Rotation is the name of the game for us, we rotate players all the time based on what is ahead. We had to make Champions League progress.

The battle to lead the line as been fun, we have young gun Tjaland and old vet Skalevik. I have been favouring the veteran in bigger games. I think Tjaland needs another year to build his consistancy as he can be very very hot and then vanish for games, at least with Skalevik, hes always around the box and ready to score if he has a chance.

Nordli and Kallsberg are my two little gems, Nordli playing AMC is the perfect little player and Kallsberg, despite his less than desirable attributes is our leading scorer with 21 from left wing.

At the back we have Wallenborg, the Andy Robertson of Sweden. He continues to supply the goals, I have been trying to bed in Stromberg as his backup but not having the same success.  On the right side, Forsberg has a higher rating and a few less assists and is a key player for us. I am not sure why hes not as converted as Wallenborg is.

New and former player Virtanen has slotted back in perfect, in his 9 games since returning he has already played better than Karlstrom, he might have to stay there as well.

I should also mention Tagseth, playing well with his 7.18 rating and chipping in a few goals and assists but its more his work rate and defensive work that I have noticed. He is willing to drop deep and harass players, I've seen him defending on the wing and fullback spots. Hes the little engine.

Transfers IN...

Our number 1 GK and current captain was also injured during this period. I had no faith in back up Haug (I actually released him when I signed Virtanen)

So we turned to former player Virtanen, I didn't want him to leave when he did as I always thought he was super solid. He returns for free, very likely he could take back the number 1

Also, I spotted Jon Ivar Bentzen, a super raw talent but somebody I can see something in. We spent a fair amount of money to get him over as well, I will probably find a way to play him next season. We have shown faith in 16-17 years old before, no reason that should change. 

Transfers Out...

I let Saletros leave, made back the money we spent and he was not playing games so win/win for everybody

We also accpeted a huge bid of 11.25 million for left back Wallenborg. A player I didnt want to leave but being realistic, Tromso would not turn that down. However he decided playing in Belgium for Standard was not happening and he promptly rejected them

Finances...

Boy that Champions League money really helps, it will be club defining.  Infact, if we do that again for the next 2-3 seasons and dont win many games then its probably also ok. Need to think bigger picture, I want to keep upgrading the facilities, I would love to get more seats in our stadium so we can play at our real home and this money is enough to keep us as challengers in Norway.

Edited January 26, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SixPointer]

6 hours ago, SimpleFM said:

Hes solid, hes really not a going forward type fullback but hes great at locking down his area. He does have 4 assists in 19 starts. His competition Forsberg has 8 assists and 2 goals.

Your boy Kitolano has been the disappointing signing, Hes not offered much, not sure how to get the best from him

Think I used him as a mezzala but tbh I’ve toiled with CM this year. Even Jorgensen who is one of the best young talents in Norway not going. But I am however trying to play a completely different way to I normally do by playing counter attacking style. 

[SimpleFM]

Norway National Team...

A very quick update on how the Norway job went.

I have resigned from the position as promised after the Euros, this was always my plan regardless of how we went. I wanted to concentrate more on club football. I think I did a decent job of turning around their form and tried to install the new generate players.

I wont rule out coming back at some stage if the chances comes or maybe I will take a job with another Scandinavian country but for now, its about Tromso and punching it with Europe's elite.

Games Managed - 24

Games Won - 20

Games Drawn - 3

Games Lost - 1

European Championship Semi Final - Our only loss

They would go and beat Spain 3-2, the same Spanish side we thrashed in the group stages. Might have been a missed opportunity. We played far better than 4-1 shows, Haaland went missing in this game and we couldnt find the back of the net.

Some of the new generation who made thier full international debut under me, these are the sorts of players we need to find in our local market.

Sivertsen - A player we had on loan at one stage when he was 17, a product of the Kristiansund youth academy. Hes now playing for Juventus but has been out of loan

Isak Hansen-Aaroen - Its sad because hes such a good player, he was a product of the Tromso youth academy, he moved to United the window before we took charge. He is the standard of player we wont to bring out of our home youth system

Emil Ceide - Scored on his debut in my first game in charge, was dominate in the Norwegian league, has since gone and moved to Bologna

 

 

 

 

 

[SimpleFM]

Champions League...

At this stage, any group draw would have been tough so no matter who we pulled it was going to be an uphill battle. At least there was no tier 1 mega clubs in our group, all 3 home ties should be sold out as well, this will bring us more income again.

Benfica and Milan both finished 2nd in their leagues last season and Valencia finished 3rd.

I would love to get 1 win and 1 draw, this would had significant funds to our bank balance, allow us to improve the squad and try and get 2 wins next year.

[SimpleFM]

September 24...

First game of the group phase and we pull an amazing 3-1 victory away to Benfica, most satisfying as their manager claimed before the match it was going to be an easy win.  

3 from 3 in the league, we are 10 points clear of Stromgodset who are having a fantastic season, their main forward Erlend Hustad has been scoring goals all over the place.   They look like good value for 2nd place as well right now and we will play them in October, looking to avenge the loss in the cup where they knocked us out and with a victory over Tromso again, they can bridge the gap as they also have a game in hand.

 Brann and Kristiansund fell well behind, at the bottom Rosenborg and Odds have started work it out and move slowly up the table.

Kallsberg scored 6 goals this month, he now holds the record for most goals in a season for Tromso.

Transfers IN..

I had some concerns over fatigue and injuries so made a loan move to give us cover, hes on expensive wages but only here till the end of this season

He might be one of the most high profile players to grace the Eliteserien.

His physicals are gone but he will only be asked to play in positions and roles that require little movement and will just be cover from the bench.

Edited January 27, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

October 24...

Jeez October was a rough month

We lost a tight one away to Milan, then lost in a top of the table clash to Stromsgodset.

Valencia then rolled into town and dominated the game.

We did thankfully win 2 games in the league, we just 3 games to go we are 7 points clear at the top. Looking like we will go back to back. I am secretly happy to see Sandnes at the bottom of the table, they took 4 points from us.

We sit bottom of our Champions League group, as expected to be fair. At this stage our best chance is looking like we will need to do the double over Benfica but they also have won a game as well.

I was not paying attention but Tjaland has made his full Norway debut now, he scored his first goal against Greece, the new manager has installed a 2 forward system playing 5-3-2  and he has been playing next to his cousin Erling Haaland up front for their country.

They are currently top of their Nations League group with 1 game to go. They can still miss out on promotion, they need a result against Denmark in the final match

 

 

[SixPointer]

Flying again! What tactics to you play with? 

[SimpleFM]

34 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Flying again! What tactics to you play with? 

A pretty simple 4-2-3-1, wide, positive and pressing. 

I can't really get the 2 x CMs to play how I want yet. 

[SixPointer]

13 minutes ago, SimpleFM said:

A pretty simple 4-2-3-1, wide, positive and pressing. 

I can't really get the 2 x CMs to play how I want yet. 

I had the same issue last season with my Cm's in my 352 variations just finished pre season so ready to go.

 

[SimpleFM]

November/December 24...

The conclusion to the season.

Only 1 thing went to plan, that was winning the title and retaining the league, we did have to limp over the line as well. We lost to Haugsund, then beat Stabeak and Odds to win it.  We finished with less points than last season, so we went backwards in a way.

We had some serious issues with injuries, suspension and fatigue really hurting us this month. We might need a bigger squad.

In the Champions League, Valencia thrashed us again, we couldn't repeat vs Benfica at home. Still a long way behind these teams in terms of class.

It came down to the final game against Milan, the winner would take 3rd and place in the Europa League. Again they best us and win 2-1. In the end, we make the 4 points I wanted to get and we take some positive from this first campaign.

So we win again and we will run the Champions Path gauntlet to make the groups, we need to do that so we can ensure progression

Odds and Rosenborg have just done enough to stay up and this season we also see a new top 3 formed. Stromsgodset had a great season, they have a great forward in Erlend Hustad and he scores lots of goals for them, infact he was the leading scorer in the Conference league last season. 

Kristiansund and Bodo/Glimt have really gone backwards this season.

Some big decisions to be made this off season, we have a little cash in the bank and will look to improve. Might be quality vs quantity window.

We still wont stand in the way of good sale for the club, if we get a bid that is well above the value then the player will be allowed to leave.

Goalkeepers...

Virtanen is superior to Karlstrom between the sticks, he will take number 1 for now. There is a decent looking youth player that came in through the last intake, he might be getting a look this season.

Defenders...

Need to make some moves here, I think 2 of our Centre Backs will leave, I want to keep hold of Wallenborg and Forsberg if I can. Stromberg has really struggled to backup on the left but thankfully we have a decent rotation option with Reitan having a decent first season in Tromso.

I still feel like our defence is the weak link, either the players or the system we are playing. 

Midfield...

Tagseth was great for us in the middle, he was the only real standout for us in these positions. On the flip side, Kitolano was super disappointing, hes a good player so its likely I am not helping him and we need to find a role for him, he is however wanted and it will be hard to turn down a decent offer at this stage.

Kovalainen is another enigma, he does not offer us much at all, would be player we would sell for the right price. The 4th and last of the midfield rotation quartet is Laribi, on paper he looks super but still yet to see the best of him, he is also wanted but I would like to keep him

In the AMC postions, Nordli was a clear star for us, he added 17 goals and 6 assists. This is exactly what I want and expect from this position. Due to the form of Nordli, it was quite hard for Skibsted to get a game, I need to get more games under his belt this season because he does have some talent and should look to bring him along.

Attack...

Next season will be the year Tjaland is our clear main forward, hopefully he can bring some consistency with him, he looks like he could score 30-40 goals in this league. I dont want to let Steffen Lie Skalevik go, he was decent again with 15 goals, his physicals are now gone however, so I might bring in another and use him as 3rd option for the Cup etc

Outwide, leading goal scorer Kallsberg was the main star, he scored 28 goals for us. Granted he did also score a few penalties as well but its a good result from him.  On the other side, I managed to get 27 games into Erik Osterdahl, so next season he is going to be the preferred starting player for this spot, there is some interest from Europe's elite clubs, if he goes then hopefully its very large offer.

No complaints about the backups, Solli was decent, Erlien also played well. I think as long as they are all happy to stay then we have no issues going with them again for another season.

The board has finally agreed to add some seats to the stadium, a good result for Tromso and a direct reward for the Champions League run that bought in 16 million to the bank.

This still wont be enough to host Champions League group games.

Edited January 27, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

Pre-season 25...

A busy window but only 3 major singings for the first team, the focus was more on cleaning up the 2nd, 3rd and Under 19s teams and moving players on

I also spent some time upgrading coaches, organising the staff correctly and doing some general house keeping on the club.

This will be season number 6 at Tromso, a quick recap of how its all gone

Just remember the domestic season runs from March/April to December of the year it starts, we actually play European football at the end and start of a new season in Norway. 

2020 Season - Won promotion to the Eliteserien with 1st place in the OBOS-Ligaen (Molde were the Champions)

2021 Season - Finished the season in 5th place, nice return to the Eliteserien (Valerenga were the Champions)

2022 Season - Finished 3rd, qualified for European Conference League and made it to the Semi-Final but lost to Arsenal (Kristiansund were the Champions)

2023 Season - Finished in first place, first attempt at the Champions League and finished bottom of our group. Had to clear 4 round of qualifying to do so. 

2024 Season  - Finished in first place, again will attempt the Champions League in 2025 and again will run through 4 stages of qualifying to do so. TBA on end result

Transfers IN...

Only 3 of the below players are for the first team, the other 2 are just youth regens to take a punt on and see how they turn out.

Gustav Palmquist - A local Norwegian born in Norway but has decided to represent Sweden instead. He cost a fair amount of money but I am hoping he can turn into the leader of our defence. 

Filip Nilsson - Another Swedish regen with Afghanistan 2nd nationality. He has a few issues, his work rate is poor and his personality is fickle but I've had success in changing and improving those on players, hopefully he can do the same.

Andeas Linde - Looks to be bargain for his price, as a goal keeper he should be in the prime years. He is another Swedish player to join our ranks. At this stage, it would appear hes going to be our new number 1 but will give it a good go to see who wins.

Transfers OUT...

A large number of players departed, sent a few of the first team out and moved out the youth prospects who were deemed to be not good enough.

I agreed to let Captain, Jacob Karlstrom leave because he came and suggested to me he would like a new challenge. I felt bad as he was likely going to be demoted to number 2 and felt it was the right thing to do.

His departure means we have none of the original starting squad left remaining in Tromso.

Here is the full squad for the new season, with more departures from the first team vs incomings, I have decided to promote the best of the youth and see they go.

I will do a full team breakdown in my next post

I've also played the Mesterfinalen game vs Lillestrom

Back to back wins and 6-0 is a new record score for this game.

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

Tromso Squad Review...

I thought after 5 seasons, it would be a good time to do a full review of the entire squad. 

The Goalkeepers...

Andreas Linde - Our new signing, adds experience and has been capped once by Sweden, will be given first chance to be our new number 1

Osto Virtanen - A new/old signing, we bought him back to the club after selling him and 2 years playing in Denmark. Was signed as emergency backup on his return but quickly reminded me why I was sad to see him leave the first time.

Felix Ytternes - A Tromso academy product, was almost set to be our number 2 before I saw reason and signed Linde. He will spent this season on loan as the First Choice for newly promoted Kongsvinger. Should be an interesting player to keep an eye on.

The Fullbacks...

An area of strength in the squad!

Axel Wallenborg - Our star left fullback and assist machine, has added 29 assists in the 2 seasons hes been here. There was an accepted bid of 11 million last season but he decided to stay with us.

Adam Stromberg - The deputy to Wallenborg, has yet to show any decent form but hes still only 17. I am hoping there is at least another 2 years before he has to move into the starting spot, all depends if Wallenborg stays longer. There is limited depth in Scandinavian football at this position.

Lucas Forsberg - Has been with us since we signed him season 1, he gets higher ratings than his left fullback counterpart Wallenborg but adds less assists and goals.

Erlend Reitan - The most experienced of the fullbacks, does nothing great but also does nothing bad. I dont notice him to be honest, thats not always a bad thing and hes just a solid pro.

Centre-Backs...

Gustav Palmqvist - New signing, he started every game for 2nd place Stromsgodset last season and I expect he will do the same for us. His determination is a lower than I would like but he has good growth room in most other areas.

Filip Nilsson -  The 2nd new Swedish import. Needs to work on a few stats, hes on intensive training now but I am really drawn to his height and jumping stats. He will get quite a few games this season in the view to him being the most regular partner to Palmqvist next season.

Sondre Hove - Still young and still working on his development, he made 19 appearances last season and should be around the same this season. Its just a shame his height is not the greatest.

Bjorn Inge Utvik - The reliable veteran, coming into his 3rd season with Tromso, he will have to split his starts with Nilsson this season but I suspect he will give the same solid output as per usual.

Centre Midfield...

It still an area in our tactic play that I am working on getting right but we have a few options here now. I usually run a rotation of 4 players in this area but for this season, we are going use 5 to help balance out the fatigue that seems to hurt us at the backend.

Edvard Tagseth - The leader and most experienced of the midfield players, had a great first season in Tromso. His energy and work rate are good key attributes, he scored 8 goals and had 7 assists last season. I would ideally like him to get to around 10 of each this season. Would start all games but he has injury issues and due to his role, gets a few cards.

Joshua Kitolano - Not sure what to do with Kitolano, I couldn't get anything from him at all and hes a small problem. I see him as a CM but its possible he should play further up or in a wider position. There has been some interest in his services, I wouldn't stop him from leaving.

Anton Kovalainen - Another player who I am yet to get the best from, i think I will try and give him 1 more season with us and see how he goes. Last season was the best of the 5 years hes been here so its possible that with age he will get better. Is currently wanted by a few clubs but his value is too low for what I value him as if we were to sell.

Zahir Laribi - On paper, Laribi is our best midfield option but hes also yet to really fulfil that ability. I am wondering if its because I re-trained him from playing winger to CM.  Hes still only 20 so has plenty of upside, I am trying to improve his finishing stats but they refuse to budge on that.

Jon Ivar Bentzen - Jon is a player I think can be the future of our CM positions, I was going to leave him in the under 19s but I've made the decision to move him up and get him games. I will aim for around 10 games this season. His physical stats are poor but hes only 17 so should have a growth spurt at some stage.

[SimpleFM]

Tromso Squad Review...

Continuing from the last post, trying to show the entire squad and depth we have at the moment.

Attacking Midfield...

Simen Nordli - Attributes wise hes not as good as his stats show, he does everything we ask of him with goals and assists. Should be hitting his prime years how, no plans to replace him just yet.

Kristian Skibsted - The potential future to this position, I am guilty of not giving him enough games but this season we will change that.  He has the potential be even better than Nordli as well.

Wide players...

I play various roles out wide, depends who is starting but its usually IF/IW or a variation of that. I will be looking to upgrade the depth in this area, I would like to have some very good quality players here, its an important position in the way we play. Kallsberg does his part and gets goals but I need more from the right hand side.

Poul Kallsberg - Superb player for us, his finishing attributes are low but does not appear to stop him.  Hes a wizard on the free kicks as well.

Erik Osterdahl - Our first wonderkid, not from our academy but still looks a prospect, he will be our starter on the right this season. Hes also 2 footed and this is perfect and very valuable to the tactic and role.

Sivert Solli - Reliable backup, does what I ask and I cant really complain. He will be a player I need to upgrade and find quality at depth for.

Vegard Erlien - Same story as Solli, just a good back up, hes not going to win us Champions League games but helps with rotation. Does still score the odd goal and is serviceable.

\

The Forwards...

I only play 1 up front and usually only run with 2 in the squad but I am going go with 3 for this season.

Albert Braut Tjaland - This will be his first season as our main forward, now a full Norway International as well.  His physical stats are catching up to his cousin Erling Haaland so I am praying he can improve his technical to match as well

Steffen Lie Skalevik - The veteran, I was thinking to sell him but he did so well for us in first season and fired us to our first Championship and then added another 15 goals last season. Was big for us when Tjaland was out of form and I think he can be an option again.

Davio Sverrisson - I've promoted Sverrisson to the first team, he spent the last 2 years on loan with Odds and did ok. He actually scored a ripper of a goal against us to win a game for Odds as well.... there was some interest in his services on top of that and we rejected a 6 million offer. 

How it all comes together...

Still have some roles to work on, I think the left CM role is good now and just need to get the best combination going with his partner. I really need to work out what I need or want from that position to be begin with, its like a Carrillo style role is what I need.

Upfront, not set on the poacher and sometimes use AF and CF, I think Tjaland can play most roles so once he settles in then it will be good.

I am happy with Shadow Striker now, I did use AM for a long time but with SS he seems to pop up in the box in better positions. 

At the back, well this year we have an all Swedish back line and GK, defence has been improving season on season and I think we go into this year with the best players yet since we took charge.

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SixPointer]

Jorgensen flying as roaming playmaker. And Aas got 5 in 5 playing shadow striker. Will have a update the morn. 
 

Mini haaland has had a couple of good games and a big goal. He Has developed very well For You!
 

lovely squad you assembled in the 5 years. Loving your local bias like myself 👍🏻

tactical very well balanced simple But clearly effective 👏🏻

Edited January 28, 2021 by SixPointer

[SimpleFM]

3 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Jorgensen flying as roaming playmaker. And Aas got 5 in 5 playing shadow striker. Will have a update the morn. 
 

Mini haaland has had a couple of good games and a big goal. 
 

lovely squad you assembled in the 5 years. Loving your local bias like myself 👍🏻
 

Still both on my radar, they are optionsif a player leaves. Likely Kitolano or Kovalainen leave then I will have space

I've had an annoying start to the season, I am getting too many bids on players and its making them unhappy. I will sell but the big clubs think because its Norway they can get a bargain. Red Bull Salzburg offered me 1.1 million for mini Haaland... hes got 16 goals so far. Stupid bid but he was sad about it.

At the moment there is 13 players with 'wanted status' in my first team. So about 50% of the squad..

 

[SimpleFM]

8 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

tactical very well balanced simple But clearly effective 👏🏻

Still something not right with it,

I was conceding too many goals with players dribbling up through the middle, so I narrowed the defence and tried to block the middle. So then the AI started going wide, now they cross like David Beckham and players with heading attributes of 9 and jumping of 11 are scoring headed goals in the box. 

I am now trying to use 1 of the CBs as a man marking CB and sticking to the opposition forward. Using Nilsson as hes tall has good aerial. lets see how that goes.

[SimpleFM]

April/May 25...

The new season is well under way, fairly decent start as well.

We have our usual early season wobble, dropping the home game to Viking and then playing out a 3-4 loss to Valerenga.

The defence still seems shaky, I am looking at a balance of keeping our attacking churning along like it is and trying to have a few clean sheets.

Erik Osterdahl has been in fine form to start us off, hes lodged 9 goals already.

[SimpleFM]

June 25...

Nothing much to write about here, a couple of league wins and 2 simple wins in the Cup games.

Really nice to see Fredrikstad back in the top league, they have worked their way up from the 3rd division,

With nine league championships and eleven Norwegian Cup wins, Fredrikstad is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football and was close to being the side that was chosen for this save.

Club matters...

More upgrades, continue to improve on and off the pitch.

The last few intakes have been rubbish, hopefully moving up another level will change that as well.

Around the league...

Norway on the move, we gain enough points to move up 4 places. This means we can skip a few rounds in the Champions League qualifying path. Assuming we win the title again. The good news is that now another team will have chance to also go on a run and earn some extra funds.

Still a long long way to go before we can secure automatic group stage places.

[SimpleFM]

July 25...

We seem to just have these random losses to sides in us, also I find the AI loves to score goals in bunches. They score 1 goal and then they score 3 in 7 mins. Feels like it anyway as we lost at home 3-2 to Lillestrom, a side we just thrashed 6-0 2 months ago.

We bounced back with good wins over Rosenborg and Kristiansund and down the bottom of the table we see Molde are struggling bit time

Our Champions League run started here as well, a rather tougher than expected tie against Sheriff Tiraspol, I expected us to win far easier than we did but the Moldovan side were stern opposition.

Next up we have the Greek Champions Olympiakos and we better be on our game more in that tie or we wont be making it through.

Edited January 28, 2021 by SimpleFM

[SimpleFM]

August 25...

Champions League Group stages here we come!

Was not the cleanest of runs through the qualifying, last season was far easier but we do enough. The reward is a group of death with Barcelona and Man City, I was hoping to get 5 points this year and improve on last year but we might have to settle for a 3 point target.

In the league, other than the ugly top of the table clash with Valerenga, it was a smooth sailing month.

Transfers OUT...

Also this month, 3 players left us. 

Only 1 of the 3 was a player I wanted to leave now but thats how it goes. Kitolano was just not working for me, I couldn't get a position to work and he never scored above a 7 in the ratings so we decided to double our investment and cash in.

Steffen Lie Skalevik, I was ok with him playing a few bench and sub appearances but he was not and wanted to keep playing so we agreed to let him leave.

The big departure of Forsberg was something I really was not happy with as hes been superb for us but 15 million is too much to turn down

I chose to not bring anybody in..

I will continue with Davio Sverrisson as our backup forward, hes done pretty well from the bench when needed and I promoted a player from the under 19s . Emil Palsson can give us cover at right back and looks good enough for now.

Erlend Reitan will now be our main option at right back and in truth, hes played far better this season compared to the last and I dont think it will be too bad.

We now have 38 million in the bank, thanks largely to the sale of Forsberg and making the group stages of the Champions League.

 

[SimpleFM]

September 25...

Great start to the Champions League, thumped by Brugge 4-1... going to be a long campaign. We did however manage a smart 1-1 draw with Man City at home.

Kongsvinger, despite being dead last in the league did find themselves in the semi final of the cup and they proved to be difficult as only a penalty saw them off.

All systems go in the league, we are 10 points clear and 9 games to go. Looking good for our 3rd straight title as expected. At the bottom, could we see giants Molde relegated? Brann also are not safe either..