FM21: BODØ / GLIMT - We will make the northerners proud.

[MattyLewis11]

After only being promoted to the top-tier of the Norwegian pyramid three years ago, FK Bodø/Glimt finished 2nd in the Eliteserien in 2019 and managed to go one better IRL wining the league in 2020. 

Bodø/Glimt won 26 out of the 30 matches whilst only losing once, finishing on a total of 81 points. 19 more than second placed Molde. Achieving this feat by scoring 103 goals and finishing the season with a positive goal difference of 71. As FM21 starts with the 2020 season my first challenge will be to attempt to replicate the sides success by securing the first Eliteserien title.

Bodø/Glimt have a very clear strategy within the club with some very specific KPI's to ensure that the club is committed to put young players into the team;

1. 40% of players within the first team will be of north Norwegian background

2. 15% of players will be under the age of 23 and will have come through the clubs existing academy structure. 

These KPI's underpin what the club is striving to achieve, I will ensure that the existing strategy is adhered to. 

The Squad

After conducting a thorough analysis of every player currently at the club, I have created the above to help show the depth at the club and also help me when selecting the squad, given the fact that I have minimal knowledge of the club. 

The Eliteserien

Glimt's vision is to give northern Norwegian players the opportunity to play in the Elite Series and the best European leagues, the reason for this becomes very apparent when looking at the map of Norway, as you can see Glimt are the only representative in the top tier from the north of the country. 

Aligning with the vision of the club, I will look to prioritise recruiting youngsters for the academy who come from northern Norway, with the view to develop players for its own A-team and for games at a high national and international level. 

Key Players

Bjorkan will look to provide attacking threat down the left-flank, at times where we are struggling to break down a low-block the wingers (IW and IF) will hopefully come inside into the half-spaces, during this scenario Bjorkan's role will be maintain width positioning himself high and wide. His Stamina (14) and Work Rate (16)  are high enough to ensure he has the aerobic capacity to run up and down the flank, whilst his Crossing (13) and Dribbling (13) should make him an effective outlet to either progress the ball up the field or provide a key pass from wide.

Berg will operate as the pivot in the side DLP (De), we will look for him to drop in between the centre-backs to receive the ball during patient build-up. As attacks progress, Berg will hopefully move up-field and makes himself available as a continuous outlet for the recycling of possession. Passing (14), Technique (12) and Vision (13) paired with Anticipation (15) and Decisions (15) should no doubt make him effective in this role within the team.

It could be argued that Bodø/Glimt historically have lacked a true #9 type top-quality striker, securing the signature of Kasper Junker looks like it has rectified that void. Junker can best be described as a complete forward who can be a fox in the box if needed (Off the Ball 14, Anticipation 15), but also highly efficient in the air as a target man (Aggression 14, Strength 11) .

 

I hope you enjoy the save, you will be pleased to know that I have set the autosave function to a rolling (weekly) three file autosave. 

In the next post I will cover a little about DNA and also the tactic which we will be using across the save, I will be spending the next few days going over setting up scouting/staff and pulling data together to add to excel...love it! 

 

References

https://coachhall.substack.com/p/fk-bodglimt-2020-season-tactical

https://blog.wyscout.com/bodo-glimt-analysis-wyscout/

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/bodo-glimt-what-can-norway-learn-defensive-phase-tactics

https://blog.wyscout.com/bodo-glimt-analysis-wyscout/

Life in Norway Show

FK Bodø/Glimt: The title-winning story with Ben Wells

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by MattyLewis11

[john1]

Good luck

[MattyLewis11]

Thanks @john1 I hope you get to follow along, will release a post with a little more insight into the DNA, never managed in Norway, the emphasis on youth is going to be exciting. 

[MattyLewis11]

As promised, before we kick off with the pre-season schedule I thought I would provide a little more insight into the club DNA/Identity which I will be adopting for the save.

The club have a very clear mission statement ‘ to make north Norwegians proud’ (hence the name of the save). in order to establish the clubs identity it was essential to gauge what factors would make north Norwegians proud! 

The club took the time to drill down on this question by speaking to a wide range of stakeholders stemming from club legends to fans and members of the local community, the outcome was captured in the following three key pillars.

1. Hard Work - like all clubs, every club want to work hard, for Bodø/Glimt that transmits to the ability to graft hard and win the ball further up the pitch as the side adopts a intense pressing game. For FM purposes players will need to have a high Work Rate, the team currently lead the league in relation to the averages on the comparison tab on the analyst report with a high of 13.81.

2. Bravery – a trait which was essential for older generations, essential for survival in the barren lands of north Norway, taking this and transmitting it into a footballing identity has made the club strive to play an open style of football (Brave). The club would favour winning a match 5-4 over a 1-0 victory.  what it needed to survive in Norway, open style of football, rather win 5-4 than 1-0. Taking this concept into FM I feel the side will need to have excellent attacking abilities, particularly off the ball movement - which means that individuals need to excel at Off The Ball and Composure in order to be able to move into useful positions off the ball to either receive a pass or create space for teammates to exploit. 

In terms of the team mentality, I will not be allowed to move the custom setting lower than positive, regardless of opposition or score line.

3. Seize the moment – the final core pillar is for players to always be present in the match and be mentally strong. The coaching strive strive for their players to be effective in controlling the controllables. For FM I am looking at players who have strong mental attributes, particularly a high Focus (Composure/Concentration) to ensure they can stay in the moment. 

 

 

[john1]

Very interesting DNA you have set up  Looking forward to see how this pans out  

[theBlackPrince]

Always love a Scandinavian save, not quite got there myself yet but will be following on as I tend to always enjoy the outlying clubs such as these in any leagues!

[MattyLewis11]

5 hours ago, john1 said:

Very interesting DNA you have set up  Looking forward to see how this pans out  

Will drop the tactic into here tomorrow mate along with pre season results. 

13 minutes ago, theBlackPrince said:

Always love a Scandinavian save, not quite got there myself yet but will be following on as I tend to always enjoy the outlying clubs such as these in any leagues!

Appreciate the follow, is the first time managing in Norway and already have learned so much about the club. 

Hope I can do them the justice they deserve! 

[MattyLewis11]

Lets talk tactics. 

In Possession 

Bodø/Glimt made the most passes in the league (2020), finishing the Eliteserien with the highest possession whilst making the second least long passes in the league. (Shorter Passing)

If the build up was patient and they couldn’t break the lines in their own third. Then the wingers would often come inside into the half spaces. The 8s would drop to make a midfield three with Berg once again in the centre. The width must be maintained at all times (Wide) so the full back’s took on this responsibility positioning themselves high and wide.

The squads positional game understanding and spatial awareness carried over into attacking transitions. The amount of runners and men they committed forward often meant in attacking transitions that they created overloads and numerical superiority.

The use of Berg as the DLP will be essential in acting as the fulcrum of the side using the 4-3-3, the amount of passing triangles the 4-3-3 creates is one of the reasons it is so widely used. The below graphic showcases the passing lanes and passing triangles presented to the players in the build up phase, this is something which I am looking to replicate and have already requested Berg to firstly learn the Dictate the Tempo trait which will be followed by Comes Deep To Get Ball

 

Also with the side having one clear BPD there is a need to recruit a second to ensure the tactic has symmetry as currently I'd expect the passing lanes to be utilised heavily on the right when playing out from the back.

The formation (433) allows the team great freedom in the final third. The centre-backs push high up the pitch, often deep in the opponent’s territory. Next to them, the full-backs’ position is also fixed, they stay closer offering short option to the backs. On the midfield, the DLP as stated above is key (metronome) in connecting the team side-to-side or when a centre-back brings the ball forward, he rotates and covers for him. The other two midfielders, CAR and CM (Su) have the same important task. Pinning the defensive line to their place. They take up advanced positions in the half-spaces and act as withdrawn strikers. In order to attempt to achieve this I have set the CM (Su) and CAR both to have the Get further Forward player instruction, this will need some tweaking and therefore any suggestions are welcomed as I will look to achieve the desired outcome.

The two wingers usually hug the line as they are the widest players on the pitch and from there, they can cut inside towards the goal. (IW/IF)

Out of Possession 

Glimt use a high block when possible and press their opponents relentlessly as they look to squeeze the opposition into the confines of their own half as much as possible, with the view to forcing the opponents to play long.

This pressure often started as soon as they lost the ball. Counter pressing the opponent was a major part of their game. It stopped the opposing players from having time to look and play a good ball into the space left in behind.

When pushed back into a mid block the team should stay in a compact 4-1-4-1.

The Tactic

 

I will have some time to complete my pre-season this afternoon so will keep you all updated on the progress of my first few matches in charge, have a good Friday! 

 

 

 

[MattyLewis11]

 

Not exactly the pre-season we'd liked, the one positive being the fact that we avoided defeat, especially considering the fact that two of the opponents are reasonably strong opposition from Liga Nos. 

The first game had everything and really aligned with my expectations of the style of play associated with Bodo! Two early goals, both within the opening 10 minutes by Carrilero Ulrik Saltnes before then conceding three on the bounce despite having the run of play (18 shots compared to 10 with an xG of 2.65 - 1.15). 

Boniface scoring a late equaliser before Lode's late pen putting us in the lead, only to be level-pegged immediately by Portimonese! If a large majority of our games are like this it's going to be a fun season (strap yourselves in).

In the other games in the tour of Portugal we let our leads slip, excluding the fixture against Gil Vicente in which we pulled it back.

Eliteserien

Absolutely buzzing with the results from the first few games in the league, a tough opening fixture against predicted 3rd favourites Molde, with the game looking likely to end in a draw, a goal-mouth scramble seen their defender slam the ball into Lindahl to score on his debut! 

Odds were brushed aside, our 25 shots and 60% possession in all honesty should have converted into a bigger score line, this again was the story against Mjondalen. Their keeper made a total of 12 saves as we accumulated an xG of 2.75 and dominated play with 67% of the ball.

 

 Already, you can see the importance of Berg within the team when looking at the pass combinations from the three matches with the DLP accumulating an average of 130 pass combinations! 

 Above is the next block of fixtures which I will update you on after completion! 

[karanhsingh]

Interesting club and DNA. Best of luck! 

I had a fun stint at Tromso on the last FM who are even more towards the north

[MattyLewis11]

Yeah I think they were relegated IRL @karanhsinghmaking Bodo the furthest Northern side of the Eliteserien, thanks for coming across from the SK save and giving Norway a follow  

@SixPointer

@Hootieleece

@_Ben_

if you guys want to jump in, there isn't much to catch up on...for the obvious reason lol.

Edited July 9, 2021 by MattyLewis11

[karanhsingh]

10 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Yeah I think they were relegated IRL @karanhsinghmaking Bodo the furthest Northern side of the Eliteserien, thanks for coming across from the SK save and giving Norway a follow  

@SixPointer

@Hootieleece

@_Ben_

if you guys want to jump in, there isn't much to catch up on...for the obvious reason lol.

Love a good Scandinavian save always! 

[SixPointer]

AM in. My first season this year was with ODDs Bk Norway is a great place to manage and I work here too as well. Bodø are flying last few years playing a great brand of football as well. They did struggle in my save until I left. You could be the one to bring European success to back up their real life domestic success 

[MattyLewis11]

1 hour ago, SixPointer said:

AM in. My first season this year was with ODDs Bk Norway is a great place to manage and I work here too as well. Bodø are flying last few years playing a great brand of football as well. They did struggle in my save until I left. You could be the one to bring European success to back up their real life domestic success 

What do you do if you don't mind me asking? In relation to Bodo I am hoping to win the league every one in three seasons and hopefully get them to the stage where they can compete in Europe. 

Going to be tricky to try and bring in north Norwegian players though as most seem to come from the south of the country, hopefully the intake is of a decent standard! 

 

[MattyLewis11]

A bit of a strange on in relation to the registration rules, you will note that a maximum of 25 players out of the 30 can be on part-time or higher contracts forcing all teams to register 5 youth amateur players. 

Fortunately players can be changed at anytime to allow more youth to get exposure as long as they are not non-homegrown who aren't allowed to change! 

Just stumbled across this after a I wanted to bring a few youngsters onto the bench due to training well but they were flagged as unavailable.

Anyone else's league have a unique rule? 

[MattyLewis11]

July

The good form has continued across the month of July, unfortunately we have conceded a few more gaols in this month most of which have come in the 80+ mins, I guess this is expected given the fact that I am looking to always be on the front foot and paired with the fact that IO haven't deviated too much away from the best eleven.

We are not the only team who are yet to taste defeat, Kristiansund and Rosenborg also still can boast that record, my gut feeling is that currently despite dominating the ball we haven't been anywhere near as clinical as we would like to be in front of goal so will need to ramp up chance conversion, 1 on 1s etc in training.

The next block of fixtures will no doubt be a massive test, if playing eight games across the month isn't going to be tough enough we face 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th placed teams and also have to navigate the UEL first round of qualifying.

Wish me luck! 

 

 

 

[john1]

Fantastic depth of writing up with your tactic, going really well and tough fixtures coming up!

[MattyLewis11]

5 hours ago, john1 said:

Fantastic depth of writing up with your tactic, going really well and tough fixtures coming up!

Appreciated mate, hope to get a few more analytical pieces out as we get deeper into the save, you are 100% right the following fixtures are going to separate the men from the boys! 

[SixPointer]

15 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

What do you do if you don't mind me asking? In relation to Bodo I am hoping to win the league every one in three seasons and hopefully get them to the stage where they can compete in Europe. 

Going to be tricky to try and bring in north Norwegian players though as most seem to come from the south of the country, hopefully the intake is of a decent standard! 

 

I work in the oil and gas industry! Am from Scotland but work in Norway so travel to and from all the time 

[_Ben_]

On 09/07/2021 at 19:36, MattyLewis11 said:

Yeah I think they were relegated IRL @karanhsinghmaking Bodo the furthest Northern side of the Eliteserien, thanks for coming across from the SK save and giving Norway a follow  

@SixPointer

@Hootieleece

@_Ben_

if you guys want to jump in, there isn't much to catch up on...for the obvious reason lol.

Read the first post, got confused at what happened in Austria then got sidetracked. Will have a deeper read later! Good luck!

[MattyLewis11]

 

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

Read the first post, got confused at what happened in Austria then got sidetracked. Will have a deeper read later! Good luck!

The file got corrupted so lost 3 months of games 🤬 

So here I am 🇳🇴

[john1]

21 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

 

The file got corrupted so lost 3 months of games 🤬 

So here I am 🇳🇴

Gutted  

[MattyLewis11]

7 minutes ago, john1 said:

Gutted  

Especially after winning the league mate, bit here I am and enjoying Norway, all be it early days! 

Just happy a few guys are now reading this one 😉

[Carambau]

Niiiiiice! Just saw your thread and I love norwegian careers in FM! I had one once with Viking Stavagner- it was a blast, might have been with FM12 or FM13 though...

I´ll be following - enjoy your save

Edited July 11, 2021 by Carambau

[MattyLewis11]

12 hours ago, Carambau said:

Niiiiiice! Just saw your thread and I love norwegian careers in FM! I had one once with Viking Stavagner- it was a blast, might have been with FM12 or FM13 though...

I´ll be following - enjoy your save

Appreciated mate, sorry to hear about your Cuban save also, hopefully will get another update out later today 

Edited July 12, 2021 by MattyLewis11

[MattyLewis11]

The road to the UEL begins away in Lithuania, we are drawn against FK Riteriai who were founded in 2005 and have a fairly ambitious squad, valued at £55k. 

The side are managed by Sergey Gurenko, a well experienced former player who spent most of his career with Lokomotiv Moscow, he did however secure a move to Serie A side Roma in 99/00 and also played for Parma and Piacenza in Italy's top tier.

There's something I bet you didn't know! lol.  

 

[MattyLewis11]

August

The Eliteserien

August was a packed month which was without a doubt a challenging one, despite the results on paper making a good read. The draw against Valerenga was probably our best result, we faced them for 84 minutes with 10-men after Sampstead received a straight red after a very rash challenge! We were also very fortunate to secure late victories against both Sandefjord (89th minute winner) and Viking (90+3 min penalty), both of these teams are lowly ranked and to only just scrape by really goes to show that we aren't firing on all cylinders. 

Despite me being over-analytical about the results to date, we are sitting top of the league with an 11 point lead, one which in losing from this position would be a catastrophe. 

The following fixtures are scheduled for September, thankfully much more manageable, this will allow me to field near on the best eleven for each fixture. 

 

The UEFA Europa League

I opted to make a drastic change in tactic for the European fixture, lining up with a 4-4-2. 

The reason for this was that Riteriai would play with a 5-2-3, they would be looking to park the bus and having the two centre forwards occupy their trio of central defenders one of which would be a TM(s) and the other a PF (a). This combination works well, if a defender opts to follow a run either in behind or as the DLF comes deep it creates a passing lane for the Wide Playmaker to hit, the option of the Target Man also provides the other wide player in the form of a winger someone to hit with a cross. 

I am pleased to say that the change paid off despite tactical familiarity being far from fluid! We qualify for the next round and in theory a tougher opposition. Given the fact that we are expected to win the league one in every three years, progress in Europe is what I will be judging the team on! 

Any questions, please feel free to fire away...I hope you have enjoyed the latest update.

 

[KlaaZ]

Going solid so far! Scandinavia is a great place to manage, I chose Kobenhavn in Denmark for my main save this edition and have played both in Finland an Iceland on previous FM's. Lots of talent to be found there as well!

[MattyLewis11]

5 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Going solid so far! Scandinavia is a great place to manage, I chose Kobenhavn in Denmark for my main save this edition and have played both in Finland an Iceland on previous FM's. Lots of talent to be found there as well!

Yeah we've made a decent start, but you know when you just aren't fully happy with the response to the players and the match engine...that's where I am at. 

Denmark is a great save, I love the league, especially how you receive payments at the midway and end of season before it splits to the Championship group. 

I have focused scouting in Scandinavia so let's keep our fingers crossed I can find some gems! 

Appreciate the post.

[john1]

Super month  After reading this, made me go back to my OB save that I haven't played in months!  

[MattyLewis11]

9 minutes ago, john1 said:

Super month  After reading this, made me go back to my OB save that I haven't played in months!  

Mate that's made me smile, I appreciate the comment and of course bringing the Scandinavian save back to life! 

[john1]

47 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Mate that's made me smile, I appreciate the comment and of course bringing the Scandinavian save back to life! 

Good  Just currently in my 7th season with OB  

[MattyLewis11]

25 minutes ago, john1 said:

Good  Just currently in my 7th season with OB  

Just the six behind 🤣🤣

[john1]

10 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Just the six behind 🤣🤣

  What leagues have you got loaded up?

[MattyLewis11]

My thought behind the league selection @john1 was to have Scandinavian leagues and then a few in close proximity which held a higher league ranking (Belgium, Holland). Hopefully this would enable me to sell more players as it's highly unlikely that teams from the top five leagues would see above average Eliteserien players of use.....they'd only be keen on the big guns! 

[MattyLewis11]

The Europa League 

We face Hapoel Be'er Sheva of Israel in the second qualifying round of the UEL, a side which also lines up in a 4-3-3 formation.

The Israeli side secured a 2-1 victory over Maltese team Hibernians, accumulating an xG of 2.6 from 26 shots (7 on target). 

Glad to see that my scout has picked up that from the Team Report, drawing from the below strengths I would expect for them to be a well drilled defensive side, tough to break down. Training in the build up to this match will focus on Attacking Patient, Chance Creation and of course Defending from the front.

 

[KlaaZ]

56 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

My thought behind the league selection @john1 was to have Scandinavian leagues and then a few in close proximity which held a higher league ranking (Belgium, Holland). Hopefully this would enable me to sell more players as it's highly unlikely that teams from the top five leagues would see above average Eliteserien players of use.....they'd only be keen on the big guns! 

You'd be surprised about that. I just managed to offload Daramy, who isn't even a first team regular anymore, to Watford (iirc) for nearly 40M EUR. 

[MattyLewis11]

6 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

You'd be surprised about that. I just managed to offload Daramy, who isn't even a first team regular anymore, to Watford (iirc) for nearly 40M EUR. 

That's a very decent fee for Daramy, I enjoyed his services back in FM20 for Salernitana. 

Going to give your Danish Dynamite thread a read a little later. 

[smplfc123]

Only just catching up with this @MattyLewis11. Great start to the season to go along with the great start to the thread. Had a fun 3 seasons with Stromsgodset after @SixPointer had inspired me to a Norwegian save. Following and good luck  

[MattyLewis11]

The European adventure continues @smplfc123, as expected it was a one sided game, however Kudos to them for keeping the score line to a minimum, we have drawn another home leg for the third qualifying round, this time facing Romanian opposition in the form of Clubul Sportiv Universitatea Craiova.

The side are yet to concede a goal in the qualifying rounds after brushing aside Irish side Bohemian (2-0) and Slovakian MSK Zilina (2-0). Three of the sides four goals have been scored by Striker Tudorie, I guess it's time to send a scout out to get a report on the player. (Let's hope there is enough time to get the report back, could be a man-marking job). 

The fixture is sandwiched between Molde (6th) and Odds (3rd) so it looks as if we will play a rotated side in the league (heavily for Molde) to ensure full fitness is maintained for the big match - thankfully we still have that 11 point cushion in the Eliteserien.  

[MattyLewis11]

Midpoint Analytics

At the midway point of the Eliteserien we have one player who is standing out above the rest, that man is Patrick Berg! After conducting a data analysis on our key man it is clear to see that he is a clear outlier when comparing all midfielders in the Eliteserien who have played more than 900 minutes to-date. 

Berg is not only averaging more passes completed but also creating the most key passes per 90 in the league, he's not just a metronome in our system he is also a creator. 

The midfielder's from has been amazing, you will see that his minim rating to date has been 6.9 and he is averaging 7.31! 

Berg also boasts a lovely 92% pass accuracy and has also contributed to winning 31 tackles, showing he can break up play whilst operating in the DLP player role. 

 

This form has drawn the interst of a BIG FIVE team, let's hope if they do come in for him we can agree to the option to loan him back to the club! 

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

That's a very decent fee for Daramy, I enjoyed his services back in FM20 for Salernitana. 

Going to give your Danish Dynamite thread a read a little later. 

Cheers. I've been a bit on and off for the last half year, busy with training and work mostly but I've been trying to pick it up again. There's a lot of good info in it in the first season or two about domestic talent in Scandinavia, but you have to move fast.

[smplfc123]

No surprise in the interest in Berg! As you say hopefully you can do a deal when he eventually leaves that will suit all parties. 

[MattyLewis11]

6 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

No surprise in the interest in Berg! As you say hopefully you can do a deal when he eventually leaves that will suit all parties. 

Our overall balance is £5m so I would be stupid not to accept an offer which is over his £1.9m valuation, if I then spend a significant chunk of that monies from within the Eliteserien it will hopefully help others to strengthen and then in turn raise the reputation/standard of the league. 

39 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Cheers. I've been a bit on and off for the last half year, busy with training and work mostly but I've been trying to pick it up again. There's a lot of good info in it in the first season or two about domestic talent in Scandinavia, but you have to move fast.

That's the type of talent I am after, will no doubt give me a few names to scout, thanks. 

[MattyLewis11]

Saltnes to the rescue! 

Ulrik Saltnes, what a season the 27 year-old Norwegian is having! His two goals in the UEL tie has taken the CAR (Su) to a whopping 14 goal contributions (10 goals, four assists) for the season. 

Frankly I have never heard of this guy before playing this save and also have never used a Carrilero in my tactics! Given the fact that they are supposed to operate more on a horizontal axis rather than a vertical one like the box to box midfielder his outputs are pretty surprising! He's scored 29% of all our goals this season! 

   

Spoiler

 

As for the final qualifying stage of the UEL, our next opponents are Temur Ketsbaia's, Anorthosis Famagusta. His side secured runner up in the Cypriot league and suprisingly defeated Malmo in extra-time! We have no doubt had our luck in relation to the draw, I must say that we have absolutely dogged a bullet in navigating around the likes of PSV, Besiktas, Wolfsburg, Milan, Tottenham and Sporting.

[KlaaZ]

5 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Our overall balance is £5m so I would be stupid not to accept an offer which is over his £1.9m valuation, if I then spend a significant chunk of that monies from within the Eliteserien it will hopefully help others to strengthen and then in turn raise the reputation/standard of the league. 

That's the type of talent I am after, will no doubt give me a few names to scout, thanks. 

Don't sell Berg too cheaply, he can provide you with a huge war chest if you play your cards right. Make sure to include a % on future sale by the way. 

[john1]

Should be able to get past Anorthosis Famagusta  Good to see Berg on fire  

[MattyLewis11]

10 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Don't sell Berg too cheaply, he can provide you with a huge war chest if you play your cards right. Make sure to include a % on future sale by the way. 

Absolutely, the future sell clause is an absolute must! That transfer to Sheffield must have been a cheeky surprise for you? 

9 hours ago, john1 said:

Should be able to get past Anorthosis Famagusta  Good to see Berg on fire  

Yes, I would like to think so! We shall find out a little later this afternoon.

Berg is an absolute beast! 

[deltablue]

Excellent season so far.

[MattyLewis11]

The pathway to the UEL proper was secured after we secured a 1-0 victory away in Cyprus, now the real challenge would begin as we look to set our benchmark for future seasons to come in relation to our performance in European competitions.

Entering the draw as a fourth tier team is going to be a massive challenge, the quality of opposition in the UEL is always a challenge and for me, this competition is the one which can really throw out some beautiful ties. 

The draw can be seen below; 

Spoiler

Well, I am not going to lie.....this is going to be a very tough challenge.

The initial fixture which caught my eye was Milan, Bodo will be heading to the San Siro as they did IRL when they faced the Italian giants in the third round of qualifying, losing 3-2. This fixture sparked Milan to push forward in the transfer market to sign Jens Petter Hauge after the winger left a big impression on Stefano Pioli and Paolo Maldini.

Besiktas finished third-place in Turkey and the away trip will see us face off in a hostile environment, we have also drawn Rapid wien, the side which I was managing prior to this save! 

The draw hasn't been kind, initial thoughts are that I will do well to even come away from the group with a victory! 

As for the Eliteserien, September was very much business as usual despite the heavy rotation! Kent Malic Swaleh scoring in back to back games after being called up for his debut after a perfect 10 score in training for the U19's. Elais Hoff Melkersen also achieving a similar feat in his debut against Odds. 

The 11 point gap still remains over Kristiansund as we enter October which is going to see the pressure no doubt grow on me as I attempt to navigate Europe. The only saving grace is that both initial fixtures are to be played at home! 

Wish me luck! 

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by MattyLewis11