[FM22] The yellow horde

[KlaaZ]

Hi all! After two journal attempts with FC Kobenhavn and US Orléans, I've decided to return to Scandinavia for my first FM22 save. Inspired by @MattyLewis11 and because I have a long held passion for Norway as a hiker and amateur climber, I'll try to follow in his footsteps as managed of Bodo/Glimt, albeit with less restrictions than him. 

The main focus is once again to break into Europe with a transfer policy of young players, preferrably of Scandinavian origin. 

History

Bodo/Glimt is actually an old team, having been established in 1916. However, they didn't break through until the 1970's, because before that time teams from Northern Norway were prohibited from promoting to the top division as the general view at the time was that these teams could in no way compete with those from Soutern Norway. 

After a dark spell in the 1980's they returned to the top flight in 1981 and immediately became both runner up in the league and cup winners. More recently however, Bodo/Glimt became known for their surprise league title in 2020, being the first Northern Norway team ever to do so. Even more impressively, after selling their up front trident (including Hauge), they went on and did it again in 2021. 

Meet the squad

As reigning Norwegian champions, Bodo/Glimt has a very all round squad with little weaknesses. The main issues are up front, where Victor Boniface is out with a long term injury which means there's very little cover for Botheim, and in the right back position where we also lack a decent backup for Sampsted. They also lack quality in goal, which will be my first priority to fix. However, as Norwegian football starts in May, we'll have to make do with what we've got for the time being.

A quick overview of our most important players:

Erik Botheim

Clearly one of the biggest pillars of this teams. Two footed and a very complete player all in all, Botheim joined from rivals Rosenborg and will hopefully have a major impact for years to come. He reminds me a bit of a slightly worse version of Jonas Wind, who was an amazing DLF in my Kobenhavn save.

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Fredrik Bjorkan

A great attacking left back. I look forward to seeing him bomb up and down the flank, especially with his traits.

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Patrick Berg

Maybe the biggest star of the current team, Berg is a player who generates a ton of interest right from the start of the game, including that of quite a few major clubs. Prolonging his contract will be a priority as he's a team leader with great mentals who I can hopefully build the midfield around.

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Ulrik Saltnes

Berg's partner in crime on the midfield, five years older but also someone with a great personality and very little weaknesses.

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Marius Lode

The leader in central defense, Marius is also someone with a lot of footballing ability. He actually made me consider creating a libero system as I think that role suits him a lot. 

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[KlaaZ]

Transfers

Nobody's leaving, at least for now. We will strengthen ourselves a bit in the summer window though, even if that means we're almost halfway through the league by then.

Tim Rönning

Tim's a favourite of mine. I also signed him when managing Kobenhavn in FM21 and both his skill and personality would have meant a long career at the club if it hadn't been for the fact that he was outclassed by an academy world beater. Only 22 years old, Rönning has plenty of room for improvement but already looks like a very good first choice goalkeeper. He wasn't cheap and with 1.6M we had to blow most of our budget but I felt that an improvement in goal was very much necessary.

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Wahid Faghir

Another favourite, Faghir moved from Vejle to Stuttgart this season which means signing him on a permanent basis was no longer possible. As an alternative, we brought him in on loan as a backup for Botheim. 

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Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

To provide some more depth both in central defense and in the right back position, Mapou was signed in a free after he was released at Lyon. He's had quite an impressive career with 240 appearances in the Ligue 1, the Premier League and the Serie A. 

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Mandela Keita

A real life favourite of mine, Mandela broke into the first team of OHL, of which I'm a season ticket holder in real life. He's come up in leaps and bounds and is probably the brightest prospect I've ever seen emerge from our academy. At 19 years of age, he's already looking like a bossing midfielder with very little weaknesses. We signed him in a deal worth 2.7M. 

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Salvatore D'Elia

Someone who will not play much but some needed cover for Bjorkan on the left hand side. Signed on a free from Frosinone (try saying that ten times in a row). 

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[SteinkelssonFM]

Some great memories from my Glimt save from FM21, I will absolutely follow this save and wish you all the best.

[rmcf2017]

Erik Botheim is Haaland's friend or cousin right? One of the dudes from the music video

[SteinkelssonFM]

1 hour ago, rmcf2017 said:

Erik Botheim is Haaland's friend or cousin right? One of the dudes from the music video

Exactly that, he is also one hell of a striker! Erik 'Bomber' Botheim! 

[KlaaZ]

8 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Some great memories from my Glimt save from FM21, I will absolutely follow this save and wish you all the best.

Thanks! I see you've been on quite a few FM22 journeys already, looks like I have some reading to catch up on.  

1 hour ago, rmcf2017 said:

Erik Botheim is Haaland's friend or cousin right? One of the dudes from the music video

 

Just now, MattyLewis11 said:

Exactly that, he is also one hell of a striker! Erik 'Bomber' Botheim! 

That is indeed correct. And I really like his qualities as a player, it's surprisingly hard to find decent playmaking strikers. I already mentioned Jonas Wind (who in FM21 had the potential to become probably the best DLF in the game), but apart from that it's always been a struggle. I think I ended up retraining an attacking midfielder after he left because I couldn't find a replacement. The fact that he's two footed is also a huge bonus as a striker. 

[KlaaZ]

Season 2021-2022: First steps in Europe

With the standard of Norwegian football as it is, we have a long road ahead of us if we want to reach the group stage of the Champions League. We start in the first qualifying round which means we have four rounds to survive. In a regular European competition, this isn't too much of an issue as these games are usually played in preseason against weaker opponents but as the Norwegian league starts in May, we'll have to rotate a fair bit to keep everyone fresh.

We start our adventure against Slovan Bratislava, a good warmup for things to come. We absolutely gave them a run for their money at home, winning 2-0 but playing the reserves in Slovakia almost came back to bite me in the behind when we ended up losing 1-0. Either way, through to the second round we go. 

The next team out of the hat is CFR Cluj, a modest Romanian team. In Cluj, a very even game looks very bad for a while with us trailing 3-1 until Botheim scores in the 92nd minute to draw one back. We finish the job in Bodo, the highlight of a 3-1 win being the opening goal after only 24 seconds of play. 

Two rounds to go, and Slavia Prague is a step up from our earlier opponents. We kick off at home and Vetlesen deservedly puts us ahead after 54 minutes but 6 minutes before the end, Krmencik puts the Czechs level. We see the game out with a 1-1 draw, which I thought would mean us having to score in Prague but apparently, away goals no longer count. Unfortunately for us, as I was already celebrating when we came back from behind twice to see out regular time on 2-2, only to release we were going into extra time.  In a nervous affair, Saltnes saw us through after slotting away a penalty kick, winning us the game.

I had some worries about the Playoffs but there was only one team to fear in the hat, Red Bull Salzburg. Lucky for us, it was Brondby who got the Austrians and us who got a tie against Moldavian champions Sheriff Tiraspol. All in all, this felt like the easiest leg of them all. We won the away game 2-1 after a brace from Botheim and trashed them against with the B squad at home for a 5-1 aggregate total, kicking open the gates to the CL group stages and the piles of money attached to them. The cash influx involved also had the board make some extra transfer funds available, which put me in the position of signing both Keita and Rönning, and getting some improvements to both training and youth facilities approved. On the way up!

Group stage is going to be brutal though, with Ajax, Real Madrid and Sporting CP as opponents. 

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

The season is almost over (which is an odd thing to say when we're only approaching the end of November, still need to wrap my head around the Norwegian schedule), but as my scouts came up with an amazing opportunity, I moved quickly. Or rather, had the board move quickly as I didn't have the transfer budget to act myself. But as the board agreed that the player in question fit our transfer policy of signing under 20's, they accepted to negotiate on my behalf. So without further ado: Say hi to Tomas Araujo!

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Tomas is a 19-year old Portuguese ball playing defender with, according to my scouting, the potential to go very, very far. Apart from his potential and his profile, he's also a model citizen. If all goes well, I could easily see him turn into one of our best players.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Well, this is interestingly unexpected. 

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We opened up with a very, very important away win in Amsterdam. The game itself was surprisingly even if you don't take the penalty into account, and it's even more impressive considering I played more of a B-team because I wanted to prioritize the league. 

We lost both ties against Real Madrid but in all honesty, the home game could've gone either way. Their surplus quality proved to be the major difference though, with Benzema being clinical in front of goal as a hattrick hero. We deservedly lost in Portugal but managed to nick a point at home with Solbakken scoring an 86th minute equalizer (which we didn't deserve, but who cares about that). 

The good news is that we're in the driving seat now. Final game is at home against Ajax and because of the result in Amsterdam, a draw will see us through to the knockout stages of the Europa League. I played the reserves in the last league game so everyone is ready to go. The only uncertaintly is Tim Rönning, who is at home with flu and will probably not be back in time. 

[KlaaZ]

Got punished twice on a corner, but Hagen just gave us a lifeline!

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[KlaaZ]

We went all out in the final ten minutes but to no avail. In the end we were lucky that our opponents refused to finish us off. 

[john1]

Good to see you back in Scandinavia   Superb win against AJax  

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Good to see you back in Scandinavia   Superb win against AJax  

Thanks! I was tempted to just go with Kobenhavn again but they lost a bit of their appeal after selling quite a few upcoming talents: Nelsson to  Galatasaray (which is a weird move for someone with his potential), Daramy to Ajax,... 

I've got to say that the Norwegian rules for player registration will make it a lot harder to break through the glass ceiling in Europe. Can't register more than 25 players on a professional contract, a minimum of 16 players trained in Norway for three years before their 21st birthday, a maximum of 9 non-homegrown players. It means I have to be really, really careful about who I bring in from abroad, and I'll probably have to rely on the academy even more than I usually do.

[KlaaZ]

Season 2021: Back to back

Eliteserien

Despite being the reigning champions, the media actually predicted us to be runners up this year, with Molde being the somewhat surprising title favourite. After a great preseason with four wins and no goals conceded, I felt like they were off quite a bit and it was always going to be us. Starting off with a 3-1 away win against our rivals up north Tromso certainly gave us a boost and although we didn't manage to score in our first home game against Sandefjord, we then went on a perfect five game run, scoring twelve and not conceding anything.

A small blip in Viking (1-0) made us bounce back with six straight wins, including a very satisfying 3-2 win against title opponent Molde, where we came back twice from behind to grab the three points. Form dropped a little though and we almost threw away what was a very comfortable lead by not winning for three games in a row, the low point being a 0-2 loss at home against Tromso. 

Bad form never lasts though, and we picked ourselves up in great spirits, with twelve unbeaten games in a row. We secured the title with three games to spare but sadly lost on the final day of the season in Rosenborg, which would have meant putting the icing on the cake.  Still, we can look back on a great domestic season. We had a solid scoring record, putting the ball in the back of the net 61 times, but did even better at the back. We only conceded 20 goals, five of which came from our last three games where we heavily rotated to save everyone for the cup. 

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Norwegian Cup

What looked like an amazing run ended with a huge anticlimax. We reached the final in six games without conceding a single goal but the first time we did, it was costly. We just couldn't dismantle Stromgodset despite having plenty of chances and in the last minute of extra time, Stenseth headed it home to send us back to Bodo without a trophy.

 

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Champions League

We already told this story. We got to within an inch to qualifying from the group stage of the CL to the Europa League knockouts but lost it all in a head to head with Ajax on the final day. That said, we can be very proud of what we did. More importantly, the money from reaching the group stage gives us a very solid platform to build on, with a decent transfer kitty of 9M and improvements in junior coaching, training and youth facilities. 

[john1]

Heartbreaking to lose in the final  

[KlaaZ]

10 minutes ago, john1 said:

Heartbreaking to lose in the final  

Had a feeling it would happen, we were really slumping after clinching the title. Edged two games against Valerenga in the league, lost against Rosenborg... Just a few games too many really. Either way, the most important thing is to win the league as it gives access to the piles of money from Europe and the Champions League. 

[KlaaZ]

2022: Youth intake

In February, the first batch of academy prospects presents itself and it did not disappoint.

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We seem to continue my tradition of getting a potentially very, very good goalkeeper in the first year. In FM21, Lars Larsen became a club legend for me at Kobenhavn and although I don't think Fredrik Quick will be quite as good, the potential is certainly there. He's also got a professional personality and if I have him tutored by Rönning (who is a model citizen), he could become the real deal in time. And if he doesn't, There's always Bjornstad. 

Tafjord could become a prominent midfielder as well but he's unambitious with 4 determination so we'll need to work on that first. Olsen is a very pacey inside forward with great dribbling and flair, but just like Tafjord he's got a personality problem (being a mercenary). And finally, I'm hoping one of my striker prospects will in time be able to fill the gap that Botheim will sooner or later leave. He was already making noise about leaving at the end of his contract but I softened him up a little and managed to prolong his contract until December 2025. If he leaves, it will be a big money deal. 

Edited December 28, 2021 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Just for reference for those who didn't follow my Kobenhavn save, this is Larsen when he just joined the big boys and later at his peak, and the last screenshot is Quick.

 

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[KlaaZ]

2022: Transfer news

A new season means some wheeling and dealing to be done to hopefully strengthen us for the campaign to come. Up until now it's been quiet on the outgoing front. Left back Bjorkan has been generating a lot of interesting and he's making noise about leaving to join a bigger club. Liverpool actually made a (lowball) offer for him and when I rejected, he wasn't too happy. We had a talk and agreed to sell him when they come back with some bigger money, his transfer price is now set at 7M. He has a contract until December 2025 and I doubt anyone will cough up this much soon so we're safe for now. Apart from that, there's also interest for Lode and Sampsted. The latter leaving would be bad because I only have one other player who can play the right back position and he's not even a natural. 

On the incoming side, Tomas Araujo joins us from SLB (as presented earlier in this journal). We also pick up Jonathan Levi, a 26-year old right winger to provide some competition for Solbakken and upcoming youngster Mvuka. Finally, Stuttgart wants to give Faghir a chance in the first team so we looked for an alternative and signed another 26-year old Swede, Victor Edvardsen, for 325k from Degerfors IF. He'll be rotated with Botheim up front.

I'm hoping to find a decent right back before the transfer window closes but I have no high hopes.

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[KlaaZ]

2022: The Super Cup, revenge edition

Our first game of 2022 puts us up against Stromsgodset, who shamed us in the cup final last year. Our start wasn't very good but a few tactical alterations on the half hour mark turned things around. Botheim put us in front after about an hour of play (on assist of Rönning, no less) and six minutes later, Vetlesen sealed the deal when he made it 2-0. 

 

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On the other side of the pitch, there was a very impressive debut from Araujo who, if he keeps performing like this, will be a fan favourite before long. If it werent for Rönning, he would have been the MotM. 

 

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[KlaaZ]

2022: Second season syndrome?

Three games in, and it looks like we may need to start looking at approaching games differently. We opened away at Lillestrom and although we were the better team, I felt we were not very stable defensively. Ironically, it was ex-Bodo player Kait who scored the equalizer. A 1-1 draw is not the best place to start.

We bounced back against Odd with a 4-2 win but once again, the game was a lot tighter than the final scoreline shows. We also almost couldn't hold on to a comfortable lead... And the week after, we only managed to pick up a point in Stromsgodset in a very even game. 

Not very surprising, we're dominating possession in all these games, but we seem to get caught on the break fairly often and are having a bit of trouble penetrating the opposition who are now sitting a lot deeper. 

[john1]

18 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Just for reference for those who didn't follow my Kobenhavn save, this is Larsen when he just joined the big boys and later at his peak, and the last screenshot is Quick.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

GREAT SAVE QUICKKKK!  

[KlaaZ]

4 minutes ago, john1 said:

GREAT SAVE QUICKKKK!  

It's an interesting name to say the least.

He's coming up real fast too, may have gold in my hands here. Made his debut in the first round of the cup recently, youngster player to ever play a game for Bodo.

 

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Edited December 29, 2021 by KlaaZ

[john1]

10 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

It's an interesting name to say the least.

He's coming up real fast too, may have gold in my hands here. Made his debut in the first round of the cup recently, youngster player to ever play a game for Bodo.

 

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wow quick progress  

I am really tempted to head back to Scandinavia, but maybe Sweden  

[KlaaZ]

14 minutes ago, john1 said:

wow quick progress  

I am really tempted to head back to Scandinavia, but maybe Sweden  

I may actually jump across the border at some point as well, Sweden has a lot less restrictions when it comes to squad management. Good choice either way! What club would you go for?

[john1]

9 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

I may actually jump across the border at some point as well, Sweden has a lot less restrictions when it comes to squad management. Good choice either way! What club would you go for?

Maybe Hammarby IF or Djurgården  

[KlaaZ]

7 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

2022: Second season syndrome?

Three games in, and it looks like we may need to start looking at approaching games differently. We opened away at Lillestrom and although we were the better team, I felt we were not very stable defensively. Ironically, it was ex-Bodo player Kait who scored the equalizer. A 1-1 draw is not the best place to start.

We bounced back against Odd with a 4-2 win but once again, the game was a lot tighter than the final scoreline shows. We also almost couldn't hold on to a comfortable lead... And the week after, we only managed to pick up a point in Stromsgodset in a very even game. 

Not very surprising, we're dominating possession in all these games, but we seem to get caught on the break fairly often and are having a bit of trouble penetrating the opposition who are now sitting a lot deeper. 

It's the end of May and it's not looking good. Ironically, we're unbeaten so far but we've drawn five (!) out of nine games and are already trailing Rosenborg by six points. Blatantly put, we have issues putting the ball into the back of the net and so far, I haven't found any solutions. With only 13 goals scored, we're the worst attacking team out of the top six (together with Molde). Our attacking xG is only 12.91 so it's clearly a tactical issue.

Here's to hoping I can fix this. The board are still happy though, so there's time.

[SteinkelssonFM]

What width are you playing with? I had a similar issue after a season or two with Glimt and opted to open up the width and then the goals started to flow again.

[KlaaZ]

18 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

What width are you playing with? I had a similar issue after a season or two with Glimt and opted to open up the width and then the goals started to flow again.

Currently on fairly narrow as I've always felt like that opened up more space on the wings in previous alterations of the game. I'll give it a shot though, thanks!

[KlaaZ]

2022: The pressure is on

Halfway through June and the pressure is on. We looked better for a bit, getting a deserved victory at home over Sarpsborg (although we needed a penalty to seal it) and a very good 3-0 win in the cup over second division team Grorud. But then we ran into Valerenga at home who completely outplayed us and took the three points back to Oslo. 

Next up is a very, very important away game at Rosenborg. Losing would probably shatter our title dream as the gap is currently six points. The Norwegian giants come into this game on the back of a very impressive 0-4 trashing of Odd, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly nervous.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Half an hour played, and we're not doing too badly. First ten minutes were a bit awkward but we picked ourselves up after that and started taking over the game. And now, this is happening.

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Completely unnecessary but I'm not complaining. Hopefully, we'll be able to profit!

[KlaaZ]

GET IN!

 

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Edited December 29, 2021 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

It wasn't pretty, but it's a lifeline in the league at least.

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Edited December 29, 2021 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Hagen made some really good progress which put him in the spotlights of a few Premier League teams. We agreed a transfer price of 5.75M and when Watford came in, I had no choice but to let him go. It's a club record though, the previous one being the sale of Jens Petter Hauge to Milan. 

He may not be the last to leave either. Bjorkan has drawn major interest from (among others) Leverkusen, Lille, Lyon, Sporting and West Ham. If anyone meets his valuation of 7M, he'll be gone as well. Botheim's also wanted, the most important line being Milan and Saint-Etienne. We put a price of 9.5M on his head. 

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[KlaaZ]

The problem summed up in one picture.

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We're not scoring enough goals, plain and simple. Botheim has seven, but three of those are in cups and of the remaining four, two were penalty kicks. Levi's doing well but the rest is just a disaster. Judging by xG, we're underscoring by about 15-20% at this point...

[john1]

That doesn't looks a good reading into the xG  

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, john1 said:

That doesn't looks a good reading into the xG  

I think I've figured it out, or at least am getting better at doing so. But the gap's still too big to my liking. Currently have an xG for 34.34 in 20 games, and we've scored 28. It even outs on the defensive side with an xG against of 17.88 but only 13 conceded though. 

The good news is that we've scored 7 in the last three league games, and that we're keeping the gap with Rosenborg as small as possible. 

[KlaaZ]

2022: Road to the jackpot, part two

Just like last season, June brings us four qualifying rounds to get to the money bags of the Champions League group stage. Last season we managed to make it all the way there thanks to surprise package Sheriff Tiraspol who reached the playoffs and made our lives a lot easier there.

We start out in the first round against Tobyl, some obscure team from Kazakhstan. Despite running them around, we only manage to draw 0-0 at home but in the return game, we perform even better and beat them 0-2 (a scoreline which should have been higher).

Next up is Olympiacos, the reigning Greek champions. Once again, we only manage a 0-0 draw at home (despite dominating the entire game and not conceding a single shot) but, again, save the day in the return where we trash them 0-3 in front of their own fans. 

On to the third round, where AE Limassol from Cyprus awaits us. We actually have a blip where we lose the away game 1-0 (our inability to score once again showing) but set the record straight in front of our own fans with a whopping 6-1 victory. Mandela Keita scores a hattrick!

The playoff puts us on edge with the biggest team in Scandinavia as we draw FC Kobenhavn out of the hat. We lose with the narrowest of differences in Denmark, 1-0. We're better in the return leg and Solbakken puts us ahead in the 72nd minute and takes us to extra time. We have the chances but fail to convert, so penalties will have to decide. The same Solebakken misses but when Gabrielsen does the same on the last penalty for Kobenhavn, it looks like we're back into it for a minute. However, Vetlesen also sees his spot kick saved, sending us to the Europa League instead. 

 

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[KlaaZ]

Six games to go, all the way to the wire.

 

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[KlaaZ]

2022: Transfer news

Transfer updates are a bit odd when managing in Norway due to the timing of the league. Anyway, there's a lot to be told. We'll start with the most important one: Once the summer window for European clubs closed, Botheim kicked up a fuss about how I didn't live up to my promise of selling him (despite nobody bidding close to the 9.5M we both agreed on, but okay). It means having to offer him, which put is in a bad negotiating position. Either way, I ended up agreeing a deal which moves him to Brazil (no joke), Fluminense will sign him for a deal worth 3.8M plus a percentage of any future sale. Not ideal, but better than nothing. Apart from that, Sondre Fet moves to Lens for 2M and Salvatore D'Elia signs on a free for FC Chambly.

With the sale of three players, we have a bit of a budget to spend. Apart from promoting from within, we recruit two players. Pedro Ganchas comes over from Benfica on loan to provide cover on the left and in central defense. We also break our transfer record with the signing of Nemanja Jovic, a 20 year old promising winger from Partizan, for 6.25M.

 

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[KlaaZ]

Wildly undeserved, but I honestly couldn't care less at this point.

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[KlaaZ]

I'll just leave this here. One game to go, we were champions for a good half hour. We would actually have pulled it over the finish line already but we threw a 3-2 lead into the bin at home against Haugesund in the previous game to drop three valuable points. 

 

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Next update will be when I'm sober again, presumably January 2nd or 3rd depending on how hard we go.  Enjoy the festivities everyone, and to a better 2022!

[john1]

Unlucky to go out after losing the penalties shootout  However, congrats on winning the league  

 

Here to better 2022 too!

[KlaaZ]

4 minutes ago, john1 said:

Unlucky to go out after losing the penalties shootout  However, congrats on winning the league  

 

Here to better 2022 too!

Not there yet, the gap's only one point and we still have a game to go. But I appreciate your optimism!

[john1]

3 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Not there yet, the gap's only one point and we still have a game to go. But I appreciate your optimism!

 

[KlaaZ]

2022: Second season syndrome

With three games to play, we were leading the pack with a four point margin over Rosenborg, but it's safe to say that this was not our year. We threw it all away right before the finish line by losing to Haugesund at home when we were leading 3-2 with fifteen minutes to play. With only one point of space between us and Rosenborg, we needed a win in Stabaek and once again dropped the points, only picking up a draw. Rosenborg played the next day and trashed Ranheim 3-0, which means no title for us. 

In all fairness, it's a deserved title for Rosenborg thanks to Noah Holm, who scored 22 goals for them in 27 appearances. By contrast, our top goalscorer in the league was Boniface with ten roses. 

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The Europa League was even worse for us and we never really recovered from the penalty drama against Kobenhavn. The season's not over yet but with four games played, this is what the table looks like. 

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The loss against Ludogorets was embarassing but we actually deserved more both against Napoli and Rennes but once again, if you can't score goals you can't win games. 

Finally, we're also in to the Cup final against Stabaek but judging by the rest of the season, I have no high hopes. This is one to forget as quickly as possible. 

[KlaaZ]

Finished in the Europa League the way we finished the competition. We beat Napoli 4-2 in the penultimate game which meant a win in Bulgaria would've seen us through to the Euro II Cup but we once again managed to shoot ourselves in the foot by being the better team but losing anyway. Final result: Dead last with three meagre points.

[KlaaZ]

2022: Youth intake preview

This could be interesting. I'm actually fine in the GK department with Rönning and Quick, but we lack depth in midfield after Hagen left for Watford. Fingers crossed! Our youth facilities, junior coaching and youth recruitment are all maxed out too so that doesn't hurt either. With the 16 domestic players rule, I'll focus on youth development as much as I can. 

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And we wrap up the season with a little bit of a positive feeling, we actually did really well in the cup final and comfortably beat Stabaek 0-3.

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[KlaaZ]

Contract news

As interest starts to increase for some of our best players, we preemptively get contract negotiations started to tie them down for as long as possible. Araujo and Boniface sign a new deal that will keep them at the club until 2026, Bjorkan and Keita until 2025. We're still in the works of tieing down Rönning, Levi and Berg for longer as well.

 

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