[FM22] Færeyinga saga

[Koetzer]

September 2031

A disappointing result for this schedule, our attack is struggling and it will be even worse as we lost Jacobsen for almost two months At least our second choice squad is doing well against lower league sides in the cup. 

 National team

There aren’t any players over 30 in this squad, except a third choice goalkeeper. Winger Ragnarsson from our club and striker Midjord (currently the best Faroese league goalscorer) replaced two last veterans in attack.

The first game was quite decent (we conceded the second goal a few minutes before the final whistle), but Austria didn’t leave us any chances. Cyprus overtook us after getting four points from Turkey and San Marino, we'll certainly need to beat them in Nicosia for 4th place.

FIFA ranking – 135th (=)

U21: 1-2 (H) vs Macedonia, 0-2 (A) vs Romania in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 2-2 (H) vs Azerbaijan, 1-0 (H) vs Lithuania in friendlies.

[Koetzer]

October 2031

We played quite well in two first games and had enough chances, but without Jacobsen our attacking line couldn’t finish at all – the only goal was created by two center-backs. Backup striker Mouritsen finally scored twice against AGF, but they are way too strong this season, going for the second straight title. We managed to finish the month with a win, though had to play extra time, and will face AGF again in the quarter-final.

In other news, our captain Victor Boje Henriksen suffered a serious injury and decided to retire. He was the only remaining first team member who played in all five divisions (Jannick Poulsen and Ingi Dam are technically still in the team, but only play for reserves now).

 National team

Jacobsen’s injury is a blow, but hopefully young Midjord and returned veteran Thomsen can replace him.

Defeated San Marino (though conceding twice is a disappointment) and almost could stop the group leaders Greece, they only scored from a penalty and Kallsberg missed a good chance in the end.

FIFA ranking – 135th (=)

U21: 1-4 (A) vs Netherlands, 2-2 (A) vs Serbia in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 0-1 (A) vs Scotland, 2-1 (H) vs Finland in friendlies.

[Koetzer]

November-December 2031

Jacobsen returned just in time, he scored the winning goal against Midtjylland and equalized in Horsens before the new captain Kosonen gave us a win in stoppage time (dropping points against a team with 12-game losing streak would have been very annoying). We have a chance to qualify for the top group, though do we actually need it? It looks like winning the bottom half is an easier way to Europe and won’t put us against much stronger teams like AGF.

 National team

Fourteen players from the club are selected now, Jacobsen is back and the latest addition was center-back Brian Olsen. Another potential debutant is right winger Mørkøre who became the Faroese league best player despite his club finished 7th.

A draw wasn’t enough to finish fourth, still it was quite a decent year for the national team. Meanwhile Eetu Kosonen made his debut for Finland (in a friendly so far, but our hopes to see him in the Faroese team are getting even less realistic).

FIFA ranking – 135th (=)

U21: 7-0 (H) vs Luxembourg, 0-0 (A) vs Macedonia in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 0-0 (N) vs Bosnia, 0-0 (N) vs Iceland, 6-2 (A) vs Azerbaijan in Euro qualifiers B – finished second.

U18: 2-1 (N) vs Ukraine, 3-1 (A) vs Romania, 1-2 (N) vs Switzerland in Euro preliminary B – promoted to group A.

Betrideildin: the usual title rivals are back on top, and Vikingur overtook HB by the only goal!

[Koetzer]

Winter 2031/32

Transfers out

There were no incoming transfers, and for some reason Rosenborg needed our third choice goalkeeper.

Youth preview

Two promising defenders and a goalkeeper, I hope this preview doesn’t lie.

[Koetzer]

February-March 2032

Started the new year with a disappointing defeat, but then won three of four remaining games and almost caught the top group. The playoff spot will be most likely contested between us and Viborg, all other teams are already quite far away.  

 National team

Several experiments in the squad, as can be expected in a friendly, but all the key players are present.

Haitian team is ranked 66th in the world, so defeating them is quite an impressive result for us.

FIFA ranking – 133rd ( 2)

U21: 2-2 (A) vs Georgia, 3-0 (H) vs Malta in friendlies.

U19: 0-0 (A) vs Georgia, 2-1 (H) vs Slovenia in friendlies.

U18: 0-2 (N) vs France, 1-1 (N) vs Czech Republic, 1-3 (A) vs Serbia in Euro preliminary A – finished third.

[Koetzer]

April 2032

After saving a draw on the last minutes against Silkeborg we recorded five straight wins (5-0 against AaB is our best result in Superliga so far) and almost secured the playoff spot. The only concern for the rest of season is Jacobsen’s injury, his absence may be crucial for the decisive game.

Youth intake

Instead of goalkeeper and defenders we got striker Vang and winger Augustinussen as our best players, and they are not going to be superstars anyway.

[Koetzer]

May-June 2032

Injuries ruined the end of season for us, in addition to Jacobsen we lost both starting central midfielders and left winger, all in few days before facing Viborg at home. We still kept the top spot thanks to a previous form, but surely weren't the team that could win the playoff game  

Squad stats

Four players reached the ten goals mark, Kallsberg and Jacobsen were predicted to be the squad leaders, but Vilhelmsen and Mouritsen being so productive is a nice surprise.

Spent all our money for another training upgrade, hopefully will recover next season.

 National team

Injuries affected the national squad as well, so more new faces were needed. 

Two more narrow wins to improve our rankings a bit.

FIFA ranking – 131st ( 2)

U21: 1-2 (A) vs Latvia, 0-0 (H) vs Sweden in friendlies.

U19: 5-0 (A) vs Latvia, 0-2 (A) vs Sweden in friendlies.

U18: 0-0 (A) vs Latvia in friendly.

UEFA club ranking – 47th ( 1)

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2032/33

Transfers in

Sonni Klein is Øregaard’s backup in the national team and was brought here for the same role, two other players are young prospects.

Transfers out

Skipanes played over 100 games for us in lower divisions, but wasn’t even a bench player in last two seasons, so I easily let him go.

We are sharing the odds with two other teams, that’s already a progress  

Our fanbase continues growing.

[Koetzer]

July-August 2032

Started with two defeats which felt completely different – disappointing collapse after leading 2-0 against Randers and great second half after conceding three from Midtjylland. August was a much better month, we started getting points in every game, mostly from the predicted lower half teams which should lead to another mid-table season. Though one result clearly stands out – an away win over the defending champions AGF! They lost their manager (Joseba Etxeberria was appointed by Norwegian national team) and Freddie Ljungberg (who resigned from København earlier) is having a disastrous start. Kallsberg won the player of the month award, scoring 4 goals in August.

 Islands news

Champions League:

Vikingur – 1QR loss vs  Olympiacos (0-3, 0-3)

Conference League:

Vikingur – 2QR win vs  Sliema W. (4-0, 2-0), 3QR loss vs  Connah’s Quay (0-2, 1-0)

HB – 1QR win vs  Trepca’89 (4-0, 2-0), 2QR loss vs  Lillestrøm (0-2, 0-1)

NSI – 1QR win vs  Alashkert (2-1, 2-1), 2QR loss vs  Crvena Zvezda (0-3, 0-3)

07 Vestur – 1QR loss vs  Vllaznia (1-2, 0-2)

Overall points – 1.750 (1.000 in 31/32). A decent season, though Vikingur certainly could do better against the Welsh team.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Good progress so far.

[Koetzer]

September 2032

Awful form in the league with a bit of consolation in the cup against lower league sides. Luckily the bottom two teams struggle to get points at all. 

 National team

The key players recovered from injuries and are ready to play official games.

We got a tough Nations League group (Israel is the fourth team) so need to try our best to avoid relegation playoffs. And so far we are doing much better than expected! Poul Kallsberg took his August club form to the national team, first assisting to Jacobsen for an equalizer in Belarus and then scoring a hat-trick within 5 minutes against Georgia! This third goal was his 14th overall for the Faroes, which is the new national record.

FIFA ranking – 129th ( 2)

U21: 0-2 (H) vs Romania, 1-3 (H) vs Netherlands in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 3-2 (A) vs Andorra, 1-0 (H) vs Lithuania in friendlies.

[Koetzer]

October 2032

The international break helped us to recover from the bad run and get seven points from three remaining games. The cup wasn’t our priority in this situation, and a heavily rotated squad couldn’t cope with Viborg.

 National team

Decided not to make any changes from last month, but Vang had to be replaced after selection due to injury.

Our unbeaten run ended in Israel, after drawing the first half we conceded three in last 15 minutes. The game against Belarus was exactly the opposite, we conceded an early penalty, equalized soon and secured a big win in second half! Jacobsen’s hat-trick was especially pleasing, he was struggling to score for the club and needed these goals for confidence.

We certainly won’t finish last (Georgia and Belarus have to play each other) and still have a promotion chance (though will need a three-goal win over Israel to overtake them).

FIFA ranking – 128th ( 1)

U21: 2-2 (H) vs Serbia, 5-0 (A) vs Luxembourg in Euro qualifiers – finished fifth with 9 points.

U19: 4-1 (H) vs Gibraltar, 2-2 (H) vs Czech Republic in friendlies.

Betrideildin: HB won the title, Vestur seems to become a consistent third force.

[Koetzer]

November 2032

Before the game against Silkeborg we lost Danielsen with injury, and I promoted 16 year-old Ovi Davidsen (signed in August from B68 after we loaned out a backup winger Ragnarsson) to the first team. With 15 minutes to go we were 1-0 behind, I had no other choices than bring him into the game… and he scored twice on his league debut! 

The league table looks encouraging, but we’ll have an extremely tough schedule in February and March – teams from top four places and Viborg which didn’t give us any chances in three previous games.

 National team

Danielsen is out this time, but Vang is back and fit to play.

A narrow defeat in Georgia ended our chances to win this group, still we finished it unbeaten at home even despite Midjord was sent off on 25th minute against Israel!

FIFA ranking – 129th ( 1)

U21: 1-2 (H) vs Switzerland, 1-3 (H) vs Wales in Euro qualifiers – finished fifth with 9 points.

U19: 0-3 (H) vs Belgium, 0-5 (H) vs Germany, 0-3 (H) vs Netherlands in Euro qualifiers A – relegated to group B.

U18: 1-0 (N) vs Austria, 0-4 (A) vs France, 3-1 (N) vs Serbia in Euro preliminary A – won the group!

[Koetzer]

Winter 2032/33

Transfers in

Elias Steinholm – the second choice national team keeper joins us on loan.

Oli Kristiansen – a promising midfielder, sent on loan so far.

Transfers out

Davidsen lost the first team spot this season and anyway would have left in June, so we just got rid of his wage.

Youth preview

Another golden generation, though hard to believe in these promises after two previous seasons.

The national team got Scotland, Norway, Romania and Northern Ireland in World Cup qualifiers. No sixth team and one of the strongest options from the fourth pot  

[Koetzer]

February-March 2033

Predictable, but still disappointing start of the year. Though after four defeats we managed to win an away game against Brøndby, and considering their current 5th position, this may be a good sign for European playoffs (we need to win the bottom group before, of course).

 National team

Our new midfielder Kristiansen gets his first callup along with young goalkeeper Hansson (can we produce good outfield players with the same frequency?  ), Øregaard is missing with injury.

Last minute winner in a friendly and a decent result in Scotland, can be quite happy with this round.

FIFA ranking – 128th ( 1)

U21: 0-1 (A) vs Lithuania in friendly.

U19: 1-1 (A) vs Lithuania, 0-1 (A) vs Liechtenstein in friendlies.

U18: 1-3 (A) vs Belgium, 0-3 (N) vs Portugal, 1-3 (N) vs Switzerland in Euro preliminary A – relegated to group B.

[Koetzer]

April 2033

A home defeat against Vejle spoiled an overall good month. Viborg retains the top spot, we’ll play against them at home in May but three other games will be on the road so winning the playoff place won't be easy.

Youth intake

Well, didn’t expect anything else, all these previews mean nothing. Oddmar Jensen can become a replacement for Øregaard eventually, but not more. However, the national team got a potential superstar this year – center-back Heini Joensen from Brøndby, he surely will be selected in the next international round despite being only 15!

[Koetzer]

May-June 2033

Unfortunately we missed too many chances against Viborg and maximum we could do later is equalize on points, but still would have finished behind on goal difference. The top group ended in a very tight battle, AGF and København drew a head-to-head game on the last matchday and Nordsjælland could overtake them both but couldn't beat Randers!

Squad stats

Kallsberg had another great year, becoming our best goalscorer and assistant. Jacobsen wasn’t as good as last season, but still reached 10 goals mark and became our overall record goalscorer. Our defensive trio Hansen-Hermansen-Kosonen were solid as usual, and adding Steinholm on loan was also an improvement (he will stay with us until December, and maybe we’ll sign him for free later).

Need to perform better if we want to improve our finances.

 National team

Everyone is fit, and youngster Joensen is selected as promised.

I thought Romania would be a stronger team than Northern Ireland, but we totally outplayed them at Torsvollur, scored three in first 16 minutes (their goal also fit between ours) and could get even more convincing win. So I was quite optimistic before the second game, but this time we were destroyed in the first half. Still I didn't hope for winning a game in this group!

FIFA ranking – 125th ( 3)

U21: 3-0 (A) vs Gibraltar in friendly.

U19: 1-0 (A) vs Kosovo in friendly.

UEFA club ranking – 47th (=)

[Koetzer]

Pre-season 2033/34

Transfers in

We only signed a promising goalkeeper Magnussen for the U19 team in this window, but also agreed a more important winter transfer – Elias Steinholm will join us on full contract after his loan.

Transfers out

Sørensen was earning way too much for a backup player and wouldn’t become better at his age, so decided to sell him and give a chance to Kristiansen who returned from loan. And I certainly didn’t expect to receive money for a Lakjuni, who seems to have some potential and valued quite high now but didn’t develop at all, in our reserves or on loan.

Finally not predicted last!

Not a big increase, but still a sign of our improvement.

The first poached player with golden potential, must have been a top prospect for us.

[Koetzer]

July-August 2033

The start was almost perfect, we won three games at home and managed to save an away draw against the champions after conceding two early goals! This run was unfortunately snapped by Brøndby who lost all four games before this, and the last game seemed to show our real level and how far we are from the top teams   I think it's going to be the last season here unless we qualify to Europe again or some miracle happens (like a wonderkid coming through our academy).

 Islands news

Champions League:

HB – 1QR win vs  Dudelange (2-0, 2-0), 2QR loss vs  Qarabag (0-2, 0-0)

Europa League:

HB – 3QR win vs  Shamrock Rovers (3-0, 0-2), 4QR loss vs  Olympiacos (0-1, 0-3)

Conference League:

HB – group stage with  Marseille,  Brugge and  Sheriff

Vikingur – 1QR win vs  St. Joseph’s (2-0, 5-1), 2QR loss vs  Brann (1-3, 1-2)

07 Vestur – 1QR loss vs  Neftci (1-1, 1-1 pen)

AB – 1QR loss vs  Sutjeska (1-3, 0-2)

Overall points – 1.625+ (1.750 in 32/33). Second group stage appearance and first ever win in Europa League for HB, still this season is so far worse overall than the previous one (though getting some points from Sheriff can make it better).

[Koetzer]

September 2033

We played two decent games against current league leaders, defeated Randers and should have got at least a point against AGF, but conceded a late counter while having a man advantage. Our position in the top half is quite secure so far, though Brøndby should obviously improve their form later. The cup draw is really lucky, after defeating two lower league teams we got another amateurs on the road to quarter-final.

 National team

Some backup players were injured, but all regular starters are here.

The almighty Haaland is still there and scored his 130th (!) international goal with a hat-trick, still we managed to get a reasonable result despite Ryggshammar’s red card (he moved to Benfica before this season and is our most expensive player, but his discipline is still a huge problem for the national team).

FIFA ranking – 123rd ( 2)

U21: 1-4 (A) vs Spain, 3-0 (H) vs Luxembourg in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 1-0 (A) vs Armenia, 3-1 (A) vs Azerbaijan in friendlies.

U18: 0-1 (A) vs Azerbaijan in friendly.

[Koetzer]

October 2033

Awful form, we only scored once in the league (from a corner) and spent an hour to break down the lower league opposition in the cup. Though with top five teams already being far away I wouldn’t be against dropping into the bottom half as sixth team receive nothing except a bit bigger prize money.

 National team

Two players are suspended for the first game, but no other issues with this squad.

After a good first game (we had a chance to equalize and even scored, but Jacobsen's goal was disallowed) we conceded three in first 25 minutes against Romania so avoiding the bottom finish is almost impossible now.

FIFA ranking – 126th ( 3)

U21: 0-2 (A) vs Austria, 1-2 (H) vs Czech Republic in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 2-2 (H) vs Slovakia, 2-0 (H) vs Macedonia in friendlies.

Edited September 8, 2022 by Koetzer

[Koetzer]

November-December 2033

Decided to switch back to 4-3-3, and it worked. Only for two games though  

 National team

Øregaard suffered an injury in a game against Brøndby and was replaced.

We almost spoiled the perfect year for Norway, leading for about 20 minutes.

FIFA ranking – 127th ( 1)

U21: 0-0 (H) vs Cyprus, 0-3 (H) vs Spain in Euro qualifiers.

U19: 1-0 (N) vs Hungary, 1-1 (A) vs Latvia, 0-0 (N) vs Romania in Euro qualifiers B – finished second.

U18: 2-3 (A) vs Croatia, 0-2 (N) vs Poland, 0-2 (N) vs Iceland in Euro preliminary B – relegated to group C.

Betrideildin: Vikingur won the title this time while HB had a busier continental schedule and eventually finished third ahead of Sheriff on goal difference!

Another excellent preview which isn’t going to become real.

[Koetzer]

February-March 2034

Apart from Steinholm, we signed one more player during winter window – central midfielder Klakstein who was in our squad on a half-season loan four years ago and now joined on free transfer from Midtjylland reserves.

What an opening game, we scored in the first attack, conceded three after this but substitute striker Mouritsen saved a draw with two late goals! It was a successful month overall, we lost to the league leaders but got three home wins and confidently qualified for the top group. The five-point gap from a potential playoff spot is quite concerning, but I think we may catch Randers if carry this form into the next months.

 National team

Two wins over teams from the world’s top 100.

FIFA ranking – 126th ( 1)

U21: 1-0 (A) vs Lithuania, 2-0 (A) vs Gibraltar in friendlies.

U19: 1-2 (A) vs Lithuania, 3-1 (A) vs Gibraltar in friendlies.

U18: 1-0 (H) vs Israel, 2-0 (H) vs Lithuania, 3-1 (H) vs Gibraltar in Euro preliminary С – promoted to group B.

[Koetzer]

April 2034

Well, that's it. We are hopeless against the top teams in Denmark, and honestly I don't see how we could improve. Most of the team leaders either reached their potential or won't ever reach it due to age, any possible transfer would be a only squad depth improvement (four best Faroese players who really can make us stronger are regular starters in better and richer clubs), and academy brought the best player in its history - striker Sigvardsen, but he's very far from the first team with these attributes (I think starting even with a minimal youth setup would have lead us to much better intakes at this point). 

Still it was a good journey to guide a fully Faroese team from fifth division to mid-table positions in the top tier and even get several European games, maybe I'll try something similar in FM23.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Ahh to sad to see this one end. 

One question, since I wasn't sure, are all your youth intake players Faroese, or did you just sign only Faroese players? Cause I would expect to see few Danish ones.. or they have an built-in only Faroese policy, like Athletic does with Basque players, or players born and raised from that region.

[Koetzer]

14 hours ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

One question, since I wasn't sure, are all your youth intake players Faroese, or did you just sign only Faroese players? Cause I would expect to see few Danish ones.. or they have an built-in only Faroese policy, like Athletic does with Basque players, or players born and raised from that region.

There were 3-4 Danish players in each intake (though it's a bit strange that Faroese players don't have Danish citizenship by default, maybe done on purpose so Denmark couldn't poach all their best players). The club has a priority to sign Faroese players, it's not mandatory (I've done a test simulation before the start and after a few seasons the squad was almost fully Danish) but I wanted to play a Bilbao-style career.