Stuniverse Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 (edited) Saturday 10th January 2032 Íþróttabandalag Akraness (Iceland) v Viking (Norway) Friendly -- We are pretty close to a clean bill of health which will allow us to take a close look at our new signings ahead of the Manchester United and Porto UEFA Champions League matches. We'll probably go with one 11 for the first half and a completely different 11 after the break to get 45 minutes into the legs of 22 players. -- Starting 11 -- 2nd Half -- A very good work out for us today. I thought we were always comfortably in control against Íþróttabandalag Akraness and we were able to play two different teams, one in each half, as we'd planned. All five new signings, plus our trialist, got playing time and I was very pleased with what I saw out there. We were also able to give some younger players game time and they didn't look out of place. Edited May 12 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 Monday 12th January 2032 Eliteserien 2031 Review -- 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Tuesday 13th January 2032 New Eliteserien Season -- -- 2032 Season - Eliteserien Preview -- Viking's Fixtures (in full) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Tuesday 13th January 2032 Viking Board | Expectations | Youth Recruitment -- Board Expectations -- -- Youth Recruitment Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Friday 16th January 2032 Molde Appoint -- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Saturday 17th January 2032 Viking (Tier 1) v Stabæk (Tier 2) Friendly -- In our last friendly before we go to Old Trafford to play Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, we do have a few injury and fitness concerns. I expect we'll give the starters around 60 minutes each today against Stabæk and then bring the subs on for half an hour. -- -- I wouldn't go so far as to say we hammered Stabæk but it was a comfortable game for us. We restricted Stabæk to only one attempt on goal and that wasn't until the 86th minute. Oscar Bobb did have a bruised shin so we took him off earlier than planned. Stabæk were relegated from Eliteserien last season but are favourites to win OBOS-ligaen and bounce straight back. We knew Stabæk would be a difficult game in pre-season so I'm very pleased with how we performed. Our new players seem to be settling in quite nicely and finding their feet. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Preview -- -- It's going to be a very difficult game for us at Old Trafford against Manchester United, but one we're very much looking forward to. With two matches to go, we're in the Champions League playoff places but with a narrow two point cushion. That may be enough but, probably, won't be. We need to pick up points against Manchester United away, if we can but that's a very big ask, and / or at home to Porto in the next one but that won't be easy either. Unfortunately, we don't have enough HGC players in the first team squad. We only need to register two HGC in Eliteserien but for the UEFA Champions League it's four. Unfortunately we're two HGC places short so we've had to call-up Krzysztof Krysiak and Sverre Olav Bø Pedersen from the 2nd Team. Spoiler It's something we'll need to address for next season. Hopefully, the Board's decision to invest in Youth Recruitment this season will help. Roger Vestgøte (ankle) is close but not close enough. Otto Rosengren (flu) and Jesper Robertsen (calf) will be big misses for us as well. -- Expected Line-up Edited May 13 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BML Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 On 11/05/2024 at 06:31, Stuniverse said: Found this graphic, @BML Yeah it's as I thought, your 30 goals conceded were over 17 league games, but it's comparable to a few other teams in the league so not a massive concern (although Brann conceded 6 fewer over the same period and Molde/Valerenga conceded the same or less with 1 fewer clean sheet). Hopefully the (3?) new centre backs you've signed will help get you to Brann levels and make things a little easier in retaining your title next season. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Wednesday 21st January 2032 Manchester United (England) v Viking (Norway) UEFA Champions League -- -- -- Let's be honest, not a great debut, was it? Mathias Fjørtoft Løvik comes on at half-time due to an injury to David Møller Wolfe, did ok to be fair, but then gets a straight red on 90+4 minutes. I really don't know what he was thinking, sliding in from behind, two-footed, cleaning the Manchester United player out. I think Mathias was just keen to impress but that's not the way to do it. I'm pleased we kept it respectable but we never looked like threatening them today. United were all over us and any game plan we had went out the window after just two minutes when Antony scored a world class goal from distance. We went to a Defensive mentality after about five minutes and, whilst we defended very well, we couldn't really mount any serious attacking threat. With David struggling with a knee problem, we made a sub and changed our shape at half-time. We conceded a second fairly early in the second half but defended very well overall. We ended the game in a very bizarre shape after the red card. -- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) 42 minutes ago, BML said: Yeah it's as I thought, your 30 goals conceded were over 17 league games, but it's comparable to a few other teams in the league so not a massive concern (although Brann conceded 6 fewer over the same period and Molde/Valerenga conceded the same or less with 1 fewer clean sheet). 42 minutes ago, BML said: Hopefully the (3?) new centre backs you've signed will help get you to Brann levels and make things a little easier in retaining your title next season. Yeah, it is three new centre-backs, @BML although I have too many DCs at the moment. It's going to be a relatively inexperienced centre-back pairing which is why I'm hoping to keep David Brekalo (33) and Isak Amundsen (32) around in case experience is needed. Both have accepted a reduced Playing Time expectation and neither kicked up a fuss at not being registered for the UEFA Champions league. Two players who were here last season, and have already proven themselves, are likely to get the nod with Jan Rune Hansen (23) on the left and Aleksander Liland (23) on the right - that's if Aleksander is still here as there's a lot of interest in him at the moment. Two of the new signings Rafael Mota (24) and Filip Hornburg Møller-Hansen (26) will be the back-ups, getting rotational playing time, although both of them could easily become the mainstays if Jan and / or Aleksander get off to a slow start. I'm trying to find loans for the other new signing, Per Joar Hægstad Johnsen (22) and Eivind Helland (26) as I can't see them getting much playing time here this season. Edited May 13 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Monday 26th January 2032 An Unhappy Captain is NOT what you want! -- -- 1 hour ago, Stuniverse said: It's going to be a relatively inexperienced centre-back pairing which is why I'm hoping to keep David Brekalo (33) and Isak Amundsen (32) around in case experience is needed. Both have accepted a reduced Playing Time expectation and neither kicked up a fuss at not being registered for the UEFA Champions league. Looks like I was wrong about this, at least as far as my captain David Brekalo is concerned. I need to resolve this, if possible, before it escalates to the rest of the squad. Spoiler -- -- -- -- -- -- I'm not sure whether that went well... or not... Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Monday 26th January 2032 UEFA Champions League Squad Registration -- The HGC minimum of four players is still causing us an issue but I have been able to register three of four in Lasse Berg Johnsen, Edvin Austbø and Krzysztof Krysiak although, to be fair, Krystof is only registered because of the HGC rule (which is minimum two HGC in Eliteserien so he's unlikely to be registered for the league). I was able to find a place for David Brekalo though. -- Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Preview -- -- After last night's UEFA Champions League results, we are still in the playoff places in 22nd, a point above three teams, including our visitors today, FC Porto, on eight points. It's possible we could qualify for the playoffs, even if we lose, but we want to do it ourselves and will be trying our best to beat Porto in our own SR-Bank Arena. New signing Mathias Fjørtoft Løvik is suspended but David Møller Wolfe and Jesper Robertsen are available again, although we probably won't risk Jesper. -- Expected Line-up Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Wednesday 28th January 2032 Viking (Norway) v FC Porto (Portugal) UEFA Champions League -- -- -- This was an enthralling game of football, which I'm sure the neutrals would have enjoyed, between two very good teams who were both trying to win. In the end, when the dust settled, both FC Porto and ourselves qualified for the playoffs. I'm sure Luka Elsner and his FC Porto team will feel aggrieved, and perhaps a draw would've been a fairer result, but we were more clinical in front of goal and throughly deserved our win. We could've won by even more if, at 0-0, Anders Hartveit Ryste hadn't tried a stupid panenka penalty which their goalkeeper just stood still and caught in his midriff. -- 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Viking Sign Løvik" -- Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Players Leaving Viking on Loan" -- David Brekalo - DC Spoiler -- Steinar Braathen - MC / AMC Steinar Braathen had a breakthrough season for us last term, making 15 appearances at 6.97 but with little end product - no goals and only three assists. In what, I think, will be a more competitive Viking midfield this season, we decided to loan Steinar out as I don't think he'd get as much playing time here, as he did last season. It's going to be a make-or-break season in Eliteserien with Åsane for Steinar because, after a season playing for our first team, he didn't kick-on enough to convince us to make him part of our plans this season. It's a shame, because Steinar would've taken a HGC place for the UEFA Champions League but it's more important for his development that he gets plenty of Eliteserien playing time. We will reassess him at the end of the season. Spoiler -- Eivind Helland - DC, DM Eivind Helland has played for us the last two seasons as a back-up centre-back. He's never let us down but hasn't quite done enough to convince us he can be a regular starter. With the new centre-backs we've signed this off-season, Eivind has been pushed further down the pecking order so a loan makes good sense to get him more playing time than we can offer this season. We will reassess Eivind at the end of his loan. Spoiler -- Per Joar Hægstad Johnsen - DC We've only just signed Per Joar Hægstad Johnsen and have very high hopes for him but, based on current ability, we're going to struggle to give him the playing time he needs to develop this season as we are very strong, and overloaded with centre-backs currently. A loan at Eliteserien Vålerenga will be ideal for him and hopefully we'll reap the benefits from that next season. Spoiler -- Sean Nilsen-Modebe - SC We think a lot of Sean Nilsen-Modebe but could only give him five appearances last season as he's behind some very good strikers right now in Lasse Nordås, Anders Hartveit Ryste, Edvin Austbø and Henrik Skogvold, possibly even Oscar Aga so we think it's best for Sean's development to get loan time away from the SR-Bank Arena. We'll reassess him at the end of his Eliteserien loan with Sandnes Ulf. Spoiler Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Malmö Sign Two Viking Players" -- -- Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Palumbo Rejects Arendal Spoiler Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Viking Release Two Players" -- Brice Wembangomo Spoiler -- Emilian Skjold Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Lots of Interest in Viking Players" -- We have turned down four bids for Edvin Austbø, including three from Damac. Spoiler -- Jan Rune Hansen Spezia and Vålerenga are both very keen to sign Jan Rune Hansen and we've knocked back multiple bids from both of them. Spoiler -- Aleksander Liland There's a lot of interest in Aleksander Liland, mainly from the Middle East. Spoiler -- Anders Hartveit Ryste There's a lot of reported Middle East interest in Anders Hartveit Ryste as well... Spoiler ... although we've only had one bid to reject. -- And we have another month of this until the transfer window closes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Backroom Staff Additions" -- Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Spoiler -- Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Viking First Team Squad" -- Appearances -- Reports Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 1st February 2032 "Dynamics" -- Results -- Board Confidence -- Supporter Confidence -- Finances -- Dynamics Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Episode 119 - Champions League Playoffs | 2nd February 2032 "Champions League Playoffs draw" -- -- -- Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Tuesday 3rd February 2032 Until Next Time... ... when we take on Feyenoord in the two-legged UEFA Champions League playoff, and... ...we play some more friendlies, and... ... the transfer window closes. -- February's Fixtures -- Thoughts, comments, general feedback appreciated. Any questions, just ask and I'll answer them if I can. Thank you for reading and following... and I greatly appreciate the comments as that's what genuinely keeps me motivated to continue updating about this save. Until next time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Tough draw against Feyenoord, but I think you can give them a game 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Thursday 5th January 2032 Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja (Iceland) v Viking (Norway) Friendly -- Today's friendly is for the benefit of the players who didn't feature much in the UEFA Champions League against Manchester United and Porto. We'll try and give them a full 90 minutes if we can. -- We still have a few injury and fitness concerns but we're getting closer to a clean bill of health. -- -- A very good workout and a comfortable win, apart from the last 20 minutes when we got sloppy at the back and Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja pulled two back. Unfortunately we didn't get all the starters through 90 minutes as we'd planned as Otto Rosengren felt his hamstring tighten and Runar Norheim twisted his ankle. We also subbed Edvin Austbø after about an hour once he'd scored his hat-trick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) 45 minutes ago, warlock said: Tough draw against Feyenoord I think so as well, @warlock 45 minutes ago, warlock said: but I think you can give them a game 👍 Thanks for the vote of confidence. We'll give it our best shot 🤞⚽️ Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Saturday 7th February 2032 Viking Youth Candidates Evaluated -- -- Spoiler -- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Friendly -- -- Halmstads are, probably, the toughest opponent we'll face in pre-season so we'll be going with a strong team... ... although we have several injury and fitness concerns we need to be mindful of. -- -- They say goals change matches and that was true today. Whilst I wouldn't go so far as to say Halmstads were all over us, they did have the better of the first 10 minutes and created a couple of chances. Then we took the lead, Lasse Nordås scoring after a brilliant assist from Patrick Berg. We controlled the game after that and ended up comfortable 5-0 winners with Lasse Nordås grabbing himself a hat-trick. It could've been six, on 52 minutes, Niklas Ødegård's shot from distance hit the post. At least when Anders Hartveit Ryste scored his penalty he took it sensibly and didn't try one of those stupid panenka kicks. Edited May 13 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 It is a pain being a big team in a small pond. Especially when your best players are always on someone's radar. I am currently going through the same with FK Austria Wien in the Austrian Premier League. My owner sold my best DM without my approval......for a paltry $8.25M! My best striker is willing to wait until someone offers $18M. I even had a youth player signed out from under me by a French team at age 15! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 53 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: It is a pain being a big team in a small pond. Yes, that seems to be the case at Viking, @Hootieleece 54 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: Especially when your best players are always on someone's radar. It’s been this way every transfer window on this save whether at Loddefjord, or Hodd… but it does seem worse now at Viking and particularly the last two or three seasons when we’ve essentially been the best club in Norway. 56 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: I am currently going through the same with FK Austria Wien in the Austrian Premier League. I feel your pain. 56 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: My owner sold my best DM without my approval......for a paltry $8.25M! Ouch! At least my owner hasn’t done that to me yet. Hopefully that, at least, won’t happen as Viking are rich after three seasons of Champions League and a fourth guaranteed to follow. The Board don’t need the money. 59 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: My best striker is willing to wait until someone offers $18M. There’s still a month to go before the window closes and it hasn’t reached that point with any of my players. So far, I’ve rejected all bids for players I want to keep and the players have been professional about it and not complained. In previous transfer windows I have been able to get the player to agree to stay until a club offers a set valuation which, so far, have been valuations on the high side. 1 hour ago, Hootieleece said: I even had a youth player signed out from under me by a French team at age 15! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Friendly -- The Ungmennafélagið Fjölnir friendly is our last one before the UEFA Champions League playoff first-leg at home to Feyenoord. We'll be giving playing time to the players likely to feature against Feyenoord but don't read too much into the starting line-up for Fjölnir. We still have a few players injured or lacking match fitness. -- -- A very good workout and a comfortable win against Fjölnir. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 1 hour ago, Stuniverse said: Ouch! At least my owner hasn’t done that to me yet. Hopefully that, at least, won’t happen as Viking are rich after three seasons of Champions League and a fourth guaranteed to follow. The Board don’t need the money. I took over a team that was underachieving and 10th in the table in November even though they are arguably the 2nd biggest team in Austria after RB Salzburg and with a better and longer history. We qualified for Europa League playins and weren't quite ready.....doing well in the UECL though. The Board has money but not the riches of the Champions League and it shows. I am currently leading the League by 4 points and came in 2nd last season but all that can change after the League splits and our long winter break which helped the team learn my control possession tactics even though they are out of the Box Vertical Tiki-Taka. Sorry about derailing the thread a bit. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 3 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: I took over a team that was underachieving and 10th in the table in November even though they are arguably the 2nd biggest team in Austria after RB Salzburg and with a better and longer history. We qualified for Europa League playins and weren't quite ready.....doing well in the UECL though. The Board has money but not the riches of the Champions League and it shows. I am currently leading the League by 4 points and came in 2nd last season but all that can change after the League splits and our long winter break which helped the team learn my control possession tactics even though they are out of the Box Vertical Tiki-Taka. Sorry about derailing the thread a bit. No worries. Thanks for sharing. Good luck 🍀⚽️🤞 with FK Austria, @Hootieleece 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 Preview -- -- Clearly Feyenoord are favourites and we go into this Champions League playoff first-leg as underdogs. But, at home in the SR-Bank Arena, with our supporters behind us, anything is possible. We're confident and we'll give it our best shot. Runar Norheim (ankle) and Krzysztof Krysiak (ankle) are both ruled out and we won't risk Otto Rosengren (hamstring) and Jesper Robertsen (calf) unless we have to. -- Expected Line-up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Tuesday 17th February 2032 Viking (Norway) v Feyenoord (Netherlands) UEFA Champions League playoff first-leg -- -- -- I'm delighted with the way we performed today. Feyenoord are a very good team so to win 2-0 was tremendous. The only downside was losing Lasse Nordås with a groin issue after half an hour but, hopefully, he'll be back for the away leg. At times, this team play some scintillating, passing football and that was exactly what they did for our second goal, finished off in style by Niklas Ødegård. But much as I'm pleased with our attacking play, I was thrilled with our defending and we kept a clean sheet so Feyenoord don't even have an away goal to take back to Rotterdam. We can't get ahead of ourselves though. The tie is over two-legs and there's still the second leg to play in the Stadion Feijenoord 'De Kuip'. -- Edited May 13 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 (edited) Wednesday 18th February 2032 Austbø Wants New Contract -- Spoiler -- I wasn't looking forward to this conversation because I'd previously spoken to Edvin Austbø's agent and been told that Edvin would want to be regarded as one of the most important players at the club and that he wanted us to improve in central defence. I told his agent that Edvin's expectations were unrealistic. A few days later his agent rang me wanting to follow up on contract discussions and I told him that I wasn't willing to discuss a new contract for Edvin at the moment. And now this… … Edvin is one of my three senior players who qualify as HGC so I do need to keep him happy if I can. -- -- -- -- We've offered Edvin Austbø a new contract. This time, he'd changed his mind about us strengthening in central defence and wanted us to strengthen central midfield. I excluded that from negotiations. Edited May 14 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 2 hours ago, Stuniverse said: Feyenoord are a very good team so to win 2-0 was tremendous 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 (edited) 5 hours ago, warlock said: Don’t get too excited @warlock - we still have the second-leg, the away leg against Feyenoord, to play in Rotterdam. Edited May 14 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 3 hours ago, Stuniverse said: we still have the second-leg, the away leg Sure, but a two-goal lead is a good place to start. I have every confidence 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 Monday 23rd February 2032 Viking - Squad Numbers -- 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 Preview -- -- We've put ourselves in a great position after winning the home-leg 2-0 at our SR-Bank Arena but we saw enough from Feyenoord in that match to know they will make things very difficult for us in the second-leg at Stadion Feijenoord 'De Kuip'. Lasse Nordås has recovered from his groin issue he picked up in the first-leg but Runar Norheim (ankle) and Krzysztof Krysiak (ankle) are ruled out. -- Expected Line-up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 (edited) Wednesday 25th February 2032 Feyenoord (Netherlands) v Viking (Norway) UEFA Champions League playoff second-leg (Viking lead 2-0) -- -- -- I don't know what to say after that. I'm lost for words... but I want to apologise to the Viking supporters, especially the 477 de mørkeblå who travelled to Rotterdam and were inside the Stadion Feijenoord 'De Kuip' to witness that capitulation first hand. As good as we were in the first-leg, we were as equally terrible tonight and then some. We had one chance in the first half, just one, when Lasse Nordås headed over the bar. Feyenoord were great, Arne Slot really had them fired up for this one, and they deservedly took a 2-0 lead with 16th and 35th minute goals... but for us to then concede four goals in the last six-plus-two minutes of the first half is inexcusable and I couldn't believe what I was watching. We froze. The enormity of the occasion was too much for us. I guess that comes from having a young squad, but we will have to improve. It's my job, and that of my staff, to make sure that next time they handle the occasion much better. We made some changes at half-time, in hindsight I probably should have made some earlier, and we were a bit better after the break. A bit, but not much, slightly better. Things went from bad to worse for us, if that was even possible, with four minutes to go when frustration got the better of Lasse Nordås when he slid in on a Feyenoord player, with no chance of winning the ball, took him out and deservedly received a straight red card. I would have substituted all 11 players if I could, we were that bad. Norway manager Antonio Conte was here tonight but, if I was him, I wouldn't select any Viking players based on what he witnessed tonight. -- Edited May 14 by Stuniverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 14 Author Share Posted May 14 (edited) Thursday 26th February 2032 Viking Players Personally Refund Supporters -- -- This was nothing to do with me. The players decided to do this themselves. It's a great gesture by the players but it would've been better if they hadn't frozen against Feyenoord in the second-leg and had put in the sort of performance we know they are capable of. -- 13 minutes ago, Stuniverse said: Wednesday 25th February 2032 Feyenoord (Netherlands) v Viking (Norway) UEFA Champions League playoff second-leg (Viking lead 2-0) -- -- -- I don't know what to say after that. I'm lost for words... but I want to apologise to the Viking supporters, especially the 477 de mørkeblå who travelled to Rotterdam and were inside the Stadion Feijenoord 'De Kuip' to witness that capitulation first hand. As good as we were in the first-leg, we were as equally terrible tonight and then some. We had one chance in the first half, just one, when Lasse Nordås headed over the bar. Feyenoord were great, Arne Slot really had them fired up for this one, and they deservedly took a 2-0 lead with 16th and 35th minute goals... but for us to then concede four goals in the last six-plus-two minutes of the first half is inexcusable and I couldn't believe what I was watching. We froze. The enormity of the occasion was too much for us. I guess that comes from having a young squad, but we will have to improve. It's my job, and that of my staff, to make sure that next time they handle the occasion much better. We made some changes at half-time, in hindsight I probably should have made some earlier, and we were a bit better after the break. A bit, but not much, slightly better. Things went from bad to worse for us, if that was even possible, with four minutes to go when frustration got the better of Lasse Nordås when he slid in on a Feyenoord player, with no chance of winning the ball, took him out and deservedly received a straight red card. I would have substituted all 11 players if I could, we were that bad. Norway manager Antonio Conte was here tonight but, if I was him, I wouldn't select any Viking players based on what he witnessed tonight. -- Edited May 14 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 1 hour ago, Stuniverse said: I don't know what to say after that Ooof! That's a shocker. I honestly didn't see that coming... going out to a 3-0 or 4-1 didn't seem likely but always possible. I mean, have you ever conceded 8 in a game before? But it's also a horrible situation where you're playing your biggest game of the season in pre-season Onwards and upwards 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BML Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Oof, 10 shots on target and 8 went in? A 5.6 rating for your 'keeper is generous. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 (edited) 19 hours ago, warlock said: Ooof! That's a shocker. I honestly didn't see that coming Neither did I, @warlock We played very well in the home leg, winning 2-0 and I only made one change for the second leg, Otto Rosengren coming in as BBM-Su instead of Jakob Napoleon Romsaas (RPM-Su). 7 hours ago, BML said: Oof, 10 shots on target and 8 went in? A 5.6 rating for your 'keeper is generous. Good spot, @BML and yes, incredible really... unbelievable in fact... Jasper Torkildsen is a very good goalkeeper so I'm hoping this is a one-off blip. -- Feyenoord started well and scored after about 15 minutes and then again on 35 to tie it at 2-2 on aggregate. I did think about making changes but thought wait until half-time, it’s only 10 minutes away. Yes they were better than us, but they weren’t murdering us (at the time). Then we imploded. 2-3 down on 39. Again I thought about changes but didn’t because there was only six minutes to half-time. I wasn’t expecting further goals on 41, 45 and 45+2. Not sure if it's related, but Aleksander Liland (right-sided centre-back who is a current Norwegian international with eight senior caps) picked up a yellow card on 27 minutes and I asked him to ease off tackles. I made subs and changed shape at HT. If I could’ve subbed all 11 of them I would’ve done. Slight improvement after the break but we were still second best. Then at 0-7 on the night, another red card. These red cards seem to come when I do a Fire Them Up touchline instruction. 0-8. I never saw that coming after we played so well to win the first leg 2-0. I only made one change to the starting 11 as well. 19 hours ago, warlock said: I mean, have you ever conceded 8 in a game before? No, not in a competitive game (as far as I'm aware), but definitely not on this save. 19 hours ago, warlock said: But it's also a horrible situation where you're playing your biggest game of the season in pre-season I know. The players barely get a break at all, it's like they've been playing continuously for three years now without a decent break. And this season, I'm trying to transition and change the back four and the base of the midfield diamond, whilst trying to allow the new signings to settle in at the same time. 19 hours ago, warlock said: Onwards and upwards Let's hope so. Edited May 15 by Stuniverse 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 Friday 27th February 2032 Viking Sign Dahbo -- Spoiler 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 Friendly -- -- Hønefoss finished 4th in OBOS-ligaen last season, reached the Eliteserien/OBOS-ligaen playoff final, where they narrowly lost to Sandefjord in extra-time. When we arranged this friendly for a week before the Eliteserien season started, we thought Hønefoss away would be a good test to ease us into the new season. Now, after the eight-goal humiliation against Feyenoord, the match takes on much more significance for us. We have a fully fit squad, although Runar Norheim and Krzysztof Krysiak are lacking match fitness. It's a chance for the players to show everybody that they're not as bad as they looked against Feyenoord. Hopefully, we'll also be able to give new signing Pontus Dahbo some playing time. -- -- I know it was only a friendly but we played much better against Hønefoss today. We scored four and could easily have scored more as Lasse Nordås hit the post and Mathias Fjørtoft Løvik rattled the bar. Hønefoss scored their goal when Aleksandar Liland made a mistake, giving the ball away on the edge of our penalty area. He also mistimed two headers at the back letting the Hønefoss striker through on goal. For a Norwegian international, with eight senior caps, he needs to do a lot better. Spoiler Oscar Bobb picked up an ankle injury but he should be ok for our Eliteserien opener against Tromsø. We'll give the players a few days off, then get together and prepare for our visit to Tromsø's Romssa Arena in eight days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuniverse Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 Episode 120 - Eliteserien 2032 About to Start | 1st March 2032 "Viking Staff Additions" -- Spoiler -- Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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