vikeologist

Relieved for you. I thought the lack of an update was a bad omen. How have the players taken it? Do you have them all contractually in servitude?

One can change one's mind.

Vikeologist's Víkingur Ólafsvík 2025 Report Going into the final match of the season, 3 points from safety, we needed to win and for the team above us, Ægir, to lose. And that’s exactly what happened. The great escape. It didn’t seem that impossible given that we’d improved the last few matches, were playing a poor side, whilst Ægir had a tough fixture. We dominated our match and went in 2-0 at half time, whereas Ægir were 2-0 down. But then Ægir scored a goal and all I could do was look at the box fearing they’d score a 2nd and draw. Still, quite a relief. I did think my goose was cooked near the end of the season. I haven’t even looked at the youth intake or set up their training. I just gave them contracts, thinking it was meaningless. So, given that we reached the playoffs last season, and had new players and a wider choice, how did it all go wrong? Well, the big thing is that the first proper match of the season, (I regard the league cup campaign as pre season friendlies) we were knocked out of the cup by a non-league team, but even worse, my most important player, Luke Williams, tore his ACL and was out for the season, or as it turned out forever, because he retired mid-season. There were other injuries. We don’t have an U19 team. Once the team started losing, (9 in a row which in a 22 match season isn’t great), we couldn’t stop. 6 of the first XI are 20 or under. More than anything though, we’re just not very good. Last season was the outlier, not this one. I may well be in a relegation battle next season as well. Youth Intake. I know that people usually single out players from the intake, but at this early stage where half the intake come with 5 star potential, it’s hard to know what I’ve got. I’ll report on them after 5 seasons. I offered a contract to everyone. With no youth or B team, most of my players get no match practice other than pre-season friendlies. I can send them on loan to an U19 team shared by us and 3 other teams, but they don’t get any matches there. So, my squad is going to be way too large. I’m going to have to try to get someone to take them on loan. Squad Top Goalscorer - Björn Axel Guðjónsson – 10 I have 2 very good strikers. I prefer to only play with 1 striker, but I’ve had to adjust my selection to use both of them. They may be good, but they can’t do much without service. 239 and 309 minutes per goal. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Björn Óli Snorrason – 7.01 Right winger only started 7 matches, and isn’t a preferred starter, but the sub appearances got him over the eligibility line. Man of The Match – 2 players – 2 Most Valuable Player– Aron Elí Gíslason According to my coach, my goalie’s my best player. 2 of my best players are out of contract soon, and won’t sign a new one yet because it would be for less money. Hopefully they do want to stay though. Nobody else has come in for them. Season Division Position Notes 2024 1 4th Finnish Cup Q/F, Playoffs S/F. 2025 1 10th Survived on last day of the season.

Vikeologist's Víkingur Ólafsvík 2022 Report - Part 3 Dénouement The crazy thing about the Icelandic league is that in a season of 22 matches with 12 teams, with about 6 matches to go we were in a playoff space, but still at risk of relegation. However, with one match to go, we were in 4th and a playoff spot. All we had to do was win the last match. What followed was the craziest match I can remember. Very soon we were 3-0 down. Due to suspensions and my preferred tactics, I had strikers playing central defence and attacking midfield, so I thought, screw it, and went to a 3-3-1-3 formation. Like I say, craziness ensued. Long story short, we won 6-5 in added time and were in the playoffs. Of course we were thrashed in the playoff semifinals, but I’m not super disappointed. A good first season, and next season hopefully we’ll have a full squad. This is my new first team. Top Goalscorer - Luke Williams – 20 One of my attacking midfielders, he still managed to top this category, probably because he takes the penalties. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Luke Williams – 7.34 Man of The Match - Luke Williams – 4 Most Valuable Player– Luke Williams That was easy. His contract’s up now. He hasn’t signed with anyone else. He might accept a lesser contract once this one expires. One of my best players, my left winger, is leaving, but otherwise I’ve retained everybody for now. Season Division Position Notes 2024 1 4th Finnish Cup Q/F, Playoffs S/F.

Vikeologist's Víkingur Ólafsvík 2022 Report - Part 2 Youth Intake My youth intake came in immediately before our last regular season match, but I couldn’t register them, which given I was reduced to starting a striker as a central defender, (and spoiler alert, it was a pretty important game) would have been helpful. I signed them all. They’re mostly 5 stars potential, but who knows if any of them are actually any good. I’m sure 2 or 3 of them will be starters immediately from next season though.

Vikeologist's Víkingur Ólafsvík 2022 Report - Part 1 Arrival Breaking the first season into bits so it's not such a long read. First, let’s get this out of the way. The whole point of this is the team name. I tried to do this last year, but due to a bug, even when Vikingur appeared as promoted in the season summary, they weren’t actually promoted. I don’t really have any illusions that I’ll be able to complete this challenge. I was pretty doubtful I’d even survive a season. Once I moved the youth players to the senior team, I had a squad of 21 players, with a few minor gaps, but no huge problems. Unfortunately I was only able to register 19 of them, because of homegrown types of things. Thankfully that will be the least of my problems in a few seasons. I mean, the lack of players wasn’t great obviously, but step 1 was surviving the season.

Adam Maitland - Season 14 - 29 years old Challenge completed. Completed the challenge by January 2064, and just stopped dead on the 1000. Perhaps it’s best to leave Maitland at his peak, and not watch him slowly decline. As @Corinthiano points out, he has achieved it before 30. Admittedly the way I achieved the challenge wasn’t completely organic. I was doing the Ultimate Football Manager Challenge, and at the end of my time with Celtic, Maitland came through, so I came back to the save specifically to try to meet the target. Maitland was thrust into the first team from the age of 15, and has started every match he’s been fully fit for ever since. Luckily he isn’t injury prone. I also trained him to be able to take penalties and free kicks. I’ve waited many iterations for a Maitland to come through, but it was also a feature of FM23. I continued on FM 23 because I suspected he wouldn’t score as many on FM24. I wonder how many goals he could score if I continued with this save, but to be honest, although it’s nice and relaxing due to its low stakes, other than worrying that Maitland will pick up a bad injury, it’s also a bit boring. The one exciting thing was trying to win the Champions League, which I finally achieved last season after 2 previous final defeats in 2054 and 2056. The challenge has dramatically improved Scottish football. The Euro big 5 is now the Big 6. The national team is just outside the top 10, despite almost never using Maitland. The tradition of the challenge is to not manage the national team, and let the goalscoring chips fall where they may. If I hadn’t kept him at Celtic, he would doubtless have picked up a lot more caps from being at higher reputation teams. Anyway, Adam and I picked up the odd trophy and award along the way. I suppose it’s possible I come back to this save if trying to do something more challenging is stressing me out. Season Season Appearances Cumulative Appearances Goals This Season Cumulative goals International Appearances International Goals Total 49/50 12 12 7 7 (cumalative) (cumalative) 50/51 41 53 48 55 51/52 53 106 64 119 2 0 119 52/53 52 158 58 177 5 0 177 53/54 61 219 74 251 9 2 253 54/55 58 277 69 320 18 12 332 55/56 56 333 78 398 26 15 413 56/57 58 391 82 480 36 18 498 57/58 58 449 78 558 41 23 581 58/59 54 503 68 626 48 26 652 59/60 56 559 82 708 54 29 737 60/61 58 617 68 776 60 34 810 61/62 58 675 69 845 69 44 889 62/63 55 730 69 914 72 44 958 63/64 32 762 39 953 76 47 1000

Adam Maitland - Season 13 - 28 years old We did it. We finally won the Champions League, which was lucky because I’d promised Maitland that we would either this season or last, so I was in danger of him sulking the entire last year of this challenge. It was our first appearance in the final for 7 seasons. I know it’s not the point of this challenge, but it’s the only excitement I can derive. Adam only made 1 single international appearance all season, and didn’t score, but with 968 cumulative goals, I just need another 32 next season, or 76 if I want to reach the mark of 1,000 club goals. (I write these updates at the end of the domestic season, and Maitland usually picks up an international appearance or goal or two before the season reset). I don’t know if I’ll just stop this save once I get to the ton, or finish at the end of next season. Now that I have won the Champions league, there’s not much else to prove with the Club World Championship 2 years away. Of course, Maitland might get injured, but a big part of achieving this challenge will be that Maitland has a below average injury susceptibility. Season Season Appearances Cumulative Appearances Goals This Season Cumulative goals International Appearances International Goals Total 49/50 12 12 7 7 (cumalative) (cumalative) 50/51 41 53 48 55 51/52 53 106 64 119 2 0 119 52/53 52 158 58 177 5 0 177 53/54 61 219 74 251 9 2 253 54/55 58 277 69 320 18 12 332 55/56 56 333 78 398 26 15 413 56/57 58 391 82 480 36 18 498 57/58 58 449 78 558 41 23 581 58/59 54 503 68 626 48 26 652 59/60 56 559 82 708 54 29 737 60/61 58 617 68 776 60 34 810 61/62 58 675 69 845 69 44 889 62/63 55 720 69 924 70 44 968

Well, there's an old name. I'm not doing the challenge this year, but I haven't noticed anyone having problems with the ACL. Lots of people trying to do it with Japanese teams, so sort of the same question, how good an option are Japanese clubs compared with Korean clubs when it comes to winning the ACL?

Welcome to the leader board.

Promotion counting as a trophy is a good idea. This challenge is difficult enough as it is. I think it might be the hardest challenge, just because of the number of seasons it can take. It's also sensible to take out the European and world trophies. It was very frustrating to not be able to win the UEFA cup or whatever it was called at the time because I wasn't in it. It would be even worse now with 2 Europa trophies. The one go I had at this (and this was without the rule change, which necessitated a bit of repeating divisions) after 29 seasons, I'd picked up 29 of the then 43 trophies. Does anybody know whether anybody has ever completed this? Anyway, good luck. I plan to have a look every now and then to see how you're getting on.

Adam Maitland - Season 12 - 27 years old 2 more semifinals, the Club World Cup and the Champions League. Frustrating, but at least I’m not doing this save as part of a challenge. I have however promised Maitland that we’d win the CL this season or next, so I might have a problem in a year’s time. We’re definitely good enough to win. We probably should win it. Maitland keeps making steady progress towards the thousand, albeit at a slightly disappointing pace. 69 + 4 international goals this season, leaving us with 117 to go. Season Season Appearances Cumulative Appearances Goals This Season Cumulative goals International Appearances International Goals Total 49/50 12 12 7 7 (cumalative) (cumalative) 50/51 41 53 48 55 51/52 53 106 64 119 2 0 119 52/53 52 158 58 177 5 0 177 53/54 61 219 74 251 9 2 253 54/55 58 277 69 320 18 12 332 55/56 56 333 78 398 26 15 413 56/57 58 391 82 480 36 18 498 57/58 58 449 78 558 41 23 581 58/59 54 503 68 626 48 26 652 59/60 56 559 82 708 54 29 737 60/61 58 617 68 776 60 34 810 61/62 58 675 69 845 65 38 883

Sounds like you'd have to win the knockout stage. Rule of thumb is winners are whoever appears as competition past winners in history screen.

@Gregg88 Welcome to the leaderboard. Great example of how to do the challenge Europe first, (instead of last as most do).

Adam Maitland - Season 11 - 26 years old Probably my best Celtic side yet. We won the league for the 12th time in a row with a record 109 points. And yet, we didn’t win the Champions league, going out in the semifinal. Unjustly. Worse, for this challenge, Maitland’s tally was down to 68 plus 2 international goals. I wasn’t even sure we’d be in this summer’s Club World Championship, despite being #1 in the coefficients for the last 5 seasons, but we are. I’ll probably have to include any Maitland stats for that next year. It will probably be my last attempt at it, because Maitland will almost certainly hit the thousand before the next one, and I doubt I’ll have the interest to see just how many he can notch before retiring. Season Season Appearances Cumulative Appearances Goals This Season Cumulative goals International Appearances International Goals Total 49/50 12 12 7 7 (cumalative) (cumalative) 50/51 41 53 48 55 51/52 53 106 64 119 2 0 119 52/53 52 158 58 177 5 0 177 53/54 61 219 74 251 9 2 253 54/55 58 277 69 320 18 12 332 55/56 56 333 78 398 26 15 413 56/57 58 391 82 480 36 18 498 57/58 58 449 78 558 41 23 581 58/59 54 503 68 626 48 26 652 59/60 56 559 82 708 54 29 737 60/61 56 615 68 776 59 31 807

I've come back to it to finish it off and am midway through a season. He's on about 780, so about 3 1/2 seasons to go.

I've always hoped my guy would hit 100+ goals for a season, but he's now at his peak, and it doesn't look likely. He probably would if I didn't instant result matches allowing my AM to sub him every match, but I'm not sure making him play 60+ full matches a season would be a great idea.

Welcome back to the leaderboard.

Vikeologist's 2026/7 Canterbury Tales We were in contention for a playoff spot all season. It went to the last match of the season. We needed to win away to one of the best teams and hope the team above us lost at home to one of the worst. Predictably, neither happened. We had the consolation prize of an Isthmian League Cup final against a team a league down, but despite battering them and their even having a player sent off, we lost 2-1. That wasn’t a complete injustice. I struggled to find good players to bring in, and our goalkeepers are particularly bad. Our team was pretty much the same as last season, and the newcomers were only minor improvements. A disappointing season, but if we can just find a few decent new players, starting with a goalie, we should do better next season. This was our first season back in Canterbury. Over a thousand people came to our first home match, but that was an anomaly. Nonetheless, our average attendance was up a lot. We had a board takeover, and the new guy cleared our considerable debt of about £150k, and we’re currently 18k in the black, which will only last about a month, if that. Top Goalscorer - Dennis Bossman – 24 I dropped last year’s MVP, Nee, for Bossman who’d been his backup, but was supposed to be better. He did ok, but Nee does seem more prolific, even at this level. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Lewis Hooper – 7.20 My right winger. One of my few new players. Man of The Match - Samson Chukwu – 8 Attacking midfielder. His second season with us. Most Valuable Player– Samson Chukwu He is our best player. Season Division Position Notes 23/24 Southern Counties East League Division 1 1st Won league on last day of season 24/25 Southern Counties East League Premier Division 1st League / County Cup double 25/26 Isthmian League South East Division 1st Won league on last day of season 26/27 Isthmian League Premier Division 6th League Cup Losing Finalists 27/28 Isthmian League Premier Division Southern Counties East League Division 1 15 Southern Counties East League Premier Division 20 Southern Counties East League Cup 10 Isthmian League South East Division 30 Total 75

You won't be in trouble. If you want other people to do the same challenge as you, this is the best place. if you want encouragement and people to read / comment on your individual save, the Careers people are lovely. Not really possible to get in trouble either forum.

I'm the total opposite of a LLM, but in my opinion, if by preset tactic you mean a downloaded one, I think that might raise some hackles. Probably even if you don't actually create your own tactic. I think the problem with labelling something LLM is that those type of managers like to stick to the guidelines very strictly. Your rules do sound interesting, but I wouldn't use that label. It would be fun of course if someone started a LLM challenge that lots of people could take part in, but I worry they'd discover why there used to be a LLM forum, but now there isn't.

Vikeologist's Canterbury 2025/6 Tales For most of the season we ‘d skirted around the top of the table, but rarely actually top. I thought I was only in the hunt for a playoff spot. However with 2 matches to go we found ourselves in a pack of 3 on 72 points. We all won, meaning we needed to win our last match. Actually we didn’t because the other 2 only drew, but we won anyway for my 3rd consecutive league title. Things probably change form now. For one thing we move into a new stadium back home in canterbury before the new season, although I expect there’ll be some last minute delays. It will be interesting to see what happens to our attendances. Our average has risen from 48 to 167 over the 3 seasons, but the league average is only 111. We’re going to need a big increase in attendance or cup runs to pay for the stadium. The player awards seem silly with players coming and going so much, but nonetheless. Top Goalscorer - Harrison Nee – 37 I did sign a striker who’s supposed to be slightly better mid-season, but he didn’t get off to a good start so I went back to tried and trusted Nee. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Harrison Nee – 7.44 Man of The Match - Harrison Nee – 8 Most Valuable Player– Harrison Nee Turns out that was an easy decision, but I suspect that Nee won’t be able to take us much further. Season Division Position Notes 23/24 Southern Counties East League Division 1 1st Won league on last day of season 24/25 Southern Counties East League Premier Division 1st League / County Cup double 25/26 Isthmian League South East Division 1st Won league on last day of season 26/27 Isthmian League Premier Division Southern Counties East League Division 1 15 Southern Counties East League Premier Division 20 Southern Counties East League Cup 10 Isthmian League South East Division 30 Total 75

If I may answer, yes the game slows down a lot. If you're noticing it already, it will get a lot worse. Generally there's no need to have more than 3 leagues loaded at any time, but this does mean that when you finish at 1 club, you only have a choice of 2 other leagues, and it can take a while for a suitable job to come up. I don't see any advantage in having leagues on view only, but I don't know how much this slows the processing. Also, you may want to have the league of the nation you're managing loaded for extra players, although I actually think this is counterproductive.

Vikeologist's Canterbury 2024/5 Tales Won the Southern Counties East League Premier Division and Southern Counties East League Cup fairly easily, although I had to spend an eternity finding new players. The nice thing about the non-contract element is that you don’t have to worry about mistakes when signing players. A year ago the board said they were looking for a stadium in Canterbury, (we’re exiled in Margate) but I’m not sure how they’d pay for it. We had the second lowest attendance in the division at 78, and the increase from 50ish the season before was probably only because of our success. No sooner do I type that than they announce a new 1,312 capacity stadium to be ready in a year at a cost of a million. It will be interesting to see what happens to our attendances then, although hopefully it will coincide with another promotion. Top Goalscorer – Kai Bartolo – 21 He was my starting striker for the first half of the season, but he’s the backup now. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Jared Wardley – 7.33 Bit of a surprise. He’s a young, promising, but not great yet, attacking midfielder. Man of The Match - Nico Cotton – 7 He won all the categories last season, but was out injured for 3 months this season. Most Valuable Player– Honestly, nobody really stands out. Season Division Position Notes 23/24 Southern Counties East League Division 1 1st Won league on last day of season 24/25 Southern Counties East League Premier Division 1st League / County Cup double 25/26 Southern Counties East League Division 1 15 Southern Counties East League Premier Division 20 Southern Counties East League Cup 10 Total 45