Stuniverse

Found this graphic, @BML

Yeah that Erling Haaland feller is something special. He was too good for us when we played Manchester City back in October in the Champions League.

Friday 2nd January 2032 Until Next Time... ... when the Winter transfer window opens... ... we conclude our UEFA Champions League, League Phase with two difficult matches, and... ... our pre-season gets underway. -- January'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...

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 2nd January 2032 "Monthly Review" -- Results -- Board Confidence -- Supporter Confidence -- Finances -- Dynamics

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 2nd January 2032 "Viking Confirm Future Transfers In" -- Patrick Berg (DM / MC) - Bodø/Glimt -- Rafael Mota (DC) - Brann -- Per Joar Hægstad Johnsen (DC) - Rosenborg -- All Future Transfers

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 2nd January 2032 "Transfer Bids Received | Rumoured Interest" -- Jasper Torkildsen (GK) -- Aleksander Liland (DC / DM) -- Jan Rune Hansen (DLC, MC, AMR) --

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 31st December 2031 "Contracts Expire | Retirements Announced" -- Players -- Staff

Monday 22nd December 2031 Playing Time Expectations -- --

Monday 22nd December 2031 Players Report Back for Pre-season Training -- -- We don't appear to have a Training Camp booked so, having assessed the squad's fitness, I've given them the next two weeks off.

It's probably me, @BML but I was referencing this graphic which, I appreciate, is about individual goalkeepers, not the team.. I agree with you, particularly when you look at the goals conceded per game (ignoring the games with clean sheets). The number of games where we conceded the first goal was also worrying. It's difficult to keep having to come from behind. I am definitely looking at strengthening in defence with a deal already done for Filip Hornburg Møller-Hansen (DC. DRL) - hopefully, he won't be the only one.

Friday 12th December 2031 Dahl Tomasson Resigns as Molde Manager --

Viking - First Team Squad Review Strikers -- I'm very happy with the options I have up top. Lasse Nordås scored more goals than anybody else in Eliteserien this season and Anders Hartveit Ryste was third in the goals chart. Lasse Nordås also won the most Player of the Match awards and had the highest average rating in Eliteserien. -- Lasse Nordås has been superb all season. The only disappointment is that he hasn't been called up for the Norway squad. -- Anders Hartveit Ryste is right up there with Nordås as well. -- Edvin Austbø is probably my third striker. Edvin Austbø didn't have his best season and spent a lot of the time whinging to his team mates and complaining in public via the media. Edvin wasn't happy with his playing time, then he wanted to leave, but we eventually worked that all through and he's now happy with his playing time and happy to stay. Once Edvin concentrated fully on his football, he started to show what a good player he is and contributed vital goals and assists during the run-in. -- Oscar Aga started the season as our fourth striker and went on a long goal drought. I started playing him in the 2nd Team where he found some goal scoring form and was able to contribute to the first team in the second half of the season. -- I signed Henrik Skogvold from Lillestrøm in August as a contingency in case Edvin Austbø left the club. Henrik Skogvold contributed goals and assists but, as Edvin Austbø didn't leave the club, we probably have too many senior strikers now. -- We signed Sean Nilsen-Modebe in January with the intention of giving him plenty of playing time during the season to aid his development. Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan and we weren't able to give Sean Nilsen-Modebe anywhere near the playing time we'd hoped. Sean did score six goals with three assists from eight starts in the 2nd Team. -- Other Young Strikers --

Viking - First Team Squad Review Midfielders -- Oscar Bobb created more assists in Eliteserien this season than anybody else and, together with Otto Rosengren is one of only two central midfielders that I know I have a good fit for. For the rest of the midfield diamond, I'm not sure who the best players are or what roles suit them best. To be fair, most of my central midfielders are able to play more than one position in the diamond which is a real positive but makes it challenging to find the right balance and combinations in midfield. -- So let's start with the two players I think I'm getting the best out of right now. I took Oscar Bobb on loan from Manchester City in my first season here at Viking and signed him permanently ahead of my second season. Oscar Bobb has performed superbly over four seasons here at Viking and led Eliteserien in assists this season. Oscar's always produced high assist numbers but this season he's added goals to his game as well. I usually play Oscar on the left-side of the midfield diamond, usually as MEZ, sometimes as AP but I'm never too sure whether to put him on Support or Attack. -- Otto Rosengren should serve as a lesson to us all about not jumping to conclusions. When I first arrived at Viking, I didn't rate Otto, didn't think he was my kind of player, and tried to sell him. We got no decent offers, so I loaned him to Vålerenga, where he played all but one Eliteserien game, played very well, and was a handful every time we played them. On his return, Otto impressed in pre-season and has been a virtual ever-present in the three seasons since. Otto has it all, he can score goals, create goals, pass and defend. He's at his best arriving late in the penalty area, receiving a pass, and slotting the ball past the goalkeeper. Otto can play anywhere in the diamond, but this season he's mainly played on the right and filled in at the base. -- My difficulties selecting a balanced midfield started when I signed Niklas Ødegård in August. Not Niklas's fault, he's a quality player, but trying to include him at the top of the diamond, his best position, had a knock on effect in other areas as I tried to find a new way to accommodate four central midfielders. I'd had a lot of success with Jakob Napoleon Romsaas playing SS at the top of the diamond, but SS didn't really suit Niklas Ødegård so I switched to an AM but then I had issues trying to find somewhere for Jakob to play. -- Jakob Napoleon Romsaas was playing well at the top of the diamond, but his form suffered when I moved him to the right of the diamond, but not as a BBM, following Niklas Ødegård's arrival. Finding a way to get the best out of Jakob Napoleon Romsaas and Niklas Ødegård in the same starting-11 is one of my midfield challenges. -- Runar Norheim has also provided cover at the top of the diamond, where he's chipped in with goals and assists. -- In 2030, Lasse Berg Johnsen was outstanding at the base of the midfield diamond. This season Lasse started at the base of the diamond, lost his place to Otto Rosengren and Aleksander Liland (DC) mid-season due to a lack of form, but by the end of the season Lasse had won his place back. -- Johan Bakke has been at Viking for four seasons now, I signed him from Hødd so he could join me here, and whilst he's always been a consistent, solid performer, Johan hasn't been able to grab a regular starting place. As we look to improve in central midfield, I think Johan is going to struggle for playing time, although he remains a good player to have around the squad. -- Unfortunately, Martin Palumbo hasn't had much playing time this season and it may be time for him to move on. -- We had high hopes for Steinar Braathen after he broke into the first team picture, from the Viking Academy, at the back end of the 2030 and made four appearances. This season, we've given Steinar Braathen quite a bit of playing time but he hasn't really kicked on as we'd hoped. In particular, Steinar's wasted a lot of good scoring opportunities by blasting his shots high over the bar. -- Other Young Midfield Players -- --

Viking - First Team Squad Review Defenders -- My back-four has been very reliable over the last two seasons and consistent both in terms of personnel and performance. In 2030 it was: And this season it was: But my biggest concern here is that it is also an aging back-four as my captain David Brekalo is 33, my vice-captain Isak Amundsen is 32 and Brice Wembangomo celebrates his 35th birthday next week. -- Centre-Backs In the four seasons I've been here at Viking, my centre-back partnership has pretty much picked itself with David Brekalo and Isak Amundsen being my main stays. Not only are they both great defenders, they are superb leaders as well, but I do need to start planning for who will step-up and replace them in the team... eventually. David Brekalo is my captain and he's been at Viking since signing from Bravo in 2021. David played the majority of matches for us this season and was as reliable as ever as my left-sided centre-back. He's a my captain and a superb leader. David is starting to miss out on selection for the Slovenian national side though and, whilst he's more than good enough to play for us, David's not going to get any better and at some point he's going to start seeing a decline. -- My vice captain, Iask Amundsen, has been at Viking since joining from Bodø/Glimt in 2026. Isak plays as the right-sided centre-back and, like David alongside him, has played the majority of matches this season, although Isak has covered at right-back on numerous occasions when we've needed him. We are starting to see a decline in Isak, sadly, and I'm not sure if he'll be good enough to be a regular starter for us next season. -- Aleksander Liland is the player most likely to step in for Isak. A new signing for us in January, Aleksander Liland has seen a lot of playing time and is now established as a current Norwegian international. Although I do see Aleksander as a centre-back, he's also played a number of games for us at the base of our midfield diamond. There is rumoured interest in Aleksander from Al-Hazem, Al-Taawoun and Damec but we are determined to hold onto him. -- Eivind Helland is now in his second season with Viking. Eivind has shown enough during his time with us that he is a very reliable right centre-back back-up option for us and the question now, particularly with Aleksander ahead of him, is can Eivind step-up and become a regular starter. -- We signed left-footed Jan Rune Hansen in January and he's the player currently in line to take over from David Brekalo at some point. I'll be honest, Jan Rune Hansen had a less than auspicious start to his Viking career and in the early stages of the season I wondered if we'd made a mistake in signing him. I stopped playing him and some weeks he didn't even make the matchday squad. But I was impressed with the professional way Jan Rune handled himself during that difficult time for him. Eventually I gave him more chances, putting him on the bench, bringing him on as sub, first at left-back and then at centre-back, and he looked a completely different player to the raw, nervous player we'd signed. By the end of the season, he was starting games in the Champions League and looking like he belonged there. -- Our other left-footed centre-back is Brage Kvithyld. With the new defenders we signed in pre-season, I was struggling to find a registration place for Brage Kvithyld although I did intend to give him playing time as the season progressed. But Brage wasn't happy, wasn't prepared to wait, and kicked up a fuss so I arranged a loan move to Sandnes Ulf where, to be fair, he's played a lot for them in Eliteserien and done well. If I'm honest, I think we'll struggle to find room for Brage again next season so we're currently waiting to see if Sandnes Ulf will take up the optional £1.2M fee clause in his loan contract. -- We've also done a deal to sign Filip Hornburg Møller-Hansen from Strømsgodset so we look forward to welcoming Filip to the squad in January. -- Right-Backs Jesper Robertsen signed for us in 2030 and we hoped he'd establish himself as our starting right-back but, unfortunately, he had a very mixed season and was unable to force his way into the team on a regular basis. I didn't want to give up on Jesper and, after impressing in pre-season and the Champions League games during pre-season, we decided to give Jesper another chance and he did well and became our regular starting right-back. Unfortunately, though, when we got to the business end of the season, Jesper struggled with the expectation and his form dropped off. I found myself playing Isak Amundsen (a natural DC) more at right-back as he was able to cope with the big matches and I even recalled Brice Wembangomo for the last couple of matches of the season. The jury is out on Jesper Robertsen I'm afraid and I'm not sure what his future at Viking looks like right now. -- Brice Wembangomo was very unfortunate this season as I left him out in the cold for most of it and he didn't really deserve that. In 2030, Brice was outstanding for us but I was conscious that he was 34 and out-of-contract at the end of this season, and he had an automatic contract extension clause if he played 15 Eliteserien matches. Brice didn't deserve to be left out on merit, but I wanted to give Jesper Robertsen more playing time so I started the season with Jesper at right-back and Isak Amundsen covering. Between them they did well, Brice was as professional as ever and never complained, and I only recalled Brice towards the end of the season when Jesper started to struggle. I'm undecided whether to offer Brice a new deal but, being frank with you, I'm leaning towards releasing him. -- We signed Sindre Grønvold from Sarpsborg in January, following their relegation from Eliteserien, As part of the deal, Sarpsborg wanted to take Sindre back on loan for the 2031 season. We didn't really want to agree to that but, ultimately, we decided that with Jesper, Isak and Brice, we had enough depth at right-back to see us through for one season and Sindre would get a lot more playing time at Sarpsborg than he would for us. I'm delighted that Sindre played in 28 OBOS-ligaen matches and helped Sarspborg bounce back to Eliteserien at the first attempt. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in pre-season as Sindre is very much part of my first team plans this season. -- We've also signed young right-back Tor Helge Vatten from Rosenborg and we look forward to him joining us in January. -- Left-Backs David Møller Wolfe established himself as our starting left-back this season and was superb for us. David missed most of the run-in with a damaged foot and we definitely missed him. -- El Hadji Malick Diouf gained Norwegian citizenship this year and also did well as our back-up left-back. He can also cover as a left-sided centre-back if needed. -- We also promoted 16-year old Per Andreas Haugerud Hagen to the first team squad. Unfortunately we weren't able to give him as much playing time as we'd hoped but Per Andreas is still young and we can afford to be patient with him.

Viking - First Team Squad Review Goalkeepers -- To be honest with you, after keeping the most clean sheets in Eliteserien by quite a distance, I'm very happy with the Viking goalkeers. -- Our #1 is Jasper Torkildsen. Jasper was a very reliable goalkeeper for us this season, only missing six matches with a couple of niggly injuries or when I wanted to give our back-up goalkeeper some playing time. He has been called up for every Norway Squad during his time here at Viking but has not added to his 15 caps because PSG's Kim Christian Høyenhall is seen as the number one. My biggest concern, with strong interest from Al-Wahda, is whether we can keep hold off Jasper this season. To be fair, we did reject bids for him last season and Jasper remained professional and didn't complain once. -- I'm also very happy with Daniel Gjerde Sætren as my #2 goalkeeper. Apart from dropping a cross to gift Rosenborg the opening goal during the title run-in, Daniel didn't let us down at all. I think he's young enough, that the former Norway U21 international can improve and, hopefully, challenge Jasper for the gloves in the next season or two. -- Julian Faye Lund didn't play at all for us this season. Julian has been a good back-up during the previous three seasons but my coaching staff now rate him as a good OBOS-ligaen goalkeeper. Julian is contracted to Viking for another two seasons but I don't envisage him playing much, if at all, for us in the future. -- 17-year old Roger Vestgøte has been at Viking since he was 15. I promoted Roger to the first team squad this season for his development but didn't really expect him to play. I think, in pre-season, we'll look to give Roger some playing time and assess whether he should stay part of the squad, replacing Julian as #3, or whether it would be better for his development to go out on loan. -- Our other young goalkeepers, with some potential, are: Haakon Tengelsen and Pål Stian Lindøe although we're not sure either of them will be good enough to play for Viking's first team which is why we've fast-tracked the younger Roger Vestgøte above both of them.

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 11th December 2031 "Team Report" -- -- Players Out on Loan

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 11th December 2031 "Will Torkildsen and Liland be Viking Players Next Season?" -- -- Jasper Torkildsen (GK) -- Aleksander Liland (DC / DM)

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 11th December 2031 "Finances" --

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 11th December 2031 "Viking de mørkeblå - Supporter Profile" --

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 11th December 2031 "Viking Board - Expectations Meeting" -- -- -- This was my first real meeting with the new Viking chairperson Kjell Fjæreide. I'm quite happy with what Kjell Fjæreide and the Board were proposing though.

Episode 118 - Chasing Champions League Playoff | 11th December 2031 "End of Season - Team Meeting" -- There's a slightly larger group of players than normal as some of the players who were out on loan last season are currently in the first team group ready for me to reassess them in pre-season. -- -- -- -- -- -- End of Season Break -- Dynamics

Viking Fotballklubb End of Season Review --

Tuesday 9th December 2031 Viking (Norway) v Salzburg (Austria) UEFA Champions League -- -- -- This game against Salzburg turned out to be a hard-fought, closely contested tie and we're delighted to have come out of it as winners. There's no doubt that the early goal from Anders Hartveit Ryste helped to settle our nerves, Otto Rosengren made it 2-0 and Anders Hartveit Ryste added a third. At that point, things were looking very good for us. Salzburg were giving as good as they got though and they pulled a goal back after half an hour or so, a goal we thought was offside but VAR allowed it. Salzburg reduced our lead to one goal just before half time. The nerves were coming back, we could sense it, so at the break we calmed the players down, moved Isak Amundsen across to right-back, and brought Aleksander Liland on at centre-back, to hopefully make us more solid. Both teams had a couple of chances second half but we were able to see the game out for a massive three points. With two difficult fixtures to finish off the UEFA Champions League stage next month, this win has given us a great chance of making the playoffs. --

Preview -- -- There's a lot of interest in Jasper Torkildsen at the moment, both real interest and rumoured interest, and why wouldn't there be, Jasper kept more clean sheets than anybody in Eliteserien this season. But we don't want to sell Jasper. We are looking to improve the Viking squad this off-season and there's no doubt that Patrick Berg is a great player. Patrick has played his entire career at Bodø/Glimt, apart from a couple of seasons at Lens midway through his career, and he's a club legend at Bodø/Glimt, as was his father before him, and his grandfather before that. Even if we were interested in signing Patrick, and I'm not saying we are, I doubt he'd want to leave Bodø/Glimt. The break has allowed us to give the players a few days off to enjoy winning Eliteserien... again... and since they've returned to training the players have been totally professional, worked hard, and we're ready to host Salzburg and face the tough challenge they'll present us with at our SR-Bank Arena. After a long, hard season we have no injury concerns at all... and it's not often I get to say that. It's likely we'll stick with the same starting-11 who played so well last time out against Lillestrøm. -- Expected Line-up

Looking good, @Punch... now getting draws against big teams like Arsenal as well. Way to go!