Stuniverse

Episode 106 - End-of-Season Break| 22nd December 2030 "Møller Wolfe's Viking Future In Doubt" -- -- I have no interest in selling David Møller Wolfe, especially not to Eliteserien rivals Brann but, as the reports claim David is leaning towards the move, I thought I'd speak to his agent and see if David really does want to to move to Brann or if he would prefer to stay.

Viking - U19s Nasjonal G19 Serie -- -- Goalkeepers -- Defenders -- Midfielders -- Wingers Again, as with the 2nd Team, it's going to be difficult for the wingers because the first team play a 4-4-2 diamond that doesn't utilise wingers. -- Strikers

Viking - 2nd Team PostNord-ligaen Avdeling 2 (Tier 3) -- -- Goalkeepers -- Defenders -- Midfielders -- Wingers It's going to be difficult for the wingers because the first team play a 4-4-2 diamond that doesn't utilise wingers. -- Strikers

You'll find detailed updates on the First Team Squad by position posted above, together with the nine players who are out on loan. I'll try and post the detailed update for the 2nd Team and U19s later...

Young Viking Players Promoted to the First Team In addition to the loan players above, who I will reassess in pre-season when they return to Viking, I've promoted these two young players to the first team squad. Steinar Braathen -- Roger Vestgøte

That sounds very similar to what I do, @warlock I tend to leave U18s at the club for development through training (which I delegate) and then over 18s out-on-loan where possible.

Viking Players Out on Loan -- We have nine players out on loan, which I don't quite get as there's a limit of eight players a season (unless Felix Taraldset's loan to KFUM Oslo doesn't count for 2030 as it was an extension of his 2029 loan) but nine players out on loan never-the-less. -- Note: I've never really bothered too much with youth development but, as I've now been at Viking for three seasons, and I'm contracted for another four seasons, it's probably something I should pay more attention to. So, if you do youth development, I would welcome any advice, tips and suggestions and your thoughts on the potential for the nine players we loaned out this season. Thank you. Tagged: @Blarney, @BML, @Carambau, @cerud, @Dean Gripton, @Hootieleece, @I have nothing to say, @JaytheGreat, @Jogo Bonito, @phnompenhandy, @Paggioram, @Punch, @samboing, @warlock, @XaW -- Eliteserien (Tier 1) Øystein Bekkeheien -- Per Andreas Haughom -- OBOS-ligaen (Tier 2) Felix Taraldset -- Krzysztof Krysiak -- Magnus Bech Riisnæs -- Tier 3 Joachim Prent-Eckbo -- Joakim Ørstavik -- Sverre Olav Bø Pedersen -- Tier 4 Erik Salte

Welcome back to Derby County on FM24 and I'm glad that the Rams were one of your favourite saves on recent FM versions. Yeah, it's ironic that the Derby County Academy was one of former owner Mel Morris's proudest achievements and then it was decimated in the aftermath of his overspending, breaching FFP / P&S, and a season in Administration. Oh for the team Derby County could've had if they'd been able to keep their prized assets. Yeah, not sure whether you are using the FM24 launch version or winter update 1 or 2. The Academy U21s and U18s are probably two, three or even four years behind where they should be. The top prospects are either in the first team squad already or have left the building. The U18s are third in their division in real-life so the recovery is underway: https://www.premierleague.com/tables?team=U18 The U21s are rock-bottom of their league so, not great, but an improvement on how dire they were last season when they were cast adrift at the bottom and then some. At least this season the U21s are competing: https://www.dcfc.co.uk/fixtures/table/u21 Thanks for the update. Sounds like a sensible plan. How is your first season going? And I'm loving that idea - something I want to do at some point. I have thought about using the pre-game editor to reinstate some / most / all of the young players who were let go on the cheap because of financial problems and see how I get on with a youth development save. The main players who went far too soon were Omari Kellyman, Kaide Gordon, Malachi Sharpe, Sekou Kaba, James Scanlon, Dylan Williams, Malcolm Ebiowei, Festy Ebosele and Dylan Williams. You could possibly include Morgan Whittaker as well. Not sure if it's true or not but I saw a report that Chelsea were interested in Archie Brown. No worries. Thanks for mentioning it.

Thanks for raising @Stackalee. This is deliberate. True Grant and Jack Thompson were in Derby County's Academy set-up together. I guess it stems from the younger kid looking up to the older kid and then the older kid gets picked up by Man City's Academy.

Viking - First Team Squad Strikers -- We scored 75 goals in 30 Eliteserien matches last season, 10 more than Bodø/Glimt who were the second highest goal scorers. I believe we have four very good strikers but all of them had at least one barren spell last season. We signed Lasse Nordås from Tromsø in August and he went on to score 10 goals in 12 starts and three substitute appearances for us. I love the way Lasse leads the line for us as a TF-At, dropping deep to receive the ball and link up play, whilst still being a threat in the air or the ground inside the opposition penalty area. His height also helps us defensively at corners and free-kicks. And Lasse scored three out of three penalties. I can't wait to see what Lasse can do for us over a whole season. -- We signed Preslav Borukov in January as Yorbe Vertessen's replacement. Preslav had an in-and-out season as I juggled three strikers trying to find the best pairing up top but he really settled alongside Lasse Nordås during the run-in. Preslav scored 16 goals from 23 starts and nine sub appearances. -- Edvin Austbø didn't have the best of seasons scoring nine goals from 17 starts and 14 sub appearances. In 2029, Inter Milan were very interested in signing him and we rejected bids, but this season just gone there was no interest in him at all. Norway manager Antonio Conte has taken a look at Edvin on several occasions and named Edvin in Norway's provisional World Cup squad, but Edvin missed out on the final cut. To be fair, I think that affected Edvin for the rest of the season. Edvin has been in my ear wanting more playing time. I said I'd give him more starts but he needs to prove he deserves them. I started him against Celtic and Edvin got on the scoresheet. -- I signed Oscar Aga at the start of my first season here and he's now been with us for three seasons. Oscar scored nine Eliteserien goals in 2028, 16 in 2029 and eight this season just gone. In all competitions, in 2030, Oscar scored eight goals from 16 starts and six sub appearances. Like Edvin, Oscar needs to improve his consistency and is probably our fourth striker right now. -- We signed Runar Norheim at the start of the 2029 season and he's a valuable player to have around the group. Runar is more of a midfield player (and I talked about him in the Midfielders post above) but he does get some playing time up top, albeit limited. -- 23 year old Sean Nilsen-Modebe will be joining us from Bodø/Glimt in January. I think he's more first team ready than any of our Academy strikers right now and I'll be looking for him to push for the fourth striker spot over the next couple of seasons.

Viking - First Team Squad Midfielders -- We play a 4-4-2 diamond and have eight midfielders registered in the first team squad. At first glance, that sounds like two players for each position but it's not as simple or straight forward as that because they can all play more than one position within the diamond so it's very interchangeable and fluid. If everybody was healthy, I'd say this would be my preferred diamond set-up. We signed from Jakob Napoleon Romsaas from Tromsø in March and he made an immediate contribution at the tip of the diamond with his goals, his assists and his ability from set-pieces. Unfortunately, Jakob tore his hamstring and we definitely missed him during our Eliteserien run-in. -- Oscar Bobb was our Player-of-the-Season in 2029 and was Årets Spiller i Eliteserien runner-up as well. We tend to play Oscar on the left of the diamond as either a MEZ-At or a AP-At / AP-Su. Oscar had another standout season just gone although we didn't help him by playing him at the top of the diamond at times with Jakob's injury. -- Otto Rosengren is my feel-good story of my time at Viking so far. When I first arrived here at the SR-Bank Arena, I'll be honest, I didn't really rate Otto. It wasn't so much that he was a bad player, he was pretty good, but I didn't see him making my starting-11 too often. What also didn't work in his favour was that I had a lot of midfield players, I inherited too many non-homegrown players, and as Otto was Swedish and non-homegrown I couldn't find a slot to register him. We tried to sell Otto but had no offers that were acceptable, we may have had no offers at all I can't really remember, so we ended up loaning him to Eliteserien rivals Vålerenga. Now my track record on FM, not just FM24 but in previous versions as well, is that once I've made up my mind that a player is surplus to requirements that player doesn't get a second chance and I don't change my mind. But... But... But Otto had a very good loan spell at Vålerenga, played against us twice that 2028 season and was a handful, so when his loan was over I gave him a chance in pre-season. And Otto impressed. He became a regular for me in the 2029 season and in the season just gone (2030), Otto Rosengren made 42 appearances for Viking, all of them starts, the most appearances of any Viking player last season. I wouldn't have thought that when I sent him out on loan in 2028. -- We signed Lasse Berg Johnsen for the 2029 season and he had a great season in his second spell at the club. This season just gone (2030), Lasse had an alright season but didn't hit the heights he had the year before. At 31 years old, Lasse is facing a big pre-season if he's to keep his place in the starting 11. -- After impressing for Viking 2 in 2029, I promoted Steinar Braathen to the first team squad for the 2030 season and was able to give him one start and 10 substitute appearances. I want to give him more playing time this coming season and, if Steinar does well, he's the player most likely to take Lasse Berg Johnsen's place in the starting 11. -- Johan Bakke played for me at Hødd and I knew he was a very good young player. I signed him not long after joining Viking and, to be fair, Johan has done very well here as a squad player but he hasn't developed as well as I'd hoped and, regrettably, I'm not sure if he'll become a regular starter here at any point. Johan also faces strong competition now from Steinar Braathen for a regular starting place. -- We signed Martin Palumbo towards the end of the 2029 season and he is a very reliable squad player for us who is one of our most creative players in terms of taking free-kicks, corners, and assists. I don't see him being a regular starter, unless we have a nasty injury crisis, but he's a great asset to have in the squad. -- We signed Runar Norheim at the start of the 2029 season and he's a valuable player to have around the group. Runar is a squad player right now, with four very good strikers he only gets limited opportunities up top and he is in competition with Jakob Napoleon Romsaas, Martin Palumbo, and even Oscar Bobb to play at the tip of the diamond.

Viking - First Team Squad Defenders -- If everybody is fit and healthy, this would be my starting back-four. It's a very, solid defence that served us very well this season but the problem with it is that it's an aging back-four. Brice Wembangomo, who has been brilliant this season creating an Eliteserien record number of assists, celebrates his 34th birthday this week. Our captain, David Brekalo, turned 32 earlier this month. And our vice-captain, Valeriy Bondar will be 32 in February. Isak Amundsen is 31 and his 32nd birthday is in October next year. Which leaves David Møller Wolfe, who turns 29 in April, as the only regular starter in the back-four under the age of 30. -- Centre-Backs To be fair, our right-footed centre-backs are probably better than our left-footed centre-backs currently which is why my first choice starters are David Brekalo and Isak Amundsen. Our captain, David Brekalo, is a great leader and very dependable in the air and on the ground but the Slovenian manager Ante Šimundža is no longer selecting David for the national team. David's been at Viking since 2021 but, at 32, we have to start thinking about his future replacement. There was a lot of interest in David from Saudia Arabia during the 2029 season but we didn't want to sell and rejected all offers. Since David's sports hernia injury in August 2029, there's been no interest in him at all. -- It's a similar story with Isak Amundsen who's been at Viking since 2026. Again very solid and dependable, Isak also covers at right-back, particularly when we play very strong teams as I think he's defensively the best right-back we have. We rejected some bids from Saudia Arabia this season but there was nowhere near as much interest in him as there was in the 2029 season when Isak was quite unsettled. Isak does seem a lot happier at Viking now. -- Our vice-captain, Valeriy Bondar, was a regular starter for us in 2029, alongside David Brekalo, as Iask Amundsen spent most of the 2029 season playing right-back. This season just gone, with Isak partnering David in the centre, Valeriy has become more of a squad player. As the defence is aging, I'll be looking to develop younger centre-backs and, sadly, I think Valeriy may be the first casualty of that. -- Eivind Helland joined us from Sarpsborg in January and he's already my first-change option if either David or Isak are unavailable. I'll be looking to increase Eivind's playing time next season to see if he can step-up and become a regular starter for Viking. Eivind is also a threat from corners and free-kicks and has the ability to find space in the opposition penalty area and head the ball into the net. Norway manager Antonio Conte has taken a look at Eivind on several occasions and named Edvin in Norway's provisional World Cup squad, but he missed out on the final cut. -- I'd been wanting to sign Brage Kvithyld ever since I arrived at Viking. Brage played for me at Hødd and I knew he was a good, young left-footed centre-back who would fit in well here. We kept trying with Odd but we could never get a deal over the line. Fortunately, we were able to sign Brage in August but his playing time so far for Viking has been limited. I'll be looking to increase Brage's playing time this coming season but he will have competition as we've also signed another young, left-footed centre-back. Talking of which... ... Jan Rune Hansen will be joining us in January from Åsane. My scouts already think Jan is a better player currently than Brage so it will be interesting to see how they both develop as I hope one of them will be able to establish himself as a regular starter in the next season or two. -- Right-Backs Right-back is an area where we do need to strengthen and it's our main recruitment focus at the moment. A lot will depend on how Brice Wembangomo plays this coming season. Brice will be 34 in a few days time and, although he was absolutely brilliant this season just gone setting a new Eliteserien assists record with 15, he's not getting any younger and won't be able to play at that level indefinitely. -- We signed Jesper Robertsen in February with the idea that he'd challenge Brice for the right-back spot so that Isak Amundsen could play centre-back for us. Unfortunately, Jesper has struggled to find any form of note this season and he's currently unhappy with his playing time and wants to go out on loan to prove himself. I think it's definitely a case of watch this space as far as right-back is concerned. -- Left-Backs We signed David Møller Wolfe for the 2029 season and his form was patchy I would say, but this season just gone David really found his feet and made the starting left-back spot his own. David's still the right side of 30 so I can see him being our left-back for a season or two yet. Brann are interested in signing David and their manager Emre Belözoğlu has scouted him a few times. I wouldn't want to sell David, certainly not to an Eliteserien rival, so we'll have to keep a close eye on the situation. -- El Hadji Malick Diouf impressed me last season and I was thinking of him as my regular left-back but then he had his moment of red mist madness during last season's Cupen Final and David Møller Wolfe overook him in the pecking order. To be fair, El Hadji Malick Diouf hasn't done anything wrong this season just gone, he's now gained Norwegian citizenship as well, and is a very useful squad player as he can also cover as a left-sided centre-back. -- We signed Anders Hiim in January for two reasons - firstly, because we were unsure what the situation would be with El Hadji Malick Diouf, we knew Anders could come in and challenge David Møller Wolfe for the left-back spot and, secondly, as Anders played for Viking at the start of his career, we knew he'd help squad registration as a homegrown club player. Unfortunately, Anders hasn't really found any consistency on his return to Viking. Anders is unhappy with his playing time and wants to go out on loan. I'll be honest, Anders is currently third in the pecking order and I'm not sure whether he will be part of my plans next season.

Viking - First Team Squad Goalkeepers -- -- Jasper Torkildsen is my #1. We signed him from Bodø/Glimt in August this year to replace Patrik Sigurður Gunnarsson (now Atlanta). After a shaky start, Jasper is now showing the form that got him into Norway's World Cup squad (as back-up to Kim Christian Høyenhall) and made us want to sign him. -- Julian Faye Lund was my back-up goalkeeper this season to Patrik and then to Jasper. Julian made five starts for us this season and never let us down, but our scouts have noticed the start of a decline in his abilities. -- We've signed Daniel Gjerde Sætren from Sogndal and he'll be joining us on January 9th as our #2, with a view to him challenging Jasper for the gloves eventually. I'm not sure yet how Julian Faye Lund will react to dropping down to #3. -- And finally we have first-year scholar, Roger Vestgøte, who we promoted to the first team squad this season to aid his development as we think he's the best young goalkeeper in our Academy.

Viking - First Team Squad Age Profile -- To start with, let's look at the age profile of the first team squad. There are seven players aged 30 or over: The full age breakdown of the first team squad is: -- Reports

Let's Review the Viking Squad(s) It's been quite a while since I've reviewed the Viking First Team Squad in detail - I think I did when I first arrived at Viking on the 5th December 2027 and I don't think I've done it again since. So, ahead of the 2031 season, let's do that now. Also, I don't think I've ever reviewed the 2nd Team and U19 Squads with you in detail so let's do that as well shall we...

Episode 106 - End-of-Season Break| 15th December 2030 "Non-Homegrown Players" -- The Åsane manager, Tobias Linderoth, paid me a huge compliment last season about the number of Norwegian players I had in my Viking squad. I'll be honest, I was touched and very grateful to Tobias for his comments as, I must admit, I've been working hard to try and build a homegrown squad of Norwegian players. The Eliteserien Squad Registration Rules permit a maximum of nine non-homegrown players and we currently have five in our squad. The five players are: Martin Palumbo, who I don't really think of as non-homegrown because he is Norwegian but, before I signed him for Viking, Martin had spent his entire career playing in Italy. -- Our captain, David Brekalo. -- Our vice-captain, Valeriy Bondar. -- Otto Rosengren. -- And new signing this January, Preslav Borukov.

Thanks, @Jogo Bonito... I look forward to a time when the Viking Board think I've proven myself Thank you, @warlock. Glad it's not just me. Maybe one day the Viking Board will ask my opinion?

Thank you, @Jogo Bonito... Looking back on it after the match it was awesome. I was so relieved and elated when the referee blew the final whistle. I've talked about it a lot in posts since but there were so many times when I thought we'd blown it (we had a seven point lead at the top of Eliteserien at one stage) and handed the title to Bodø/Glimt but, hey, I've (belatedly) attached the .pkm file (post above this one) so you can download and watch the match yourself should you choose to do so. Never too late to join the party. Yes, it felt like the right thing to do and I'm loving managing Viking and this squad of players to be honest with you. Under contract for four more seasons, bring it on! To be honest I hadn't noticed that I should have, but I hadn't El Hadji Malick Diouf is a good player, if you do download and watch the Bodø/Glimt match, look at the great work Diouf does down the left wing for our second goal. All I did in pre-season, after Diouf's red card in extra-time of the Cupen Final, was to make David Møller Wolfe first-choice left-back in my mind. I decided Møller Wolfe would start the season as left-back and it would then be up to the players and the form they showed as to who kept the shirt. But to make things a little bit more difficult for Diouf, I also signed Anders Hiim in January, bringing Hiim back to Viking (he started his career 2018-2021 at Viking) so he also counted as a Home Grown Club (HGC) player. Last season (2029) I thought Møller Wolfe would be my regular left-back but his form was patchy so Diouf became my go-to with Møller Wolfe at back-up. This season (2030) I started with Møller Wolfe as my go-to and his form was so amazing that he stayed first-choice throughout the season. I saw Hiim being my back-up but he upset me the very first game I started him when he got upset at being played FB-Su (the default in my system) so I try and play him WB-Su instead now... but that gave Diouf a way back into my thinking and, to be fair, Diouf hasn't let me down this season. Hiim started moaning about playing time about halfway through the season so I tried to involve him more whilst agreeing to try and find a loan move for him - which I knew wasn't going to happen because we'd already reached our quota of eight loans out for the season.. Who knows what will happen this coming season (2031) as far as Viking's left-back is concerned...

Bodø/Glimt v Viking - Highlights Apologies, I should've thought of doing this sooner. Here's your chance to watch the thrilling last match of the 2030 Eliteserien season title decider at Aspmyra between Bodø/Glimt and Viking. I'm sorry, I don't know how to export the match as a video file that you can just click and watch but I'm attaching the .pkm file for you to download onto your device and then watch if you want to. (*** if anybody does know how to export a match video that you can just click on and watch please let me know as I'd be keen to include video footage in my updates if I could do them. I'm sure I could do that on a previous FM but can't seem to work out how to do it on FM24 ***). Here's how you download and watch the .pkm file: Download the Bodø_Glimt v Viking.pkm file (attached to this post) and save it in your ... Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2024 > matches folder Launch FM24 and from the start-up screen click the down arrow on the "More..." button followed by "View Match" That should default to the "matches" folder where you can select the "Bodø_Glimt v Viking.pkm" file and then click the "Load" button. Enjoy! -- Tagged: @Blarney, @BML, @Carambau, @cerud, @Dean Gripton, @Hootieleece, @I have nothing to say, @JaytheGreat, @Jogo Bonito, @phnompenhandy, @Paggioram, @Punch, @samboing, @warlock, @XaW Note: If you no longer wish to be tagged in posts like this, please let me know by Direct Message and I'll remove you from my tag list for future posts. Likewise if you would like to be tagged, please send me a Direct Message and I'll add you. Thank you. -- Bodø_Glimt v Viking.pkm

Well you wanted it to be challenging, @Jogo Bonito and, even though you are looking odds-on for promotion, it really does look challenging. It’s a real shame about Tyler Bindon. He impressed me in real life when Reading played at Pride Park. Good to see you’re keeping true to the Reading squad in real-life and former Reading players. Keep up the good work.

Hmmmmmn, that’s what I remembered from previous FMs but I’m not seeing it on the Training Camp emails on this save.

Friday 13th December 2030 Until Next Time... ... when we'll again get confused as to whether we're in last season or pre-season for the new season, and... ... we'll be away on our training camp in Faro, Portugal, and... ... our UEFA Champions League campaign will continue. -- 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. Until next time...

Episode 105 - End of 2030 Norwegian Season | 13th December 2030 "Finances" --

Episode 105 - End of 2030 Norwegian Season | 13th December 2030 "New Players Arriving in January" -- We're trying to get our transfer business done early and I'm delighted that we already have three deals done for players who will be joining us in January. Daniel Gjerde Sætren will join us from Sogndal as back-up goalkeeper to Jasper Torkildsen. Daniel is young enough that he could go on to challenge Jasper for the gloves with the chance of becoming our #1 in the next few seasons. -- In central defence, youngster Jan Rune Hansen will join us on a free transfer from Åsane. -- Young striker Sean Nilsen-Modebe will also join us from Bodø/Glimt. -- We've also had bids accepted for two defenders and have verbally agreed personal terms with the players and their agents. Of course, until the deals are actually over-the-line and confirmed I don't want to jinx them by saying who the players are.

Episode 105 - End of 2030 Norwegian Season | 13th December 2030 "End of Season Break" -- I can't imagine the players will be happy about reporting back for pre-season training the day before Christmas Eve. I'll do what I did last pre-season and allow my Medical Team to check the players over and then give them time off until our Training Camp starts. Talking of which... ... who thought it was a good idea to jet off to Portugal the day before New Year's Eve? We do have two UEFA Champions League fixtures in January though as we're now in that transition period where we'll be in pre-season for our 2031 (calendar year) season but nearly everyone else are half-way through their 2030/31 season. -- Does anybody know if there's an option in FM24 to (a) decide when the Training Camp should be scheduled for and (b) choose where to go on the Training Camp? I can remember this being in previous FMs but it hasn't come up as an option for me on FM24. Tagged: @Blarney, @BML, @Carambau, @cerud, @Dean Gripton, @Hootieleece, @I have nothing to say, @JaytheGreat, @Jogo Bonito, @phnompenhandy, @Paggioram, @Punch, @samboing, @warlock, @XaW Note: If you no longer wish to be tagged in posts like this, please let me know by Direct Message and I'll remove you from my tag list for future posts. Likewise if you would like to be tagged, please send me a Direct Message and I'll add you. Thank you.