FM16: The Frozen Throne

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - August 2047 - 1. FC Köln

DFB-Pokal



It wasn't spectacular, but we did the job.

We scored all the goals against a lowly Bischofswersa side inside the first half hour of football. It was Christoph Adolf who got the first goal of the 47/48 campaign for us, hammering a beautiful volley into the top corner after our youth product Maximilian Hauck headed the ball down for him. Seven minutes later Tim Paterok made it 2:0 with a header that went in off the crossbar, Jorge Currás with an assist from an outswinging corner. After six more minutes Adolf doubled his goal tally, calmly finding the bottom corner in a one-on-one situation following a good through ball from Currás. And finally in the 29th minute Maxym Romanenko managed to score on his debut for Köln, unleashing a precise effort from Adolf's lay-out. We could have scored more, had we not been denied by the crossbar three times throughout the game. I'm not complaining though, we got what we came for.

In the Second Round we've been drawn against Düsseldorf.

Bundesliga





No real surprises here.

We kicked off our Bundesliga season with a tough home game against Schalke. It started out as a very tight and even one and probably would have been so, but the lunatic who got delegated to be the referee decided to show two silly yellow cards to Sayed Dawood Faqiryar inside the space of the first fifteen minutes. Needless to say, this changed things. We tried our best not to get pushed too deep into our own box, but had to be rescued by a wonderfully performing Lukas Reichert on multiple occasions. And suddenly we broke through - in the 61st minute Abdul Quansah pulled off a wonderful individual move in the visitors' penalty area, getting past two defenders before winning a penalty for us. Marc Leese took the shot and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, putting us in front. That didn't last long though - just two minutes later a through ball sliced through our back line and Nicolás Álvarez rounded Reichert to tap it into an empty net. Still, taking all the circumstances into account, I'm happy with the point.

The Mainz nonsense doesn't stop. It just gets more and more infuriating. Don't get me wrong, they are probably better than us at this point and I understand they will be favourites to win should we meet, but the way they actually achieve it is just unspeakable. This time it took the shape of a dull and boring midfield battle for the better part of the first half, with only the odd not-even-half-chance from either of the teams. But then the 42nd minute came. We had players in attacking positions and were passing the ball around the hosts' penalty area. A simple pass was sent rolling towards Jorge Currás, but instead of... well, doing anything, he decided to simply let it go through him. Mainz broke into a counter attack immediately and seconds later Kresimir Vuckovic sent them in front with a close range tap-in following a cross from the left wing. Their second goal? In the 49th minute a sliding tackle by Quansah ended up finding Pipoca standing unmarked a yard away from goal. We replied with a goal from Armin Bastians in the 73rd minute and pushed really hard for the equaliser, but when the opportunity actually came, in stoppage time a shot from Romanenko was stopped by the post. I swear I couldn't make this up.

What to do when you dominate a game, but no matter what you do, you can't break through a weaker opponent's defence? Well, taking off your best striker, who also happens to be a club legend, is just one of the options. Since Dennis Knetsch came off the pitch in the 60th minute, we finally started to create chances against Augsburg. Five minutes after the substitution Rouven Flüchter finally broke the deadlock, heading the ball home after a free kick taken by Benjamin Holz. Fourteen minutes later a weak header from the edge of the box unleashed by Faqiryar was somehow palmed into the net by the visitors' goalkeeper. To make up for that, our defensive midfielder decided to give away a penalty and allow Sebastian Fleischmann to equalise in the 87th minute. It was us who had the final say though, two minutes later Tim Schwarz made it 3:1, rebounding a shot from Kai Ermen that was denied by the crossbar. Well, this year we won't have to wait until game 7 to get our first league win.

[Rikulec]

Definitely not something you see every day!

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - September 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





A good month leaves us exactly where I'd like us to finish.

On paper, the Hertha game was one of those games that can have all different outcomes. They may have started the season poorly, but they have quality in their ranks and are never an easy team to play against. And this time they just managed to edge it out for victory. We looked good in the first twenty minutes or so, but then the hosts took the initiative and we found ourselves on the back foot. The breakthrough moment was the 66th minute. A cross from the right wing saw a Hertha striker in a position where he would have been dead-on to score, but he fell to the ground after contact with Kai Ermen. Referee's decision - penalty and a red card for our midfielder. As you can see above, this was probably not the right call. But it was made, and Joshua Carl broke the deadlock from the spot. Playing with ten men, we struggled to break down their attacks and twelve minutes later Kristijan Milos doubled their lead.

The Bremen game saw our potential academy graduate wonderkid Jevto Savic, a CB with a Jumping Reach of 6, make the starting XI. Not because of injuries, but because I saw a huge increase in the quality of our play with him coming off the bench. And, as you can see, we got our first league clean sheet of the season. We looked really good as a team and grabbed a very confident win. In the 32nd minute Armin Bastians received a pass from Dennis Knetsch on the left side of the box and unleashed a wonderful, precise strike that went right into the far upper 90. In the dying minutes of the match the visitors decided to go all out attack in their pursuit of an equaliser, and got punished for it - a quick counter attack saw Thomas Gabel set up Christoph Adolf for a one-on-one situation and the winger round the goalkeeper and tap the ball into an empty net.

I thought Hannover were going to be the favourites of our clash, especially given that the game was played at their ground. To my surprise though, we played very well and fully deserved to take full points home. We failed to open the scoreline in the first half, but more than made up for it after the break. In the 51st minute Kai Ermen laid the ball out to Maxym Romanenko just inside the box, and the now-Ukrainian midfielder smashed it home after making a good first touch. Eight minutes later we doubled our lead, and that was after one of the most unlikely goals you could think of - our 1,69 m wonderkid CB managed to score a header from a corner taken by Tim Schwarz. After that we simply couldn't let the lead slip.

And finally, Ingolstadt. Quick question for the readers - does anyone remember Emre Visser? The Dutch striker, famous for his short-lived stay at Hobro at the start of my Danish adventure, reminded me of himself in the 20th minute of this very game, scoring a near post header after a drilled corner from the left. That was scored completely against the run of play though, and luckily it didn't change the flow of the match. We remained the better team, and managed to turn the tables even before half time. In the 37th minute Dennis Knetsch finally scored his first goal of the season with a wonderful header from Marc Leese's cross from the right wing, and just before the break Rico Becke outjumped everyone in the box to convert Romanenko's corner into a 2:1 goal. We had some good chances to extend that lead in the second half, but failed to take any of them.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - October 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





A tough month, but we remain in the happy zone.

To be honest, I didn't expect to pick up anything at Wolfsburg. The holding champions are miles ahead of us and have a world class player for each position, but we just bloody went there and escaped with a win. This wouldn't have been possible without our hero - Lukas Reichert has put in his best performance since I took over at Köln. Some incredible interventions on the line, two double saves, and a total of eight shots on target from the hosts with nothing landing in the net - he fully deserved to grab the PotM award. Our other hero? Christoph Adolf, who came on off the bench and won us the game. In the 73rd minute he gave us the lead from Marc Leese's cross, and just a minute later he provided an assist to Dennis Knetsch in a quick counter attacking move. What a game, what a result for us.

Of course FM had to compensate for it somehow. Well, I guess it could have been worse. Hoffenheim could have scored from that one single shot they managed to take throughout the whole game. Luckily they didn't, but our massive waves of attacks couldn't find their way into the net either. It was one of the most dominant performance I've seen us deliver in the league, yet somehow we failed to break the visitors down. It's a real pity though, a win would have given us a five point advantage over the 7th place at that point.

It's been a while since we last had a proper shootout like this. To be honest, I'm not sure what happened there. Did Dortmund really outclass us, or was it a terrible case of bad luck on our part? It's not often that you find yourself 4:0 down at half time despite not really playing worse than the opposition. They scored the first goal in the 8th minute, and it was an own goal from Rico Becke, who just allowed the ball to bounce off him after a cross. Then we went on to waste a couple of chances, including an absolute sitter for Dennis Knetsch. And between the 34th and 39th minute a disaster happened - the hosts scored three goals. First Syahrul Lubis, then Aitor Casanova, and finally Marcelo Agüero. A cross, a set piece, a goalkeeper mistake - we gave them all really. The tables turned in the second half - we were much better than Dortmund, but couldn't take our chances. We finally scored in the 84th minute, Benjamin Holz tapping the ball in from close range after a cross from Armin Bastians. Four minutes later Maxym Romanenko settled the scoreline, making perfect use of a good through ball from Knetsch. Imagine the scenes if we had scored two more...

DFB-Pokal



Professional work.

A quick look at the date of the Düsseldorf game and the Dortmund one will probably tell you a lot about the squad that started in the cup. This time our second string didn't let us down though, and they managed to set the scene for themselves early on. In the 10th minute Maximilian Hauck received a good long pass from Thomas Gabel and knocked the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net in a one-on-one. Six minutes later Gabel grabbed a goal for himself, finishing off a through ball from Christoph Adolf in a nice passing move through the middle. Full control from then on, a slow and steady cruise towards the final whistle.

In the next round we'll face Kaiserslautern at home.

[Rikulec]

1,000 games! I feel genuinely proud.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - November 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





An unbeaten month, but we've dropped too many points for my liking.

The Leverkusen game turned out to be the second six-goal thriller for us in a row in the league. Generally we were the better team, but they were deadly on the counter. In the 9th minute a quick move from the visitors allowed Robert Brandstetter a free header, a chance he didn't waste. We managed to respond to that eleven minutes later. Benjamin Holz pulled off a wonderful individual run on the right wing before delivering an inch-perfect cross for Dennis Knetsch to head the ball home. In the 27th minute we made it 2:1. Kai Ermen won a penalty before scoring it himself. Still, the tables turned even before half time. In the 40th minute yet another counter attack allowed Brandstetter to double his goal tally after beautifully skinning past our two defenders and beating Reichert in a duel, and just four minutes later we gave away a penalty for the Leverkusen striker to complete his hat-trick. Even worse off, in the 52nd minute we lost Jevto Savic to a second yellow card. But we still managed to pull ourselves together and make one more effort. In the 71st minute a lucky set piece goal from Rico Becke saw us equalise. Given all the circumstances, I'm happy with the result.

We got off to an awful start against Kaiserslautern. In the 8th minute Rouven Flüchter got pushed away from the ball by Daniel Melichar in the box, allowing the hosts' striker to put the ball past Reichert from a tight angle with a precise effort. Luckily it didn't take us too long to respond. In the 19th minute Dennis Knetsch found himself in a difficult situation, 20 yards away from goal and two defenders in front of him, but he managed to pull away with a quick move to his left side before unleashing a powerful strike that went in off the crossbar. We went on to dominate the game, but no matter what, we couldn't find that elusive winning goal. I can't be happy to drop points like that.

Two weeks passed, and we got robbed. Bochum turned up as a surprisingly decent side, but we still possessed much more quality than them. In the 21st minute a cross from Holz got deflected by their defender Robert Wellenreuther and ended up as an own goal, so we got the advantage we needed to really find our feet in the game. Generally we played well, just couldn't grab the second goal to make it really comfortable. Time was passing though, and the visitors didn't look like threatening us. Right up until stoppage time. With literally five seconds to go, Johannes Eigler got into a sliding tackle just inside the box on the left wing, clearing the ball out for a corner... no! The referee blew the whistle, and pointed to the spot, giving a penalty for a perfectly clean challenge. Needless to say, Jannis Ahike didn't waste his chance.

We ended the month with a trip to a struggling Greuther Fürth side. This time everything started well for us for a change - in the 7th minute Knetsch scored another wonderful individual goal this month, once again seeing the better of two opposition's central backs before letting off an unstoppable hit. Our top striker doubled his goal tally in the 38th minute, finding himself on the end of a wonderful cross from Holz. The hosts started the second half surprisingly well, pushing us against the wall for quite some time before finally in the 57th minute a corner landed on the head of Karsten Max, who restored some hope for them. This hope was crushed by a move constructed by two substitutes - in the 81st minute a cross from Christoph Adolf landed at the feet of Maximilian Hauck, who took the chance to score his first ever Bundesliga goal. Our five games without a win streak finally came to an end.

[Rikulec]

This one marks a short break in updates, the next one will be out no sooner than on Monday. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - December 2047 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





I'm not even sure what to think of this.

Sitting dead last in the league, Dresden arrived to our place with little hope for any satisfying result. But, guess what, we turned up nowhere near as good as expected. Was it complacency? Was it underestimating the opposition? I'm not sure, but you can all see the result. To add to our woeful finishing, we lost a total of three players - first Maxym Romanenko and Dennis Knetsch to injuries, and seconds before the final whistle Sayed Dawood Faqiryar picked up his second yellow card to reduce us to nine men (we had no subs left when Knetsch got stretchered off).

This meant putting together a much improvised squad away at Bayern. Let's be honest with this one, everyone - myself included - expected us to get battered. Not this time - we shocked the world by going 2:0 up after 25 minutes of play. Thomas Gabel, who has barely received any chances to shine so far this season, was forced to start in the striker spot and in the 12nd minute it was him who gave us the lead with a very composed finish after a good short pass by Maximilian Hauck. That wasn't all our striker had to say, either - he doubled his goal tally, converting a wonderful cross from Benjamin Holz. We also had a golden chance to make it 3:0 before half time, but Holz failed to place the ball in a half-empty net with his weaker foot after rounding the goalkeeper. Think Fernando Torres. I knew Bayern were going to be properly pissed in the second half. We managed to hold them off for long, but in the 76th minute our stronghold fell - a quick passing move saw Benoît Nlend score after breaking through the middle. And, of course, in stoppage time Muriel equalised with a simple tap-in at the far post, following a cross that we really could - and should - have intercepted. Heartbreaking, but before the game I would have taken a draw without giving it a second thought. I guess we can't be mad.

Prior to our clash that ended the first round of games of the Bundesliga, Stuttgart hadn't drawn a league game. But, yeah, then they met us. Despite the final scoreline it was a very open game with good chances on both ends of the pitch. It could have easily been a 2:2 or even a 3:3. Holding off the league leaders is a good accomplishment, but it also means that the 6th place is running away from us, and Hannover in 8th are looking to catch up.

DFB-Pokal



Moving forward.

We didn't play beautifully against Kaiserslautern, but - unlike the league games - we managed to edge out a victory. The deadlock was broken in the 37th minute. Rouven Flüchter got pushed from behind in the box, Thomas Gabel stepped up to the penalty and calmly put the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net. The visitors had a couple of decent shot attempts, but they were nicely stopped by Björn Koopmann. Finally all doubt was erased in the 84th minute - a brilliantly timed through ball from Maximilian Hauck allowed Christoph Adolf to score with a composed effort in a one-on-one situation. All in all, it was quite a confident and convincing performance from us.

Our adventure will probably end in the Quarter Final, where we'll face Bayern at their place.

[Rikulec]

I have no intention of moving at this point, but with just six months left on my current contract, I'll just attend this and see what happens.

[Rikulec]

That came quicker than expected. A nice rise from £19K to £27,5K p/w.

[Rikulec]

****.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - January 2048 - 1. FC Köln

Friendlies



This went rather smooth.

Bundesliga





This, not so much.

I might have already said that, but... Mainz will always be Mainz. Forget all the trouble I've had before, this is our eternal bogey team. Even if things seem to be going well, they will just always find a way. This time the first half went in their favour, and they deservedly ended it in the driving seat after Pipoca's goal in the 28th minute. The second half was a proper turnaround though, and we really pushed them against the wall. In the 47th minute Maxym Romanenko equalised with a nice placed effort after a very good passing move. We kept creating good chances, and in the 78th minute one of them finally paid off - Christoph Adolf drilled a cross into the box, Maximilian Hauck aggressively attacked it and ended up slide-tackling the ball into the net. Roll on 90th minute. A cross into our area was headed away, but 20 yards away from goal Niklas Eibeck attacked the ball... and scored an absolute screamer of a volley, right into the top far corner. There's just nothing you can do against these goals. I'd like to say that I wasn't even mad... but I was.

Let's face it, we were expected to lose at Schalke. And we did. Yes, it was that unspectacular. We did have our opportunities, but in general it was the hosts who quickly emerged as the better team, confirming it by hitting the post as soon as three minutes into the game. The only goal of the match was scored in the 39th minute. A quick counter attack blistered on the left wing, Markus Zimmermann cut into the box and found the far corner with a powerful and well-placed effort. Despite our best attempts, we couldn't reply to that with anything constructive. What a dull and uninspiring defeat that was.

And finally Augsburg. A dull and uninspiring defeat got even more dull and uninspiring. First up, twenty minutes of absolutely nothing. Then the first proper highlight of the game - they just exchanged two passes on the left wing before randomly pumping the ball into the box, right where Sebastian Fleischmann was waiting to bang it into the net. We took some time to wake up and get back into the game, we started to actually try and play football soon before the half time whistle. But, of course, that was worthless. Countering out of the blue was the way to go, as the hosts cared to show us - in the 67th minute one of these counters was finished off by a nice soft pass into the area, easily converted by Wilson Torres. A switch to my favourite attacking 4-4-2 didn't help us out much, but that's a concept I'm not going to abandon in the upcoming month. Things may get interesting. Or they may not. I don't know yet.

Transfers

Nicolas Feiner - joining us for £4,9M from Dortmund, the striker will replace Thomas Gabel in the number two slot for his position.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - February 2048 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





I guess it was better than the last month.

We took a while to properly get into the Hertha game, as if the players were still coming to terms with the fact that I decided to drop 4-1-4-1 in favour of 4-4-****ing-2. The visitors had their chances before the break and generally were the better team, but we managed to hold them off before properly turning things around in the second half. We came at them hard, and in the 63rd minute grabbed a well-deserved opener - Maxym Romanenko played a wonderful pass to slice through Hertha's defence and allow Nicolas Feiner to score his first goal for us with a powerful strike. We doubled our lead just four minutes later - Tim Schwarz played a corner in, Rouven Flüchter headed it on and Rico Becke applied the final touch on the far post. From then on, it was smooth sailing.

Bremen... you can see the scoreline alright. The fact that we only had three days of rest following an exhausting cup game (see below) probably didn't help us, but we just can't have an excuse for such a heavy defeat against a struggling team. Things went bad for us right from the start - in the 3rd minute a case of sleepy defending allowed Bruno Krajnovic to beat Lukas Reichert in a one-on-one. The early goal encouraged the hosts to attack us, which they did, but then we scored against the run of play - in the 37th minute a drilled cross from Abdul Quansah was beautifully finished by Christoph Adolf. The plan was to hold on until half time and then reorganise, but we failed to meet the first objective - in the 44th minute Alaa Ahmed placed the ball in our empty net after a shot was deflected off the crossbar. The second half brought fantastic memories for the Bremen striker - he completed his hat-trick with goals scored in the 47th and 65th minute. Five minutes after that Yannick Sanders hammered the final nail into our coffin with a powerful tight angle shot. Let's just forget about this game as soon as possible.

Next up, Hannover. A six-point game for two sides battling it out for the 7th place, which may - or may not - be rewarded with European qualification. It was the moderately interesting case of a 0:0, with both teams having a couple of chances each, but most of the play happening in the middle of the park. A win would have done us much, much better.

The final game of the month was a potentially tricky trip to Ingolstadt. We just can't reach our best away from home this season, no matter what. That's why I'm even happier to have come out of this one on top. We had a very good opener - in the 7th minute of the match a wonderful cross from Tim Paterok was tapped into a half-empty net by Nicolas Feiner. We managed to make it 2:0 even before half time. Christoph Adolf won us a penalty by bravely attacking a seemingly lost ball, and Marc Leese took the shot with precision and confidence. Ingolstadt all but gave up after the break, providing us with many chances to make the scoreline more convincing, but I guess we just didn't feel like it. Whatever.

DFB-Pokal



Out as expected.

I'll make one thing clear for you from the start - we were extremely, and I mean extremely lucky to even make it into extra time. It was all thanks to one man, and this man was our goalkeeper Björn Koopmann, who saved a total of 14 shots throughout the 120 minutes of football, and that includes two or three miraculous double saves among other incredible efforts. It took Bayern until the 102nd minute to finally break through our stronghold, and it was after a foul in the box commited by Sayed Dawood Faqiryar. I thought Koopmann would save the penalty as well, but Hendrik Bönisch got the better of him this time. And again just sixty seconds later, facing an empty net after a good cross from the left wing. And once again in the 117th minute in a one-on-one situation. We did have our chances, but Bayern pretty much wiped the floor with us. They proved to be not one, but a few levels above us in terms of sheer quality.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - March 2048 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Season over.

Of course, this was always going to be a difficult month. First up, the German champions. They started the game really well, going all out attack, and in the 19th minute they got exactly what they wanted - Damián Martínez put them in front with a close range effort. That seemed to cause them to let their guard down a bit, and we started to get more and more dangerous in front of their goal with time passing. But then we fell victim to a counter attack, and in the 64th minute Martínez doubled his goal tally. We managed to respond almost straight away though - a corner taken by Abdul Quansah was met with an extremely precise header by Rico Becke. That was a proper wake-up call for us. We switched to an offensive tactic, and began to give Wolfsburg a proper chasing. Finally in the 81st minute Nicolas Feiner made a great decision of squaring the ball out for Dennis Knetsch to head it home and send the crowd roaring. We had our chances for a full turnaround, but just couldn't make that work. Still, it was a really encouraging performance.

Did I say encouraging? Yes, as you've probably guessed, the Hoffenheim game was the exact opposite of that. Once again we proved ourselves unable to hold their strikers off, and to edge out victories in narrow games. This time our stronghold fell in the 35th minute, and it was Ibrahima Asante who gave the hosts the lead from close range after we allowed them to muscle us off the ball in our own penalty area. The 53rd minute brought a wonderful through ball from Tim Schwartz finished off by Feiner, but just four minutes later a goal from Jan Dolezal restored the advantage for Hoffenheim. We kept trying to come at them, but Asante's second goal in the 82nd minute was more than enough to keep us at bay. Yet another awful game for us, and I'm being put closer and closer to making a very important decision...

Fun fact - has anyone noticed that prior to the Dortmund clash we hadn't lost a home game this season? Well, it's a pity that we allowed this run to stop. It's an even bigger pity because we were the better team and really deserved at least a point from this one. These games usually have at least one big "if only", and for us it's surely going to be the 14th minute - a penalty awarded for a foul on Rico Becke was smashed straight at the goalkeeper by Marc Leese. We kept playing well and creating chances after that, all but dominating the first half, but the curse had already been put in place, and I just knew we weren't going to win. And of course in the 55th minute a placed shot from just outside the box by Aitor Casanova caught Reichert wrong-footed, and rolled past the line just inside the near post. Seven points behind Hannover, seven games to go. It's simply not going to happen.

Youth Intake



At last, something positive to write home about.

Ingo Coßmann

Giorgio Maggio

Ali Turhan

Falaye Ballo

[Rikulec]

With five games to go, things are not looking bright. This time I've managed to talk my way out, but...

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - April 2048 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Let's just get this done and over with.

First up, Leverkusen, one of the seemingly many teams that we struggle against more often than not. This time we pretty much went out and did their job for them. Or, more precisely, Marc Leese did. In the 39th minute our right back failed to clear the ball away under pressure and ended up heading it into our own net, and seconds before the break he commited a foul in an almost identical situation, allowing Robert Brandstetter to make it 2:0 with a calmly executed penalty. Our efforts to turn things around were all pathetic. We kept giving the ball away in stupid situations and generally looked like an awful side. Another well deserved defeat for us.

Nine days' worth of rest preceeding the Kaiserslautern game wasn't too much help for us. Generally we looked like the better team on the pitch and created more chances than the visitors, but I'd say it was purely down to the fact that we simply have better players than them. It took us quite a long time to break the deadlock - in the 67th minute Nicolas Feiner scored the first goal of the match, rebounding his own shot after a clever square pass from Armin Bastians. Only four minutes later we lost Abdul Quansah to a second yellow card though, and things got much more complicated. We could only hold onto the lead for five more minutes before Daniel Melichar brought things back level, our CB pairing commiting some inexplicable mistakes in marking and communication. Story of our season, boiled down to one game.

Then we travelled to Bochum, and for some time we even looked like a proper football team. We got off to a very good start, and in the 12th minute we grabbed a truly deserved opening goal - a fantastic through ball from Feiner was met by a precise finish from Dennis Knetsch. After some time our opponents slowly began to find their feet in the game, but then we silenced them with another goal - in the 37th minute a cross from Rouven Flüchter landed on the head of Tim Paterok, who did a fantastic job, outjumping everyone in the box before finding the back of the net. The first half was a really good performance from us, but then we let our concentration slip, and in the 49th minute a goal from David Laabs brought Bochum back into the game. They kept pursuing the equaliser right until the final whistle, with us dangerously countering them from time to time. I guess it must have been a really entertaining one for the neutrals. For me, the points are everything that matters.

Facing the league's strugglers at home. Looks easy on paper, but I really have some unpleasant history with these games. This time the result went in our favour, even though it was the smallest of victories. Greuther Fürth really looked poor though, and with better finishing we would have beaten them much more convincingly. We had no trouble creating chances with wonderful through balls down the middle - Maxym Romanenko the standout player there - we couldn't bury them, no matter what. The only goal of the game was scored in the first half's injury time. A corner arrived into the area, Flüchter nodded it on towards the far post, Rico Becke took a shot, the ball was cleared, but the referee awarded the goal, deciding that it had crossed the line. I'm not going to argue about that.

[Rikulec]

That came as a pleasant surprise.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - May 2048 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga





Over and out.

We should be beating Dresden at any time, at any place. This game, despite the final scoreline, could serve as a good explanation why. 60% possession and general domination, proved by creating numerous chances, Maxym Romanenko once again slicing through the opposing defence with wonderful through balls. Nicolas Feiner clearly wasn't at his best though, wasting chance after chance. One of them was simply too good though - in the 60th minute the ex-Dortmund striker managed to round the goalkeeper with his first touch, and then he placed the ball in an empty net. Getting a win would have just been too good though, especially as it would have been three in a row for us. So in the 82nd minute Dresden put together a Barcelona-esque passing move, finished off by a good cross from the left and a precise headed strike from Gustavo Pinto. Of course.

For quick revision, please scroll up a few posts and remember how we drew against Bayern in the league earlier this season. And I'll just tell you this one was even more painful. We decided to employ a counter-attacking tactic, and it worked exactly as intended - once again Björn Koopmann was at his best between the sticks, helped by the fact that we managed to force the visitors to shoot mostly from difficult positions. And we looked really intimidating on the break. A clear header from the edge of the six yard box from Benjamin Holz was denied by the crossbar. But the 59th minute came, and we got exactly what we wanted. Tim Schwarz received the ball just outside the penalty area, and found the net with a fantastic effort that went in inches under the crossbar. Bayern pushed for the equaliser, but they were mostly reduced to hopeful long shots. And then, exactly 20 seconds before the final whistle, their last-ditch effort, a 25-yarder from Edvaldo, turned out to be unstoppable, an even more perfect strike than the earlier one from Schwarz. ****ing teasing... eh.

A win for Stuttgart would crown them champions, and our players just decided not to disturb their wonderful campaign at the final hurdle. Their waves of attacks were only rarely interrupted by some half-arsed counter attack attempts, mostly stopped in their tracks. And seconds before the half time whistle the hosts scored from a corner, Jorge Wagner sending the impatient fans crazy. That wasn't enough for our opponents though, as they kept coming at us, attack after attack. Finally in the 80th minute Renato Dirnei made it 2:0, shooting into an empty net after a very clever square ball. That's it. We finish one place lower than last season, with one point less. Deservedly so.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Review - 2047/48 - 1. FC Köln

Bundesliga

Results

Competition Performance: 9th

This season seemed to be dragging for ages. We couldn't find any bit of consistent form, combining unbeaten streaks with runs of a few games without a win. Injuries probably didn't help us, either. I'm just so glad this is over.

DFB-Pokal

Competition Performance: Quarter Final

At least we didn't disappoint anyone here. Anything other than a defeat at Bayern would have been met as a surprise.

Squad

It really does look good on paper, doesn't it? There are still a few weak links though, especially at the back. I'm not sure this club can make a major step up while sticking to the all-German philosophy.

Transfers - Finances

Not as good as I thought it was going to be. Ermen struggled to get into the side, and broke his foot during the winter break. Romanenko was the unexpected star, and Feiner did pretty much what I expected from him, forming a nice partnership with the ex-Stuttgart plaer. Still, I thought we would be better.

Finances are definitely my biggest source of pride from these two years at the club. We have a very stable wage structure, and are set to bring in millions of pounds of net profit each year.

Player of the Season

1st - Abdul Quansah - one of the few players that really gave their best and didn't turn out to be a source of disappointment. Constantly creating danger, bombing down the left flank, exploiting space created by the wide playmaker. The highest average rating in the whole team says it all really.

2nd - Lukas Reichert - well, he kept trying. Despite my decision to drop him in favour of Björn Koopmann in the final stage of the season, I think Lukas has done well to keep us in many games when most of his teammates looked like they couldn't be arsed.

3rd - Maximilian Hauck - an honourable mention to the unexpected star of our academy. He had to wait quite long for his chance, but when he got it, he proved to be good enough to become a starter after some insipiring sub appearances. Shame his progress was halted by injuries.

Next Season

Does Elvar Björgvinsson have another season in him?

[Rikulec]

Alright. You deserve an explanation.

How much is 63 years of age for a manager? Probably enough to label him as experienced, and for some - enough to label him as old. Apart from some rare cases though, it's a stage where it's extremely difficult to make a step up. In his final two years in the business, Elvar Björgvinsson found himself at a club where he could well spend many years languishing in mid-table in the Bundesliga, placing his earnings in his retirement fund. Maybe he could, after some time, finally make that break and get into a European competition. Maybe he could even win it. But, let's face it - this man achieved exactly what he had set out to. He conquered Iceland, then Finland, then Norway, then Sweden, and then finally Denmark to claim the elusive Frozen Throne. Everything after that was just a bonus. A very pleasant one at Hobro, and a bit of a slow burner at Köln. Sometimes it's just better to get out when you're on top, or at least somewhere close to it. Was the move to Germany a mistake? Yes, probably. Do I regret it? Does Elvar Björgvinsson regret it? It's probably too early to provide a proper answer to these questions. One thing's for sure though - the situation grew to a point where change was needed.

Farewell, old man. It's been a pleasure. You did bloody well.



This is not the end of The Frozen Throne. Stay tuned for Part Three coming up soon!

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I've never commented in your thread, and I should have before now. I've enjoyed following it very much. You've told the story in an engaging fashion, and I've always been delighted to see an update from you when I stopped by the Career Updates forum.

Mr Björgvinsson, you have a fan for life.

I'm looking forward to see what Part Three will be like!

[Gizmo7]

Great thread, really enjoyed following this. Well done, Sir Björgvinsson

[Rikulec]

I've never commented in your thread, and I should have before now. I've enjoyed following it very much. You've told the story in an engaging fashion, and I've always been delighted to see an update from you when I stopped by the Career Updates forum.

Mr Björgvinsson, you have a fan for life.

I'm looking forward to see what Part Three will be like!

Wow, some very touching words of praise here. Thank you, comments like this one are what keeps threads like this going.

Great thread, really enjoyed following this. Well done, Sir Björgvinsson

Cheers, I hope you're going to like the upcoming chapter as well.

[Rikulec]

The Frozen Throne: Part Three

The King is dead, long live the King!

The Aim

Climb to the top of the Icelandic Hall of Fame, becoming the best manager in the history of the country.

The Manager



Of course, The Lich King couldn't have gone out without a successor. Sentimentally named after the best player to have ever worn the Icelandic national team shirt, Gylfi Elvarsson sets out to achieve what his old man couldn't. During his playing time in the Icelandic league, he managed to complete all the necessary coaching courses to get the Continental Pro Licence.

[Rikulec]

Here's how it stands. Rúnar Kristinsson sits well clear at the top, having enjoyed loads of success during his management career, most famously guiding Liverpool to the Champions League crown in 2031. Behind him is our old hero. The new one? Nowhere to be seen... yet.

[Rikulec]

What a perfect start this would be. The club that Gylfi has supported ever since he was a kid, the club where his father won his first ever league title. Please, please happen.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - New Club - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur



With seven games to go and the league table looking like this, we are expected to finish in the top half. Should be within our reach.

Club Name: Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Nickname: -

Year Founded: 1899

Status: Professional

Stadium: Stekkjarbakkivöllur (9,227 all-seater)



Since Elvar Björgvinsson's departure in 2024, they managed to win two more league titles and four more cups.



Alright, it's time to get to work.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - August 2048 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsideildin





Home, sweet home.

My debut game happened to be against Þróttur Reykjavík, a side much stronger now than they were when we last met them. We decided an attacking 4-4-2 would be the way to go here. And, as you can see, it worked like a charm. I was happy to see our two young talented Icelandic strikers put their name on the scoresheet. In the 13th minute Kristján Guðjónsson made it 1:0 with a good header after a cross from the left by Gunnar Viktorsson. The visitors equalised seven minutes later through a powerful tight angle effort from Gunnar Már Stefánsson, but in the 30th minute we got back in front through Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson's goal, which followed a wonderful passing move. Shortly before the break we managed to double our lead with a move constructed by two wingers - a cross from Lukas Olschewski on the left was converted by Moses Mabalane on the right. It was also the South African that scored the final goal of the game, funnily enough it was an overhit cross in the 51st minute. After such a long separation from this league, the match served as a perfect reminder how wild it gets at times.

Next up, Keflavík. I have mixed memories of facing them, but obviously they're all worthless now. The hosts proved to be a tough opponent, but most of the danger they caused was from set pieces, something that our highly physical team mostly dealt with. In the 18th minute we managed to snatch a goal against the run of play - Brynjólfsson wasted a wonderful delivery from the right wing, but our star striker, Croatian Sanjin Batelic, was there to pounce on the rebound and send the away lot celebrating. Seconds before the break we lost that advantage though, and once again it was a set piece - the initial shot that followed a corner was stopped by the crossbar, but the second one by Ólafur Páll Jóhannesson found its way into the back of the net. We had our chances in the second half, but couldn't bury any of them.

In the final game of the month we hosted a mid-table side Sindri. Once again, I couldn't possibly know what to expect from them. I was simply happy to see the boys looking rather comfortable on the pitch, forcing the opposition to shoot from difficult positions and creating good chances themselves. In the 20th minute a good cross from Mabalane on the left was met by a nice header from Batelic. Shortly before the break the Croatian filled a playmaker's shoes, playing a perfectly timed through ball to Guðjónsson, who unleashed a beautiful, precise finish from just outside the penalty area. At the hour mark Batelic doubled his goal tally, Brynjólfsson with the assist this time. The final goal of the game - and the consolation goal for Sindri - was scored by Foguete in the 67th minute, and it was after some ridiculous pinball in front of our goal. I missed you, Iceland. I missed you a lot.

Youth Intake



Riiiight.

Emil Karlsson

Kristján Ómar Þrándarson

[deltablue]

I for one welcome our Icelandic overlords.

[Rikulec]

I for one welcome our Icelandic overlords.

Soon.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - September 2048 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsideildin





Well, that's not the finish I was hoping for.

Everything started smooth with a trip to Fram. We had the initiative right from the opening whistle, and in the 12th minute it bore the first fruits - a soft cross from Lukas Olschewski on the left wing was met by a precise close range finish from Sanjin Batelic. That was not everything the Croatian striker had to say that afternoon - in the 39th minute he doubled his goal tally, rebounding his own shot from point blank range after the initial effort was first saved by the goalkeeper and then deflected off a defender's legs. We didn't let the steering wheel go loose in the second half, calmly controlling the game and creating some chances from time to time, but we couldn't make the victory even more convincing. Not that we really needed to.

The ÍBV game was going to be a proper benchmark for us. Are we already good enough to battle for the title next season? We should be, if this match is anything to go by. It was a proper entertaining two-way battle, neither team looking particularly keen on hanging back and playing a more defensive brand of football. Despite us creating a couple of good chances in the opening minutes, it was the hosting side who broke the deadlock. In the 26th minute a drilled cross from the left wing was aggressively attacked by their top scorer, Frans Gijbels, who knew exactly where that ball was going. We replied almost straight away - three minutes later a very similar delivery from William Edman was finished off by Batelic. Generally we played our usual high pressing game, and the referee didn't seem to like it - he decided to show us a total of nine yellow cards throughout the whole match. Has to be some sort of a record, surely? To make things worse, we couldn't hold onto the draw - in the 79th minute Filipe Santos produced a moment of brilliance, getting past three defenders before finding the back of the net with a powerful near post effort. Finally in stoppage time Edman failed to hold his temper, picking up his second yellow card of the evening. Can't really blame him for that.

I'm well aware that "I have no idea what happened" is a very cliche thing to say, but... I have no idea what happened. A struggling HK side was suddenly all over us, and we had to hold their attacks off quite desperately at times. No matter what I tried to counter that, we couldn't. And finally we fell victim to three goals scored in quick succession before half time. First Jóhann Jóhannsson in the 34th minute, and then Nathianiel Duval in the 35th and 44th. The second half was not as bad as the first as we finally started to make some efforts inside their half, but it was the visitors who scored again - in the 78th minute a free kick cross found Dragan Nikic completely unmarked in the middle of the box, a chance that can't be wasted. All we could reply with was a header from Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson that bounced off the crossbar and then off the back of their goalkeeper Danin Racic before getting counted as an own goal in the 80th minute. I can only hope this was a one-off.

The season was rounded off by a home game against Njarðvík. I was hoping for a dominant performance and us putting a few goals past them, but, as you can see, things didn't quite work out this way. The visitors turned up as tough opposition, and we struggled to break them down. Luckily we were able to do so before half time - in the 37th minute a cross from Moses Mabalane was converted by Kristján Guðjónsson. When an own goal from Arnar Freyr Rúnarsson put us 2:0 up in the 62nd minute, I thought it was all over. But no - Njarðvík stunned us by fighting back bravely, and goals in the 75th and 81st minute from Viktor Traustason and Savo Stokic respectively gave them exactly what they wanted. Major disappointment for the crowd that turned up on the final day.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - Season Review - 2048 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsi-deildin

Results (red line marks my arrival)

Competition Performance: 6th

I was told to finish in the top half of the table and I delivered exactly that. Shame about the slump in the end though, European football was mathematically within our reach.

Deildabikar

Competition Performance: Group Stage

Finishing 3rd in the group wasn't enough to get through.

Borgunarbikar

Competition Performance: Semi Finals

The previous boss did quite well here, and got unlucky in the penalty shoot-out.

Frábær Bikar

Competition Performance: Winners

They managed to win the Super Cup thing, which is nice.

UEFA Europa League

Competition Performance: First Qualifying Round

The Irishmen got the better of them.

Squad

Bags of potential in there, and with a couple of good additions here and there we should be challenging for the title next season.

Transfers - Finances

I had nothing to say about the incomings, only the big clearout in August.

The finances look healthy enough for now, we're probably going to cut the wage spendings a little bit as well to aid them.

Player of the Season

1st - Sanjin Batelic - the top scorer, and quite possibly the most influential player in our ranks. I'm happy to have him staying at the club for another year, with the force that's building up behind him he could be capable of some great achievements in the league.

2nd - Bruno Uzelac - the playmaker. He has some wonderful ability, but the wage he's on combined with his new contract demands leave us sitting in a place where we're simply forced to let him go. Trust me, this wasn't an easy decision to make.

3rd - Ingvar Pálmason - probably the biggest talent in our club at this moment. He has some great attributes and an international cap under his belt already, having just turned 20. And all the coaches say he still has plenty of room for development. What an exciting prospect.

Next Season

We're aiming for the very top. A European spot is the minimum.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Board Expectations:

Pepsideildin: Title challenge

Borgunarbikar: Final

Deildabikar: Not important

My Expectations:

Pepsideildin: Europe is the minimum.

Borgunarbikar: I'd like a good run here.

Deildabikar: Not important.

Budgets:

Transfer: £0

Wage: £14,533 (currently spending £14,915)

Balance: £104,669

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Friendlies



Should have been four wins out of four really.

Transfers



Five in, can't-be-arsed-to-count-how-many out.

Styrmir Theódórsson - the only player we spent money on, and I'd say he was worth it. He'll be our first choice right back. Hopefully he won't get sent off every game.

Ólafur Ásmundsson - the capture that excites me the most. He started his career at KR before spells in Norway, France, Denmark, and Italy. 79 international caps are not too shabby either. He could push our midfield to a whole new level.

Helgi Valur Sigurjónsson - this guy was brought in as a backup player, and he probably won't exceed these expectations.

Lasse Christjansen - another technically skilled player to bring balance to our mostly physique-oriented side. This one will go to the left midfielder slot.

Nedim Beganovic - we needed a quality left back, so we went and brought one in.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - February 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Deildabikar





Far from convincing, but the points are where they should be.

First up, Ægir, a side freshly promoted to the Pepsideildin. We got off to a very smooth start - in the 7th minute a wonderful 30-yarder from Ólafur Ásmundsson sent the crowd absolutely mad. What a way to make your comeback to the club that gave you education. And he didn't stop at that - just two minutes later our experienced midfielder doubled his goal tally, taking full advantage of a lucky deflection that left him standing in front of an empty net with the ball at his feet. In the 37th minute Kristján Guðjónsson made it 3:0 in a one-on-one situation, Sanjin Batelic with the assist. This wasn't the final goal of the first half - shortly before the whistle Arnar Jónsson unleashed a sensational free kick from the corner of the penalty area. Things got heated up in the 62nd minute - Styrmir Theódórsson commited a foul in our own box, and Þorsteinn Halldórsson took two shots to find the back of the net. Luckily we didn't allow them to equalise, but I would have preferred not to allow such a pursuit from a significantly weaker team.

Víkingur Reykjavík are the other new team in the top division, and we dispatched them with the slightest of victories. We needed exactly 38 seconds to score the goal that turned out to be the winner - a short pass into the box by Moses Mabalane was finished off by Kristján Guðjónsson. This certainly wasn't the most entertaining game to watch for the neutrals, with both teams managing only one shot on goal each. Generally we had more chances, but the quality of our finishing was not good enough to make the final scoreline more convincing.

The final game of the month was against a 1. Deild karla team Tindastóll. Quite understandably, I was hoping to put a few goals past them and boost our confidence before the upcoming games that are going to be slightly more difficult. As you can see though, that didn't happen. The game was far from smooth, and even though we had the advantage, the opposition looked very dangerous on the break, and had a couple of good chances to put something past us. We got lucky - in the 80th minute a penalty was given for a foul on Guðjónsson. Ásmundsson took the responsibility, and managed to find the back of the net despite the goalkeeper guessing his intentions. We're still far from our optimal form.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - March 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Deildabikar





Still scraping by, somehow.

Fylkir was yet another confrontation with a team that we should be beating comfortably. And, for the first time this season, we failed. The early signs were good - we started the game well, building our advantage, and everything was going to plan. In the 26th minute we grabbed a deserved goal. A square ball from Nedim Beganovic was finished off by Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson, who was standing in front of goal completely unmarked. We went on to control possession, and kept creating chances, but couldn't convert any of them. And then he 70th minute came. A horrendous display of defensive complacency allowed Fylkir players to take three attempts following a corner before Máni Eiríksson's shot finally went in. If I was a real football manager and saw my defenders reacting like that, I would probably throw something at them. Just like they threw away two points.

Next up, Leiknir Reykjavík, a lowly 1. Deild karla side. The start was very smooth as we went up as soon as in the 5th minute - a fantastic through ball from Moses Mabalane was met by a calm, precise finish from Brynjólfsson. For some reason we failed to build on that though, and suddenly found ourselves holding off the opposition's attacks quite desperately. Finally we gave in in the 20th minute. Gestur Ingi Emilsson grabbed the equaliser for them, tapping the ball into an empty net after a cross from the left wing. Long story short, the game turned into a two-way battle, we couldn't truly dominate an inferior opponent. In the 65th minute Beganovic got very lucky to have the ball land at his feet after a poor save attempt, and banged it in without hesitation to give us a win. A truly relieving one.

Grindavík are surely going to be among the title candidates this season, and they were the first team to provide us with a proper test. Safe to say, the first half was a very forgettable one - only four shots, all coming from the opposition, and probably only one or two could have caused any danger for us. The tactical changes I made at half time didn't change the situation too much - we finally started to come close to their goal from time to time, but at the same time left ourselves more exposed at the back, which we paid a price for. In the 62nd minute Vojislav Savanovic scored the only goal of the game with a wonderful, precise header that went over the goalkeeper and into the top far corner. We had a couple of attempts, but couldn't properly respond to that. Here goes our unbeaten group stage then.

[Rikulec]

Yay, a new bank loan.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - April 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Deildabikar





This is not good, but in the end we got what we wanted.

We played much better as a team than Þróttur, and created more chances throughout the game. Once again though, this was blown away by awful finishing on our part. Sometimes the players attempted shots from hopeless positions instead of laying the ball out, sometimes they missed the target altogether in seemingly simple situations. The opposition simply stood there and watched us struggle for a big chunk of the game, but with the final whistle approaching, they thought: "hey, if they're so weak, why not attack them?", and so they did. In the 82nd minute a nice passing move was finished off from close range by Boban Milenkovic. He might have been slightly offside, but I'm not even overly bothered by that. We lost, and that's it. Luckily we weren't the worst of the three third placed teams in the group stage, so we made it through.



The Portuguese way didn't quite work out for us.

Our first opponents after getting out of the group were the Icelandic champions ÍBV. On paper, it doesn't get much more difficult than that on the domestic front. In reality, we played our counter attacking game very well and ended up having almost twice as many shots as them throughout the 120 minutes played. Not that there was an awful lot of shots though. We tried to approach the game offensively, but ended up sitting at the back and waiting for a break. And in the 73rd minute we got it - a beautifully constructed move was ended with a fantastic one-two between Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson and Kristján Guðjónsson, the latter finally scoring with a softly chipped effort aimed towards the far post. What a move, what a goal. Our celebrations only lasted for seven minutes though - after that time a through ball set Frans Gijbels free on goal, a chance he didn't miss. After a rather boring extra time, into penalties we went. In the first five rounds no one made a mistake. Then finally Zeljko Sopcic saved a penalty taken by Tuncay, and shortly after Moses Mabalane sent us into the Semi Final.

Þróttur once again it was then. And, to boil it down to simple terms, we didn't turn up. Or maybe was it fatigue from running around for 120 minutes just three days before? Could be. I don't know really. What matters is that we crashed out, and we burnt out pretty quickly on the pitch. Everything started well, and in the 21st minute a shot from Brynjólfsson put us in front. I was all cheerful, but seconds before the half time whistle our lack of aggression at the back allowed the opposition to construct a passing move that set Shawn McBride free on goal, and that was a costly mistake. Moving on to penalties - it was 3:2 to Þróttur, and then Lasse Christjansen missed his shot. And so did the four players that came up to the spot after him. That was simply grotesque, but, more importantly, it meant we crashed out.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - May 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsideildin





Not the best of starts, but we seem to be getting there.

Falling behind in the 3rd minute of the opening game is probably not the best way to start a league season. But Ægir played a trick on us through a wonder goal from Magnús Jónasson, the kind of a once-in-a-lifetime strike from the side of the box straight into the far upper 90. Or, as it's also known as, a bash-your-head-on-your-desk type of goal to concede. That forced us to reorganise and change our plan right from the beginning, which I wasn't very keen on doing. It took us a fair few attempts to finally pull back. We did so in the 49th minute - Kristján Guðjónsson applied the perfect execution to a one-on-one situation after a nice through ball from Ólafur Ásmundsson. The experienced midfielder had much more to say this month, but we'll get to that. Unfortunately he didn't manage to do more on matchday one, which ended with a very disappointing draw for us.

Next up, Grindavík, or a story of Football Manager ruthlessly mocking its player. Seriously, I felt like this Goddamn game was making fun of me. The first trick it pulled was the hosts scoring from the first highlight of the match in the 11th minute, Pétur Garðarsson converting a cross from the right wing. From then on, it was a constant wave of attacks from us. We even managed to get the equaliser fairly quickly - in the 24th minute Moses Mabalane played a very clever cross to the edge of the penalty area, and Ásmundsson smashed the ball home with a gorgeous half-volley. This guy was surely taught some moves on the continent! And the storm didn't stop there. Guess what though - the hosts' goalkeeper played an absolute blinder between the sticks, stopping nine shots on target. Even worse off, our keeper's butter hands cost us a goal in the 87th minute - he let a cross slip out of his gloves, setting up Zvonimir Hodak for a very easy shot. Two games, one point. Not what I was hoping for.

In that light, the ÍBV confrontation suddenly grew even more important than usually. If our game in the Deildabikar earlier this year was a case of them controlling possession and the whole flow of the match, this one was the exact opposite. We finally went out and looked confident on the ball. It was probably helped by an early goal, and what a goal it was - Kristján Guðjónsson hammered it into the top corner after a great set-up from the whole team, the other striker Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson supplying the penultimate touch. It was also Brynjólfsson who doubled our lead in the 33rd minute, tapping the ball into an empty net after an inch-perfect cross from Mabalane. The second half saw the visitors dominate for a period, but then we calmed things down and cruised to a victory. An extremely valuable one, quite possibly.

You can all see where Víkingur Reykjavík are in the table. And you probably know how I dread this kind of games. This time we looked... okay. Not as good as against ÍBV, and nowhere near as bad as in some of our Deildabikar showings. We were helped by a red card for Matthías Gestsson in the 42nd minute. Eventually it all came down to a set piece - in the 63rd minute Lasse Christjansen put a floated cross from a free kick into the box, and Andri Halldórsson jumped the highest to powerfully head it right into the back of the net, just under the crossbar. A good goal and a good result it gave us.

Borgunarbikar



Easy.

If the non-league Magni side were hoping of causing a major upset, their hopes were silenced straight away - William Edman found the ball at his feet in their penalty area in the very first minute of the game, and without hesitation hammered it into the net with his weaker right foot. From then on it was all smooth sailing for us. In the 27th minute we made it 2:0, Jari Hurme supplying a wonderful delivery from the right wing and Kristján Guðjónsson finishing it off with a precise header. It was also Hurme who got the assist for the final goal of the game - in the 91st minute his corner was headed home by Andri Freyr Sigurðsson. That's how lower league opposition should be dealt with - quickly and confidently.

In the Fourth Round we will get a chance to get our revenge on Grindavík. At our place.

[Adonalsium]

Let's hope for a quick league win with KR so that Gylfi can make a quick jump into bigger leagues!

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - June 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsideildin





An okay month, I guess.

First up, Þróttur. And I'll tell you, it felt really good to finally give them a proper beating. We were all over them for the entire game, not even allowing a shot on target from them. The scoring started in the 29th minute - Kristján Guðjónsson played a low pass into the box and Steve Rotmeyer surprised the goalkeeper with a precisely aimed, first-time effort with his weaker left foot under a defender's pressure. What a classy strike to end a long goal drought. We made it 2:0 seconds before half time, Guðjónsson assisting Snorri Valdimarsson with an inch-perfect cross from the right wing and the midfielder hammering it just under the crossbar from a few yards out. We grabbed the final goal in the 91st minute. Styrmir Theódórsson launched a long, aimless hoofball, which happened to fall right in between the defensive line and the goalkeeper, where Rotmeyer was making a hopeful run, which was rewarded with a fantastic opportunity that he didn't waste.

It simply has to mean something when you travel to a side that lead the league at the given time and give them a 3:0 whooping. HK are definitely the biggest surprise at this stage of the season, but that didn't seem to bother us at all. It was Kristján Guðjónsson, scoring all three goals and taking the match ball home with him. His two goals in the first half were almost identical to each other - Ólafur Ásmundsson supplied the striker with two wonderful through balls in the 20th and 32nd minute. The youngster finished the job almost straight out of the dressing room in the second half, this time taking advantage of a lucky deflection that left him standing in front of an empty net with the ball at his feet and no defender around to put any pressure on him. What a performance, what a result.

We travelled to Keflavík in high spirits, and were brought down to earth with a loud bang. I could probably go around looking for excuses, and the first one would be that conceding a goal in the 3rd minute never helps a team - Josko Andejlkovic put the hosts in front after an indirect free kick from the right. The second one - we had a few important players away on international duty, including Pálmason, Ásmundsson, and Indriði Rikhardsson. The truth is though, we simply turned up awful. This might have been our worst performance since I took over. We didn't even manage to create a single promising goalscoring position. A fully deserved defeat, that.

This can't be said about the Valur result. Generally this is an important derby match for our fans, and my guess would be that the players simply failed to cope with the pressure. At least the ones responsible for scoring - we had no trouble getting into good shooting positions, but, as you can see, the column "goals scored" reads a fat round zero. The quality of our finishing was atrocious, and of course a perfect "**** you" game wouldn't have been complete without us conceding a sloppy goal - in the 54th minute chaos erupted in front of our goal following a Valur corner, and after some pinball Tómas Aron Bjarnason tapped the ball into an empty goal from inches out. We furiously pursued the equaliser, but conceding seemed to have made our shot accuracy even worse. Yes, the pressure surely got the better of us.

The Fram game came uncomfortably close to becoming a very, very similar story. The first half was the most dominant 45 minutes of football I've seen us produce so far. A double-digit number of shots, over 65% possession, and barely ever leaving the opposition's half while creating numerous opportunities to break the deadlock. This was all blown though, as the first half ended with the scoreline still reading 0:0. I was almost starting to bite my fingers off when Moses Mabalane finally found the net in the 68th minute with a precise effort with his weaker left foot, Steve Rotmeyer with the assist from the bench. Of course though, when the opposition need a goal, they simply go out and get it - in the 75th minute a deep cross from the right allowed Matej Vidovic to equalise with a simple finish. Luckily we went back up just five minutes later. A corner arrived into the box, Ingvar Pálmason headed it on, and Andri Freyr Sigurðsson finished the whole thing off. A huge sigh of relief was let out after this one.

We were at our best again when we travelled to Sindri for the final game of the month. The opening minutes were quite chaotic, with good opportunities falling to the feet of players on both ends of the pitch seemingly out of nowhere. After the hosts blew two absolute sitters early on, we punished them for that to shape the game up nicely for ourselves - in the 20th minute a through ball from Rotmeyer was nicely converted by Guðjónsson. We gained control from then on and barely allowed anything from them. In the 68th minute we made it 2:0 - one of our players got dispossessed with a sliding tackle inside Sindri's penalty area, but the ball rolled over to Jari Hurme who smashed it in. Eleven minutes later Ryan Kassel grabbed the final goal of the evening, rebounding Rotmeyer's strike that was saved by the goalkeeper. Professional job from the team.

Borgunarbikar



Much tougher opposition this time round, but we made it past them.

The first half of the Grindavík confrontation was a proper thriller with no happy ending for us. We went 2:0 up inside the first sixteen minutes. First Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson finished off a wonderful passing move after a well-timed through ball from Jari Hurme, and then Andri Freyr Sigurðsson took advantage of William Edman nodding the ball on after a corner to head it into the back of the net. Three minutes later the visitors got back in touch with us - Snorri Valdimarsson commited a foul in our own penalty area, and Stefan Manic unleashed an absolutely unstoppable hit from the spot. It was also the Serbian striker who grabbed the equaliser for them shortly before the break. A seemingly hopeless floated cross took ages to finally reach its target, but our defenders took even longer to react, allowing a free shot from a tight angle. We got back in front in the 51st minute - a cross came in from the left, and Sanjin Batelic battled it hard with his marker to roll the ball past the line. The visitors came at us hard. but we managed to hold them off with some desperate defending at times.

We face Víkingur Reykjavík in the Quarter Final.

[Rikulec]

A yearly contract extension with a slight wage rise.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - July 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsideildin





This is what I've been waiting for.

The Njarðvík game was a fantastic display of what our attacking players are capable of when they're on their top form. We grabbed the lead in the 16th minute, and we did it in style - a wonderful passing move ended with Steve Rotmeyer dropping deep to get the ball and then passing it into the acres of space he created in the middle of the box, exactly where Ólafur Ásmundsson was waiting to bang it into the net. We could have lost that quite quickly, but a miraculous quintuple (!) save from Zeljko Sopcic stopped the hosts from equalising. In the 28th minute Rotmeyer grabbed a goal for himself, applying a classy finish to a nice through ball from Kristján Guðjónsson. Guðjónsson, who started his show in the second half, I might add. His two wonderful long shots from very similar positions in the 50th and 83rd minute left the final scoreline standing at 4:0, and gain him a well deserved PotM award.

Ten days later we travelled to Ægir, as you can see - by far the worst team in the whole league. An early goal was crucial here if we wanted to avoid unnecessary nerves, and we managed to get it. In the 16th minute a drilled cross from Rúnar Gunnarsson on the left wing was converted by Moses Mabalane attacking the far post. We went on to absolutely dominate the game, barely allowing the hosts off their own half, but struggled to add more to the scoreline. We finally erased all doubt in the 79th minute - Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson played the ball in from the left, and Rotmeyer banged it in with a wonderful volley from ten yards out. The form this guy managed to reach is just unbelievable, he has emerged as an absolutely key player for us.

Of course, the most interesting match of the month had to be Grindavík. I have to say I'm starting to enjoy this little rivarly we have. Once again, there was huge uncertainty surrounding the outcome right until the final whistle. We grabbed the first goal in the 22nd minute - Lasse Christjansen sliced through the visitors' defence with a surprising through ball, and Guðjónsson couldn't waste a one-on-one in these circumstances. Grindavík equalised ten minutes later, Dejan Zdravkovic with a precise header following a cross from the left. Luckily we managed to score twice even before half time - first Ásmundsson finished off a quick counter attacking move after Guðjónsson's pass, and then the latter of these two doubled his goal tally, Rotmeyer finally getting his assist. A goal from Alen Selimovic in the 52nd minute put things back on the edge, but once again we managed to hold onto a very valuable result.

Borgunarbikar



Boo.

I was expecting a smooth and easy game from Víkingur Reykjavík, and that's what we got... well, kind of. We got off to the best start possible - in the 5th minute Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson made it 1:0, skinning past a defender before launching a rocket into the top far corner from the edge of the six yard box. Ten minutes later we doubled our lead through the always-dependable Guðjónsson, who had to attack the ball with a sliding challenge to get it past the line under heavy pressure from a defender. In the 26th minute we got 3:0 up thanks to a wonderful drilled 30-yarder from Ásmundsson. Sometimes this guy just goes out and shows he has been brought up in a different football culture. We seemed to be well in control of things, but goals from Viktor Örn Þorvarðarson and Sigurvin Jónasson in the 58th and 77th minute respectively suddenly brought things back on the edge. Luckily we had Rotmeyer, who put us two in front once again in the 90th minute, Helgi Valur Sigurjónsson with the assist.

Sixteen shots attempted, two on target. This stat serves as a perfect summary of our performance against HK. It was the opposition who started the game better, and in the 24th minute they got a deserved goal thanks to Philippe Vaultier. Luckily Guðjónsson gave us an equaliser straight away from Nedim Beganovic's cross, and fifteen minutes later he assisted Steve Rotmeyer for a goal that put us 2:1 up and in control over things. We let that slip out of our hands in the 51st minute though, and it was Vaultier again, this time taking advantage of a series of very poor defensive reactions on our part. We kept coming at them, looking for the winning goal, but we got caught on the break, and it happened at the worst time possible - in the 91st minute a header from Arnar Sigurþórsson saw us crash out of the cup. Balls.

[Rikulec]

This is dreadful news. Our key player's season has most likely come to an end, and I don't think we have someone else with such creative spark in our ranks. Four goals and six assists in eight league games say it all. He will be missed.

[Adonalsium]

Damn. Maybe it's time to call up some youth reserves?

[Rikulec]

Damn. Maybe it's time to call up some youth reserves?

We have Brynjólfsson and Batelic to compete for Rotmeyer's place, so I don't think this will be necessary. Still, his injury is a major worry for us.

[Adonalsium]

Its nice how you still have so many options to choose from. I just bought 3 players in my HJK career and still lack for reserves, its a talent for sure

[Rikulec]

Its nice how you still have so many options to choose from. I just bought 3 players in my HJK career and still lack for reserves, its a talent for sure

They were all at the club when I came in, so I guess I was just lucky.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - August 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsideildin





All set for the final battle.

The month started with the big one - a long-awaited trip to ÍBV. Both teams on great runs of form, both teams pretty much pulling the strings in the league. This could potentially set the scene for the rest of the season. And... well, I guess we can't be fully satisfied by the outcome. First of all, both teams have good defensive records this season and it showed - it was more of a tough midfield battle than anything else. In the 26th minute the away lot went crazy though - Ólafur Ásmundsson found himself under three defenders' pressure with his back to goal inside the hosts' penalty area, but somehow managed to squeeze the ball through them to Moses Mabalane, who scored in an easy situation. Then nothing happened for quite some time. ÍBV were trying to put some attacks together, but we did well holding them off. Right up until the 80th minute. A powerful driven shot from way outside our box was going wide of the mark, but for whatever reason Lasse Christjansen stuck his leg out and deflected it, sending it into the net. What a silly way to let such a valuable lead slip.

Þróttur Reykjavík gave us a chance to make up for that just four days later. And we did, picking up a victory in a very confident and convincing fashion. The scoring started in the 22nd minute. A drilled corner from Indriði Ríkharðsson somehow made it all the way across the goal to the far post for Andri Freyr Sigurðsson to bang it in. Twelve minutes later Ásmundsson doubled our lead from the spot, the penalty given for a foul on our main man Guðjónsson. The side's top scorer picked up another assist for himself in the 53rd minute, setting up Sanjin Batelic well with a perfectly timed through ball. I wish we could play like this every week.

Another day, another easy win. It was Moses Mabalane who stole the show in the Víkingur game. In the 10th minute he put in an inch-perfect cross towards the far post from a free kick on the right wing, allowing Styrmir Theódórsson to tap the ball into an empty net. In the 35th minute Kristján Guðjónsson made it 2:0 with a nice clever header, the ball arriving from the same player again. And after the break the South African started scoring himself. In the 55th minute he headed the ball into the net from point blank range after a great delivery from Christjansen. Finally in the 88th minute we pulled off a wonderful passing move following a corner, which ended with Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson laying the ball out to Mabalane for a precisely placed effort from just inside the box. That was surely his best performance since I came to the club, with two goals and two assists to his name.

Of course, when things are going too well, there's always something that will halt our progress. HK came to our place to upset our fans for the second time in the space of less than a month. This definitely wasn't the best game to watch for the neutrals - both sides played some ugly football, with way more fouls than actual shots. We only managed to get one attempt on target, which could serve as an accurate summary of our performance. And, of course, this cringeworthy picture wouldn't have been complete without a goal conceded. In the 82th minute Philippe Vautier buried us with a close range effort following a floated cross from the left, a horrible communication mistake in our ranks coming to his aid. I'll tell you, this game was a proper buzzkill.

We were dominant from start to finish against Keflavík, but we took quite a long time to actually break them down. After a goalless first half we finally broke the deadlock in the 47th minute. Kristján Guðjónsson took two attempts to finish a great cross from Mabalane, the latter being the least confident empty net tap-in I've seen in a long while. Our celebrations were spoiled in the 64th minute though, as we got undone by a floated cross towards the far post once again, Stevan Drapic the happy scorer this time round. With less and less time left, I decided to bring Brynjólfsson on from the bench. And boy, wasn't that a wonderful decision. The young striker put us back in front after Nedim Beganovic's cross in the 82nd minute, and just four minutes later he assisted Guðjónsson for the 3:1 goal with a fantastic cross from the right wing himself. These wins are more satisfying than anything else really.

Youth Intake



Meh.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - September 2049 - Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

Pepsideildin





Not this year then.

We knew that if we wanted to challenge ÍBV for the title, we would have to win all our games really. First up, Valur. We dropped points stupidly against them earlier this year, but more than made up for it at their place. The party started in the 11th minute. A shot from Lasse Christjansen got blocked by a defender, but Moses Mabalane's rebound found the net with no obstruction on its way. The South African then added another assist to his account in the 51st minute, supplying Kristján Guðjónsson with an inch-perfect cross after recovering possession near the byline. Finally in the 85th minute a through ball from Guðjónsson was finished off by a calm and precise strike by Sanjin Batelic. Good performance, good result.

Four days later we were presented with a task of beating Sindri, a typical mid-table side, always capable of causing an upset. Not this time though, and we made that clear almost straight from the beginning - in the 6th minute Mabalane played a seemingly poor cross towards the far post, but no one actually managed to get in its way before Guðjónsson smashed it into the back of the net from point blank range. One thing's for sure, if my defenders made such a mistake, I would be fuming. This early goal put us in control, but we had to be wary of the visitors' quick breaks and counter attacks. Luckily these attempts got silenced in the 62nd minute. William Edman put in a cross - this time it was sheer class - and Batelic scored in the second game in a row, getting it in off the crossbar with a powerful half-volley. We kept it right at ÍBV's heels then.

Everything stopped after three days though, as the Njarðvík game turned out to be the one to decide the fate of the title. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. We absolutely blew it, and we did so in a really stupid way. It all started so well for us - in the 13th minute Kristján Atli Brynjólfsson put us in front, Indriði Ríkharðsson with a wonderful assist from the right wing. We had more than one chance to double our lead and calm things down, but instead we allowed the visitors to surprise us by a quickly taken free kick, which resulted in an equaliser from Símon Ingólfsson in the 61st minute. Still, it was more than enough time to get back in the driving seat and make things right before the final whistle. And yet we couldn't. Even bringing Steve Rotmeyer on from the bench, marking his quicker-than-expected return from injury, didn't help us. ÍBV won their game, and officially started celebrating.

The Fram game meant very little. We weren't going to catch ÍBV, and Keflavík would need a massive goal difference swing to overtake us should we lose. Still, I sent my strongest team out, hoping to grab three points and bow out in style. That didn't quite go to plan, but it certainly wasn't a boring game, especially in the first 45 minutes, where all the fun stuff happened. To be honest, I celebrated a bit excessively in the 24th minute when a goal from Rotmeyer put us in front. This guy is coming back, and next season he'll be even stronger, I'm telling you. Even an immediate equaliser from Viktor Smári Pétursson didn't cause me to lose my good mood. Then in the 35th minute Mabalane made it 2:1, taking advantage of a poor clearance attempt following Styrmir Theódórsson's cross. We managed to let that slip once again before half time though, Páll Arnarsson the happy scorer in the 43rd minute. A draw it was then. Not that I was particularly fussed about that.