FM16: The Frozen Throne

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - January 2055 - Aston Villa

Championship

Defensive perfection.

There are certain costs to such runs though, one of them being uncertainty in those games where things just can't seem to go your way while attacking. Barnsley were the perfect example of that. We didn't really dominate the game, but we managed to keep them at bay and hold firm at the back, denying any attempts they could muster. At the same time, we struggled to break through their well-organised ranks. Our attacking quality finally came into use in the 67th minute though - a nice pass from Mihael Krznar was finished off with a very classy strike from Scott Maguire. Everything went well in the end, and that's everything that matters.

Coventry were the first team to beat us this season after a really poor performance at home, but this time we simply went to their ground and did what we do best. 62% possession and preventing them from having a shot on target - that's how we do it this season. In such a dominant performance, scoring was simply a matter of time. In the 31st minute a beautiful cross from Eric Auger was even more beautifully headed home by Raúl Santamaría. There are ordinary headers, and there are such works of art as this one. And then in the 85th minute we stripped the hosts of the remainings of hope - a through ball from Krznar was nicely slotted in the net by Ales Rada. We went home with a very good result under our belt.

The Hull game may have finished goalless, but in fact it was by far the most interesting one this month. Neither team could really complain about losing, as it was a two-way battle with wonderful opportunities on both ends of the pitch. Josh Dixon did a great job between the sticks for us, denying three clear cut chances in quite a classy fashion. On the other hand, our frontline players should have done much better in front of the hosts' goal. In all honesty, the draw is probably the best result after such a tight affair.

And, finally, Brighton. You know how much I hate playing such lowly sides, and I do so for a reason. All they had to show was a single shot throughout the whole game, but it was a great chance and Dixon did very well to stop it. At the same time, we kept aiming our shots at the poor fellows sitting behind the visitors' goal. A red card for Liam Weston reduced them to 10 men in the 50th minute, but that didn't change much. Luckily, this time we had a set piece to help - nine minutes later a corner delivered by Rada was tapped into the net by Julien Robin left completely unmarked at the near post. I wish we had scored five, but I'll settle for that one.

FA Cup

Ouch.

We came to Anfield full of hope. We wanted to play our usual game of sitting deep and counter attacking when the opportunity comes up. Even better, we managed to dominate possession and allow relatively few chances. It was of no use though - Liverpool literally took every chance they created. Henk Verhagen opened the scoreline in the 31st minute, heading the ball into the net after a deep free kick. In the 50th minute the hosts' legendary striker Robert Glavin doubled their lead with a gorgeous volley that just screamed pure class, the level of class we simply never come up against in the Championship. Towards the end of the game a quickfire double from Isaac Platt and Rian Cummins sealed our fate. It was definitely not a kind draw for us.

[Jason the Yank]

Think you'll be going up as champions, but looks like you'll need to strengthen in the close season.

[Rikulec]

9 hours ago, Jason the Yank said:

Think you'll be going up as champions, but looks like you'll need to strengthen in the close season.

With the current squad and league position, I think not winning the league would be regarded as a huge failure. Obviously the side will need to strengthen in the Premier League, but these may not be my worries anymore...

[Adonalsium]

Swansea made the wise choice, I see!

[Rikulec]

I wish I could delay that until the end of the season to finish my job at Villa, but since it was too early for that...



Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - New Club - Swansea City

So, I'm off to Wales for another chapter of the adventure.

Club Name: Swansea City
Nickname: The Swans
Year Founded: 1912
Status: Professional
Stadium: Liberty Stadium (31,125 all-seater)



Not a huge trophy cabinet... yet.



It seems I've inherited an ageing squad, with old players on massive contracts (many of which are running out at the end of the season), a big outstanding loan and the possibility of huge financial problems further down the line. And you know how much I love rebuilding. I can't wait for summer.

[Rikulec]

1 hour ago, Adonalsium said:

Swansea made the wise choice, I see!

So did I, hopefully!

[Adonalsium]

I know that problem. What I always do is I try to sell those guys for pennies and then replace them with... less expensive old guys.

[Rikulec]

2 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

I know that problem. What I always do is I try to sell those guys for pennies and then replace them with... less expensive old guys.

I'm actually quite excited for that rebuild job, because there should be no problem offloading the deadwood, and with Swansea's reputation and the funds available in the Premier League, I'll probably be able to build my strongest squad on FM16 so far.

[Adonalsium]

I know this really talented guy, a bit old but still seriously good, his name is Lionel Messi and you should sign him.

Oh wait, he's already retired. Nevermind.

I dunno, is Halilovic still playing? Maybe him.

[Rikulec]

1 minute ago, Adonalsium said:

I know this really talented guy, a bit old but still seriously good, his name is Lionel Messi and you should sign him.

Or maybe Januzaj / Halilovic? Both young talents who will eventually become very good or even star players for Premier League sides

I'll have a look, cheers.

[Adonalsium]

Those two might actually still be kicking around. Perhaps.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - January 2055 - Swansea City

Premier League

Well, that was quite interesting.

If I were to judge by the opening minutes, we should have breezed past Huddersfield. We grabbed the first goal under my helm in the 5th minute - a right-footed left midfielder Nenad Djeric played a powerful drilled cross into the area, and striker Kai Landgraf tapped it in from close range. In the 24th minute we sent the fans celebrating for the second time - right winger Xavier Sborgni delivered a wonderful floated ball to the head of left back Anderson Lozano on the far post, and the Portuguese applied a wonderful strike to finish it off. From then on, things suddenly went wrong. Just four minutes later a goalmouth scramble ended with Hamza Zalen getting one back for the visitors. After the break they brought on an experienced striker, Gary Ryan. And what a substitution it was - he put Huddersfield in front with two amazing solo goals in the 65th and 68th minute. Luckily, I had an eye for change as well - five minutes later a cross from Anderson Lozano was smashed home by a Belgian striker Adrien De Vos, who was also brought on from the bench. The Premier League could be quite a ride, from what I can see.

[Rikulec]

I like the fact that I'm actually going to be managing him next season after all.

A nice bow-out.

[Adonalsium]

Let's hope Villa doesn't win. Because then it's going to be Rochdale all over again.

[Rikulec]

3 hours ago, Adonalsium said:

Let's hope Villa doesn't win. Because then it's going to be Rochdale all over again.

As I've already said, it would take a spectacular failure not to win the league with Villa right now. I wouldn't mind both them and Rochdale joining me in the Prem really.

[Adonalsium]

Well, it's just a hope. Since I remember how you struggled to take away the 3 points from Rochdale.

[Rikulec]

2 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

Well, it's just a hope. Since I remember how you struggled to take away the 3 points from Rochdale.

It was because I still support them.

[Rikulec]

Let's hope it goes well.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - February 2055 - Swansea City

Premier League

Not quite what I'm used to.

The Watford game simply never looked like it would go our way. Unlike our previous match, this time we got off to a poor start and failed to properly find our feet. The hosts had their first great chance to get in front in the 20th minute, but Andrea Farris managed to stop Aaron Mackin's penalty. In the 41st minute they got what they wanted though - a through ball allowed Nicholas Darby to beat our Italian goalkeeper with a first time effort. After that we were still on the back foot, but Watford let their concentration go for a moment, and we took full advantage - a header from Kai Landgraf was saved, but Adrien De Vos's rebound fell out of the keeper's reach and into the net. I'm happy to have come out of that with a draw.

We couldn't possibly prepare for what Sunderland had to show us. We found ourselves 3:0 down after less than thirty minutes, and deservedly so. Araújo opened the scoreline in the 6th minute with a good finish to a sensational through pass, fifteen minutes later Alan Marangon scored after another wonderful assist, and shortly after Araújo doubled his goal tally, our defenders and goalkeeper pretty much serving him with their terrible positioning and no cooperation whatsoever. I thought we were in for a proper chasing, but in the 34th minute Landgraf restored some hope, finding the net after a good square ball from Xavier Sborgni. Then in the 56th minute the German supplied Dean Graham with an assist to his powerful strike into the roof of the net, and suddenly it was game on. And we did bloody have our chances, but simply couldn't take them. Shame really, that could have been an incredible turnaround.

Gylfi's 300th game in management went well in the end despite nothing really going our way for almost 90 minutes. Almost being the key word here. All in all, Reading were the better team, and for large portions of the match we looked clueless about how to play football, stupidly giving the ball away on many occasions. But this time, there was no justice - in the 89th minute we simply punted the ball into their area, causing chaos and eventually allowing Landgraf to steal three points for us with a close range shot. That wasn't the most glorious way to get the first win in a new club, but I don't care.

And finally, Manchester City. I wonder whether someone has already guessed who was the lucky guy to score twice and send us home with nothing. This surely can't be too difficult. We tried to sit deep and hit them on the break, but we only could get the first part of the plan going, and obviously it had flaws. They were exposed for the first time in the 44th minute - a cross from the corner of the box was finished off by Val attacking the far post. In the second half we had a brief period of advantage, but then the 74th minute came, and the Brazilian, formerly of Hobro IK, made it 2:0 with a simple tap-in after a poorly aimed sliding tackle from one of our defenders that served to assist him. One day we'll stop this guy, I swear!

[Adonalsium]

Just get your guys to tackle that guy hard, close him down and tightly mark him at the same time. In addition to that, Adonalsium Inc. is developing a new, revolutionary strategy to silencing the man, the myth, the eternal pain in Swansea's butt known as Val...

First off, we suggest going for a defensive midfielder. It'll make this a whole lot easier. Second, go to your player instructions and tell your striker - yes, your striker, the one better at marking - to man mark the Brazilian. Then tell your anchor man to sit tight just there while telling your central mid to also mark Val.

Then set both of your CDs to tackling him as hard as they can.

Our marketing team playfully calls it the "Mark or Die" system.

[nie jem frytek]

Is Gylfi Sigurdsson a legend at Swansea by any chance?

[thehazeofspades]

2 hours ago, nie jem frytek said:

Is Gylfi Sigurdsson a legend at Swansea by any chance?

I was thinking of the exact same thing due to the Icelandic connection 

[Rikulec]

7 hours ago, Adonalsium said:

Just get your guys to tackle that guy hard, close him down and tightly mark him at the same time. In addition to that, Adonalsium Inc. is developing a new, revolutionary strategy to silencing the man, the myth, the eternal pain in Swansea's butt known as Val...

First off, we suggest going for a defensive midfielder. It'll make this a whole lot easier. Second, go to your player instructions and tell your striker - yes, your striker, the one better at marking - to man mark the Brazilian. Then tell your anchor man to sit tight just there while telling your central mid to also mark Val.

Then set both of your CDs to tackling him as hard as they can.

Our marketing team playfully calls it the "Mark or Die" system.

I'll think about that next time we play them!

4 hours ago, nie jem frytek said:

Is Gylfi Sigurdsson a legend at Swansea by any chance?

 

1 hour ago, thehazeofspades said:

I was thinking of the exact same thing due to the Icelandic connection 

Not even favoured personnel.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - March 2055 - Swansea City

Premier League

We're getting better.

Once again we've blessed the fans with a proper Premier League thriller. We got off to an unexpectedly good start against Arsenal - in the 4th (yup) minute a conscious square ball from Kai Landgraf was hammered into the net by Dean Graham. Our celebrations didn't last long - four (yup) minutes later Olexiy Lysov equalised after finding himself on the end of a fantastic pass from the left wing. We didn't wait long to get back in front though - in the 14th minute Graham scored again, this time from Xavier Sborgni's cross. Twenty minutes later our French winger picked up his second assist, only this time it was Arsenal's defender Mario Bravo who beat his own goalkeeper trying to clear a cross away. The second half was pretty much a constant stream of the hosts' attacks. When they made it 2:3 through Romain Noël in the 81st minute, I was truly afraid. But we held on, and it was a wonderful victory for us.

Despite a media prediction of 4th, Chelsea are having an absolutely dreadful season, and relegation really does look like an option for them. We decided not to help them in their struggle, but that decision took some time to be made. Meanwhile, the visitors caught us on the break and got in front in the 4th minute, Pavel Jurcik the scorer. Then it was Björn Koopmann's turn to perform some absolute miracles between the sticks for them. I lost count of how many times I held my head in disbelief. After a massive struggle we finally broke through in the 43rd minute, Graham on the end of Damian Lenkiewicz's cross. The England international only needed two more minutes to double his goal tally and put us in front right before the break - this time he applied an incredibly classy finish to Landgraf's through ball. Finally in the 63rd minute Paul Saunders received the ball 25 yards out, and without hesitation he sent it hurling towards the top corner with a powerful strike. We finished the game with 29 shots, 17 of them on target. Domination, is that the word?

The West Ham game was just all too similar to the Sunderland one. We kept playing football and they kept scoring goals in the first half. Modou Cisse was the first one to find the net - he did so in the 13th minute with a nice header to a cross from the right wing. Then in the 36th minute Nahuel Cristante converted a penalty given away by Sborgni, and seven minutes later Martin Danielsson made it 3:0, taking full advantage of erratic positioning by Andrea Farris on his line. The only thing that changed in the second half was that they finally stopped coming near our penalty area, and we could focus on trying to pull off the improbable. All we could muster was Graham's goal in the 61st minute though - the striker was assisted by a clever through pass from Nenad Djeric. Frustrating, with better defending we really could have won that.

Youth Intake

Alright, I've seen worse.

Dale Bowen

Alan Brown

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - April 2055 - Swansea City

Premier League

I can't wait to get a proper defensive block here.

We had one of our off days against a relegation-battling Portsmouth side, and it cost us big time. To everyone's surprise, they were all over us right from the start, and finally in the 31st minute they broke through when a wonderful long range strike from Mobido Yattara found its way in. They got their second eight minutes later - Andrea Farris came out of his line to intercept a deep free kick, but Pablo Gamarra changed the direction the ball was going with an edge-of-the-box header, and to my disbelief it found its way in. If that wasn't enough of subpar goalkeeping, in the 61st minute a very stoppable effort by Bruno Faustino was also let in to put us 3:0 down at home with half an hour to go. All we could reply with came in the 81st minute - Garry Moncur was sent off for a foul on Richard Edwards just about to take a shot, and Dean Graham converted the penalty that was given. That was it. Nowhere near good enough.

Next up, a battle of two mid-table sides. West Brom certainly were within our reach, but they did give us a damn good run for our money. They were the first team to score, and they did so against the run of play - we were the better team in the opening minutes, but a corner finished off by Samir Trabelsi's header put the hosts in front in the 21st minute. And that's what it stood at at half time. After the break everything turned around - it was West Brom who had more of the ball and seemed more likely to extend their lead, but that didn't happen. Instead, in the 50th minute a beautiful cross from Richard Edwards allowed Morgan to net the equaliser. Bringing Edwards on at half time was simply a great move - in the 75th minute the hard-working Englishman scored the winning goal, applying the finish to Morgan's square ball. Nice.

And Morgan was just getting started. The guy's on fire, and Southampton are probably wishing they hadn't been curious to check whether it's true. The striker began his show in the 36th minute, heading the ball home after a cleverly taken free kick from Xavier Sborgni. With seconds to go before half time, he doubled his goal tally, tapping the ball into an empty net after a good square pass from Kai Landgraf. And finally in the 49th minute our strike partnership produced a similar move to allow the Englishman to become the first hat-trick hero for Swansea under my helm. Keith Ginnelly's consolation goal in the 90th minute meant very little. We deserved to win.

A lot of bad things can be said about how we play, but we're certainly not boring. Brentford are a team I would have blindly taken a point from before the game had started. Afterwards... well, not necessarily. The very beginning wasn't very promising for us, as Juddy Saka put the hosts in front with a simple tap-in in the 6th minute. But then we replied straight away, Sborgni applying the finish to Landgraf's perfectly timed through ball, and it was game on. Fifteen minutes later Landgraf gave us the lead himself, Graham with the assist. And, of course, our main man had to score as well - he did so in the 67th minute to make it 3:1, volleying the ball home after a nice delivery from Edwards on the right wing. But Brentford are no pushovers, and they roared back - in the 78th minute Saka doubled his goal tally to get them back in play, and in the 92nd minute Philipp Kalinowski broke our hearts, beating Farris in a one-on-one situation. Still, it was a damn good showing from both teams. We did well.

[Rikulec]

That means 11 goals in his last 7 games. Mental.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - May 2055 - Swansea City

Premier League

The assessment period has officially ended. Now it's time to act.

Bearing in mind the beating I received from Liverpool in the FA Cup, I decided not to change anything tactics-wise and just play our usual game against them and see what happens. I have to say I'm quite happy with what unfolded. We were a tough match for them, but they caught that one glimpse of luck in the 34th minute when a deflection set up Victor Waldenström for a goalscoring chance he simply couldn't waste. The visitors threw that lead away though, and they did it almost literally - in the 58th minute their goalkeeper Morgan Gillet caught the ball after a drilled cross from the right wing... and carried it over the line. And that, kids, is how we took two points from usual title contenders.

The less said about the Bournemouth game, the better. The good thing is that this result helped send Chelsea down to the Championship, which is nice. The bad thing? Everything else regarding our performance. We were toothless up front and vulnerable at the back. The visitors broke the deadlock in the 55th minute, Carlo van Vilsteren taking advantage of a horrendous misunderstanding in our defensive ranks following a free kick from the right wing. We tried to go all out attack in the dying minutes in the pursuit of the equaliser, but instead Bournemouth hit us once again in the 88th minute, Luke Chettle with a close range rebound.

Beating Man Utd at Old Trafford was always going to be a tough ask, and we're just not there yet in terms of sheer quality. The hosts got in front in the 31st minute, Kamiel Mariën calmly bringing the ball down after a free kick cross and beating Andrea Farris in a one-on-one. Then in the 59th minute a backpass attempt by Petr Lastuvka was anticipated and intercepted by Alin Ionescu, who doubled their lead. Our response came through the always dependable Dean Graham in the 66th minute - Xavier Sborgni with the assist from the right wing - but just thirty seconds later Ionescu settled the final scoreline after a classy finish to a magnificent solo run. We really do need better defenders.

And finally, Tottenham. A team that had had a rather underwhelming season, and a team I was silently hoping to beat to end our campaign on a high note. We did so by the slightest of margins, but the scoreline flattes the opposition immensely - our domination was undisputed, we didn't even allow a shot on target from them. At the same time though we were horribly wasteful in front of their goal, and I was even coming to terms with the prospect of a disappointing 0:0. But it wasn't to be - in the 67th minute Graham got his 20th league goal of the season, applying the finish to Richard Edwards' cross. At the same time, Chelsea suffered a humiliating 1:5 loss to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Good riddance.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - Season Review - 2054/55 - Swansea City

Premier League

Results (Aug-Dec) - Results (Jan-May) (red line marks my arrival)

Competition Performance: 11th

I took over when the side were sitting in 12th, and by a classic mid-table win some, draw some, lose some I brought them one place higher. There's not much to talk about really, it was always going to be a transition period.

FA Cup

Competition Performance: Third Round

I had no role in this...

Capital One Cup

Competition Performance: Second Round

...or this.

Squad

We're sorted up front, in the centre of midfield, and in goal. We need to strengthen everywhere else.

Transfers (red line marks my arrival) - Finances

I didn't have much time to leave my mark on transfers, the only move worth any attention being offloading a rather non-promising 18-year-old to Arsenal for a whooping £12,5M. Things are going to change soon though.

The finances look rather worrying, but don't worry, I have a plan for sorting them out. That wage bill is going to get slashed over the summer.

Player of the Season

1st - Dean Graham - because who else? He hit an incredibly rich vein of form soon after my arrival, bagging goals all the way. He stopped at 20 in the league, but if he carries on with his performances next season, I can see him competing for the Golden Boot.

2nd - David Bruneau - the French midfielder may be on the wrong side of thirty, but he still has some wonderful physical attributes, and his contribution to our play is simply priceless. What a fantastic player to have.

3rd - Kai Landgraf - similarly to Graham, he only started playing well after I came to the club, but once he did, he contributed to a large number of goals scored by his strike partner. I have very high hopes for that duo.

Next Season

A lot depends on the budgets. I have hopes for a European place.

[Rikulec]

...woah.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2055/56 - Swansea City

Board Expectations:

Premier League: Top half finish
FA Cup: Sixth Round
Capital One Cup: Quarter Final

My Expectations:

Premier League: Sneak into Europe.
FA Cup: Win it, if we can't gain European qualification through the league. Otherwise, not important.
Capital One Cup: Same as above.

Budgets:

Transfer: £0
Wage: £2,466,206 (currently spending £2,053,549)
Balance: £42,958,782

[Jason the Yank]

So what happened with Villa?

 

[Rikulec]

11 hours ago, Jason the Yank said:

So what happened with Villa?

 

They comfortably won the league, finishing on 103 points.

[Rikulec]

Good.

[Rikulec]

Gylfi Elvarsson's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2055/56 - Swansea City

Friendlies

Yup, we played some.

Transfers

Let's go ****ing mental! Oh, and we have another player on his way in, his work permit is pending at the moment.

Fresnel Diba - haven't I already managed this guy? Former Arsenal and Aston Villa keeper joins to replace Andrea Farris.

Cédric Giraud - a versatile player who's good already and has bags of potential, in my vision he's our new right back.

Mason Lillis - I couldn't pass up on an opportunity to bring a decent homegrown player in for free.

Gastón Biggeri - another lad who has already proven his worth. I have some high hopes for him.

İbrahim Çakır - just look at his physical attributes. He's exactly the centre back we needed.

Zeph Leader - he's homegrown, he has some decent stats, and he's our new backup left back.

Tristan Hof - one for the future, but if he looks like this at 17, I imagine he could turn into the next big thing.

Phil Williams - because Swansea just need to have a Welsh centre back named Williams. He's also a good young player, which is certainly an asset.

Alpasian Baron - what was this guy doing in Scotland in the first place? A great central midfielder with plenty of room for further development.

Wayne Swann - probably the least exciting of our transfers. Meet our new second-choice right back.

[oriole01]

RIP to this thread?