FM16: The Frozen Throne

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - April 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





A good month with one particularly pleasing result.

We received bad news just before the Molde match - Boris Novak picked up a slight injury in training that was going to force him out for the first two games of the season. Thus, Øystein Fossland received his chance between the sticks. He was only tested once though and dealt with the danger well - apart from that, the match was a show of pure domination from us and a true demonstration of strength. The scoring started in the 14th minute with Djibril Traoré rebounding his own shot from a tight angle. Our magical winger got his first assist of the season exactly half an hour later, finding James Keen making a great run on the far post. In the 68th minute the Englishman played a wonderful one-two with Martin Aouragh, finally setting up the Norwegian for a free header which he didn't waste. Our final goal came six minutes later. Aouragh's shot was brilliantly saved by the Molde goalkeeper, but then it was rebounded by Traoré to double his goal tally of the day. We really couldn't have asked for a better start.

We really enjoyed ourselved against Haugesund last season, putting nine goals past them and conceding only once in two games. And this match was barely different. In the 15th minute our new striker Admir Civic got his first ever goal for the club, rebounding Traoré's shot from close range. We doubled our lead just two minutes after that, Traoré with his classic cross from the right and Stefan Radakovic with an easy finish from the edge of the six yard box. In the 27th minute the Malian put it yet another wonderful ball from the right, it found Radakovic's head, the Serbian's shot hit Haugesund defender Morten Monsen on its way before going into the net off the post, eventually counting as an own goal. We eased off a little after this one, but that didn't help the visitors much as they didn't manage a single shot on target and had a player sent off fifteen minutes before the final whistle. Easy.

And then we slipped up. Start have just won promotion from the OBOS-ligaen, so I expected a rather comfortable performance from us. Yes, I might have underestimated the opponent. There were no signs of trouble in the first half as we were in control, playing well and creating chances, only lacking the final touch. All bad things started to happen after the break - suddenly it was Start who started to look like the better team. To make it worse, Lassina Diallo decided he wasn't going to help the team and picked up a quickfire double of yellow cards in the 62nd and 64th minute. After we got reduced to ten men the match became painfully boring and the only goal came from a set piece. In the 80th minute Boris Novak collected the ball after a corner, but let it slip out of his hands and allowed Anders Ottesen to bang it in. We simply had no resources to respond to this. An awful way to drop points at home.

Next up we travelled to Stabæk for a repeat of last season's Cupen semi final. And the game couldn't have started better for us - in the 4th minute a wonderful cross from the left by Stefan Radakovic was met by a clinical finish from Admir Civic. We didn't follow up on that though and played gradually worse and worse right up until the half time whistle, at which point we found ourselves trailing. First Iván García took advantage of poor positioning by Novak and beat him at the near post in the 40th minute and just before the break John Lund put the hosts in front with a wonderfully placed effort from 20 yards out. The second half was no better from us - we kept misplacing passes, mistiming headers, generally looking extremely nervous and/or complacent. We did manage that one lucky break though - in the 89th minute Civic went on an individual run on the right wing before putting the ball into the box for Martin Aouragh to bring things back level.

And finally the most interesting clash of the month. We certainly have a lot to talk about with Strømsgodset after the last season's championship battle. And this time it was us who had the first say - just two minutes in a free kick from Traoré landed at the feet of Erik Dvergsdal who calmly slotted the ball home from point blank range. That wasn't the end of our lethal set piece taking either - in the 44th minute another free kick cross from the usual suspect caused lots of chaos in the hosts' penalty area and finally Elvin Karic banged it in with barely any obstruction. We dealt them the final blow nine minutes after the break - Traoré with a luckily deflected cross from the right and Martin Aouragh with the goal. Strømsgodset were stunned by our offensive actions and could barely respond, leaving us with a fantastic result that could prove to be very important come November.

Cupen



And we ease past a 2. Divisjon side in the First Round.

As I usually do in the early stages of the competition, I fielded a second string team to see how they perform and to give them at least some match sharpness. You may remember our last season's meeting with Fram Larvik that turned out surprisingly problematic for us, but this time it was smooth sailing. Magnus Skjelseth opened the scoreline in the 18th minute with a well aimed tight angle finish. Then in the 50th minute the Norwegian right winger provided an assist for Martin Aouragh's goal. And finally with just a couple of minutes to go Skjelseth got his second goal of the game, Kenneth Wolan with a wonderful Iniesta-esque assist. I wish we could play against sides like this more often, perhaps in the league!

In the Second Round we'll travel to a non-league side Lysekloster.

[Rikulec]

And we got a couple of awards as well.

[Rikulec]

For some reason I seem to have a good reputation in the Netherlands. I'm not going there anytime soon though.

[dllu]

Like you said: Great start to the season, especially beating the defending champions so resoundingly at their home turf!

[Rikulec]

Like you said: Great start to the season, especially beating the defending champions so resoundingly at their home turf!

Thanks, it was a pleasure to see them running around like headless chickens.

[Bitner]

Nice run at the start fo the season, hope you can turn it into a title winning run!

Cheers,

Bitner

[Rikulec]

Nice run at the start fo the season, hope you can turn it into a title winning run!

Cheers,

Bitner

Cheers mate, I certainly hope so as well!

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - May 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





Still early days, but it looks like the league could be a two horse race again.

We got off to a flyer against Sandefjord, making it a very comfortable game against them for us for the first time in a while. In the 6th minute a nice passing move on the right set up Djibril Traoré who played a square ball across the six yard box straight to the feet of James Keen, presenting the Englishman with an easy finish. And eleven minutes later we got through on the right wing once again, this time it was Admir Civic who put the ball in, aiming for the edge of the penalty area and a late run by Koffi Konan who received a perfect cross and finished it with a gorgeous volley right into the bottom corner. Having got into such a comfortable position early on, we eased off a little bit and went into control-pass-it-around mode, calmly cruising until the final whistle.

The Sandnes Ulf result doesn't do us justice - we should have wiped the floor with the newly promoted side. The first half was a horrible showing by our strikers though, particularly Stefan Radakovic had massive trouble getting the ball past their goalkeeper Martin Holmedal even from the simplest positions. Admittedly though, the guy between the sticks was playing a blinder. He did let one in though - in the 48th minute a wonderful long through ball from Civic reached Radakovic, the Serbian was under two defenders' pressure, but with some lucky help from one of them's tackle managed to round the goalkeeper and put the ball into an empty net. Sandnes Ulf didn't really cause any danger in front of our goal, which is proven by the fact that they only had one shot in the whole match.

The Viking game was going to be tough, or at least so I thought - at that time they were sitting in 2nd, just two points behind us. We got off to a strong start once again though - in the 17th minute Civic lost his marker on the right wing and put in a drilled cross which was met by a calm finish from Martin Aouragh on the far post. The Norwegian striker doubled his - and ours - goal tally exactly seventeen minutes later, rebounding Koffi Konan's effort. It wasn't like we smashed Viking though - they were almost as dangerous as we were, but a good performance by our back line and Boris Novak in goal ensured that their attacking moves would be dealt with. The second half was more of the same, with us attempting to control the game and the hosts creating the odd chance from time to time. Finally in the 74th minute we killed the game off - following a throw-in near their area Kenneth Wolan received a through ball from Civic and finished it like a natural born striker, calmly slotting the ball in the bottom corner. By that result we did a slight favor to Strømsgodset, allowing the champions to overtake Viking in the table.

Aalesund, bloody hell. You may remember our last season's struggles against this particular lot. With the form we've been on prior to that game, I thought we'd finally set the records straight. It wasn't to be though. The first half included an absolute point blank range sitter somehow wasted by Civic and a last-ditch goal line clearance by one of the Aalesund defenders. After the break we were denied a fully justified penalty claim and also had Anders Nikkinen - making his return from a knee ligaments injury - smash the crossbar in a good position. The only danger from the away team was Eero Kujala's individual runs on the right wing. And that's exactly how they hit us. The Finnish winger broke away once again exactly in the 90th minute, but this time he put in a perfectly aimed cross that was put away by Choi Myung-Jin. I'm absolutely gutted to lose to them... again.

Our chance to bounce back didn't seem particularly easy - Sogndal can be a very tough opponent. This time we got lucky though. As soon as four minutes in Stefan Radakovic was presented with a great chance, his powerful close range effort hit the goalkeeper, but then the ball bounced off the visitors' defender Peter Eklund and was sent rolling towards the goal again, eventually crossing the line. The first proper goal we scored came in the 18th minute. Traoré played a through ball past a defender towards Admir Civic who took a very calm and precise shot from a rather tight angle, leaving their goalkeeper sitting helplessly on his arse. That seemed to wake Sogndal up a little bit, but we simply weren't going to let a two goal lead slip. Boris Novak finally looked very confident in goal, catching every ball he should be catching. The execution came in the 77th minute. Having come off the bench not long before, Magnus Skjelseth received a good pass on the right side of the box, cut inside and smashed the ball into the back of the net. What a way to show that the Aalesund result was just a one off.

Or was it? Well, you could say we simply had terrible luck when Vålerenga came to our place for the final game of the month. That terrible luck was personified by Arnaud Dosso, the visitors' goalkeeper. The guy was simply flying on his line, stopping the unstoppable. We only managed to beat him once and that happened in the 36th minute. Lassina Diallo played a marvellous over the top through ball towards Aouragh, the initial effort was denied by the crossbar, but the rebound was flawless. We had a few opportunities to extend the lead, but there was no getting past that Dosso guy. And we fell victims to our poor finishing. In the 49th minute a long ball reached José Fernandes in the box, the Portuguese was assisted by two defenders, but somehow managed to get a shot past them and past Boris Novak. To make things worse, Vålerenga completely cut us off after that, making the winning goal pursuit next to impossible. Luckily Strømsgodset dropped points as well and didn't overtake us in the table.

Cupen



Easy enough.

The cup trip to Lysekloster was exactly the day when Martin Aouragh earned his chance in the league. The unlikely hero had a hat-trick to his name after just 24 minutes of play. First he rebounded a shot by Stefan Radakovic that got deflected by the hosts' goalkeeper. Then he doubled our lead with a wonderful left footed strike from the edge of the penalty area, Radakovic with the assist. And finally he put the ball into an empty net after a fantastic cross from the right by Dji... no, Magnus Skjelseth. We made it 4:0 in the 59th minute - Aouragh played a square ball from the left wing and Admir Civic slide-tackled it in. No assist awarded, which is a bit of a pity. Lysekloster responded immediately with a consolation goal by Brage Skage. That seemed to have driven Civic mad and in the 72nd minute the Bosnian striker got his second goal of the game, Dan Smidt with the assist. The final goal was scored by Magnus Skjelseth in the 82nd minute. Safe to say our cup campaign has started quite well.

In the Third Round we're facing a tricky tie away at Sogndal.

[Rikulec]

That will certainly help the club in the long run.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - June 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





We didn't win. Strømsgodset did.

We entered the match already knowing that our main rivals had beaten Aalesund and moved above us in the table. A good start was a must. And we made a complete mess out of it, conceding in the 17th minute. Chaos erupted in our penalty area following a run by the Fredrikstad winger, the ball eventually landed at the feet of Fredrik Andersen unmarked just inside the box and the striker put them in front with a precise shot. Luckily we only took seven minutes to equalise. An overhit cross by Kenneth Wolan bounced off the post and Martin Aouragh knocked it past the helpless goalkeeper. The striker is definitely on fire - he got his second goal just before the break. A wonderful passing move created acres of space for Michael Viscosi on the right wing. The Canadian put a cross in, aiming for the far post and Aouragh was there to finish the move with a nice header. The second half didn't contain too much of beautiful football, both teams were rather scruffy in their attacking moves. But we did bloody go and concede again. In the 80th minute no one picked up Fredrik Andersen in the box following a deep free kick, the Fredrikstad striker headed the ball down, effectively rounding Novak and finally put it into an empty net. What a dumb way to give away a lead and the top spot in the table.

Cupen



We really shouldn't have let them take it into extra time.

Six clear cut chances. Seven half chances. And countless spectacular close range misses from Admir Civic and especially Stefan Radakovic. That would be the brief summary of our performance at Sogndal. After a few situations I literally sat back and held my head in disbelief. I've seen many cases of horrendous finishing on this game, but this one was truly something else. The match officials really should have considered evacuating the stand behind the hosts' goal for the fans' safety, some of the balls really could have hurt the unlucky ones who'd get hit. We did finally score in the 71st minute though. Michael Viscosi put in such a wonderful cross that not even Radakovic could have messed it up. But what happened next? Of course we went on to concede from the first proper attacking move by Sogndal, Sebastian Alsaker putting his name on the scoresheet in the 86th minute. Extra time then. Interestingly enough, we only needed one shot to go up again - in the 94th minute a good through ball by Radakovic was perfectly finished by Civic. The hosts didn't look like they were going to pursue the equaliser too hard, I guess they were simply too tired for that. The 116th minute brought an end to any doubt - a wonderful pass by Nemanja Vukobratovic was converted into a goal by a clinical finish from Radakovic... God, how weird it sounds. Luckily this was our last game before the break, so the low fitness levels weren't going to affect us in the longer run.

The Fourth Round isn't going to be easy either as we travel to Rosenborg.

[Rikulec]

I should have mentioned that we've cut our ties with Norwich a couple of months ago. Well, we haven't been without a parent club for too long.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - July 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





I feel all we need now is a bit of consistency.

After a long break we hosted a decent Lillestrøm side. Our start was fairly decent and we created a couple of chances, but we lacked the final product. Unfortunately in the 22nd minute our central defender Daniel Balaz decided to sabotage the operation by picking up his second yellow card. Down to ten men, we had to tighten up and restrict from going forward too adventurously. The first half was quite good on our part and we still were the better team, but the red card started to get to us after the break and Lillestrøm were starting to look more and more dangerous. Luckily we defended well and managed to hold onto the draw. In other news, Strømsgodset came back from being 0:2 down at home to Sogndal to rescue a point in stoppage time, which meant we didn't overtake them in the table.

As you're about to see, we had score to settle with Rosenborg. And as you've already seen, we did just that by absolutely hammering them. Those who came to the stadium slightly late must have been disappointed - in the 5th minute we were already 2:0 up. First Kenneth Wolan assisted Anders Nikkinen with a wonderful cross and then he doubled our lead himself after a nice square ball from Djibril Traoré... who once again stole the show. In the 20th minute a drilled cross by our winger was intercepted by Benjamin Zalo, but his clearance attempt ended up in the back of the net. Just after the break the Malian got a goal for himself, finding the tiniest bit of space in the box after a corner and beautifully placing the ball in the far bottom corner. Three minutes later it was 5:0 - Traoré's deep free kick cross was converted by Martin Aouragh. Rosenborg finally responded in the 68th minute, Jon Lundblad with the goal. The only thing it did was angering Traoré even more though - straight after the kick-off the winger took the ball all the way to the penalty area before finally getting brought down by a defender. Henrik Bjørdal stepped up to the spot and sent the ball home, giving Traoré his fourth and final assist of the day. I think you can easily guess who won the PotM award.

Cupen



Simply not good enough.

The early signs were good - the match looked quite even from the start, but it was us who saw more of the ball and generally looked slightly more dangerous. It found proof in the 24th minute - Kenneth Wolan put in a nice cross from the left wing and Stefan Radakovic sent the ball to the back of the net with a close range volley. A short period of our domination followed the goal, but time passed and Rosenborg were slowly recovering, up to a point where we were forced to defend deep inside our own area and struggled to put together a counter attacking move. Finally in the 76th minute Jon Lundblad released a ridiculously powerful strike from a ridiculously tight angle, completely shocking Novak, who let the ball in despite getting his hand to it. I knew we weren't going to find the extra time easy and, just as predicted, it was Rosenborg who pushed to settle the score before the shoot-out. And they did it - in the 96th minute a deep cross from the right found Lundblad completely unmarked on the far post. Easy chance, 2:1. It simply looked like we had no will to pursue the equaliser. We won't be retaining the cup this season then.

Europa League



We repeat our last season's feat and reach the Third Qualifying Round.

To start off, we got drawn against a Montenegrin side Mladost. An opponent we definitely should be beating, I'd say. 30 shots to their 5 in the first leg seem to prove that. The visitors' stronghold first fell in the 12th minute. Stefan Radakovic put in a cross from the byline and Traoré made it 1:0 with an easy shot. The following minutes brought a long-awaited awakening of Anders Nikkinen, whose season has been horribly hindered by injuries. In the 20th minute a through ball from Radakovic was converted with a precise left-footed effort from the Norwegian striker. Seven minutes later Nikkinen got his double, Wolan with the assist from the left wing. Unexpectedly, the visitors stung us in the 36th minute. They even put together a nice passing move before Nikola Pejcic found the net in a one-on-one situation. In terms of passing moves though, it was us who had the final say. And what a say it was - an amazing pass-and-move action ended up with James Keen laying the ball out to Nikkinen completely unmarked on the edge of the penalty area, presenting him with an empty net and the perfect opportunity to complete the hat-trick. We scored the final goal in the 69th minute, Traoré with his usual cross from the right and Martin Aouragh with the finish. Easy enough.

We might have entered the away leg a little bit complacent. Our game may not have been too bad, but the players certainly weren't fully concentrated. This resulted in Mladost catching us on the break in the 20th minute and again it was Nikola Pejcic who managed to beat Novak. The fans had to wait until the 42nd minute for our response - a cross from Lassina Diallo was luckily deflected, reaching Henrik Bjørdal, who squeezed the ball in from a tight angle, taking advantage of poor positioning from the hosts' goalkeeper. And in the 65th minute a quick counter attacking move ended with Radakovic putting in a square ball from the left and Nikkinen getting his fourth and final goal of the tie from point blank range. In the end we managed to scrape a win in Montenegro to make it 7:2 over two legs.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Westerlo. The only thing my research showed was that the Belgian league seemed to weaken over the years, and of course I had our friendly against Anderlecht in mind. I might have got a little bit complacent as well - I forgot to substitute a few reserve players I had fielded for the Mladost second leg. In the end though that didn't seem to be a problem. We opened the scoreline exactly 19 seconds into the game. Traoré received the ball in the corner of the penalty area, immediately played it through to Nikkinen who rounded the goalkeeper and put us in front. Westerlo seemed to be completely stunned by that and unable to put together any dangerous offensive move. Henrik Bjørdal extended our lead from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute and Traoré made it 3:0 just before the final whistle, James Keen with the assist after coming on from the bench. A very comfortable win at the end of the day.

After bringing home a 3:0 win from the first leg we simply didn't have to give it our best... and we didn't. And neither did Westerlo. There's not much to discuss, both teams seemed content enough with the goalless draw and neither of them seemed to push for a goal too hard. At the end of the day it was a dull game that gave us exactly what we wanted - a passage to the next round.

In the Third Qualifying Round we'll play a Czech side Slovan Liberec.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - August 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





Close to perfection.

We started our league campaign with a home clash against Molde. It also happened to fall between two games in Europe, so we weren't really fresh going into the match. And it turned out to be quite an even show with one particular figure standing out. That figure would be Boris Novak. The visitors only had four shots on target, but one of them was a point blank volley, two were one-on-ones and one was a quick rebound that gave the Slovakian a chance to perform a marvellous double save. To only give him a 6.9 rating was a criminal offence in my eyes. In terms of the goals that actually happened, we scored the only one of the game in the 23rd minute. A cross from Djibril Traoré first deflected off a defender's shins, then off the post and finally it found its way to Martin Aouragh, who was presented with an easy finish. With more than just a bit of luck, we managed to get three points out of a very tough game.

Next up, Start away. This was a whole different story - yet again we entered the match exhausted, but this time we actually were the better team, albeit we didn't really dominate. This might not have been a nice show for the fans who only saw four shots on target from both teams combined and just as many yellow cards for us. For the second time in a row Martin Aouragh became our hero - in the 59th minute a wonderful through ball by Admir Civic was met by a calm and precise near post effort from the Norwegian. We held onto the fully satisfying result with little trouble from the hosts.

Haugesund have been quite a comfortable opponent for us lately. In the middle of a fixture congestion you wouldn't really like to come up against your bogey teams, would you? Our performance confirmed that any rumours of crisis in the team were just that - rumours. Despite our domination we failed to break through the hosts' defence in the first half, going into the dressing room with no goals to our name. The scoreline finally opened in the 56th minute and it was Aouragh once again. An overhit cross from Traoré was headed back into the danger zone by a Haugesund defender while their goalkeeper was lying on his back at one of the posts, James Keen nodded it down for Aouragh and the striker slotted it into an empty net. Going one up didn't seem to satisfy the players and in the 87th minute Anders Nikkinen doubled our lead, rebounding his own shot after receiving a cross from Traoré. A nice and comfortably gained result for us.

Four days later we hosted a struggling Stabæk side. And they didn't really trouble us either. The only potential worry was the absence of Djibril Traoré, who got suspended for picking up his third yellow card of the season against Haugesund. Magnus Skjelseth stepped up to replace him and it was the Norwegian winger who won us a penalty in the 32nd minute, getting brought down from behind by the visitors' star defensive midfielder John Lund. Lassina Diallo took the spot kick and with some trouble managed to find the net, scoring his first ever goal for the club. In the second half Martin Aouragh provided the fans with a confirmation of his smashing form, placing a powerful shot just under the crossbar in the 56th minute after a nice pass from Nikkinen. At this point I realised how lucky we are with our fixture calendar and the fact that we don't really play any of the strong sides in August.

Just three days of rest preceeded our trip to Bærum. No wonder the players wanted to get the business done as quickly as possible to avoid too much fatigue. We only needed 19 seconds of play to get the lead, Stefan Radakovic with a good square ball and Admir Civic with one of the easiest goals of his career. We got the second goal in the 22nd minute and we got it in style. Lars Emil Strøm took a throw-in from the right, passing the ball to Bjørn Erik Blomseth standing unmarked a few yards away from the penalty area. The midfielder brought the ball down with his first touch and unleashed an absolutely unstoppable strike hurling towards the far post with the second. The keeper stood no chance at all. Ten minutes later we made it 3:0, Traoré played yet another of his famous crosses and James Keen was there at the far post to find the net. Bærum responded in the 38th minute with a Matti Gellert goal. Both teams eased off a bit after the break and despite a few opportunites we failed to extend our lead. Not that I'm particularly concerned by that.

Oh boy, how much I hate going to the rock bottom teams. I do so especially after last season's infamous final day. And Sandefjord didn't surprise me - they turned out to be an extremely tough opponent to break down and looked very dangerous with their counter attacks. The numbers of our shots that ended up blocked by their defenders was infuriating me. Finally when all our usual methods failed, we resorted to long shots. A single long shot, to be precise. And we were precise as hell - Henrik Bjørdal let out a perfect right-footed effort from 25 yards out, having cut inside from the wing. That wasn't enough to grab full points though. In the 82nd minute a defensive mistake left Nicolai Falch unmarked in our penalty area and the Danish striker slotted the ball home with a calm, well placed finish.

Europa League



We lost to a superior team, but we gave them quite a good fight.

We got off to a disastrous start in the home leg - inside the first two minutes the Slovan Liberec Polish striker Dariusz Fajfer hit the crossbar twice and after a goalmouth scramble following a corner Mikel Oiarzabal managed to squeeze the ball through our defence and into the net. The Czechs looked very good playing their possession game, so I decided to drop our usual offensive tactic and resort to counter attacks instead. Just before the break another set piece for the visitors - a free kick from the left - resulted in Oiarzabal doubling their lead with a well executed header. We fought back immediately though and Anders Nikkinen made it 1:2 seconds before the half time whistle, Martin Aouragh with the assist. Both teams had their chances after the break, but in the end it was the Czech side that left the pitch with a satisfying result.

And the return leg went wild very quickly. We demonstrated that we weren't going to back down despite losing at home by opening the scoreline in the 3rd minute of the game, Lassina Diallo with a fantastic cross from the left and Djibril Traoré with the finish on the far post. Slovan didn't lose their flow though and they absolutely bossed the possession stat, eventually stopping at 65% after 90 minutes of play. But, back to the chronological order. In the 28th minute they scored from yet another set piece, centre back Yven Verstraete with the goal. Our response was immediate though - after just four minutes we equalised the whole tie when Traoré's drilled cross from the right was met by a clinical finish from Martin Aouragh. Tomas Salak ensured there wouldn't be extra time in the 55th minute, making it 2:2 after - yup - a corner. Slovan clearly didn't want to lose control and they kept circulating the ball, at times almost pushing us against our own goal. Credit to their playmaker Michael Svoboda, we simply couldn't deal with the guy. Things could have panned out very differently though if Anders Nikkinen had scored from a wonderful opportunity to make it 3:2 for us. In the 80th minute a tight angle effort by Zdenek Sindelar exposed Novak's poor positioning and put the hosts in front. We fought back just two minutes later, Traoré put in his trademark cross and Admir Civic lost his marker on the far post to bring us back into the game once more. It didn't last long though - in the 85th minute Sindelar got his second and final goal of the game with another tight angle shot, this one being a simply ridiculous strike almost from the byline that somehow went in off the far post. No happy ending to this thriller then.

Transfers

Dominik Petranic - the Croatian right back comes in on loan from Dinamo to fill in the gap after we sold Michael Viscosi to Vancouver Whitecaps for £350K.

[Rikulec]

Let's hope we can build on that in the final third of the season!

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - September 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





Another unbeaten month with one absolutely massive result.

The Sandnes Ulf game had one particular highlight - the performance of Martin Aouragh. In the 3rd minute our striker put us in front, heading the ball home after a marvellous cross from the left by Henrik Bjørdal and just two minutes later the lucky scorer was stretchered off the pitch with a broken rib. Well, that could do wonders to his goals/minutes ratio. Those who expected us to hammer the opponents after such a start were disappointed - the final score really doesn't do the hosts justice, we were extremely lucky to hold onto the 1:0 for large portions of the game. Our luck was mostly down to their inability to hit the target from good positions. Finally in the 65th minute we hit them on the break to double our lead and create some comfort zone. Magnus Skjelseth played a square ball, Bjørdal let out a first time strike, the ball deflected off a defender, off the goalkeeper's hand and finally landed in the net. The third goal came in the 82nd minute - Koffi Konan had his shot from just outside the box saved, but Anders Nikkinen was ready to pounce on the rebound.

The high-flying Viking side was never going to be an easy opponent. And the fans who decided to attend the game were certainly pleased with the quality of the show. We didn't start the match very well though and in the 11th minute Lawrence Ngidi put the visitors in front after a series of defensive mistakes and misunderstandings on our part. A couple of tactical tweaks evened the game out shortly after and we finally started to look like title challengers on the pitch. In the 37th minute we got the well deserved equaliser - Anders Nikkinen broke free of his marker on the right wing and drilled a cross in for Admir Civic to smash it into the back of the net. The second half certainly wasn't boring for the neutrals, but neither of the teams managed to take their chance and grab another goal. Boris Novak should definitely be appreciated for his good performance between the sticks.

The long-awaited Strømsgodset game had to be rescheduled three times because of both sides' European voyages and then the international games. Were these cowards trying to run away from us? Possibly, but on September 19th we finally got them... and, as you can see, tore them a new one. The start was as disastrous as it gets though - in the 3rd minute a nice passing move set Eric Abdallah free on goal and the striker put the still-reigning champions in front. Luckily our response was immediate - almost straight after the kick-off Djibril Traoré went on an individual mazy run on the right which ended with a fantastic tight angle strike that went in off the crossbar at the near post. We got in front in the 13th minute - our Malian winger stepped up to a deep free kick and delivered a perfect ball that landed straight on the head of Anders Nikkinen, who had no trouble finding the net from close range. From then on it was full control for us. Strømsgodset simply didn't exist on the pitch while we wrought havoc. In the 35th minute Bjørn Erik Blomseth won us a penalty, Lassina Diallo stepped up to the spot and made it 3:1. The German was given a chance to double his goal tally shortly after the break as Elvin Karic's bravery won us another spot kick in the 56th minute. And he took his chance with a very confident strike down the left side. And it was Blomseth who gave us the final goal in the 64th minute after a very conscious through ball from Admir Civic. Was that game going to decide the title? Hopefully!

I'll take a risk and say one thing - if we managed to beat Aalesund, then no one is going to stop us this year. We finally broke the curse of our eternal bogey team. Knowing they were going to park the bus, I knew our usual offensive tactic would probably bounce off a thick wall. Having switched to a more possession-oriented one, maybe we didn't make the game a beautiful show, but we got exactly what we wanted. In the 21st minute a cross from Magnus Skjelseth - replacing Traoré, who got suspensed for yellow cards - found Admir Civic unmarked on the far post and the Bosnian had no trouble slotting it in. Aalesund did create the odd chance, but our defence and Novak in goal ensured nothing bad would happen to us. Another great result for us, especially combined with another Strømsgodset defeat.

To round the month off we faced another tough opponent, Vålerenga. And we got ourselves into huge trouble from the very beginning - in the first minute Kenneth Wolan attempted to clear away a deep free kick cross, but ended up lobbing Novak and putting the ball in the net. We seemed absolutely stunned by this and the hosts were trying to take advantage, but we somehow managed to keep the damages to a minimum. It wasn't a very good performance from us though - we had massive trouble creating chances and had many shots blocked by the Vålerenga defenders. In the final ten minutes I finally decided to go all out attacking and that approach paid off in the 89th minute. Kenneth Wolan redeemed himself with a wonderful cross and Admir Civic managed to squeeze a tight angle header between the near post and the goalkeeper. And thus, our league unbeaten run extends to 16 games.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - October 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





All we need is one more point.

Sogndal didn't come to our place to play football. No. They came to frustrate the hell out of us, which they managed to do. 90 minutes of defending with two lines almost inside the penalty area, 90 minutes of hoofing it away, 90 minutes of blocking anything we attempted to somehow squeeze through. The best chance probably fell to the feet of Anders Nikkinen near the end of the first half, but his point blank range strike was miraculously saved by the visitors' goalkeeper. We also pushed hard in the dying minutes of the game, but failed to convert any of the chances we managed to create after Sogndal finally opened up a little bit, most notably Martin Aouragh was sent one on one with the goalkeeper in stoppage time, but scruffed his shot straight at him. I'm really furious to drop points in such manner.

But then Fredrikstad came and did exactly the same with an even better result for them. I won't go into too much detail about the opportunities we wasted, but some of them were plain ridiculous, like Admir Civic blasting the ball into the sky from like five yards out or James Keen smashing a close range volley somewhere into the region of the corner flag. And the goal we conceded was just as idiotic as it gets. Fredrikstad launched one of their usual 2v6 counter attacks, a pass was intercepted and then played to Dominik Petranic, who probably attempted to play it back to one of the center backs, but ended up placing his pass right inbetween them for Issa Tébily to smash the ball home with a powerful strike that went in just under the crossbar. Horrendous performance from our team as a whole.

What a huge relief it was to play Bærum, a side that is naturally more open in their play than our previous opponents. And it showed - just four minutes in we finally got our first goal of the month. James Keen broke into the box with the ball on the left wing, reached the byline and played a cross towards the far post for Anders Nikkinen to head the ball home from three yards out. And that wasn't the Norwegian's last say, oh no. He was just getting started. 35th minute, a very similar cross, this time from Kenneth Wolan arrived into the box and Nikkinen made it 2:0 with an almost identical finish. After exactly an hour of football we made it 3:0 - Lassina Diallo aimed a corner at the near post, Elvin Karic nodded the ball on and Erik Dvergsdal smashed it into an empty net. And finally in the 81st minute Nikkinen completed his hat-trick after another great ball in from Wolan. What a result to bounce back from a worse patch of form.

[Rikulec]

Of course not.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - November 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen





Something terribly wrong has happened to our finishing. We're lucky that Strømsgodset didn't do much better.

We got off to the worst of possible starts at Lillestrøm - just two minutes in a case of sloppy defending left Andreas Helmersen completely unmarked a few yards away from goal. Even a fantastic save from Novak couldn't prevent us from conceding as the striker rebounded his own shot. For the first half hour or so we found ourselves on the back foot, but a couple of tactical tweaks later we finally regained some control over the events on the pitch. And then we went on to waste numerous goalscoring opportunities. No matter what we tried, there was simply no getting the ball past the Lillestrøm goalkeeper Jelani Budalic. In the end though it turned out Strømsgodset got beaten by Sogndal, effectively handing the title to us with a game to go.

We tried our best. A conscious switch to a possession tactic made us completely dominate Rosenborg. Chance after chance though we couldn't score. I'll just put it down on the lack of concentration that might have followed clinching the title the week before. And of course it couldn't have ended 0:0. In the 90th minute a weak cross somehow went through a strange gathering of defenders in the middle of the six yard box and reached Janjâo on the far post who had no trouble netting it from point blank range. In the end we matched our last season's points total, but this time it was enough to win the bloody championship.

[Rikulec]

"Always going to be capable of winning"? That's the first time the club has won it ffs.

[Rikulec]

And a few more well deserved awards.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Well done on the title Does look like you tried to throw it away in those last 5 games though Any major plans for transfers next season or just a few little things?

[Rikulec]

Well done on the title Does look like you tried to throw it away in those last 5 games though Any major plans for transfers next season or just a few little things?

Thanks. I think the pressure got to the players in the last part of the season, luckily we managed to hold onto the top spot. As for the next season's plans, now that I've finally won the title I'm going to leave Norway and find a club in Sweden, so I can't really say anything about transfers and other stuff if I don't even know who I'm going to be managing.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Review - 2029 - Odds Ballklubb

Tippeligaen

Results

Competition Performance: Winners

We got there at last. For the better part of the season we looked pretty much unstoppable, recording a few fantastic victories on our road, but then towards the end we went into complete meltdown and could have even given it away, luckily Strømsgodset weren't fully determined in their pursuit.

Norgesmesterkap Frisk Forsikring Cup

Competition Performance: Fourth Round

Two good performances against lower league sides and two poor showings against fellow Tippeligaen outfits. This time we crashed out deservedly.

UEFA Europa League

Competition Performance: Third Qualifying Round

Despite a couple of decent results we couldn't seem to find our flow and finally got beaten by a superior Slovan Liberec side after a thrilling encounter.

Squad

We have an extremely strong core and a few youngsters ready to make a step up. There's definitely a very solid base for building a strong team in the long run.

Transfers - Finances

A rather calm transfer period compared to a few previous ones. We still made a slight profit, but there were no spectacular signings or departures. The only slight disappointment was Admir Civic, who didn't really shine up front despite a decent start to the season.

Another year, another profitable one. The club is ran really well, let's hope the next manager won't come and screw it up.

Player of the Season

1st - Djibril Traoré - for the second year in a row the winger has been the one pulling the strings. This time though his form only lasted for around a half of the season, in the later part he wasn't as decisive anymore, which might have been one of the causes of our dip in form.

2nd - Boris Novak - only sixteen goals conceded and fourteen clean sheets throughout the whole season really speak for themselves. Our new goalkeeper turned out to be a massive improvement over Alexander Brunst and won us a shedload of points. Without him, the title probably wouldn't be ours.

3rd - Kenneth Wolan - the silent hero and our most consistent performer. This guy simply never disappointed, even when he got that own goal against Vålerenga he managed to recover and deliver a wonderful assist in the dying minutes of the game. Maybe he wasn't spectacular, but every team needs players like Kenneth.

Next Season

Three down, two to go...

[Rikulec]

Next stop - Sweden! And I'm taking a few friends on the trip with me as well.

[Rikulec]

Someone's feeling really hopeful there.

[Rikulec]

This one, on the other hand, would certainly be interesting. IFK Göteborg have finished 4th in the Allsvenskan and find themselves in massive financial trouble. It would definitely be a fun challenge to rebuild such a historically proud side should I get the job.

[Rikulec]

I guess I'll have to accept the wage cut.



Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - New Club - IFK Göteborg



Borgunarbikar exit in 2021? Seriously?

Club Name: IFK Göteborg

Nickname: Blåvitt

Year Founded: 1904

Status: Professional

Stadium: Gamla Ullevi (18,400 capacity, 16,600 seated)





With 22 league wins to their name, IFK Göteborg are the most successful club in the Allsvenskan history. No pressure then!



Let's get to it!

[Dexter_Morgan]

Good luck in Sweden, in all my time on FM i've only ever managed Halmia there despite wanting a go as Goteborg so going to be interesting to see how you do there

[deltablue]

Good stuff bowing out with the title in Norway.

[Rikulec]

Good luck in Sweden, in all my time on FM i've only ever managed Halmia there despite wanting a go as Goteborg so going to be interesting to see how you do there

To be honest I've been silently hoping that this particular job would become vacant when I need it, Göteborg are probably my favourite team in Sweden and certainly one I have a lot of respect for. Also,

.

Good stuff bowing out with the title in Norway.

Thanks, I was really starting to feel stagnation there. It feels good to finally move on.

[Zak123]

What a fantastic read!! looking forward to your next chapter

[Rikulec]

What a fantastic read!! looking forward to your next chapter

Cheers mate, I'm curious to see how this pans out myself!

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Season Preview - 2030 - IFK Göteborg

Board Expectations:

Allsvenskan: Win the league

Svenska Cupen: Not important

My Expectations:

Allsvenskan: The board certainly have a lot of ambition! Personally I think we should be aiming for European qualification.

Svenska Cupen: This should serve as an assessment of the squad as the group stage starts before the league does.

Budgets:

Transfer: £46,832

Wage: £47,491 (currently spending £49,352)

Balance: -£1,958,881

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2030 - IFK Göteborg

Friendlies



Some good early signs to be seen there, the particular highlight being the 6:0 thrashing of a Danish Superleague side FC Roskilde.

Transfers



Five new players joining the ranks, including two brought in by the previous manager.

Rubén Montiel - the 27-year-old Spaniard's biggest advantage seems to be his versatility and that should get him some games at some point during the season. He's not very likely to be a regular starter though.

Alessandro Amboni - the good thing about Amboni is that we don't pay him anything. He's not really bad, but he'll probably just boost the numbers in our already packed midfield.

Jörgen Blom - the talented Swedish left back was released by Brøndby, so I decided to snap him up and use him as a backup option for that position.

Eldar Duvnjak - my primary target for the goalkeeper position decided to pursue the American dream instead of coming to cold Sweden, so I went for the Bosnian. Nothing spectacular, but still better than what we had before.

Walter Hansen - on paper he looks to be the best pick of the bunch. Some cracking stats already at 19, and I believe he's still got plenty of room for development. We could be looking at a potential star here.

[Rikulec]

Two key players with long term injuries, no proper replacements and almost no money in the coffins. Great.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - March 2030 - IFK Göteborg

Svenska Cupen





We're concentrating on the league this season then.

We went into the AIK game knowing that it was most likely going to decide who was going to win the group and who would crash out of the cup. For my first game in charge of IFK Göteborg I decided to use a 4-2-3-1, relying on high pressing and quick transitions. Well, that didn't work out. Despite a relatively decent opening minutes, we let everything go balls up in the 16th minute. Horrible indecisiveness following an interception on our own penalty box line allowed AIK striker Isac Lidberg to storm inbetween three of our defenders, pick up the loose ball and slot it past Eldar Duvnjak making his debut between the sticks. The Bosnian should have done much better himself as he got his hand to the shot, but failed to keep it away. The visitors dealt us the second blow six minutes later when a fantastic through pass left everyone standing helplessly as Onyekachi Chukwudi doubled their lead. We did record more shots and more ball possession than AIK, but that mattered little as we looked incredibly shaky and deprived of confidence. There might be some serious issues with the team that I couldn't be aware of while signing the contract.

To get four times as many shots as the opposition, more ball possession, hell, win the game and look like the worse team - the story of our match against a Superettan side Värnamo. The general shakiness, indecisiveness and slopiness were overwhelming at times. Our supposedly strong central backs were constantly muscled off the ball by their lone striker despite his rather average physical stats. We got the goals though. In the 21st minute a wonderful drilled cross from our Polish right winger Kamil Jozwiak reached Walter Hansen in the box and allowed him to score his first ever goal for IFK Göteborg. Jozwiak got a goal for himself shortly after the break after a very similar delivery from our left winger from Algeria, Karim El Orfi. In the 88th minute Värnamo got lucky with one of their breaks and Magnus Wulff found the back of the net, but Hansen responded almost immediately, making it 3:1 - Jozwiak with the assist again.

And finally a morale booster against a 3rd tier outfit Frej. And even here there were a couple of moments of uncertainity. Luckily we managed not to make a mess out of this. The scoring started in the 8th minute with Jozwiak pouncing on the rebound after a poorly aimed slide tackle by one of the visitors' defenders. Our lead was doubled nine minutes later - Jörgen Blom with a good delivery from the left wing and Walter Hansen with his third goal of the tournament. Five minutes later our Romanian centre back Ion Macula was brought down in the box, an experienced central midfielder Christian Rubio Sivodedov stepped up to the spot and made it 3:0 with a very confident, well placed shot. Hansen doubled his goal tally in the 36th minute, this time the cross came from Oscar Lindberg overlapping Jozwiak on the right side. He had to wait until the 63rd minute for completing his hat-trick, El Orfi with the assist this time. Six minutes later a goalmouth scramble following a corner ended with our defensive midfielder Rasmus Ohlsson finding the net from close range, completely unmarked. The 7:0 goal came in the 75th minute - El Orfi received a good pass on the left side of the box, cut inside, rounded the goalkeeper and found the bottom far corner. At least we bowed out of the cup in style.

Allsvenskan





This could be my biggest challenge so far.

To be honest, we were extremely lucky to get a draw out of the Hammarby Fotboll clash. After 35 minutes of the game we found ourselves 2:0 down and generally pushed against the wall. Ten minutes before the visitors opened the scoreline, Ivica Tomicic taking advantage of some horrendous defensive positioning from our young right back Lindberg. Their second goal was a classic point blank range finish from Jon Fure after a drilled cross from the right. Seconds before the break we restored some hope in the home fans' hearts with a Walter Hansen goal, Lindberg making up for his earlier fault with a wonderful assist. And that wasn't his last say - in the 51st minute the youngster delivered another fantastic ball to the far post where Rubén Montiel was waiting to slot it home. We had a very brief period of advantage following that goal and for that moment I even believed we could grab full points there, but Hammarby quickly recovered and pretty much locked us up inside our own penalty area. A few good saves from Duvnjak, a few missed sitters and here we have it - a very lucky home draw on the opening day. Title challenge, eh?

Transfers

Erik Gunnarsson - the experienced defender arrived on the final day of the transfer window. Joning us for £24K from Östersunds, he will serve as a temporary replacement for Dagerstål. Yes, he was a panic buy.

[Jason the Yank]

Congrats on the title, good luck in Sweden.

[Rikulec]

Congrats on the title, good luck in Sweden.

Thanks, it looks like we're going to need it!

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - April 2030 - IFK Göteborg

Allsvenskan





Something seems to be horribly wrong with this team.

April began with a trip to league outsiders Akropolis. Nothing else than a convincing win would satisfy us there... and that's exactly what we got after the best IFK Göteborg performance under my helm so far. We grabbed them by the throat as soon as the whistle was blown and didn't let go until the very end. In the 17th minute Rubén Montiel opened the scoreline, making perfect use of a wonderful cross by our right back Conny Landström. We went on to create numerous opportunities, but it wasn't until the 68th minute when we finally managed to convert one of them. Following a poor clearance by an Akropolis defender, Kamil Jozwiak headed the ball down for Janis Gorkss on the right who found the far bottom corner with a nice drilled strike. And just a minute later a conscious square ball from Walter Hansen found Ulrik Jensen completely unmarked on the far post and presented him with an easy chance. Why can't we play like this every week?

Next up, Öster, a thriller that could have gone either way. Despite a rather shaky start we got the lead early on - in the 9th minute Jozwiak played a through ball into the area for Karim El Orfi to put us in front with a nicely placed near post effort. Neither team seemed particularly focused on defending, so it turned out to be quite a wild match with good chances on both ends of the pitch. It was us who took one of them in the 56th minute - Jozwiak picked up his second assist of the day when Christian Rubio Sivodedov doubled our lead with a powerful strike from just inside the box that went in off the crossbar. From then on we attempted to reduce tempo, control the game and hold onto the result. Nothing went as planned though. Shortly after Sivodedov's goal we got caught on the break and Johan Dorsin finished off a nicely constructed counter attack. And in the 73rd minute yet another case of sloppy defending and horrendous goalkeeping allowed Erjon Ndoja's weak header from a fair few yards out to give the hosts an equaliser. In the final period of the game both teams had their chances to grab the winner, but in the end neither of them did.

A week of rest preceeded the Åtvidaberg game. This time we looked surprisingly comfortable in the first half, but no matter how hard we tried, we simply couldn't find the goal. Even in open net situations we managed to hit the post (Landström) or get blocked (Hansen). The breakthrough finally came just after the break. Hansen received a wonderful cross from the right, had his shot saved by the goalkeeper, but Karim El Orfi was right behind him to pounce on the rebound and put us in front. And for the second time in a row our attempt to hold onto the result ended in a miserable failure. In the 74th minute we looked like clueless children in the fog when Åtvidaberg players put together a wonderful passing move which ended with Jimmy Wålemark delivering a clever finish from the edge of the box. Another lead stupidly given away. Great.

And finally Östersunds at home, a game we definitely should be winning. But we didn't, as you can see. We didn't despite absolute domination for about 70 minutes of the game. We made a complete mess out of this. In the 72nd minute the first proper attacking move from the visitors ended with a goal. The ball arrived from the left, Fadil Praught was seemingly well marked, but he still managed to let off a marvellous volley with his back turned to goal. Duvnjak was completely helpless as the ball went just inside the near post. After that it seemed like we didn't have the will to attack any more, but somehow we managed to raise our heads for this one heroic moment in the 86th minute when a cross from Conny Landström found Karim El Orfi unmarked at the far post and the Algerian got the equaliser with an easy tap-in. We need to pick up some form and we need it fast.

[Rikulec]

Just read through this, what a thread!

The original end is in sight, so I must ask: will you attempt to win the UCL with a Nordic club?

Thanks for the kind words. As for your question, I haven't really thought much about what I'm going to do after I complete the challenge, I'll probably stick around in Denmark for some time, but then I think I'll try to make a jump into one of the biggest leagues.

[Rikulec]

Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - May 2030 - IFK Göteborg

Allsvenskan





Uh-oh. Trouble up ahead.

At the start of the month we were gifted with an opportunity to host a struggling GIF Sundsvall side. I was silently hoping to smash them and build some morale on a convincing win. We won... somehow. We did attempt more shots, but the visitors got themselves into much better opportunities and we were incredibly lucky to come out of this with a clean sheet. The only goal of the game came in the 16th minute. Walter Hansen pulled away from his marker on the right side of the box and squared the ball for Rubén Montiel to tap it in from close range. In the first half we were the better team, but after the break the tables turned and we found ourselves squeezed inside our own penalty box at times. As I said, we really got lucky there.

As the Halmstad game kept flying by, I couldn't resist the thought that my last season's Odd side would have wiped the floor with the hosts. And with us as well, probably. It was so painful to see my players take nonsense shots, not open up space when the full backs kept making fantastic overlapping runs or cut inside idiotically when they could challenge the defenders to the byline and attempt some crosses from there. Maybe I got a little bit too attached to Djibril Traoré? At the end of the day the match ended with a horrible 0:0 after numerous wasted opportunities. It almost looked like we didn't want to win.

A week later we hosted another relegation-threatened outfit, Degerfors. Again I thought we might be able to pick up a decent result there. Oh, a clarification might be required here - a luckily scraped 2:1 win against such a team at home isn't a decent result in my book. I held my head in my hands when Alexey Matyukhin put the visitors in front in the 15th minute, demonstrating to my players how a one on one situation should be finished - a very confident, powerful strike straight down the far corner. Christian Rubio Sivodedov might have even understood something - the experienced midfielder equalised nine minutes later after the ball fell to this feet on the edge of the penalty area, Kamil Jozwiak with the assist. We kept creating more chances, but time kept passing and we were looking less and less likely to achieve anything more than a disappointing draw. I had already settled for a draw when a last-ditch offensive move ended with Jörgen Blom delivering a hopeful cross from the left and our Icelandic substitute striker Birkir Pétursson scoring with a sliding challenge, unfortunately stripping the left back off a deserved assist. Yay, a win!

I'd take the risk of saying that the Djurgården game - especially the first half - might have been our best performance of the month. We only allowed two chances from the hosts while creating a bit more. But there was one massive difference - they took theirs and we didn't take ours. In the 18th minute Eldar Duvnjak found himself at fault for conceding a goal once again, this time pretty much punching the ball into the net after a weak effort from a tight angle by Gaute Olsen. And in the 36th minute Balder Kristiansen stormed inbetween our passive as ever defenders to beat the Bosnian goalkeeper at his near post. The second half was pretty much a case of Djurgården calmly controlling the flow of the game and us attempting to bite back from time to time, always with miserable effect though. I'm actually surprised that we had to wait so long for our first league defeat of the season. It was inevitable though.

Another day, another 0:0, another borefest for the poor sods in the stands. Pretty much the only real highlight of the game was Duvnjak performing a miraculous double save on his line, possibly the best performance of his life. Apart from that, it was just even more misplaced passes, blocked shots and inexplicable decisions. What on earth is wrong with this team? Worryingly enough, I have no idea.

A result like the Örebro SK one had been on the horizon for a long, long time. It was just a matter of time when we would get properly spanked. The hosts only needed fifteen seconds of play to open the scoreline, Fabrice Delmas with a close range header to find the back of the net. The second goal came in the 20th minute, a cross arrived from the right and landed on the head of Djordje Ivanovic. The shot went straight down the middle, but Duvnjak seemed to be completely unprepared to make any move and in the end he let the ball fly in just under the crossbar despite standing pretty much on his line. And the 54th minute was just the confirmation of our complete and utter misery. After a corner aimed at the near post the ball went on to dance inside the six yard box, I think there might have been three or four clearances attempted before one of them finally hit Delmas in his arse, sending the ball into the net. What about our own attacks, some may ask? To cut the long... no, there's no long story here. They were almost non-existent. Awful, awful game for us.

[Rikulec]

And this arrived straight after the Örebro SK game. Taking into account that the idea of throwing in the towel had already been toiling in my mind, the board pretty much only helped me make my mind up.



Over £50M in debt thanks to a wonderful decision of building a new stadium made by the board in 2028, a thin, ageing squad and bleeding money each month. It's sad, but I simply can't see any positive perspective for this club. Only a tycoon could save them now.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Shame about that I thought you'd have a great chance of bringing trophies to the club any idea on your next move?

[Rikulec]

Shame about that I thought you'd have a great chance of bringing trophies to the club any idea on your next move?

I thought I could restore the club to their former glories as well, but it turns out they're buried in **** too deep. About the next move, I'm not leaving Sweden until I win the league, so I hope one of the bigger jobs in the league will open up shortly.

[Rikulec]

Tempting, but no.

[Rikulec]

It's not the time for Denmark yet.

[Rikulec]

Another offer from Denmark comes up too early.

[Rikulec]

Flattering, but a challenge is a challenge.

[Rikulec]

This one, on the other hand, would be quite interesting. Malmö FF are sitting 2nd in the Allsvenskan with nine games to go, the title seems to be out of reach with Hammarby Fotboll running away with it, but I'd definitely have a decent base to build a team on at my disposal. I've attended the interview, let's see what comes out of this.

[Rikulec]

On August 19th I was offered the job. After a bit of wage negotiations it really was a no-brainer.



Elvar Björgvinsson's Management Career - New Club - Malmö FF



I guess some of my Icelandic haters won't give me a break.

Club Name: Malmö FF

Nickname: Di Blåe

Year Founded: 1910

Status: Professional

Stadium: Swedbank Stadion (24,000 capacity, 21,000 seated)



It turns out they have the same number of league titles as IFK Göteborg do. Can we overtake them?



Here's hoping this goes a little better than before.