[FM17] Football, fire and ice: The inside story of Iceland's remarkable rise.

[Jimbokav1971]

Och Aye. Aug 2032.

[Toffle]

You're getting famous! Russia, Scotland.. not too bad.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Toffle said:

You're getting famous! Russia, Scotland.. not too bad.

Yep, and I've been offered the Icelandic job twice now.

I will keep a track of what National Teams approach me as we go through the save. 

If Iceland approach me a 3rd time it may be too hard to turn down, but we will have to see. I am reluctant to go into International management too early because it obviously slows the progress of the save down and it would be a shame to miss out on European success at a club level simply because I didn't play as long into tghe save as is required. My goals is still to produce a player who wins the Ballon d'or but if I'm honest I would class it as my greatest ever achievement in FM if I could just get a home grown player shortlisted at this stage. 

It's quite hard to gauge the level of the players we are producing at the moment because we will ultimately only see how good they are when they reach the peak of their careers. 

22yo (26b) Páll Stefán (Spirit) * is valued at £29.5M at Man City, despite the fact that they only paid £7.25M for him. He broke into the City team last season but is yet to feature this season.

21yo (27e) Rób Örn Pál (Pro) * is valued at £9.25M at Spurs, despite the fact that they only paid £3.7M for him. He's made a couple of sub appearances for Spurs, (and scored in both of them), but is yet to properly break into the 1st team.

21yo (27d) Snær Jakob (F.Pro) * is valued at £9.5M at Arsenal, despite the fact that they only paid £3.9M for him. He's made a couple of appearances for Arsenal, but not really broken into the Senior team properly yet,

21yo (27b) Viktor (Driven) * is valued at £17.5M at Man city, despite the fact that they only paid £4.8M for him. He's not really broken into the City 1st team yet, however has gone on loan to Braga in Portugal and is now at Lyon in France. He looks brilliant! My only issue with him is that I had him for such a short period of time and as such can take less pride in his development. 

22yo (26a) Emil (Driven) (2026) * is valued at £4.3M at Lyon. They paid us £3.9M for him so this is probably the best deal we have done in terms of value for money. He has been in and out of the Lyon Senior Squad, but he doesn't quite seem to be at the required level as yet and spends more time in the Reserves. As a result I feel he hasn't developed as he should, and this is highlighted by his attribute balance.

Edited February 4, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

13 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake. Aug 2032.

This is a REALLY good intake and I don't say that lightly at all. 5.0 PA stars is all well and good, but we actually have some better than decent players at the club now so the standard against which they are being judged is at least significant. More than that though, we didn't just get a 5.0 player and then the rest were dross. In addition to the 1x 5.0 player. we were also rewarded with 2x 4.5 players and 1x 4.0 player.

It doesn't stop there though. Oh no. We got a 2nd Nationality, (I love a 2nd Nationality), there were some decent personalities that came through, (including a "Kriss" who is Resolute), better than decent determination across the board and the best set of workrate attributes that I have ever produced. 

"Kriss" (32a) Arnar þór (Res) (2032) *.

We're playing our 1st game after the Youth Intake and I just thought I would let you know where the intake fit in in terms of their individual positions. 

GK. (32c) Joe (USA) (F.Pro) * is the #1 ranked GK by PA at the club. We were in need of a GK to support/replace (24b) Ben Óli (Amb) * in the long-term, and that there is 8 years between them is both a good and a bad thing. You don't want a good GK every year because you can only play 1 of them, but 8 years is probably on the long side in terms of bringing through a replacement because we are lucky that (24b) Ben Óli (Amb) * is still at the club at this stage. 

DL. We were desperate for a left back, (really desperate), and I was gutted that we didn't get even a decent one when the overall quality of the intake was so high. (25a) Páll (F.Pro) (2025) * has the best PA of the left backs and it's now only 2.5 PA, so there is obviously significant room for improvement here. 

[Edit]

Actually, that's wrong. We did get a DL in the last intake and I had somehow missed him. (32l) Arnór Pétur (F.Sport) is the 4th best DL by PA at the club. Unfortunately, 4th best, (by a whole PA point), in a weak area of the squad is not going to be good enough. He might play, but hopefully he won't play much.

DR. (32f) Guð Ársæl (Bal) is the #3 ranked DR by PA at the club. (32l) Arnór Pétur (F.Sport) is the #9 ranked DR by PA at the club. I'm not sure either will feature much as #1 and #2 are a long way ahead of the competition.

DC. (32a) Arnar þór (Res) (2032) * is immediately the #1 ranked DC at the club. He is considerably the best of this intake in this position and the other option are #8 ranked (32i) Ólafur Magnús (F.Pro), 

MC. (32b) Veigar Páll (Bal) is the #2 ranked MC at the the club in terms of PA. (32p) Arnþór Ari (Pro) on the other hand is ranked #20, however can at least be a Pro influence at some point in the future. 

AMC. (32k) Berg Íshólm (Bal) is the #3 ranked AMC by PA which sounds good, but it is actually a weak area of the squad and an area in which, (like DL), we desperately need to improve if we are going to progress to the next level. While he is ranked #3, he is actually joint 1st with a PA of 2.5.

AML. (32j) Hörður Ólaf (Bal) is the #5 ranked AML at the club by PA, however even if he maxes out at his PA level of 2.5 then he will still be slightly short of the top CA levels in that area of the pitch at the moment for us. He is likely to be a squad player and will I'm sure feature at some point, but he's certainly not going to be a big player for us. (32o) Halldór Sigurjón (Bal) is ranked #16 and is unlikely to ever feature. Please note that rankings in this area are of players who can play in this position and some of them may actually be AMR's or elsewhere rather than be specific AML's.

AMR. (32e) Viðar Kárason (F.Pro) is the #4 ranked AMR by PA and has the PA, (3.5), to hopefully make an impact in the senior team. (32g) Alex Davíð (Bal) is ranked #10 in this area and is unlikely to feature with a max PA of 2.5.

SC.Wow!  This is a surprise. (32d) Viðar Árna (Bal) is the #1 ranked by PA SC at the club with a PA of 4.0. I would have said that we were strong in the SC area, but maybe that's more about the CA level of the players then any promise of future PA. I suppose that makes sense when you think about it because we lost our best SC in terms of PA last year in (27e) Rób Örn Pál (Pro) *. (32m) Einar Sveinn (Bal) on the other hand is ranked #12 by PA at the club in this position.

I think that only makes 14 of the 16 youth players from the recent intake, but it will have to do. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Kriss 5. (20a) Víðir (Bal) (2020) *.

Season 1. 0(1) appearance.
Season 2. 1(1) appearances.
Season 3. 5(9) appearances including 3 goals and 2 assists.
Season 4. 5(5) appearances including 6 goals. 
Season 5. 7(12) appearances including 12 goals and 4 assists.
Season 6. 8(16 appearances including 19 goals and 4 assists.
Season 7. 7(18) appearances including 17 goals and 6 assists.
Season 8. 2(2) appearances including 2 goals 
Transfer to BK Häcken in Sweden Premier Division for £105,000.
Season 9. 27 appearances including 4 goals and 3 assists.
Season 10. 18(5) appearances including 4 goals and 3 assists.
Season 11. 18(7) appearances including 7 goals and 2 assists.
Season 12.  25(2) appearances including 9 goals and 5 assists.
Season 13. 17 appearances including 4 goals and 1 assist.

Summary: I was quite surprised when collating the above stats was that he had scored at such a prolific level from the bench without ever appearing to secure a regular starting birth. 87 goals scored is decent when you consider that he has only started 140 games. I have a feeling that when I sold him, I was really selling him because he was a "Kriss" and because I knew that I wouldn't be playing him and didn't want to see his career and development stagnate. He made 4 U21 appearance and scored 1 U21 goal, but has never played for the Senior Icelandic team.

[Jimbokav1971]

New Record Goal-Scorer. Aug 2032.

67 league goals doesn't sound like a lot, but when you consider that there are only a maximum of 22 league games per season then it is significantly more impressive. 

[Toffle]

Did you notice a big difference on how fast your players progress during this save? Now that you have way better facilities at the club.

[Jimbokav1971]

Champions League Group Draw. Aug 2032.

It's not a good draw at all, but that's just the nature of the beast during this stage of the save I'm afraid. I will of course be doing my best in all 3 home games, and the away game against Ajax. It's all about finishing above someone, (Ajax in this case), and qualifying for the Knockout stages of the Europa League. We will then use the additional games and improved performances and results to boost the club coefficient. We need to claw our way up the rankings so that we are in the 3rd pool so that we can regularly qualify for the Knockout stages of either competition. At this stage it doesn't matter which one, (and to be honest I would quite like a little go at a Europa League run.

[Jimbokav1971]

29 minutes ago, Toffle said:

Did you notice a big difference on how fast your players progress during this save? Now that you have way better facilities at the club.

If you mean a difference between the early stages of the save and the current stage of the save then no, not really. Our facilities were already excellent at the start so progression from starting CA to PA has always been decent. When you factor in that right from the start I have been prioritising PA over CA with regards to squad selection, then this also improves the rate at which players develop. It is only now that we are on the verge of qualifying for the Group Stages that I am starting to occasionally select line-ups based upon CA rather than PA.

When I am selecting the line-up, I select players of an individual positions, (GK in this example), and then toggle players by PA, (highest PA at the top).

Then I change to a selection screen that shows morale, short-term form, physical condition and match sharpness, together with some match stats. I know that the players are already sorted by PA so I have a preference for the top player, but then I also look at the other factors. In this particular example, there is an obvious gulf in CA between (24b) Ben Óli (Amb) * and (32c) Joe (USA) (F.Pro) *. Throughout the course of this save I would have always picked (32c) Joe (USA) (F.Pro) * ahead of (24b) Ben Óli (Amb) * on the basis that he has a higher PA and will eventually reach a better standard. The problem now is that for the 1st time in the save I am starting to re-prioritise and give more importance to the here and now rather than always look at the longer-term picture. The real real real truth is that in particular position, I am also looking at a GK hitting 10 goals in a season for the 1st time and that is impacting on my selection though-process.

If you mean a difference between this save and previous saves then I actually don't think there is much difference. 

When I was managing in other Nations, they each had their own particular benefits and weaknesses in terms of player development, but I never saw players develop at a quicker or slower level just so long as I prioritised their development. The difference between CA and PA might be higher or lower than here depending on various factors, but the progress from CA to PA has to the best of my knowledge always been pretty standard if you assume similar personality types. I have managed clubs with good facilities and average facilities and rubbish facilities but player development has always seemed similar.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

31 Players called up for International duty. Aug 2032.

31 players is a new record, however 6 players called up to the Senior Icelandic squad is not a record.

That being said, we now have 12 players in the Senior Icelandic squad who are products of our academy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Kriss 6. (21a) Haukur (Sport) (2021) *.
 

Season 1. 2 appearances. 
Season 2. 10 appearances.
Season 3. 12 appearances.
Season 4. 19 appearances including 6 assists.
Season 5. 20 appearances including 7 assists.
Season 6. 23 appearances including 2 assists.
Season 7. 22 appearances including 5 assists.
Season 8. 15 appearances including 1 assist.
Season 9. 18 appearances including 4 assists.
Season 10. 10 appearances.
Transfer to Nottm Forest in English Championship for £100,000.
Season 11. 3(10 appearances.
Season 12. 4(7) appearances.
Season 13. On Loan at Fulham in English Championship.

Summary: Despite what should be regarded as an impressive career, (including 13 Senior International Caps and a current member of the Icelandic Squad), (21a) Haukur (Sport) (2021) * is only currently rated as 2.0 CA and also 2.0 PA. Compare that the the current HK squad and the DR's in particular where no less than 6 players have a PA that exceeds that of (21a) Haukur (Sport) (2021) *. He is a good player and could still be here playing in our 1st team, but as mentioned before I choose to prioritise PA over CA and deal with the repercussions. This will mean for example that we get beat in Cup competitions that we should win, and we will continue to concede goals in league games when we should be keeping clean sheets. 

 

Edited February 5, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Toffle]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

If you mean a difference between the early stages of the save and the current stage of the save then no, not really.

That's what I meant to ask, thanks for the great answer 

[Jimbokav1971]

Longest serving club Managers. Sep 2032.

I've reached 700 games in management and I am now the 19th longest serving manager in the game. 

I think that other managers retire aged 70 because there are no manager aged over 69.

Actually, cancel that. Jorge Sampaoli is 71 and manages Sevilla.

Jose Mourinho is now 69 and is still at Man Utd.
Cuca is 69 and manages SEP in Brazil.
Renato Gaucho is 69 and manages COR in Brazil.

I'm now 61 in the game. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Model Pro OCD.

We are slowly but surely getting there. 

 

[Toffle]

Quite impressive..

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Toffle said:

Quite impressive..

I think it makes 92 players at (F.Pro) or above meaning that they all have a minimum of 15 for their Professionalism attribute. Unfortunately this is not currently enough to warrant an Ultra-Professional squad rating. 

I need quite a few more Model Pro's to get to Ultra Professional I think. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Kriss 7. (22a) Jón (M.Pro) (2022) *.

Season 1. 0 appearances in a 1st part-season that was disrupted by an abdominal strain.
Season 2. 6(3) appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist.
Season 3. 9(3) appearances including 5 goals and 2 assists.
Season 4(a). 3(3) appearances including 1 goal.
Transferred to Rosenborg in Norway for £2.2M.
Season 4(b). 19(8) appearances including 8 goals and 4 assists.
Season 5. 15(4) appearances including 7 goals and 5 assists.
Season 6. 22(5) appearances including 6 goals and 2 assists.
Season 7. 26(2) appearances including 5 goals and 1 assist.
Season 8. 23(3) appearances including 11 goals and 7 assists.
Season 9. 13(4) appearances including 2 goals and 3 assists. 
Re-signed by us on a Free after being released by Rosenborg.
Season 10. 2(2) appearances including 2 goals. 
Season 11. 3(2) appearances including 2 goals. 

Summary: I remember being blown away by this bloke when he came through the intake, but other than sticking £2.2M in my back pocket, (and it was very much needed at the time so I am certainly not complaining), he has actually flattered to deceive. He certainly hasn't been prolific at all and it was only in the 2029 season that he managed double figures while at Rosenborg. I re-signed him for 2 reasons really. First of all it was because I liked the look of him even if he is a bit average in many areas rather than good at specific things. The big reason was that he was a Model Pro however and even had he been rubbish I would have still signed him on that basis. You can see from his pic at the time he came through the intake that he hasn't improved anywhere near as much as I would like, and I put this down to injuries. 

He's improved a little since he arrived, but nothing at all like I was expecting. 

This I think is the reason why. 

• The 5 week abdominal strain saw him miss the 1st part-season after he was promoted from the academy. 
• He then missed a month through shin-splints at a similar stage of the following season and by the time he had returned the next batch of youngsters would have arrived. 
• 5 weeks for a hernia.
• Another month for a groin strain.
• 5 months for knee tendonitis. 
• 6 weeks for a sprained ankle. 
• 4 months for a damaged achilles. 
• 8 weeks for a torn groin muscle. 

When he came through the system, he had 2.0 CA and 5.0 PA and there is no way he reached his PA. That being said, there is the "unknown" area that is blacked out at the end of the PA rating and just to simplify things I assume that this will always be attained, (which I know is wrong), but it just seems easier to assume that it either is or isn't and I would rather see it from a positive point of view so rather than looking him and thinking that his PA will be between 4.0 & 5.0, (which is a significant difference by the way), I just take the upper value of 5.0. I was certainly wrong to do so in this case. Add in early injuries and then pretty regular significant injuries after that, (as well as him leaving before I had an opportunity to develop him fully), and you have the poor results that we see above. While I have really done well in developing lots of players, this is certainly an example of one that did not develop at all as I hoped.

To finish on a positive however, he is obviously having an enormous impact as a Model Pro tutor. 

Edited February 6, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Attacking corners. Nov 2032.

So for a while now I have been looking at corners and while there has been some improvement, it's not really working out as effectively as I had hoped. 

We were ranked top in the Premier Division in terms of goals scored from corners, (as you would expect), but we still only scored 4. That sounds awful over a full season, but you have to remember that it's just 22 games so while the return is still not good enough a goal from a corner every 5 and a half games doesn't actually sound too bad. I'm hoping that I can get it down to closer to a goal every 3 games. What I would say here is that what the game thinks is a goal from a corner, doesn't really equate to my definition, but let's not get too bogged down with that.

I have created 2 tactics for each side.

• Tactic 1 is a corner delivered to the penalty spot area.
• Tactic 2 is a short corner. 

I didn't particularly want to have more than 2 routines on each side because I was worried about being unable to evaluate their effectiveness. Because I'm not watching games, my ability to evaluate the relative success of corners is particularly limited. 

Contrastingly, we didn't concede a single goal while defending corners this season, (at least in the domestic league).

 

[Jimbokav1971]

"Kriss" 8. (23a) Vífill (M.Pro) (2023) *.

Season 1. 1 appearance but no goals or assists.
Season 2. 4(1) appearances including 1 goal. 
Season 3. 7(2) appearances including 3 goals and 2 assists.
Season 4. 18(9) appearances including 14 goals and 2 assists.
Season 5. 17(8) appearances including 16 goals and 7 assists.
Season 6. 20(3) appearances including 19 goals and 7 assists.
Season 7. 18(4) appearances including 23 goals and 2 assists.
Season 8. 13(6) appearances including 15 goals and 3 assists.
Season 9. 21(7) appearances including 34 goals and 5 assists.
Season 10. 23(5) appearances including 25 goals and 5 assists. 

Summary: 151 goals for the club tells it's own story and he has already become the clubs leading all-time league goal-scorer with 71, (previous record was 66 I think). He has scored double-figure goals in each of the last 7 seasons. While he is an important player for us, it should be mentioned that he is only rated as 3.0 for both CA and PA. He was obviously a 5.0 PA player when he came through the academy, but we have obviously moved on-wards and past his ability level. 

The flip side of the coin is that if (23a) Vífill (M.Pro) (2023) * is only rated as 3.0 PA, then we will hopefully have someone who has come through after him and who will progress past his current level of ability.

Impressively, we have not 1 or 2 strikers who will surpass his current level of ability but a whopping 5!

(27c) Arnþór Ari (Pro) * has already made an impact on the First Team and is the 2nd choice striker currently, but then we have 4 other strikers who all look like they have impressive PA. Obviously that's too many players to develop at once within a short space of time, so (29c) Axel Guð (F.Pro) was sent out on loan last season, and will probably go out on loan again this season. (He can't get in the First Team so it seems an obvious choice now that he can no longer play for the Youth Team).

[Jimbokav1971]

International Job offer. Feb 2033.

This is the 3rd time that Iceland have approached me and Scotland and Russia have both offered me the job too.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfer Bid. Aug 2033.

I think £11M is highest bid I have received for any player.

 

[benheilbron]

Seems positive that the board haven't accepted the bid despite it being the most you've been offered!

[Jimbokav1971]

59 minutes ago, benheilbron said:

Seems positive that the board haven't accepted the bid despite it being the most you've been offered!

Indeed it does, however as we have £40M sitting in the bank, I think that plays a part too. When the last bit was accepted I think the balance was only about £20M in credit, so I'm keen to give the board no excuse.

[Jimbokav1971]

Champions League Update. Aug 2033.

It's not good news I'm afraid. 

After qualifying for the Group stages of the Champions League for the last 5 successive seasons, and qualifying for the Group stages of the Europa Cup for the 3 years previous to that, we have just crashed out at the 3rd Qualifying stage, (on away goals), to Maccabi Tel-Aviv of Israel. We lost the 1st leg away 1-0, and then could only win the home 2nd leg 3-2. We were actually 2-0 down in the 2nd leg, (3-0 on aggregate), because I started with too weak a team and by the time we were improved at HT with 3 subs, the damage was done. They did enough to win the game, but not enough to progress.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Eh? 

The Cup is dead. Long live the cup!

I'm confuddled as hell now. I thought that if you lost in the Playoff Stages of Champions League qualifying then you want into the Europa League, but now it seems as if you lose in the 3rd Qualifying Round then you also drop into the Europa League. The only difference being that a loss in the 3rd Qualifying Round drops you into the Playoff round of the Europa League and a loss in the Playoff stage of the Champions League drops you into the Group stages of the Europa League. 

[Sir_Liam]

4 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Eh? 

The Cup is dead. Long live the cup!

I'm confuddled as hell now. I thought that if you lost in the Playoff Stages of Champions League qualifying then you want into the Europa League, but now it seems as if you lose in the 3rd Qualifying Round then you also drop into the Europa League. The only difference being that a loss in the 3rd Qualifying Round drops you into the Playoff round of the Europa League and a loss in the Playoff stage of the Champions League drops you into the Group stages of the Europa League. 

It's always been like that.  You obviously do well enough not to lose in the 3rd qualifying round usually. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day 2033. 

There are a few different things to mention about this intake. 

1. We've managed to bang out another 5.0 PA player, (much to my surprise). I had thought that as the level of our playing squad improved, we would start to struggle to produce 5.0 players. 
2. A foreigner! (Portugese). We've got no Portugese staff or feeders, so I'm guessing that this is just driven by a recent increase in club reputation.
3. A 2nd Nationality foreigner! (Serbian). Again, we've got no Serbian staff and rather than an increase in club rep, I think this is driven by Serbs populating leagues all over the World it seems. 
4. A decent amount of Professionalism in the intake.
5. In contrast, 3 really poor personalities in 1x slack and 2x casual. 
6. I bet (33a) Björn Berg (Pro) (2033) is decent at volleys.  (Little bit of a tennis joke there).

"Kriss" 18. (33a) Björn Berg (Pro) (2033).

He's a bit raw and I would have much preferred he was a "lefty" rather than a "righty". He's strong mentally but it's a shame that his jumping is better than his pace. (Would like to see them swapped). Technicals need significant work, and again I would like to see crossing and dribbling attributes reversed.  

Edited February 20, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

What's that you say?

I haven't shown you a GK goal recently and does he ever do it in big games?

Here is his 44th career goal which is the opener in the 2033 Cup Final. 

 

[noikeee]

I'd train Björn Berg as a centre-back due to his jumping. Tbh as of right now he's a bit unbalanced for either position, but...

[Jimbokav1971]

Absolute shambles. Sep 2033.

We haven't had a run of form this bad since this save began. 

We are danger of not winning the league. 

 

[noikeee]

You can't win anything with kids!

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, noikeee said:

You can't win anything with kids!

As mentioned, we really struggled this season in comparison to previous seasons. Having said that, we still sneaked a nice little domestic quadruple, (which is always nice). 

The problem came in Europe where we were absolutely awful, and our domestic form about this time also suffered as a result. 

Shambles. Absolute shambles. 

[Akkarin]

Shame about Europe, but still fantastic going overall. At what point will you acccept the overtures of the NT?

Not sure you concluded anything in regards to the FK abilities of goalkeepers (maybe I missed it) - I looked into it and found that you can see the ability from the set piece screen (I imagine you know this already), but the ability does not seem to correspond to anything on the attribute screen. Very strange all in all.

[Jimbokav1971]

19 minutes ago, Akkarin said:

Shame about Europe, but still fantastic going overall. At what point will you acccept the overtures of the NT?

Not sure you concluded anything in regards to the FK abilities of goalkeepers (maybe I missed it) - I looked into it and found that you can see the ability from the set piece screen (I imagine you know this already), but the ability does not seem to correspond to anything on the attribute screen. Very strange all in all.

The poor performances in Europe were really just mentioned because it was such a shock in that we didn't just fail to get into the Champions League Group stage, but we then also bottled the Europa League qualification too. 

While we did the domestic quadruple, we almost lost the league, (losing 6 and drawing 1 of 22 league games). Winning is winning and might sound like I am being greedy, but I think we should be looking at least at an unbeaten season if not a 100% win record. In 2026 we won 20 league games, drew 1 and lost 1 and that's as close as we have got to an unbeaten league season. We finished on 61 points, a massive 21 points ahead of 2nd placed FH.

This season, with a shambolic 15/1/6 record, we were just 3 points ahead of 2nd placed Fram, who lost 2 of their last 3 games to completely implode and bottle the title. Obviously I would like to say that we were concentrating on Europe instead, but instead the opposite was actually the case. I think my best players are now so unhappy at not being allowed to move on that keeping them is now counter-productive in that their actual performances are poorer than players with poorer actual ability. 

With that in mind there is at least 1 that I plan on culling, and I might even send another couple with him. 

[Jimbokav1971]

@AkkarinIn terms of GK ability from dead-ball situations, (penalties and free-kicks), I believe I have nailed it down to exactly what the driver is behind free kicks, and the jury is still out with regards to players of all types taking penalties. If I haven't mentioned it in this thread, then have a look at the old "My Fat GK is better that your Fat GK" thread in the Challenge forum,

[Akkarin]

Releasing the next generation viking warriors as it were....

25 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

@AkkarinIn terms of GK ability from dead-ball situations, (penalties and free-kicks), I believe I have nailed it down to exactly what the driver is behind free kicks, and the jury is still out with regards to players of all types taking penalties. If I haven't mentioned it in this thread, then have a look at the old "My Fat GK is better that your Fat GK" thread in the Challenge forum,

Got it - will do

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, Akkarin said:

Releasing the next generation viking warriors as it were....

Got it - will do

It's now quite an old thread so if you can't find it then here it is. 

 

[Akkarin]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

It's now quite an old thread so if you can't find it then here it is. 

 

Yeah I found it - just looked through, a very interesting read. Nevermind my previous comments, I see what you were alluding to now. Interesting experiments that could spring from some of that.

[Jimbokav1971]

"Kriss" 9. (24a) Bjarn Þó (F.Pro) (2024) *.

Season 1. 4 appearances in his first part-season.
Season 2. 23(1) appearances including 3 goals and 1 assist.
Season 3. 23(7) appearances including 2 goals.
Season 4. 15(8) appearances 1 assist,
Season 5(a). 1 appearance.
Sold to Standard in Pro League in Belgium for £4.5M.
Season 5(b). 0(1) appearance.
Season 6(a). 0(4) appearances. 
Season 6(b). 14(1) appearances including 3 goals and 7 assists while on loan at Taranto in Serie C/C in Italy.
Season 7(a). 10(5) appearances including 2 goals and 3 assists while on loan at Taranto in Serie C/C in Italy.
Season 7(b). 0(2) appearances. 
Signed on a free by Lommel Unitted in Pro League B in Belgium.
Season 8(a). 13 appearances including 2 goal and 2 assists.
Sold to Waasland-Beveren in Pro League B in Belgium for £1.3M.
Season 8(b). 12(1) appearances including 2 assists.
Season 9. 14 appearances including 1 goal and 3 assists.
Season 10. 12(2) appearances including 2 goals and 2 assists. 
Signed on a free by KV Mechelen in Pro League in Belgium.
Season 11. 26 appearances including 3 goals and 3 assists.

Summary. I don't remember an awful lot about this player if I'm honest. I obviously threw him straight into the starting line-up when he came through the youth intake, but he was sold after only 3 full seasons with us so there was little time for him to make a big impact. He has done ok in Belgium, however it seems that his level is more the 2nd tier Pro League B rather than the top league Pro League. It could be that it's just down to the team he has be in with the league, because obviously there is quite a gulf n Belgium between the strongest and weakest teams in a league in my experience. He has featured on 15 occasions for the (ISL) U21 team, (scoring 1 goal), and has also appeared on 15 occasions for the Senior (ISL) team. Most of his International Caps have been won from the bench, as there are certainly 3 central midfielders, (and possibly 4 actually), who are better than him. He's certainly having a decent career though and now he is playing in the top league in Belgium every week, if he performs well there is every chance of a move to one of the big leagues of England, Germany, Italy, Spain or even France. 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Well I've never done this before on any FM. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Yee Haa! Jul 2034.

But no thanks. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2034. 

30 matches unbeaten is decent, but what I was really looking for was a 10th game without conceding, (and I didn't get it). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Goodnight Vienna. Jul 2034.

 

Danke aber nein danke.

[Jimbokav1971]

I can resist the smell of Danish Bacon. Jul 2034.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day 2034. 

It's really not a good intake, but c'est la vie. 

"Kriss" (34a) Ívar Krist (Amb) (2034).

Someon who does deserve a mention however is the only non-Icelandic player to come through the intake. Not because he is Portugese, (although that is reason enough in itself), but because he is significantly the ugliest player that I have ever seen in FM, (and I have seen a few mingers over the seasons). 

(34h) Ugly Ribeiro (F.Sport).

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2034.

It's the 2nd leg of the Champions League Playoff, (away), and we take a 3-2 1st leg home advantage away to Celtic Park.

Part of me would actually be quite pleased if we lost because (a), we have £40M in the bank so we are not desperate for cash and (b), our coefficient would actually be boosted by playing in the Group stages of the Europa League and winning a few games and maybe even qualifying for the knockout stages, rather than just getting narrowly in the Champions League like we do every season recently. 

The only thing that is stopping me throwing this game, (yes really), is that we are currently on a 39 match unbeaten run, (albeit 1 of those was a draw that resulted in a loss on penalties). Of those 39 games, we have drawn just 4 and won the other 35. I really just can't throw a game under these circumstances. 

[Edit]

I didn't throw it and we got spanked anyway.  Why am I not happy?

 

Edited March 5, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[noikeee]

lolz at Ugly Ribeiro. 

The Danish FA are being a bit cheap, no? £3,100/week seems remarkably low for a top-level international manager.

[Sir_Liam]

 Ugly Ribeiro.

Combined with the ill-fitting hair on the new style regen faces he's one terrifying prospect in the wrong kind of way.  Atleast his personality suggests he might be a nice chap.

[Jimbokav1971]

EURO Cup. Group E. Sep 2034.

I'm hoping to take points off Goteborg, (and by points I mean all 6), and I was really aiming at hopefully a couple of draws at home to Villarreal and Leverkusen. 

A 1-0 loss at home to Leverkusen isn't a disaster, but is frustrating when you look at the match stats. 

Yes I know that stats can be misleading, but.........

[nie jem frytek]

Reading @Makoto Nakamura thread I saw FK Mladost Lučani leading Serbian league. Since "Mladost" means "Youth" in Serbian I think that it is good candidate for your FM 2018 save @Jimbokav1971. OK, you have played in Serbia in (on?) FM 2016, but don't stop reading here. You can move to Montenegro (rather not popular league) and play with Mladost Podgorica (actually good club for the league they're from). There are more club with "Youth" in their name. AJ Auxerre in France for example, "J" stands for "Youth" here. Jeunesse Esch from Luxembourg, since "Jeunesse" is the "J" from Auxerre's name. I think Juventus Turin is too good club for this kind of save, but wait, there's more. Maybe Gençlerbirliği S.K. from Turkey, another blast from Makoto's thread and it literally means "Youth Union". Another crack at Regensburg would be puntastic too.