Jump to content

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


Jimbokav1971
 Share

Recommended Posts

If, after reading some of my long-winded drivel, you somehow find that you could do with more of my drivel to read, then a lot of my  stuff can be found in the following threads. Some of the threads will be mine, and others will have shared contributions. Either way, if you like what you read in this thread, then the following threads might be enjoyable too. If on the other hand you think I am boring, need to get a life, and what the hell is it with all those nicknames and will you just shut up about Professionalism, tutoring and just go and buy some players, then the following is probably not for you:lol:

 

 

 

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

In the build-up to EURO 2016, I was reading a Guardian article that I was linked to on twitter, and while the whole article was great, there was a single little paragraph that resonated with me and the way that I play FM.


https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/08/iceland-stunning-rise-euro-2016-gylfi-sigurdsson-lars-lagerback?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

Quote

It is an Icelandic trait to take some small task and essentially do it to death. Some say this mentality comes from the fishing traditions, a kind of survival machismo, the need to sit through every millimetre of briny discomfort until the catch is full. “When an Icelandic person is destined to do something they generally follow through,” Rafnsson says. “Some people would call it a disease. Sometimes you don’t even know when to stop.”

"Take some small task and do it to death". That sounds like my mantra for FM. The concise very definition of the way I play.

From a Target Man winning 67 consecutive headers in FMwhateveritwas, (just because someone said it couldn't be done), and San Marino winning the World Cup, (again, you can't do it without cheating!), to goal-scoring GK's, (that's ridiculous, you will never get past 50!) and Youth only saves, (boring, I stopped reading at the top of page 1), I suppose the way I play FM has always been...... unusual.

So Iceland seemed to suit me, (and of course I have never managed there which is an attraction too). Another attraction is that we rarely see others managing in Iceland. San Marino is all the rage now, (at least it was last year, even when you kept getting sacked 8 years into the NT job), and Gibraltar is popular with the official structure add-on being released every season now. But Iceland are neither too rubbish to be a "proper challenge" for idiots like me, nor good enough to be managed in more commonly.

As for which club I was going to be, well I was torn. Initially, my plan was, (as usual), to go on holiday for 1 season and then select one of the teams that were promoted into the bottom playable League, but this was different. The article I linked to above mentioned Breidablik specifically and how, with the arrival of the economic meltdown, they were the 1st to discard expensive foreigners and rely on home produced Youth

***

I was reluctant to start with a team in the Úrvalsdeild, (that's the Premier League to you and me), so instead I looked lower down in 1. deild karla, (that's the First Division to you and me). Semi-Pro, (check), Synthetc pitch, (check), Council owned stadia, (check), Great youth facilities, (check) and Well established youth recruitment, (check). Predicted to finish 7th of 12 teams in the FM16 game. No affiliated clubs, (so they're not a feeder which I was worried about), not a single non-Icelandic player, (check), and just 1 single player with senior International experience. 


Jóhannes Karl Guðjónsson doesn't ring any bells to me, but he has played at Villa, Wolves, Leicester, Burnley and Huddersfield. I may not recognise the name, but I certainly recognise the career. That's Joey Gudjonsson to you and me.


Handknattleiksfélag Kópavogs is a bit of a mouthful, but thankfully they are more commonly known as HK.


The club dates back to 1969, but was officially established on 26 January 1970. Originally only a handball team, with the football team established in 1992. The summer of 2007 saw the football team play for the first time in the Icelandic top division, the Úrvalsdeild. The club were relegated in their second season to the second tier and were again relegated to the third tier in 2011.


I've been going through the current (ISL) senior International squad and seeing how many, (if any), have been produced by HK. 


Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson is a centre-back who moved from HK on to West Ham before joining Bochum in Germany and onto Rosenborg in Norway.

 
Rúrik Gíslason is a winger who moved on to Anderlecht and Charlton, before going through Viborg and OB in Denmark before settling at FC Kobenhavn.


Kolbeinn Sigþórsson is one of the stars of the current (ISL) National side and although the big striker is currently at Nantes in France, he was snapped up by Dutch side AZ after just 5 games and 1 goal for HK in his debut season as a 16 year old. Good performances for AZ brought a £4.3M move to Ajax, but despite a decent scoring record in Holland, he was sold at a loss to Nantes last year, (where he certainly didn't set the World alight).

So there is some degree of pedigree to the players that the club has produced in the past and certainly enough to fill me with optimism. 


I wonder if we produced a certain young man by the name of Orri Freyr Oskarsson though...... No. It seems that he was produced by  Þór and whether it was as a result of a collapsed lung, or a change in name, he was never able to reach the heights in real life that many of us, (including myself), saw him achieve in game. Some say he was greedy, but I put this down to him actually being deaf in one ear, (it's true I tell you!) The reason for his decline from scoring 48 goals in 92 games for Þór could well be down to the serious issue of a collapsed lung, but it's equally probably that it's as a result of his pre-match diet of hamburger, chips and Pepsi, (again, I tell you it's true!), but you also have to remember that the (ISL) leagues were sponsored by..... yes, you guessed it, Pepsi, back then. 

I have had a look at the FM16 HK squad and it was pleasing that although all were Icelandic, we did have a single solitary 2nd Nationality. (I love a 2nd Nationality for some reason, possibly because I am English but to Irish and Scottish parents). That the 2nd Nationality was Nepalese, (yes really), is just a bonus, because I have never seen a single Nepalese FM player ever never mind about had one in my squad. I hope he's still in the FM17 squad. 

The first thing that jumps out at me, (looking at the FM16 HK squad), is that where as the default setting for a Serbian player in FM seemed to be between Balanced and Fairly Ambitious, (neither of which I am keen on at all), the default personality for an Icelandic player, seems to be between Balanced and Fairly Sporting. 


Fairly Sporting Spo 15-20, Pro & Det & Amb & Loy all 1-14


That doesn't look good at all. (Pro) and (Det) both at 1-14. If it was Sporting rather than (F.Sport), things would be better because it would look like this. 


Sporting Spo 18-19, Det 1-9, Pro 5-20


Potentially lower (Det), but potentially higher (Pro).


Looking at the squad, (again, I am talking about the FM16 squad, then I have 1x (F.Pro) player, and that's it. 


The actual make-up of last season squad is as follows. 


14x (Bal)
1x (L.Hearted)
1x (F.Pro)
10x (F.Sport)
3x (F.Loyal)
1x (F.Det)
3x (F.Amb)
1x (Amb)
1x (Sport)
1x (Resilient)
1x (Honest)
1x (Spirited)


I think it's safe to say that we are going to need some tutors on the hurry-up. 


With that in mind, I need to have a think about what my self-imposed rules are going to be. In my Partizan save I started off by saying that I would only sign Serbian players, but then relaxed it to allow myself to sign non-Serbian non-playing tutors, but obviously Iceland doesn't have quite the infrastructure that Serbia has. I'm tempted to relax my initial rules to include all Scandinavians, (and still allow myself to sign non-playing tutors from absolutely everywhere), but with the idea being that I will slowly wean myself off non-Icelandic Scaninavians and then ultimately, even non-home-grown Icelanders. I'm not sure how realistic this is going to be, but that's my thinking anyway. Having never managed in Iceland, (and only just becoming aware that they have a rule of a maximum of 3 non-EU players in the squad, (why don't England do that?), I'm not sure at this stage what sort of players are going to appear on my scouting list, but I guess I will use the above as a start and maybe refine/relax things as I go depending on how I am getting on. 


I just have a Senior squad and an U19 squad which is a little strange for me, so it seems that from quite an early stage in the save I am going to have to improve at selling/releasing players and/or get a feeder club going in  order to get some of the fringe players loaned out and playing competitive football. We will probably need to get promoted before we can loan players out into a playable league, (and there is absolutely no guarantee of that), and even then the 1.deild, (Icelandic 2nd League), has a rule whereby each match squad can only have a maximum of 4 loan players, (so 1 single feeder club in the league below is just not going to cut it). Maybe I shold load the Faroe Island sructure, but that isn't going to be playable from the off so I guess that's a no-go. Decisions decisions decisions. 


Something that should be mentioned at this juncture is that in real life it takes 7 years for foreigners to gain Icelandic Nationality, (but only 4 years for other Scandinavians). It should also be mentioned that being born in Iceland to non-Icelandic parents does not in itself entitle you to Icelandic citizenship. 


The next... problem, predicament, whatever you want to call it, is that because it's very cold in Iceland, their season actually runs from May to September, so by the time I start my save, we will in all likelyhood, gone through pre-season and...... actually, hang on, that's not right. If their season finishes in September, and the game doesn't come out until Novemeber, then in my FM16 save, why am I looking at a fixture list which says that we have already gone through pre-season, and played 6 out of 7 Deildabikar Group B games? (No, I don't have a clue either but we will see in the 2nd season I guess).


Ok. This is a disaster. I have just looked to extend the contract of 1 player and the option for an additional "option" on the player did not exist. Is this an Icelandic thing? This could kill the save before it begins!


Right from the off my plan is to select players based on PA rather than CA, and hope that I have enough guile about me in order that we don't get relegated and I don't get sacked. Based upon previous saves, this is not a foregone conclusion. 2 go down from a league of 12, so I just have to finish higher than 2 others. That's doable, (even with 16 year olds, isn't it....)

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.2k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Good luck with this Jimbo.  I read your Partizan thread with interest and liked some of the methods you used, which I'll shamelessly copy myself going forwards.

I've never thought about managing in Iceland myself.  Orri Freyr Oskarsson remains one of my favourite all time CM/FM players though.

Joey Gudjonsson once scored from the halfway line for Leicester.  He was the best player in a bad squad.

Link to post
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Sir_Liam said:

 

Joey Gudjonsson once scored from the halfway line for Leicester.  He was the best player in a bad squad.

As a Leicester fan I can confirm, that we were awful and that he did in fact score from the half way line!

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Sir_Liam said:

Good luck with this Jimbo.  I read your Partizan thread with interest and liked some of the methods you used, which I'll shamelessly copy myself going forwards.

I've never thought about managing in Iceland myself.  Orri Freyr Oskarsson remains one of my favourite all time CM/FM players though.

Joey Gudjonsson once scored from the halfway line for Leicester.  He was the best player in a bad squad.

 

4 hours ago, clarkehwbu said:

As a Leicester fan I can confirm, that we were awful and that he did in fact score from the half way line!

 

It's funny that you should mention Joey, because despite me saying that he was in the FM16 HK squad, he is nowhere to be seen in the FM17 version. 

I had a little look online, (ok, Wiki, but it never lies), and it says that he has never played at HK, (it must be true because Wiki says so), so I did a search in game and found he was a free agent which was a bit strange. He needs scouting, so I don't know what he looks like in terms of attributes, and I don't remember his personality, but he has a staff profile so this might be an opportunity for a bit of a BOGOF deal. 

Joey%20Gudjonsson_zpspmgjelnz.png

Joey%20Gudjonsson%20History_zpswi1lkh1t.

I look at his history and it says he was at HK in 2016 but never played a single game for them, (I know he was there in FM16), so that's a bit strange. The profile and staff profile needs a bit of navigating so I keep looking and it says that he has managed 1 club for a total of 1 day. Maybe he was the manager that was sacked to make way for me! :eek:

Actually, last season he was a Player/Assistant Manager, (who seemingly didn't play), and this season he had been appointed the previous day to the role of Player/Manager, (only to be binned by the Chairman who appointed me!)

Joey%20Career%20History_zps0zyo5yxo.png

I wonder would it be cheeky to try and get him back in as a player/coach? 

 

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 18/10/2016 at 20:23, Deisler26 said:

In on the ground floor with this one. Best of luck.

Thanks very much. Contemplated a "Can Lars Lagerback get his Lager Back" thread title to try and compete for the end of season title, but in the end decided that itb wasn't good enough anyway. 

On 18/10/2016 at 20:30, BoxToBox said:

In for the fun.

Fun? Have you read my long-winded waffle before? :lol:

On 19/10/2016 at 15:58, withnail316 said:

Best of luck up in the Nordics, Jimbo. I've not ventured to Iceland before, but had lots of fun in Norway and Denmark in particular. Will be following :thup:

Scandinavia does seem fun in general.Lots of people say it's great and I don't think I've ever done more than just dabbled in any FM.

On 19/10/2016 at 17:58, JerseyShoreDave said:

Had fun winning the Champions League win with an Icelandic club years ago.  Iceland has lots of talent for size, best of Luck!

That's an impressive achievement. :thup: Yeah, I'm hoping that rumours of Icelandic reputation issues are nothing more than that. 

4 hours ago, Black and Yellow said:

I like the sound of this one, Jimbo!

Thanks very much. :cool:

Link to post
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I make absolutely no apologies. :herman:

I've used the word concise in the opening post. I doubt very much I will be using it again in this thread. :lol:

Wouldn't have it any other way. Those long posts usually spark interesting analysis and dissection which is half the reason I enjoy FM. Looking forward to more of that here!

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Ceching You Out said:

Wouldn't have it any other way. Those long posts usually spark interesting analysis and dissection which is half the reason I enjoy FM. Looking forward to more of that here!

Seconded. Your posts are the best around :D 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I suppose the first thing I need to do is learn a little bit about the club, (because basically my knowledge is limited to what I said in post #1).

HK Club Profile

It says that we are Semi-Professional, (which is why we couldn't offer contracts with options in). To be honest I'm relieved to be Semi-Pro rather than amateur. The club was founded in 1970, but I understand that was the club as a whole rather than the Football Club, and football wasn't played until 1992. The club has spent just 2 seasons in the Premier League, (2007 & 2008), and more recently spent the 2012 season in the 3rd Division, (if this doesn't go well they could soon be back there!) The reputation is National (1.5 stars), finances are deemed to be ok, (more about that later), we play on a Synthetic, (New Type), pitch. I've only ever seen my San Marino Youth team play on a plastic pitch, (actually I think it was clay), so this is something new. We have a 1,600 capacity, (which is decent), and our stadium is called  Kórinn, I quite like the first look of our kits, and I hope they look decent in 3D too.

ISL%20Club%20Profile%20Jan%202016_zpsqh8

Club General

Surprisingly the club is valued at £3.5M. I suppose that's linked to the facilities which are going to be impressive. The media predict an 8th placed finish, (and anything better than 11th will mean safety and that will do me fine thanks very much!) Breiðablik are listed as fierce rivals, (which is actually great because they are the best team in Iceland, and what's doubly great is that it's a local rivalry too), but their success has brought them a 3,000 capacity outdoor stadium with undersoil heating. KF Vikingur are also rivals, (local), and they are Vikingur R rather than Vikingur O. An average Season ticket costs £50, (which incidentally will buy you just 2 League 2 tickets at my club Barnet). :mad: There are 397 season ticket holders, (which I think is reasonably impressive actually). The squad is "Fairly Ambitious", (which I like not at all). We have 1 club legend who is a 40yo GK who is currently playing for Breiðablik, (turncoat!), (but he is also a turncoat with 26 International caps and is HG at our club so expect to see me try and woo him before too long), and 1 club icon who isn't in the game.  

ISL%20Club%20General%20Jan%202016_zpsjp2

Club Facilities

Owned by the council is not good, but I have a feeling that owned by the Council in Iceland might not mean the same thing as owned by the Council in England. (I certainly hope not). The Training and Youth Facilities are "impressive" and "great", the junior coaching is just "average", but the big pull for me here is "Well Established Youth recruitment". 

ISL%20Club%20Facilities%20Jan%202016_zps

There are no affiliate clubs and the club has never won the title at this level before, (despite playing higher in 1 spell).

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Jupjamie said:

but my main takeaway from that is that a Barnet ticket costs £25?!?!

And for that glorious price you get to see a central midfielder playing at right back, a right midfielder playing at left back, a left back playing on the left of midfield, a striker playing on the right of midfield, and a clown playing alongside Big John up front. Please please please don't get me started on this. :(

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

And for that glorious price you get to see a central midfielder playing at right back, a right midfielder playing at left back, a left back playing on the left of midfield, a striker playing on the right of midfield, and a clown playing alongside Big John up front. Please please please don't get me started on this. :(

Didn't realise your manager was LvG.

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

Didn't realise your manager was LvG.

We had Edgar Davids for a while and although it was ultimately un-successful, (but fun), I loved the brand of football we played. 

Now, with Martin Allen at the help we are just a bunch of cloggers, he hardly ever picks one of my favourite players, (Luke Gambin, who will surely play in League 1 next season after leaving on a free), and the only thing that might save us from relegation this season is that despite our woefulness, Big John is going to score so many goals at this level that we still just might survive. No more Barnet comments from me. 

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

Club Staff.

Well that's interesting.... It looks as if both the Chairman and the MD are both women! Nothing wrong with that of course. It's just interesting. For those that didn't know by the way, "dóttir" at the end of both the surnames at the top of this pic simply means "daughter of", in exactly the same way that "son" at the end of the lower names in the pic mean "son of". 

Using this example, the Chairman's surname literal translation is daughter of Kristjan meaning that her Father's forename was Kristjan. There is no continuation of surnames in Iceland and as a result I might be dispensing with surnames when creating "nicknames" for my players during the save.

We have a rubbish Ass Man, and even more rubbish HoYD, a similarly rubbish coach, a poor physio, a pants Chief Scout, and a reasonable U19's Manager.  

ISL%20Club%20Staff%20Jan%202016_zpsmxck0

Club Finances

I know it's early days yet, (or to be specific, early day singular), but things are actually looking pretty reasonable here. We are only spending approx 75% of our wage budget, and we also have £10k to go and buy players. We have just under £90k in the bank Life's good. 

ISL%20Club%20Finances%20Jan%202016_zpszx

Club Scouting.

You might be wonder, what is a Youth Development save doing worrying about scouting? but hold on to your horses for a minute and I will tell you. As far as I'm concerned, any player that has ever been produced by our club, (and by that I mean we were his very 1st club), is fair game and should be considered a realistic transfer target. It may be that I have to spread my target next wider to achieve success, (maybe to other clubs in Iceland and maybe even outside Iceland and insto the deepest darkest depths of Scandinavia), but don't worry about that too much. We will cross that bridge when we come to it and see how we go, At the start we will just be looking for players that our club has already produced and to that end I am currently scouting 25 players, 4 of whom have been offered a trial. 

ISL%20Club%20Scouting%20Jan%202016_zpszq

I will of course be focusing on players that come through our academy under my tenure, but in the short to medium term, I am certainly not adverse to bringing some old boys back home.  

 

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

GK's.

Well this would seem to be a promising start. You usually get your best GK's as old blokes who you often find it quite hard to replace at short notice. Here I have a 2.0 CA star GK who is actually a 5.0 PA star 17 year old. 

ISL%20GKs%20Jan%202016_zpseyv8zar9.png

The only real problem is that the GK isn't actually great. It just means that the others are really pants. 

ISL%20Andri%20THORNoacuter%20Bal%20Jan%2

Still, I don't really know what the opposition standard is like yet so can't really complain. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

DL's.

Well this doesn't look great, and for a few different reasons. First of all, the best player is a loanee, and well basically loanees just don't work in a save like this. The idea is that I develop my own players and playing loan players who we don't even own is not the way forward. More bad news is that of the 6 players who can play left back, only 2 of them are actually specialist DL's, (in the broadest terms). The others are all either centre-backs or right backs....... (now there's a thought.....)

ISL%20DLs%20Jan%202016_zpsk58zlylv.png

Reynir is significantly the best left back at the club, (hence why he was signed by someone previously).

ISL%20Reynir%20F.Sport%20Jan%202016_zps7

If I bin Reynir and send him back to wherever he came from, then I have to rely on Halldór Björn (Spirit). I think you would agree that's not my smartest. as a result, I think Reynir will stay, (unless I can replace him), and Halldór Björn (Spirit) will act as back-up.

ISL%20Halldoacuter%20Bjoumlrn%20Spirit%2

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

DR's.

Now this on the other hand is simply a vision of beauty. There is only 1 specialist DR at the club and he happens to be 5.0 PA 16 yo Björn (Temp) *. The "*" is to indicate he is a 5.0 PA player at this stage. Jökull (F.Amb) could do a job at DR if asked, but he is far more a MC and his legs are going anyway. 

ISL%20DRs%20Jan%202016_zpsskhukjpg.png

Björn (Temp) * is excellent and yes I appreciate that he's not much of a passer, but I don't care and will happily make allowances for that. He looks excellent. 

ISL%20Bjoumlrn%20Temp%20Jan%202016_zpsq6

Link to post
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, dafuge said:

I tried starting a save in Iceland a few years ago (FM11 maybe?) but decided that typing the player names would be far too much effort.

I'm guessing this won't be too much of a problem for you :D

I love foreign names like this and what I do is just copy and paste directly from the player nickname, so actually it's not that bad. The change in game where the nickname changed from starting blank to starting as the set name has made quite a big difference to me.

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, SounessTash said:

What about Teitur for LB, it says thats his best position on that pic or do you need him at CB?

He's certainly an option at DL, but he's 6'4" and has jumping of 16. He's a natural at both positions but I see him more as a DC.

Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I love foreign names like this and what I do is just copy and paste directly from the player nickname, so actually it's not that bad. The change in game where the nickname changed from starting blank to starting as the set name has made quite a big difference to me.

That's a great tip, wish I'd known about that before!

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, dafuge said:

That's a great tip, wish I'd known about that before!

It's a relatively new addition. 

I think possibly FM15 was the first release where the default setting was to include the starting name when you edit a player name. It might have been FM14, but certainly not earlier than that. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

DC's.

Looking at this, it now becomes apparent why I opted to use Teitur (F.Sport) as a centre-back. Although we have a few different options, each are flawed in their own way.  Using Birkir Valur as an example, he looks more suited to a DM than a DC role to me.

ISL%20DCs%20Oct%202016_zpsovxori1a.png

Birkir Valur is obviously the stand-out candidate in terms of PA, but if we look at him at this early stage, he isn't really what I look for in a centre-half and as well as being weak in the air, he has far too much actual footballing ability for a centre=back for my liking.

ISL%20Birkir%20Valur%20F.Sport%20Jan%202

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, SounessTash said:

What about Teitur for LB, it says thats his best position on that pic or do you need him at CB?

 

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

He's certainly an option at DL, but he's 6'4" and has jumping of 16. He's a natural at both positions but I see him more as a DC.

I thought I would let you have a look at him seeing as you had noticed that he was an option at left-back.

After not initially using the Octagon at all, I now use it the whole time and if you look at Teitur's, it really jumps out at you where he strengths are. When you convert that into a choice of full-back or centre-back, then it's not really much of a question even before you see the other starting DC at the club, (Birkir Valur), and cosnsider his weaknesses.

ISL%20Teitur%20F.Sport%20Jan%202016_zps1

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

DM's & MC's.

Well at first glance we look to at least have strength in numbers in this position. I have included both DM's and MC's together because I don't plan on using DM's and they will have to be re-trained to somewhere else, most probably MC. After further delving however, we actually have very few what I would call "proper" central midfielders and not even very many "limited" players that often seem to be all the rage in FM circles, where the player is technical and attacking, but doesn't have nearly the required defensive attributes for what I want to be a well-rounded roll. 

ISL%20DMs%20amp%20MCs%20Jan%202016_zpsdd

Jökull (F.Amb) is an experienced midfieder and he will be key to our survival. A veteran of 12 seasons in the Premier League, and this will be his 5th elsewhere. His partner is likely to be Kristófer (Sport) * who shows more attacking intent, but they key for both of these players will be their ability to shield the back 4 and recycle possession effectively when the opportunity presents iytself.

ISL%20Kristofer%20Jan%202016_zpsqcerji3b

ISL%20Jokull%20Jan%202016_zpsstqbcpqq.pn

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

AMC's.

This is actually quite a key role in my team and I am a little underwhelmed by the options available to me.  Kristófer (Sport) * is probably the pick of the options, but unfortunately I have already pencilled him in for a deeper roll. With any luck, that will change as the save progresses. 

ISL%20AMCs%20Jan%202016_zpst8qiftht.png

Ragnar Leósson (F.Sport) is probably the best alternative short-term option, but he certainly doesn't tick the boxes that I was looking for. 

ISL%20Ragnar%20Jan%202016_zpsodq3nkvy.pn

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

ML's & AML's

In what was my favourite position on FM16, (I seemed to just churn out start after impressive star), I have really started with a dearth of quality on the left flank in FM17. Worse than a lack of depth, we actually only have 1 left sided player available after ruling out full-backs. What makes it worse is that we seem to have an abundance of options on the right flank. Ragnar Tjörvi (Bal) is the lefty, and while he has some decent room for growth, he's VERY raw at the moment and I don't really want to consider him as a starter in what is a pivotal position in my team. I could possibly cope with my AMR(s) being rubbish, but my AML(a) needs to be decent. 

To those who have never followed one of my threads before, I have an intense dislike for wrong-sided wingers and full-backs. I really don't like it in real life and its even worse on FM. no no no no no. Absolutely no.

ISL%20MLs%20amp%20AMLs%20Jan%202016_zpsm

 IF's I can just about get my head around, but wrong-sided wingers....? :stop:

With that in mind, I have sold my soul to the the Football/FM devil and my first choice on the left flank will actually be a righty. 

He's not what I am looking for in a right winger, (I would prefer it if his crossing and dribbling attribute values were swapped), so that sort of highlights him as a candidate to play on the left flank. Add in that he has at least some ability with his left foot....... 

Actually...... I say that, but I don't know that. All I know is that he is "right rather than right only". I can't actually find the page where the info about the level of jhis footedness is shown. It doesn't seem to be anywhere. Is this a Beta error I wonder? Or am I going blind

In any case, he's the best that I have available so I had better how I can do something with him. 

ISL%20Ingimar%20Eliacute%20F.Sport%20Jan

[Edit]

Cougar has just told me in GQ where the "footedness" info is. 

Player - Development - Tactics. 

Now what an impressive scree that is. :applause:

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

MR's & AMR's.

You can see that we have considerably more options available on the left than on the right. 

ISL%20AMRs%20Jan%202016_zps0deyycmv.png

Frustratingly, the right winger with the best player by PA, (Tómas Ingi (Bal)) is actually on loan at a club in the (non-playable), 3rd Division. I have immediately re-called him and my intention is to start him.

ISL%20Toacutemas%20Ingi%20Bal%20Jan%2020

 

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

SC's

We actually seem a little short in this area and compared to my Partizan save, (where I was ridiculously spoilt), we seem short if I'm honest. It's one position that I'm glad we have a player in on loan, (albeit a MC who thinks he's a SC), and no matter how good he does, he will not be back next season. I didn't do the loan deal and I never will, (at least that's the plan). 

ISL%20SCs%20Jan%202016_zpst34gbh5a.png

Hákon Ingi (Bal) might be the 4th of 6 ranked by PA, but he's actually the only "proper" SC in the squad, and his mix of CA and PA makes him the stand-out candidate anyway. He's rather decent actually, (pretend you haven'y seen the balance attribute), and I'm delighted with him. 

ISL%20Haacutekon%20Ingi%20Bal%20Jan%2020

Link to post
Share on other sites

League Cup Update 2016.

The reason that this competition, (which is not important to me at all), is being given a post of it's own is simply because 1. I have never played in this competition before and it's at least a little bit unusual, and 2. It seems to just fit well to getting it out of the way now. I'm not sure if I will continue giving it a update to itself as the seasons progress, but I'm actually thinking I probably will

Now the board expectation for this competition was that we not get outclassed too often, and with the exception of the  Þor game, that didn't happen. What did happen however was that when we were unable to make the knockout stages with 1 game remaining, I received a media message telling me that we had been "outclassed" in the competition. (which is a tad strong.

League Cup Fixtures

ISL%20League%20Cup%20Fixtures%202016_zps

League Cup Table

ISL%20League%20Cup%20Table%202016_zpslzb

The start of the (ISL) season sees 3 teams of 8 with each team playing the others in their group just once. Premier League and First Division clubs are mixed. The top 2 teams from each group progress to the quarters, plus the best 2 of the 3 3rd placed teams. You can pick 7 subs in this competition, (unlike the League where you can only pick 5), but you can actually use 5 of the 7 which is interesting. (On that note, there is still not room for a GK on my bench).

 

  • We scored 2 goals in each of the opening 2 games but unfortunately this was only enough for 1 point as we came up against a mid-table Premier League team, and a higher ranked team than us from the First Division. Scoring 4 is great. conceding 5, not so great.
  • The 3rd game saw us go up against Þor who are one of the favourites for the Premier League title, so I opted to freshen things up and made 7 or 8 changes and the rest who played were usually subs. It finished 4-1, but 2 of their goals were scored in the last 5 minutes so the game was still in the balance until late. 
  • Grindavik are 3rd favourites for the First Division title and despite having a player sent off before half-time, we still finished with a creditable draw. It did mean however that we had now played 4 competitive games under my tenure without a win, and had 2 players sent off in the process. On the plus side, we were unbeaten against fellow First Division sides. 
  • Our 5th game was up against 2nd favourites for the First Division title, (Fram), and they beat us convincingly 3-1 in quite a one-sided affair. 
  • We finally notched our 1st competitive win under my tenure at the 6h attempt as we won 3-1 against Huginn. If we hadn't beaten them then the alarm bels would have started ringing as they are 1 of the teams expected t finish below us in the First Division. 
  • We lost the last game against Selfloss, (when we were favourites), but to be honest we had won our first game and that's all that mattered. We were off the mark. 

[Edit]

All in all I'm relatively content with that showing. Yeah I know we finished 2nd bottom, but that was probably to be expected and the fact that we were competitive in all games bar 1 gives me reason for optimism. Obviously scoring goals is not going to be an issue at all, but perhaps keeping them out at the other end might be. Did I expect anything else when opting to select PA over CA and including a 17yo GK and a 16yo DR in my strongest line-up? Add in that we are still adapting to a new tactic and I think we are doing ok. We are possibly playing too deep at the moment and I am going to being them forward 1 notch to normal. I am also going to look at the central 2 and look to change the roles so that they offer more protection. I have currently got a BWM(d), and a CM(s). Is the BWM(d) closing down too much and leaving gaps that are being exploited?

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

Squad determination issues

I have been waiting for this problem to rear it's head and it was something that @Ceching You Outand @Jupjamiewould have experienced last year in their saves. The issue is that the average level of determination within the squad is so low, that when you do get a young player through with decent determination, (or even high determination), then it is quite quickly eroded so that it is a self-perpetuating cycle. The squad determination is low and if you train the players in determination then it is also reduced again because the determination is low and if you bring players in who have high determination then theirs drop because the squad determination is low. It's almost as if you have to do it all at once which isn't possible. 

I had an idea last year while discussing this with the 2 lads mentioned above, and I think the answer is to "cull" those with the worst determination ratings, and tutor and train everyone else in determination. (Det) is far more easy to tutor than (Pro), simply because it is more common, but the "squad erosion" is still an issue.

If I rank my squad by determination, then the top end looks reasonable, (at this level), 17, 12, 12, 10, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, but if I look from the bottom it's more concerning with 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4.

We are Semi-Pro at the moment so I still have the option of non-contract terms and I think the idea here is that I could sign decent Det players on no weekly wage and it wouldn't matter what the appearance fee is because they wouldn't be playing, and then I could tutor the least determined players in the squad "en masse" until such time as the tipping point is upward rather than downwards leading. 

The player with 1 Det is being tutored by a player with 9 Det now. The 1 Det player is one of my 5.0 PA players so it's important that this gets changed at least a little. I can't afford for 1 player to bring the average down like that and I'm not in a position lose a 5.0 player whatever his Det. 

The player with 2 Det has 3 Tutor options and the highest Det between them is 5. I'm not setting my sights that low so I will either bring in a tutor for him specifically, or I will release him. He's an 18yo MC with 3.0 PA. 

The first 3 Det player has been returned to his parent club because he was a MC/SC in on loan and I hated that. I didn't want to release him immediately before getting used to the squad, but I'm not going to use him so he's gone. If that's the reason for us not avoiding relegation and me getting sacked then so be it. I'm not willing to compromise on this. 

The second player with 3 Det has been released because he is a 2.0 DR/MR who is one of these players who has been caught between 2 positions and is actually neither. 

The third player with 3 Det is a wide player with 3.5 PA and I am a little reluctant to release. There are no tutor options who have >5 Det, so it will be a case of me bringing in a non-contract tutor for him too. 

The fourth player with 3 Det is a 15yo MC with 4.5 PA. I like him and he has to stay. I'm waiting for a 12 Det tutor to recover from his last tutoring and then he will have a go on the 15yo. (Should have done him 1st in hindsight). 

If I can fix and/or remove the 6 lowest players in the squad by Det, then I'm hopeful that this might change the tipping point. If at the same time I also bring in 2x non-playing Det tutors on non-contract terms, then this will push the tipping point further in the right direction. It really does seem to be a case of managing the Det to at least a reasonable level before i even think about looking at (Pro) level, and just for the record, this is the depth of my (Pro) influence at the club at this moment. 

ISL%20Pro%20OCD%20Apr%202016_zpss7rqpay1

That's not the personality of my squad. (Oh how I wish it was). That is the total number of players who have any sort of Pro personality at all. 1 single solitary (F.Pro). That's it. 

:( 

 

 

Edited by Jimbokav1971
Link to post
Share on other sites

Because I decided that I wasn't going to bring in anyone, for any reason, all I ever really did about determination was releasing all the youth candidates who weren't great prospects with bad determination, and keeping the ones with good determination at the club no matter how bad they were. 

I never had the determination in the squad at a high enough level to drag the average up, but we did (fairly quickly) get to a stage where people's determination would stay at the same level, rather than absolutely tank through the floor because of the rest of the squad. With you bringing in players to help rectify that and tutoring for determination, I don't think it will be too long before you fix that issue. The professionalism might be another problem :D 

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Jupjamie said:

Because I decided that I wasn't going to bring in anyone, for any reason, all I ever really did about determination was releasing all the youth candidates who weren't great prospects with bad determination, and keeping the ones with good determination at the club no matter how bad they were. 

While I'm not setting rigid restrictions such as no signings at all, I am trying to make the save as self-funded as possible. 

With that in mind, my initial intention is to never play a single player in a competitive game who was not brought through our Academy. I may have to relax this at some point in the future, (hence no grandiose promises that I am unable to stick to), but it's certainly a goal/target for the save. 

Signing players who have previously come through the academy here and then gone on to ply their trade elsewhere are certainly fair game, (and I have signed 4 of those already), and I know already that I am happy to sign non-playing tutors who are not products of our academy. 

It may well be that I struggle so much that I dispense with some/all of these restrictions, but it's certainly the way I want to see the save progress. I appreciate that even these modest restrictions give me a considerable advantage over those like you who play "proper" Youth Challenge saves. If I was to restrict myself in that way, I fear that my Model Pro OCD would cause me to have a breakdown. :lol:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...