[FM13]'Let me start at the (IK) Start and then take it away...'

[withnail316]

September

Beat Arsenal, lose to Tromsø....yeah, that's about right. 

All in all, things are looking good for us. The league can be won in the next couple of weeks, we're into another Norwegian Cup Final, and that unexpected Arsenal win has me dreaming of a 3rd place finish and the Europa League....

[BoxToBox]

[withnail316]

3 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

Cheers

The "Miguel Riveros out" mob will have been out with pitchforks after that defeat, I reckon....

[withnail316]

Ouch.....

4-0 down at half time, but we at least won the second half so it finished 4-2. I thought it would be 7 or 8 the way the game started....

[withnail316]

Youth intake 

*sigh* It's time to sack my HoYD then....

 

[withnail316]

I love the work permit situation in Norway... I'm pretty sure absolutely everybody gets one, despite scouting reports suggesting otherwise. 

A pity he won't be eligible for European games, but I couldn't resist signing him up. 

[withnail316]

Crumbs.... we finished this game with 11 Norwegians on the pitch, too. 

[Dexter_Morgan]

Good enough for 3rd? 

[withnail316]

12 hours ago, Dexter_Morgan said:

Good enough for 3rd? 

I think we need one more result for 3rd, probably in the home game against Spartak. A draw will probably give us 3rd, but a win could see us qualify...

[withnail316]

October/November

I've not been able to update here for a few days, but I've got plenty of games in during that time. Here's where we are:

The league and cup double has been secured, so we've obviously had an excellent season. However, it could yet get even better...

Essentially everything between 2nd and 4th is on offer in the Champions League. The head-to-head record would put Shakhtar through if they beat Arsenal, but if they don't and we beat Spartak, we'll go through. If Shakhtar lose to Arsenal and we draw with Spartak, we'll go into the Europa League and Spartak will qualify for the last 16. 

 

[withnail316]

Gutted. Two up after four minutes, and creating chance after chance, yet we couldn't build on it and got caught twice on the break. Still, 7 points in our first year in the CL and a 3rd place finish isn't to be sniffed at!

[withnail316]

IK Start
2014 season summary

League (Tippeligaen)

Media prediction: 3rd (of 16)
Finished: 1st (champions)

Cups

Norwegian Cup: winners
Champions League: group stage (3rd place)

 

Top scorers

Petter Saugestad: 20 goals in 39 games
Markku Härmä: 16 goals in 37 games
Sverre Nevstad: 11 goals in 39 games
Erik Trondsen: 11 goals in 43 games

Positives

Again, I'm really pleased with the way the season has gone. A record number of points in the league, just 18 league goals conceded, and the cup added to the league title is an outstanding return. I'm absolutely delighted with how our European campaign has gone too, 7 points in that group is a great return, even if I was a bit disappointed to squander a two goal lead against Spartak, and as a result miss out on a second place finish. I'm really pleased we're finally developing our facilities this winter too, and I hope we can sort out a stadium expansion in the not too distant future. The squad is also looking good domestically, but I do need to try and find a bit of quality for European games. 

Concerns

Very few right now, there's plenty of cash in the bank, a reasonable amount of space in my budget for new additions, and the squad seems pretty happy. 

Ambitions

Another title challenge next year, and I'd also like to be involved in a European group stage again (I'm not fussed which competition, either)

Player of the season

Sverre Nevstad wins this by a mile. 11 goals from centre-back, and 12 man-of-the-match awards in his first season make him a clear winner for me. 

Attendances

Lowest attendance: 11,194 (v Odd in the league)
Highest attendance: 14,300 - sell-out (9 different sell-outs)
Average attendance: 13,447 (13,177 in the league - 4th highest in the league)

Finances

€9.1m in credit

[withnail316]

Trying to make some more progress with this, but struggling to find FM time as life is a bit hectic. 

This is mental, though: 

I'd much rather the club spend that on the stadium, but there you go...

[withnail316]

In the midst of an immensely frustrating window. I know what I'm looking for, yet I just can't find a player of the quality who'll improve us. That €4m is really burning a hole in my pocket, too...

[withnail316]

IK Start
Tippeligaen 2015

Media expectation: 2nd (of 16)
Board expectation: challenge for the title

Transfer budget (remaining:) €4.33m 
Wage budget: €90,500p/w (€23,500p/w under budget)

As I briefly mentioned above, it's been a really frustrating transfer window, so despite having a huge budget available, we've spent next to nothing over the course of the winter. Still, we've not lost any players of note either, so I'm hopeful we should still be competitive on the pitch domestically - and I hope to strengthen in the summer before we're involved in Champions League ties again. 

We are at least in the midst of upgrades to both our youth and training facilities, which should be complete before the league season starts in mid-March. Next up is a youth network upgrade, although I suspect that is still a while off just yet. It is important that we start to produce some of our own youngsters though if I'm going to be able to continue the club's upward trajectory, especially as I'm struggling to identify players young enough to become home grown in the transfer market right now. 

One player I know I'm going to have to replace soon is striker Markku Härmä. The Finnish international has been pestering me about a move to a bigger club for about six months, but the only real replacements I've found are either out of my budget (€3m+) or only available on loan. I suspect I'll have to let him go in the summer, so I'm hoping something comes up in the next few months. I also suspect Marc Schmitz will need to leave as well, and both are huge players for us. 

As for transfers we have done, we've brought in around €1.3m in transfer fees for winger Mahktar Sow, who has gone to Molde for €1.2m, and defender Eike Bruhne joined Sandnes Ulf for just under €100,000. We've spent €250,000 on Stig Are Jørgensen from Odd, while Terje Ornaheim was released by Vålerenga and signs on a free. 

[kidthekid]

I like the both of both signings in terms of potential. Onarheim has good technical skills, and with age, those mental attributes should improve a lot

[withnail316]

On 03/10/2017 at 05:08, kidthekid said:

I like the both of both signings in terms of potential. Onarheim has good technical skills, and with age, those mental attributes should improve a lot

Fingers crossed. I'm struggling to start the conveyor belt of talent I normally like to put together at my clubs as we simply don't have the youth talent at the club. Hopefully he'll be the first...

[withnail316]

UEFA Europa League
Round of 32

1st Leg: IK Start 1-1 Dortmund
Delighted with the lads' performance here. I expected Dortmund to dominate possession, which they did, but we caused all kinds of problems on the break. Ousseynou Gomis took advantage of one of those counters to smash us in front just before half time, and although Dortmund equalised 15 from time, I'm really pleased we've at least stayed in the tie. 

2nd Leg: Dortmund 2-2 (a) IK Start
Incredibly, our European adventure continues! Sverre Nevstad put us in front in the tie and on the night after under a minute, nodding home a near-post corner. Dortmund levelled just 7 minutes later, and the Germans took the lead with a blistering free kick after half an hour. However, we fought back, and right on half time, Markku Härmä slotted home a leveller as we broke with pace once again. The second half was a back-to-the-wall job where we hung on for dear life, but in the end, the players fought like lions and we're through to take on Ajax in the next round. 

[withnail316]

Two new arrivals for the summer, both youngsters who were picked up on Bosman deals. 

Klein is one for the future, but Bellan will go straight into the first team squad as our 4th choice central defender. 

[withnail316]

UEFA Europa League
Last 16

1st Leg: Ajax 1-1 IK Start
Ajax dominated the game, but were brilliant defensively and we leave the Dutch capital with a great chance of progression. We fell behind after just six minutes, a curling free kick left our keeper helpless, but despite being under constant pressure, we held firm for the rest of the game. We didn't create many chances, but 9 minutes from time, Markku Härmä was left on his own in the box and the Finn powered home an effort from 15 yards to level the tie. 

2nd Leg: IK Start 1-3 Ajax
All good things must end, but the manner of our defeat stung. We dominated the game, but Ajax's keeper played out of his skin and they were clinical at the other end. An early free kick put the Amsterdam side on top, and then we missed a golden chance to level when Trondsen smashed a 20th minute penalty straight at the keeper. Ajax scored again just before half time, and a third arrived 10 minutes in to the second half. Petter Saugestad grabbed a late consolation, but this one was there for the taking. 

Still, a decent effort in Europe this year. 

[withnail316]

My third striker has been ruled out for six months the day before transfer deadline day, so I've had to settle on a loan deal:

I think this lad could be quite handy. He's arrived for 2 seasons, and all we're paying is his wages. 

[withnail316]

March & April

(Apologies for the delay getting back into this, as I've said elsewhere, I'm expecting another mini-Withnail any time, so FM has been quite a way down my list of priorities at the moment... anyway, here we go:)

It's been a long few weeks, but I'm really quite pleased with how we've started the season. I was delighted to get through the BVB tie, and although Ajax were too strong for us, I think we can be quite satisfied with how our European campaign has gone. As for the league, we've had one truly awful result but we're looking pretty good on the domestic front right now. 

[kidthekid]

Congratulations!!!

[withnail316]

33 minutes ago, kidthekid said:

Congratulations!!!

Thanks, fella. 

[withnail316]

I can tell I've been struggling to add young talent to the squad, either by signing players for the youth team or in the youth intakes, as now we're horribly short at centre back for 6 weeks thanks to two injuries.

Luckily Marc Schmitz can fill in at centre back if needed, but I suspect my scouts will have a busy few weeks poring over the released lists of France and Germany to find some cover.

 

 

[Dexter_Morgan]

Hopefully the European run will help your rep a bit

[withnail316]

2 hours ago, Dexter_Morgan said:

Hopefully the European run will help your rep a bit

Hopefully so. 

[withnail316]

Well that didn't take long...

He's on a bit more money than I'd wanted to pay (joint-top earner on €5,000p/w) but he should be a terrific addition for 18 months or so. We've beaten seven clubs to his signature too, including Anderlecht, Gent, Genk and Standard Liege. 

[withnail316]

May

Another reasonable month, albeit with one shocker of a performance thrown in. The league is looking quite tight, but I'm pretty confident we'll have too much for the sides around us as we get into the second half of the season. 

I'm expecting a little bit of disruption in the squad with a few players leaving this summer, the most prominent being striker Markku Härmä. I don't really want to sell him, but every few weeks he's knocking on my door about moving to a bigger club, so it's inevitable he'll leave soon. I'd like to think we can smash our transfer record when he leaves, especially as he's being chased by top-flight German clubs. 

I have however already signed his replacement for a mere €550,000. Looks a steal to me:

 

[withnail316]

[withnail316]

Signed for €180,000 and sold for €4m two years later. Decent business!

[BoxToBox]

Tidy work!

[withnail316]

My squad is becoming a bit of a sprawling mess. I have seven players who can play in the three roles behind the striker, so some players simply aren't getting enough game time. That means I'm going to have to sell one of the non-homegrown players, but considering they're all excellent, that really stings. 

The joys of football management...

[withnail316]

Kaspars Kopca was allowed to leave for €500,000, which is decent for a player signed on a free and a bit-part player, while we've picked up this lad for zip:

[withnail316]

UEFA Champions League
2nd qualifying round

(Too many goals for my normal update style, so....)

[withnail316]

June & July

Extremely brief update as it looks like tonight is the night but - everything is coming up Millhouse at the moment....

[withnail316]

Yesterday was indeed the day - daughter #2 arrived safely last night, so I wouldn't expect a great deal of movement with this thread for a while (and even if I do get some FM in, I can't see my updates having too much detail!)

I shall be back once she's all settled though, cheers. 

[withnail316]

My new assistant manager needs a bit of a talking to. I was asking her if I should use an AM or a DM for the CL tie, and she nodded off on my chest...

 

 

[BoxToBox]

On 10/18/2017 at 21:31, withnail316 said:

Yesterday was indeed the day - daughter #2 arrived safely last night, so I wouldn't expect a great deal of movement with this thread for a while (and even if I do get some FM in, I can't see my updates having too much detail!)

I shall be back once she's all settled though, cheers. 

Top youth intake!

[ManUtd1]

Congrats, @withnail316!

[withnail316]

14 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Congrats, @withnail316!

Cheers fella.

[deltablue]

Congratulations. I am still getting used to my niece is who is a month old tomorrow

[withnail316]

UEFA Champions League
Play off

1st Leg: APOEL 2-2 IK Start
On paper, this looks like an excellent result away in Cyprus, but in reality it feels like a defeat. We were 2-0 up with THREE minutes to play thanks to goals from Lillebekk and Trondsen, but we fell asleep from two set pieces and so we have to settle for a draw. 

2nd Leg: IK Start 3-1 APOEL
A much better performance, and we're safely through to the group stages once more. Gomis smashed us in front after 27 minutes from range, and Trondsen put a free kick into the top corner 3 minutes before half time. Stig Are Jorgensen curled in a third on the hour to seal it, and although we conceded again late on, we'll take our place with the elite at the top table of European football once again. 

The draw, however, is pure hell: 

[withnail316]

On 21/10/2017 at 13:28, deltablue said:

Congratulations. I am still getting used to my niece is who is a month old tomorrow

Thanks DB. It certainly takes some getting used to!

[withnail316]

August

Another great month domestically, and the board have agreed to spend over €10m on our youth and training facilities after qualification for the Champions League, which is excellent news. Still no joy with the stadium expansion, but the club is making giant strides forward at the moment. 

[withnail316]

September

Title won with five games to go, two excellent points picked up in Europe and into another cup final. Lovely stuff.

[withnail316]

Youth intake

At last, a viable youth prospect! Lots of work required to improve him, but he's got a chance. 

[withnail316]

October & November

Another league and cup double secured, with the cup final in particular a truly outstanding display. We've been a little more porous defensively this year, but our goal tally has gone through the roof. 

I've also confirmed a couple of deals for next season: 

Hans Erik Gran returns to the club for €325,000 (really €162,500 with the 50% clause on his transfer) as we're short on players developed by the club, while Oliver Kirkenes comes in for €300,000. Gran has been excellent since he moved on so I'm looking forward to him being part of the squad, while Kirkenes can expect to be loaned out next season. 

[withnail316]

Match day 5: Real Madrid 2-3 IK Start
Preposterous. We were all square at 0-0 at the break, but Real Madrid incredibly only had 9 men on the pitch after red cards for Ander Garcia and Hugo Coelho (CR7). However, 7 minutes into the second half we were behind from the penalty spot, and after 67 minutes it was 2-0. That brought about a double substitution, and one of them - Hallgier Lie - put a perfect cross onto the head of Marc Schmitz to halve the deficit with 15 to play. With two to play we were all square, as another substitute Ousseynou Gomis smashed home from the edge of the box, and in the 90th minute, Hicham El Omari won it. Ridiculous. 

Match day 6: IK Start 4-3 Liverpool
Another insane game of football. Ousseynou Gomis put us two up after just 10 minutes, and Liverpool struck back after 27 minutes. Sverre Nevstad nodded in a third just before half time, and five minutes into the second half it was 4-1 thanks to Lillebekk. We could have made it five, but Gomis' penalty was saved, and although Liverpool roared back with two more goals, we managed to hang on for the win. 

[withnail316]

IK Start
2015 season summary

League (Tippeligaen)

Media prediction: 2nd (of 16)
Finished: 1st (champions)

Cups

Norwegian Cup: winners
Champions League: Group stage (winners)

Top scorers

Ousseynou Gomis: 18 goals in 41 games (7 in the league)
Per Lillebekk: 16 goals in 36 games (5 in the league)
Petter Saugestad: 14 goals in 32 games (10 in the league)
Erik Trondsen: 14 goals in 44 games (7 in the league)
Sverre Nevstad: 12 goals in 36 games (6 in the league)
Emiliano Torsiglieri: 11 goals in 13 games

Positives

Where do I start? League, cup, Europe... all went magnificently. We've scored 151 goals in the 49 games we've played this season, and with an average age of 22 in the squad, in theory we can only improve. It's absolutely insane we've managed to win a Champions League group that contains Real Madrid, Juventus and Liverpool so soon (I'm wondering if this being a fake player save has anything to do with that?) but I've got to be happy with that. Couple that with the investment in our facilities and the talent coming through in the youth team, things are looking pretty good for the club. 

Concerns

Other than the board consistently rejecting my pleas to expand the stadium (we had a 96% occupancy rate this season, and the stadium was sold out 22 times) very few. Several players have knocked on my door asking for a move to a bigger club, which is potentially problematic in the future, and there is also the possibility of me having my head turned if I feel I need a new challenge. 

Ambitions

To continue improving, and to find a way to get a few of those youngsters into the first team. 

Player of the season

Easy choice: 14 goals and 21 assists make Erik Trondsen the obvious candidate for player of the year. 

Attendances

Lowest attendance: 10,284 v Hødd in the cup
Highest attendance: 14,300 sell-out (22 sell-outs)
Average attendance: 13,815 (13,855 in the league - 4th highest in the division)

Finance

€15.3m in credit