Taking Norway to the Top

S

Sportsviking

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2011
Messages
102
Reaction score
11
Points
18
A little background: I live in the US, but my dad is from Norway and I still have relatives that live in the country so I have always maintained an interest in Norwegian football and I've always enjoyed playing the Norwegian leagues on Football Manager. I have decided to take a Norwegian club and attempt to make it into a top side in the world as well as building the Norwegian National Team into a contender. Started this on FM 12, but started too late and decided to wait until FM 13 came out to play a longer game. Hope you all enjoy!

Game Specifics
Leagues Loaded: Norway (all levels) Australia (all levels) Brazil (all levels) USA (all levels). Large database w/ all players of Norwegian and American Nationality loaded.

*no FMRTE or cheating

Team: Lyn Fotball (Norwegian Second Division Group 2)

Team History: Lyn is only remaining team that helped found the Football Association of Norway in 1902. As one of the oldest teams in the country, Lyn has a rich history that includes two Norwegian Premier Division Titles and eight Norwegian Cups. The team also became the first and only Norwegian team to reach the quarter finals of the Champions Cup, losing to Barcelona on aggregate.

Among the club alums are players like Wigan ’keeper Ali Al-Habsi and Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel.

In 2010 Lyn FK, following confusion and dispute over Mikel’s transfer to Chelsea, declared bankruptcy and ceased to exist professionally. Fans and players decided to support the club’s amateur department. The club has risen from the sixth division all the way to the second division (third tier).

In real life the team just won promotion to the second division, but in the game Lyn is listed as a lower-league side. Using the editor I put the club in the second division (replacing a team relegated in real life) and will attempt to lead them back to the glory days.

Here are the info screens for the club:
View attachment 289843View attachment 289844View attachment 289845

You can see the history we have to live up to. Facilities and Junior Coaching are bad, as expected, and I'll need to work on upgrading them to eventually supply players for the national team. The affiliations we have are with lower-league clubs and don't really provide any benefit, but they don't cost anything so I decided not to cancel them.

Backroom Staff:
View attachment 289846View attachment 289847View attachment 289848View attachment 289849
Understandably, I have a soft spot for my fellow Americans, especially NT legends like McBride, Pope and Max-Moore. All three are decent coaches and their attributes should improve thanks to a high determination ratings. Finances are currently tight and with board restrictions, I'm holding off hiring more staff for now.


Transfers:
View attachment 289850

The squad that came up from the Third Division wasn't good enough (outside of several players) and with finances not looking so healthy, big changes were always in the works.

Notable Players:
View attachment 289851View attachment 289852

Christoffer Dahl was the club's biggest signing. The veteran playmaker will bring leadership and composure to our midfield. His PPMs fit well with the system I want to play. He's far too talented for this level of football and he should be a fixture on the team sheet for years to come.

View attachment 289853View attachment 289854View attachment 289855View attachment 289856View attachment 289857

These are two amazing youth prospects I found during extensive preseason scouting. Both were step transfer fees, but they're both worth it. At this level, both are first choice players for the club and have shown flashes of immense potential. Hopefully they'll continue to develop well as both should be premier division quality eventually. Currently working on additional PPMs for both.

View attachment 289859View attachment 289860

Signed Barria on a free at the beginning of the season as a backup/hot prospect, but he started outperforming my expected starter so he has taken over as first choice on the team sheet. His attributes are developing nicely and with the "tries to beat the offside trap" PPM he's deadly as a poacher in my system.

Fixtures and League Table
View attachment 289863View attachment 289864View attachment 289865
I'm already almost finished with my first season (sorry for the late start with the story) so here's what the year has looked like. Currently on a great run of form, but the league is extremely tight with just five games remaining. Our schedule doesn't do us any favors either. I'm not worried about Tromso or Stabaek, but we play both our promotion rivals. Hopefully we can get the job done!
 
View attachment 289997View attachment 290001
A decent run of form, but disappointing considering the race for promotion is so tight. The Follo match was crazy. Right before the match, this popped up in my inbox:

View attachment 289998

This is the striker I thought would be my first choice, but was replaced by Barria. With the latter serving a suspension for card accumulation, I promised Ajeti he would get his chance in the first team. As you can see, he didn't disappoint.

View attachment 289999View attachment 290000

Providing two of the three goals and assisting on the other. A pretty decent game if I do say so myself.

We also announced our new Youth Intake.
View attachment 290004View attachment 290005
Both central defenders look very promising and I hope they'll develop well. With the facilities as mediocre as they are, I'm actually surprised we had that decent of youth crop.

Also helping for the future:

View attachment 290006View attachment 290007

Finally got the board to approve an upgrade. Now junior coaching is at an average level.


Here's the situation with two games remaining:
View attachment 290019
We still control our own destiny, but we can't afford a slip-up against Asker. A win all but guarantees promotion, a draw and I still like our chances.


Next Update: How the season ended. Did I managed to get the club promoted?
 
Last edited:
View attachment 290033View attachment 290034

It went down to the final day, but we managed to pull it off! I feared the worst when we went down 0-1 in the Asker match, but the team rallied to score just minutes later and we escaped with a draw. After that, the result was never in doubt against Stabaek. A brilliant hat-trick from Barria was a great way to close out the season. Turns out a draw would have been enough as Asker was held scoreless in its final tie.

Now on to the off season. Plenty of work to be done upgrading the squad to compete in the First Division.
 
Also been keeping an eye on this as I don't know much about Norway but always been fascinated after my love for J.A. Riise
 
TicTactition said:
Also been keeping an eye on this as I don't know much about Norway but always been fascinated after my love for J.A. Riise
Click to expand...

Awesome! Aalesunds FK (J.A. Riise's original club) is my favorite in Norway and Fulham is the team I follow in the EPL so I've always liked him as well!
 
2012/13 Preseason

New Contract
View attachment 290430 View attachment 290429
Soon after the season ended and I managed to get the team promoted, I was offered a 2-year contract extension by the board. I’ve never worried much about salary as it counts for nothing in the game, but $71,000 isn’t bad. More interesting is the new “Philosophies” section. I absolutely love this new feature and fortunately, the board put forward the incentive to invest in our youth academy and play attacking football.

Obviously my goal is to eventually generate players for the national team so developing players from the academy is a priority of mine. I don’t know how much success I’ll have in the next two years with poor facilities, but there are three decent prospects currently part of the U19s so that should help.


View attachment 290428
While I was rewarded with a new contract, my fellow manager at Asker wasn’t so lucky. I actually found this funny as Asker was our promotion rival and apparently beating them out for the title was the last straw for an ambitious board.

Financial Concerns
View attachment 290427
Undersoil heating is a requirement for teams in Norway’s first and second tiers so I knew this was coming. However, the financial hit is cringe-worthy and with finances already in the red, I was a little concerned until this happened:
View attachment 290426View attachment 290425

The money really helps the club out. We’re still in the red, but the cash injection and sponsorships should allow me to balance the books by the end of the year.

View attachment 290424
No surprise as Norwegian powerhouse Rosenborg retains the top spot in the country. Our stature increased thanks to promotion, but I’m hoping a deeper run in the Norwegian Cup this year will help the reputation even more. Thanks to its history, the club already has a good reputation within the country.

Season Awards

View attachment 290423View attachment 290422
Captain and club legend Mads Dahm won a very deserved Fans’ POTY award. I’m counting on him to again be a rock in the center of defense for this year’s campaign.

No surprises in the best 11. The defense allowed a league low in goals, which definitely helped the promotion effort. Barria scored 14 league goals, good for second on the scoring charts in Second Division Group 4.


Hands off my Backroom Staff!

While in the middle of the off season, I had this message pop up in my inbox:
View attachment 290421
I was furious. Why you ask? Take a look at this guy’s screen:
View attachment 290419

He’s not currently interested in being a coach, but I’m hoping he’ll eventually come around. In the meantime, he’s one **** of a scout and constantly brings back outstanding potential signings. So I sat him down to have a little chat.
View attachment 290420
Fortunately he saw the light and decided to snub the offer from the Premier League side. I later had to fend off another offer for him from another Premier League team, but so far Helland remains a scout for Lyn Fotball.

Budgets/Season Expectations

View attachment 290418View attachment 290417
The board is ambitious, that’s for sure. Giving me a huge wage budget lets me adjust to create more transfer money and possibly bring in some players. I set the season expectations at “avoid relegation” only because the difference in budget for “mid-table finish” or “top half finish” was negligible. Secretly my goal is to make the promotion playoffs and I don’t think we’ll struggle to stay up, but no reason to let the board know and become disillusioned.


New Tactic

View attachment 290416
Last year I mainly used a 4-3-3 that featured the wingers cutting in as the main playmakers and a lone striker up top. It worked okay, but was too inconsistent for my liking and didn’t get Sakor enough touches. I built this new tactic around Sakor and so far the returns have been excellent in friendlies:
View attachment 290411
Sarpsborg and Nybergsund were two good teams in the First Division last season so to perform well against both is encouraging. Against Sarpsborg we led 2-0 after the first half before playing a second-choice 11 in the first half so I’m not too worried about drawing. I think we got too complacent against Oslo City, hopefully that won’t happen in our league opener on national TV.


Transfers

View attachment 290415
I only made one big-money signing, but he should be worth every penny.
View attachment 290414
My assman thinks he’ll be a good Premier Division player and he’s a star at this level.

Here’s the best of the rest:
View attachment 290413View attachment 290412
Totland takes over as my first-choice left back at only 19 years of age. He’s on loan, but I’ll keep on eye on his career and maybe look to sign him in a few years. Suka Suka should provide good depth in the midfield.
 
Last edited:
April 2013

Fixtures
View attachment 290652
We’re off to a blazing start in the league, looking anything but a recently promoted side. The Bodo/Glimt match was the only one we didn’t dominate, but a draw against a side that should have no problem finishing top 6 is never a bad result. I feel good about our chances to stay up, but having only played one team in the top half of the table I don’t want to get too excited just yet.
View attachment 290653
The team’s excellent form netted me a “manager of the month” award. Very deserved if I do say so myself.

League Table
View attachment 290655
Lyn is alone at the top of the First Division. Time will tell whether we can stay there, but this hot start will greatly help our promotion chances. The drop zone has a surprising pair of teams expected to be promotion contenders. Ranheim missed out on second (and automatic promotion) by three points last season while Strommen finished 5th​ and was expected to finish top five once again. There’s obviously a long way to go, but with no wins after five matches, neither team can be feeling good.

Squad/Player of the Month
View attachment 290656
Most of my starting 11 played amazing, leading to our great start. Diego Barria is on fire, leading the league with five goals in five games. Mads Dahm and new signing Marius Amundsen look like the class center back pairing of the league and the defense has conceded only once. Last season we won promotion thanks to a league-low in goals conceded, hopefully we can replicate the feat this year.

The formation change has really helped Sakor perform up to his potential. He’s laid on three assists and dictated tempo brilliantly. Hopefully he can keep this up.

Player of the month has to go to Amundsen. The new signing has been a brilliant defender and even managed to score a goal off a corner.

Youth Development (good and bad)
Good news on the youth front.
View attachment 290657View attachment 290658
Steffen Hauger, one of my regens from last season, has been developing very well lately. With his pace and pure finishing ability I could see him getting first-team minutes as soon as next year. Gronland, another of last year’s youth crop, isn’t as far along as Hauger, but he’ll be in the first team in a few years if he continues on this path.

The bad news:
View attachment 290659View attachment 290660
Svendsen has been the first-choice left back and has helped contribute to our league-best defense. In the short-term this is a blow for our league campaign, but in the long-term I worry this could stunt his development. Although he’s currently on loan, I want to sign him in the future.
 
May 2013

Fixtures
View attachment 291987
The month saw Lyn play three Norwegian Cup games and emerge victorious in all of them. The Skeid match was a thriller I thought we would lose multiple times. Playing a mostly second-choice 11 to stay fresh for league play, I was proud of the way we battled back despite being down 0-2 (at half) and 2-3. The two studs I did decide to play (Barria and Sakor) did the heroics, providing all five goals. Here’s a screen of the match:
View attachment 291988View attachment 291989

Our league form dipped a bit after the incredible start with only one win from three, but we’re still unbeaten. Drawing relegation-threatened Strommen at home was the only real disappointing result.

We drew Bryne at home for the next round of the Norwegian Cup. I’m confident of our chances to advance.
View attachment 291990

League Table
View attachment 291992
Our dip in from, combined with continued dominance from recently-relegated Lillestrom, means we drop to second. Lyn still occupies an automatic promotion place and I feel good about our chances to stay in the top two. At the other end of the table, Ranheim continues to struggle despite being considered a promotion contender in pre-season.

Squad/Player of the Month
View attachment 291993
Excellent form from the starters continued in May. Diego Barria, Vajebah Sakor and Bajram Ajeti is the best attacking trio in the league while Mads Dahm and Marius Amundsen continue to dominate opposing forwards. My first-choice fullbacks have struggled, but Carl-Fredrick Lystad picked up the slack off the bench and with the injured Finn Svendsen due soon returning to full fitness, hopefully we can starting posting clean sheets once again. Player of the month has to go to Diego Barria who responded to his POTM snub last month by hitting seven in six games.

Nice to see so many Lyn players among the best in the First Division and Barria looks poised to run away with the scoring title.


Youth Update

There’s great news on the youth front again this month. Promising striker Steffen Hauger has been training very well recently so I decided to reward him with a spot in the 18 for the Hasle-Loren match. He ended up coming on as a 68th​ minute sub and nearly had a dream debut, getting behind the defense only to see the keeper turn away his powerful drive. Definitely going to look to get him more time in the first-team next month.

View attachment 291994
 
June 2013

Fixtures
​

Only four matches this month, but we had no trouble winning them all. Both of the 1-0 victories were deceiving, we dominated in every facet except the score line. We dealt with Bryne easily in the league so I decided to play my youngsters/backups in the Cup game and dominated once again. We’re on a 30 match unbeaten run dating back to last season, an incredible achievement for the club!

We drew recently-relegated Viking in the Norwegian Cup Quarter-Final. It’s our first real test of the competition, but I like our chances with the match being played at home.
League Table
​

Lillestrom matched us game for game during the month meaning there’s no change at the top. A title would be nice, but I’m more concerned with automatic promotion and that seven-point gap between Viking and us is a very encouraging sign. Like last year, our success has been predicated on a league-leading defense. A third of the way through the season I’m very pleased, but we’ve only played one game against the top six so our position is a little misleading.

Squad/Player of the Month

View attachment 292058
​
Mads Dahm continues to top the rating charts and for that he snags the POTM award for June. Our current place in the league is basically due to the top four players: Dahm and Amundsen keeping the clean sheets while Sakor continues to set up Barria in the attack.


Headhunted

View attachment 292059
​
In previous updates I’ve mentioned Ranheim’s struggles. Expected to be a contender for promotion, the team currently finds itself in the drop zone, seven points off safety. Having fired their manager earlier this month, I knew they were actively searching for a new head man.
Frankly I’m offended by the offer. Although money isn’t very important to me, the contract I currently have with Lyn pays nearly $20k more while Lyn’s wage budget is also higher. I quickly rejected the offer and reaffirmed my commitment to Lyn Fotball.

Competition Rankings

View attachment 292061
​
Glad to see the Premier Division moved up in the rankings. Although it doesn’t result in any additional Champions League spots, it’s always nice to see the country’s quality of football improving.

Coaching Improvements

View attachment 292062
​
I originally wanted to sign an additional defense coach, but we couldn’t agree on a contract. I now have two open coach slots, but don’t plan to use them right away. That will change if I find new staff members worth hiring. I’m thinking another 4-star attack coach to help out Steffen Hauger would be ideal.

Youth Development

View attachment 292063
​
After his promising debut last month, I decided to hand Steffen Hauger his first start in the Cup match against Bryne. The striker rewarded my faith by scoring his first goal for the club, a strike that proved to be the winner in the match. Hauger’s attributes continue to improve and I have no doubts he’ll become first-choice for the club in the future.

Meanwhile, Jan Hoth, my highly rated center-back regen, hasn’t been training well as of late.
I had a little chat to make it perfectly clear his recent effort isn’t acceptable.


Vajebah Sakor, on the other hand, continues to progress well, aided by his role with the first team. My assistant manager concurs the youngster trained well during the month.

Contract Renewals
​

Lots of players and staff with contracts expiring at the end of the season:
I’ve offered extensions to all the staff members and most of the players. Deigo Barria, Mads, Christoffer Dahl, Tommy Runar and Tom Eirk Maldal are all first-team stalwarts and shouldn’t have any problem succeeding at the next level. Jonas Rygg and Endre Knudsen are club legends, quality players and important parts of my counter-attacking tactic so they both get new deals. I see Carl-Fredrik Lystad as more of a depth signing for next season. Bajram Ajeti has been good this season, but isn’t ideal for the withdrawn forward role I’m playing him in. Right now he’s asking for too much money and I’m not afraid to let him walk. The rest won’t be offered new deals.
 
July 2013

Fixtures

View attachment 292235
Only two matches this month, but both were very important. Against league-leaders Lillestrom, the squad turned in one of its best performances of the year. An early, fluke goal had me worried, but Barria and Sakor, the two offensive stars, rose to the occasion to put us in front. After that the defense was spectacular in securing the victory. I was a little worried about a letdown against Alta after the big win over Lillestrom, but turns out there was no cause for concern.

Apparently winning two matches was good enough to earn me another Manager of the Month Award.
View attachment 292236

League Table

View attachment 292237
This includes one game in played in August, so at the end of July we were tied atop the table with Lillestrom. The gap between automatic promotion and third place is still seven points and halfway through the season I’m getting more confident about our chances at a title.

Youth Update

View attachment 292238View attachment 292239
Steffen Hauger continues to train well and should see more time in the first team next month. I immediately offered him a two-year professional contract when he turned 17.

More good news: Jan Holth has really picked it up in training after our chat last month.
View attachment 292240

Transfers

View attachment 292241View attachment 292242View attachment 292243View attachment 292244View attachment 292245
With lots of contracts in the country expiring, I’ve been on the hunt for next season’s reinforcements. I have no intention of breaking up the Dahm-Amundsen pairing in central defense, but Rogvi Baldvinsson will be a quality backup/rotation option. I’m going to attempt to either loan or buy Finn Svendsen next season, but Erlend Holm is a good option as a backup or as a starter if I can’t secure a move for the youngster. Stanley Ihugba is a premier-league quality D-mid and should help anchor an already strong defense. Djedje Arnaud Sery can play multiple positions, but I see him as my right back.
 
I love the idea of the story, but some constructive criticism would be that the layout is a bit boring with maybe too many SS, as it is a great story, but my eyes are not glued to the screen cause of how good of a read it is
 
thebluestuart said:
I love the idea of the story, but some constructive criticism would be that the layout is a bit boring with maybe too many SS, as it is a great story, but my eyes are not glued to the screen cause of how good of a read it is
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to limit the SS and do only yearly updates!
 
End of Season

Club Season 2013: Norwegian First Division

League and Cup Results:
View attachment 296405View attachment 296414View attachment 296409View attachment 296410
Lyn Fotball is going back to the Premier Division! Despite leading the Frist Division for much of the season, we were unable to hold off Lillestrom, which is promoted back to the Premier Division one season after being relegated, for the title. Viking also won promotion by way of the promotion playoffs, defeating Premier League side Sandnes Ulf to go up.

View attachment 296406View attachment 296407View attachment 296408
Part of the reason for our drop in league from was an increase in focus on the Norwegian Cup. It nearly paid off too, as we made a Cinderella run to the final, only to lose to our rival Lillestrom despite dominating the match. Hopefully the defeat makes the team hungry for cup glory next season!

Transfers and Best 11:
View attachment 296411View attachment 296412View attachment 296413
Lots of frees because I spent the bulk of the budget on Marius Amundsen, who was worth every dollar. He was a best XI selection and narrowly lost out to club icon Mads Dahm for fans POTY. That pair anchored the best defense in the league. Up front, Diego Barria cemented his place as a club favorite by netting 19 goals to claim the First Division Golden Boot. Steffen Hauger showed flashes of his immense potential and looks like he’ll be a key part of next season’s Premier League Campaign.

Extra Club Info:
View attachment 296415
Assuming I survive the potential takeover, it would be great to have a chairman who is willing to pour money into the club. Thanks to the Norwegian Cup run and promotion, we ended up with a good amount of profit, but our tiny stadium (1,200 capacity) severely limits income from gate receipts. However, that problem will soon be improved…

View attachment 296417
A little disappointing with the capacity, especially since I suspect we could draw a large amount of fans with our improving reputation, but there should be plenty of opportunity for expansion.
View attachment 296416
The board also decided to turn professional for our return to the Premier League.


National Team Update:
As I stated at the beginning of this story, I hope to eventually manage the national team and win tournaments primarily with players produced from my club. I decided not to start off my career managing both club and country as my low reputation would make it likely I was sacked for one bad result. So I've been waiting for the job to come open and during this season it did. I thought with having won promotion and with deep, underdog cup run I might have an outside shot for the job. However, the Norwegian FA laughed off my interest so for now I remain the manager of Lyn.

Next Up: see how our return to the top-flight football went!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Top