shannon2007

I guess you're not very far on with it, any signs that it is helping the players or not?

BarryLFC

Not really been playing it lately, sorry.

shannon2007

Faroe Islands v Cyprus
2006 World Cup Qualifiers (European Zone, Group Four

The wait was over, and the new dawn of Faroese football was finally here. Of course, no-one would expect miracle straight away, and although there were potentially some decent players eligible to play for the Faroes - and hopefully some still to be discovered in the future - it was still going to be a long haul to even get a squad to the stage where they could at least be considered competant.

As Cyprus arrived for the match which would probably decide the Group Four wooden spoon, the Faroe Islands found themselves ranked 131st in the world. Not by far the worst nation, yet certainly by a long way the best. Cyprus were ranked 105th, and although they had only gained one point in this particular qualifying campaign - at home to the Faroes - they too were a nation who believed they were on the rise and had one or two tasty players. Yet the fact was that even between these two nations, they probably could not produce a team capable of taking on the big boys with any great degree of success.

And so Ingi was finally able to announce his first ever team sheet, and it was one reasonably familiar to those who were supporters of IBV. In goals would be eighteen year old Gunnar Nielsen of IBV, gaining his first ever cap for his country. Given the depth of keepers available it probably wouldn't be his last - unless he had an absolute nightmare. Nielsen had been doing well for IBV and although he would never be a world class keeper and would never win European Keeper of the Year, he was nevertheless a reasonably competant player who could easily play at the 2nd or 3rd levels of the major European leagues. Possibly.

At right back would 22 year old Simun Joensen, who plays for IBV and picks up his first international cap. Although perhaps lacking in the technical side of the game at time, he has good mental and physical attributes to compensate and has had an excellent season so far for the Icelandic team.

The left back spot would be occupied by another IBV player in 24 year old Mortan I Horg. A gard working player, what he might lack in raw skill he certainly tried to make up for in raw sweat. Having a good season in Iceland, he will be hoping this first cap will be the first of many.

The central defensive partnership would be experienced Johan Byrial Hansen (29), of Danish Premier League side AC Horsens. Hansen picks up his 14th cap and is a competant enough player. Partnering Hansen will be another player gaining his first ever cap, IBV defender Leon Kjaerbaek. The 24 year old is far from the greatest central defender ever seen, but is probably one of the best the Faroes have at the moment and they will just have to make do with him.

The defensive midfield role is taken by a player with a fair bit of experience, 32 year old IBV captain Henning Jarnskor. Never has been a great player, and age is catching up but he is a good leader on the park and his experience - this being his 36th cap - will be vital to such a raw side.

In the midfield is another player with plenty of experience in terms of age, 36 year old IBV player Harley Bertholdsen. Bertholdsen though is gaining only his sixth cap for his country, and as he has failed to make a start for IBV, coming on three times as a substitute, this is perhaps one selection that is a bit of a mystery. Partnering Bertholdsen in the midfield will be Coventry City player Claus Jorgensen (29) who wins his 6th cap for his country. A decent enough player but it remains to be seen whether these two have what it takes to dominate matches together.

Rather courageously perhaps, Ingi has chosen to play three strikers, and forward line will consist of 21 year old IBV player Jann Ingi Petersen, who gains his 12th cap, on the right hand side. A speedy player he should cause some problems for the Cyprus defence but with only 2 club goals in ten games, thats hardly an overly impressive record. On the left handside of the front three will be the legendary Todi Jonsson, now 33 years old. On loan at Belgian side Charleroi, Jonsson will be gaining his 44th cap and will be looking for the goal that will see him become the first Faroese player to hit double figures. The central striking position will occupied by another IBV player, in the shape of 23 year old Christian Holst who picks up his 2nd cap. Has battled his way into the starting line up for IBV and certainly looks to have an eye for goal.

On the bench we have 22 year old keeper Berint Andreasson who plays for Faroese side Skala and is uncapped. 25 year old B36 defender Ronnie Svalbard, also uncapped. 30 year old Foroyar defender/midfielder [b]Jan Guttesen, again uncapped. 19 year old IBV forward Gudjon Adalsteinn Gudmundsson, who is Icelandic by birth but Ingi has managed to persuade him to take up his Faroese heritage. 26 year old IBV forward Andrew av Flotum will be looking to pick up his 19th cap. 26 striker Vinjard Dam who plays for B68 and is uncapped. And finally 19 year old midfielder Einar Petersen who plays for TB.

With not a lot of experience in the side, perhaps it would be wise not to expect too much too soon. Yet only seconds had gone when Jann Ingi Petersen sent the home fans into delirium with a fine goal. The lead though was to last only 20 minutes, before Michalis Konstantinou equalised for Cyprus. Both sides continued to make chance, but there seemed to be a lot of nerves and some blatant lack of skill at the crucial moment, and at the end of the day the match was to end 1-1.

It perhaps wasn't the winning start that Ingi craved, but at least they hadn't lost and there were some decent performances. Ingi believed things could only get better. The only problem with that being, the next match was away. To France.



How they played:

Neilsen 7, Hansen 6, Horg 6, Joensen 6, Kjaerbaek 7, Jarnskor 6, Berhtoldsen 6, Jorgensen 7, Petersen 7 (1), Holst 7, Jonsson 6 Subs: Flotum (on for Jonsson, 45) 6, Gudmundsson (on for Jorgensen, 61) 6

shannon2007

With the Cup gone, there was only the league and Europe to concentrate on and a Christian Holst goal was enough to see IBV to a narrow but vital win over Prottur to keep their title aspirations alive. The trip to Israel was much anticipated, with hopes of repeating the performance in Albania and certainly no-one from IBV was ready to concede this tie just yet. A goallless first half meant IBV still had a hope, and even when Daye gave Petach-Tikva the lead on the night six minutes into the second half, little had changed - two goals would still be enough to see IBV through. Bravely the players battled away and with thirteen minutes left a penalty was won which Atli Johannsson converted. Just one more goal was needed to progress, but try as they might it wasn't to come, and in the end a brave and gutsy performance just wasn't enough and Olaf's team bowed out of Europe for this season.

With the European hangover still bogging down the players, the trip to Keflavik in the league was turn into a nightmare as IBV went down 1-0 and a serious blow to their title chances. With five matches left to play, it was looking like a three fight between KR, FH and IBV. Olaf's side were some way back, but they did have matches in hand. One of those was away to Fram, and after five minutes the home side were ahead. Steingrimur Johannesson pulled a tired looking IBV side level on 22 minutes, but fifteen minutes later Fram were ahead once more. It needed another level from the IBV players, and three minutes from the interval, Steingrimur was on target once more the level the match for a second time.

The second half was a tight affair, but with less than two minutes left, Steingrimur looked to have secured a hard fought and valuable win but as he celebrated his goal, so the referee pulled him back and awarded a free kick to Fram - the goal was dissallowed. Olaf felt it hard to restrain himself and as the match ended 2-2, he had to be pulled away from the referee. What he was shouting could be translated into English as something like 'Excuse me old chap, but don't you think you have darn well cost us the league with that appalling decision?'.

IBV now needed to win all three of their remaining games, but as luck would have it their final two matches would be at home to KR and then FH. First up though would be a home match with with Cup winners Grindavik, and failure to win here would virtually make the final two matches meaningless anyway. Failure though wasn't an option and a goal in each half from Steingrimur set up an intruguing double header which, if IBV won both games, would see them crowned as Champions of Iceland. It was going to be a dramatic end to Olaf's first season in charge.

shannon2007

France v Faroe Islands
2006 World Cup Qualifiers (European Zone, Group 4)

The trip to France was bound to be a daunting one for such an inexperienced group of players. Whether such a trip for the Faroes could ever be less than daunting, time would tell but it was far from likely. With France needing every point they could muster, they would not be taking it easy and this was going to be a real test for Ingi's fledgling side. Only one change was made to the line up that started against Cyprus, with 17 year old IBV midfielder Johan V Gunnarsson being brought in to replace Harley Bertholdsen. The youngster had made few starts for IBV, but as a player with promise Ingi clearly felt now as as good a time as any to blood him.

And if the French thought this match was going to be a walk in the park, they were very quickly put in their place as Christian Holst gave the Faroes a stunning 1st minute lead after Patrick Vieira had lost the ball in midfield. For twenty minutes the Faroese support were living in cloud cuckoo land, but it couldn't last and it didn't as Claude Makalele equalized with 21 minutes on the clock. The vistors had played well, and were still causing France a few problems but soon enough the sheer class the French possessed overwhelmed their opponents and Vieira made up for his early mistake on the half hour as he finally gave France the lead, and Faroese hopes were slipping away. Four minutes from half time Thierry Henry made it 3-1 and the impossible dream was over.

Yet if the Faroe side were dispondant they certainly didn't show it, and for a while it was they who were amazingly controlling the match, and with 71 minutes gone Christian Holst gave them a glimmer of hope as he made it 3-2. As time ran out though, so Faroese legs began to tire and in the last eight minutes Djibril Cisse hammered in a hattrick and in the end the French were more than flattered by the very unfair 6-2 scoreline. The record books would show that once again Faroe had been hammered by top class opposition, but Ingi knew that there was more then enough shown in this match to give his tuny nation much hope for the future.

How they played:

Neilsen 5, Hansen 6, Horg 6, Joensen 5, Kjaerbaek 6, Jarnskor 6, Gunnarsson 6, Jorgensen 6, Petersen 7 , Holst 7 (2), Jonsson 7 Subs: none

shannon2007

Faroe Islands v Israel
2006 World Cup Qualifiers (European Zone, Group 4)

The final two match for the Faroes in this Qualifying Campaign would both be against Israel. It was the home match first, and Ingi stuck with the players who had performed so valiantly against France. Israel had no chance of reaching Germany, and so for both nations these games were nothing more than glorified friendlies, and a chance to build some confidence. With 13 minutes gone, Claus Jorgensen sent the Faroes into the lead, the third successive match under Ingi's command that his side had scored first. If only they could hold these leads, it would certainly be a habit well worth continuing.

Eight minutes later and Holst added a second, and when he made it 3-0 seven minutes after that, the Faroes were on course for a sensational result. The rattled Israeli's were starting to lose the plot, and on 37 minutes Ravid Gazal was red carded and it seemed there was now no way back for them. The Faroes though were not content to sit back on their laurels, and four minutes after the break they made the extra man count as Jann Ingi Petersen made it an astonishing 4-0. Israel were in severe danger of being utterly humiliated, and finally they started to play and with five minutes left Idan Tal gained them what was scant consolation with a goal. Less than a minute later though Todi Jonsson put the ball in the back of the Israeli net, and the Faroes had pulled of probably their greatest ever result on the football field.

It seemed this was the day for shocks as in the other match in the group, Cyprus stunned Switzerland 2-1 to blow Suiss hopes out of the water and virtually hand the group to France. Such things were of little concern though to a Faroese side who were going to make sure the party lasted as long as possible. It might well be a long long time before they would ever experience such a win again – if ever – and nothing could spoil it for them. They hadn't won the World Cup, but even if they did, they could surely not have greater joy than they did right now.

How they played:

Neilsen 7, Hansen 8, Horg 9, Joensen 9 Kjaerbaek 8, Jarnskor 8, Gunnarsson 8, Jorgensen 8 (1), Petersen 10 (1) , Holst 10 (2), Jonsson 10 (1) Subs: Gudmundsson (for Jorgensen, 79) 6

retired_brinker317

\o/ What a win. Let's hope you can build on it for the next campaign :thup:

retired_lnspeer

Better than I ever did with the Faroes, great work. :thup:

shannon2007

Thanks. I've managed the Faroes in previous versions at least once - think they were one of the teams I did when I had like a six manager story - got the odd result here and there but nothing like 5-1 over Israel. Mibbe FM06 is too easy.

Looking to the future, will I reckon it will be January 2006 at the earliest there will be any chance of regens appearing so you're looking at the campaign after the next one really. I'd say we have 6-7 decent players who wont retire in the next four years which when you think of it, isnt that many. Half of them get injured and we're screwed

Still, it is much more fun with little teams isn't it!

shannon2007

With two matches to play for IBV, they sat in third place with twenty seven points from sixteen matches, a point behind their next challengers KR who had also played sixteen games, and four points adrift of reigning champions FH, who had played a game more. Defeat to KR then would mean that IBV's title hopes would be dead and buried before the final fixture against FH and even a draw would hand the initiative to the other teams. Nerves were to play a big part in both matches, and it seemed as if all IBV's hard work would come to nothing as the match with KR entered injury time and it was still goalless. As time ran out, the clock reading 92 minutes, Gudmundsson picked up the ball inside the area and from an impossibly tight angle sent a shot beyond the reach of the keeper and IBV were alive again.

KR went on to draw their final match, and that left IBV and FH to fight it out for the title. Anything less than a win for IBV would give the title to their opponents and as the first half proceeded to an end, it was FH who took a lead on 43 minutes that silenced the 2600 crowd – all apart from the 100 odd visiting support in the far corner, who believed the title was now all but theirs. IBV though were not about to give up the fight just yet, and as the hour mark approached Jann Ingi Petersen latched on to a Flotum cross in the six yard box, and the match was level. A rejeuvenated home support tried to lift their heroes, but as time ran out so it seemed that this was just a bridge to far.

The with the clock ticking away, the home support gradually fell silent, and a feeling crept in that the match – and the title race – was over. Then suddenly, with less than ten minutes left to play, the home support rose up in a vociferous gesture of defiance as they urged their men to one last effort. There was a sudden rush of expectation, and thrill of electricity in the air, as if something sensational was about to happen and as if in a self fulfilling prophecy, Flotum again direct a cross towards Petersen who had crept into the six yard box unmarked, and as he thundered the ball beyond the helpless keeper, the IBV support's elation was complete.

As time ran out, there was no way back for a shattered and disillusioned FH side, and when the referee finally brought the 2005 Icelandic season to an end, it was indeed Olaf's IBV who had overcome so many odds to lift the title. There would be dancing in the streets of Raith, if only someone could actually find such a place........