retired_amyslack

Author’s Note
I am playing FM2005 version 5.0.5 with all of the leagues from the Scandinavian/Nordic countries activated and all Faeroe Island players loaded. I’m hoping that this will turn into a career game but then again I might get sacked rather quickly, who knows.


It is early January in 2004 and I have just taken over at Icelandic First Division club HK – the initials probably stand for something meaningful but thus far I haven’t been able to find out what. The team plays at the Kópavogsvöllur Stadium in Kópavogur, the second-largest city in Iceland with a population of about 25,000. It lies south of ReykjavÃ*k and is a part of the greater ReykjavÃ*k area. The ground has a capacity of 3,500, awful training facilities and a negative bank balance. There are four backroom staff, including myself, Bjarni Gunnarson, and a playing squad of 32 fine young men.

The Bootroom
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| --------------------------------------------------------------| | Job | Name | Weekly wage | Expires | | --------------------------------------------------------------| | Manager | Bjarni Gunnarsson | £500 | 30.9.2005 | | --------------------------------------------------------------| | Coach | Þórður Gunnarsson | £200 | 30.9.2007 | | --------------------------------------------------------------| | Physio | Ragnar GÃ*slason | £150 | 30.9.2008 | | --------------------------------------------------------------| | Scout | Ólafur Jónsson | £100 | 30.9.2008 | | --------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>The Players
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Position | Age | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Gunnleifur Vignir Gunnleifsson | GK | 28 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Halldór Örn Jónsson | GK | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Guðbjartur Haraldsson | SW/D C | 33 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Atli Þór Jakobsson | SW/D RC | 24 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Guðni Már Kristinsson | D R | 21 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Ã�sgrÃ*mur Albertsson | D RC | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Óli Þór JúlÃ*usson | D RC | 23 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Jóhann Björnsson | D C | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Pálmar Hreinsson | D C | 29 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | JúlÃ*us Steinn Kristjánsson | D C | 28 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Guðmundur Benedikt Þorsteinsson | D C | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | JúlÃ*us Freyr Valgeirsson | D/DM L | 25 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Ã�rni Thor Guðmundsson | D/M R | 23 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Victor Knútur Victorsson | D/M RC | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Jóhann Ingi Jóhannsson | D/M C | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Stefán Jóhann Eggertsson | DM RL | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Þórður Guðmundsson | M RC | 25 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Hilmar Rafn Kristinsson | M RC | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Birgir Rafn Birgisson | M L | 27 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Einar Hjörvar Benediktsson | M C | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Zoran Panic | M C | 32 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Brynjar Skúlason | M/S C | 25 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | DavÃ*ð Magnússon | AM R | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Hörður Már Magnússon | AM L | 32 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Bjarki Már Sigvaldason | AM C | 16 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Brynjar VÃ*ðisson | AM C | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Gunnar Örn Helgason | AM/F RC | 24 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Baldur Finnsson | S C | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Pétur Geir Svavarsson | S C | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Magnús Orri Sæmundsson | S C | 29 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | Finnur Ólafsson | S C | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------| | GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson | S C | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
With the notable exception of the splendidly named Zoran Panic, the squad is all Icelandic. We have three friendlies arranged for this month so that will give me an initial idea of the abilities of the players. One of my first actions is to post an ad at the Job Centre for an Assistant Manager. With but a single left sided defensive player on the books I also need to get some backup for that position.

Our first warm-up match was at home to Premiership side Fram and we gave a fairly good account of ourselves until we began to tire and they ran out 4-1 winners. A few days later we took on a local amateur team and drew 1-1 and I can already see that our strikers aren’t the best finishers in the world. Our final pre-arranged game is against another amateur side and striker GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson is out to prove me wrong about the strikers as he scores a hat trick.

I get my new Assistant Manager in the shape of 48-year-old Dane Gert Jensen, an experienced campaigner who should be of great assistance. I also grab left back Jón Fannar Guðmundsson on a free transfer after the 23-year-old was released by Premiership side Grindavik.

I am new to the Icelandic structure but looking at the fixture list I see that from late February to April we will be playing in two competitions, the Upper and Lower League Cups. The Upper League Cup has two groups of eight teams, with the top four in each group progressing to the Quarter Finals. It appears that each team plays the other once – not sure how home and away is determined. The Lower League Cup has four groups of five teams. Once again you play each team once and the group winners progress to the Semi Finals.

Our Upper group has four Premiership sides and four teams from the First Division and we begin with an away match at Grindavik. It was an open and entertaining game – perhaps a little too open given the final scoreline. We shocked our hosts when we took an early lead through a deflected free kick from Gunnar Örn Helgason. But within ten minutes we had fallen behind, the second goal the result of a dreadful fumble from keeper Gunnleifur Vignir Gunnleifsson that was credited as an own goal. There was no further scoring in the first half and just five minutes after the restart we drew level through striker GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson. When we lost left back JúlÃ*us Freyr Valgeirsson some minutes later it seemed to affect the shape of the team as I had to play midfielder Þórður Guðmundsson out of position on the left of defence. The visitors profited by scoring three times in the last ten minutes for a flattering 5-2 win.

A week later we played our second game in the group at home to fellow Division One side Þór. This was another open game and both sides created plenty of chances. A major factor in our win was the excellent play of keeper Gunnleifsson who more than made up for his mistake in the last game with a Man of the Match performance. We took the lead inside 5 minutes when teenage attacker Bjarki Már Sigvaldason scored after neat work from Birgir Rafn Birgisson on the left of midfield. There was no further scoring in the first half but we doubled our advantage ten minutes after the restart through striker Ólafsson who nipped in front of his marker neatly. He added a third in the 69th minute when he crept into the area unmarked and made a tidy finish. At that point it looked like it was game over but I was amazed how quickly we seemed to tire and with ten minutes remaining the visitors scored twice in two minutes to really put the wind up us. Fortunately we scored a late 4th to kill the game off. Virtually the entire Þór team, including their keeper, was in our area for a corner, but when the play broke down they were exposed at the back and midfielder Einar Hjörvar Benediktsson took advantage by lofting the ball into an unguarded net for a final score of 4-2.

Our third group game was at home to Premiership side Valur and it followed a pattern that was starting to become familiar – we started strongly but faded near the end as we tired and lost concentration. Luckily on this occasion we had done enough to hold on for an excellent win. Striker Ólafsson has done enough to convince me that he is our number one and two goals for him in the first half served as confirmation of his worth. The visitors pulled a goal back with less than 15 minutes to play but another Man of the Match display from keeper Gunnleifsson enabled us to stay firm and gain full points with a 2-1 win.

Our 4th group game required a visit to Premiership Keflavik who had only won one of their matches so far. We got off to a bright start and went ahead inside ten minutes when JúlÃ*us Freyr Valgeirsson converted an early penalty. We had the better of the first half but couldn’t add to our lead before the break. But within ten minutes of the restart we doubled our advantage through Brynjar Skúlason. On 65 minutes the home side pulled a goal back but after another ten minutes we re-established our two-goal cushion through GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson. Our hosts scored again with a late strike but we were able to see out the 4 minutes of stoppage time for an impressive win that took us to the top of our group. The bad news was an injury to Gunnar Örn Helgason and his broken wrist would keep him out of action for several weeks.

A few days later we played our first group match in the Lower League Cup at home to non-league KFS. I decided to give my first choice players a rest but the second string didn’t do too well and we lost 2-0. The game was spoilt by a very picky referee who dished out no fewer than ten yellow cards during the course of the match.

Our second Lower Cup group match was also against non-league opponents as we travelled to Tindastoll but this time with close to a full strength team. Our hosts were no mugs but we played some good stuff and goals from GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson and Brynjar Skúlason gave us a 2-1 win.

We had to wait until early April for our 5th Upper Cup match and a visit from Premiership side Porttur. The tem performed brilliantly and the highlight of our 5-0 win was a hat trick from GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson. The striker is not a natural finisher but he’s fast and strong and has a good footballing brain, and with 10 goals in 6 games you can’t argue with his strike rate. Strike partner Brynjar Skúlason was also on target and JúlÃ*us Freyr Valgeirsson added another from the penalty spot.

More Lower Cup action next with a game at home to non-league Numi and, aided and abetted by a poor performance from the visiting keeper, we racked up a comfortable 5-0 win. GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored twice with Einar Hjörvar Benediktsson, Birgir Rafn Birgisson and Brynjar Skúlason adding the other goals. For winger Birgisson it was his first goal of the season and he may well claim that his audacious strike from some 40 yards out was deliberate but it had the look of a misplaced cross to me.

For our next Upper Cup game at KA we were missing striker Ólafsson who had picked up a training injury and we were perhaps a little fortunate to leave with a 0-0 draw. Both sides created some good chances and the respective keepers were kept busy but we lacked the composure up front to take advantage. But the point was enough to ensure our qualification for the Quarter Finals.

A few days later we were back in Upper Cup action again with a visit from Volsungur for our final game in the group stage. It was an open game with plenty of chances at both ends although the quality of play wasn’t of the highest. We were in front twice through strikers Brynjar Skúlason and a fit again GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson but on each occasion we were pegged back and the game finished in a 2-2 draw.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Upper League Cup Group B| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | HK | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Valur | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Q | KA | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Q | GrindavÃ*k | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 9 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Þróttur | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 9 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | KeflavÃ*k | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 7 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Völsungur | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 6 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Þór | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 5 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
Our final game in April was our Upper Cup Quarter Final at home to Premier Division Fram. Centre back Guðbjartur Haraldsson gave us the lead in the first half with his first goal of the season and GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson wrapped up the win with a goal ten minutes from time.

Within a few days it was time for the Semi Final stage of the competition and we were drawn at home to Premiership side and holders FH. An over-zealous referee made a bit of a mockery of the game with liberal use of the yellow card and I was amazed to see no fewer that three of our players get booked twice leaving us with just eight men on the pitch at full time. This was just too much of a handicap and we lost 2-0.

We went into our penultimate Lower Cup game at home to BI 88 with three players suspended after the farcical happenings in our previous game. Despite gaining a good 4-2 victory, a 5th straight win for group leaders KFS meant that we had no chance of qualification for the Semi Finals. For the meaningless final group game at Magni I made a lot of changes to the starting eleven to give a number of fringe players some action. A couple of players stood out in our 4-0 win – defensive midfielder Jóhann Ingi Jóhannsson was excellent in front of the back four and striker Finnur Ólafsson scored twice.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Lower League Cup Group D| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | KFS | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | HK | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Númi | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | B� 88 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Tindastóll | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Magni | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_tonytranbg79

What a first post. :eek:

Good luck with this one bob

retired_amyslack

Thanks Tyrone

The league programme got underway in mid-May and we opened our campaign with an excellent 4-0 win at home to Vikingur. Goal machine GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored a hat trick with Gunnar Örn Helgason adding the 4th. Birgir Rafn Birgisson excelled on the left of midfield and Guðbjartur Haraldsson was a rock in the centre of defence.

We continued with a midweek trip to Volsungur bur unfortunately suffered a 2-1 defeat. The closest we came to scoring in a goalless first half was a snapshot from distance by GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson that came crashing back off the bar. The home side took the lead with less than 20 minutes remaining but substitute striker Magnús Orri Sæmundsson equalised within ten minutes. Sadly we conceded again before the end and, despite having created enough chances to win the game we failed to take advantage.

Next up was a visit from league leaders KS. We took the lead after quarter of an hour when GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored a typical poacher’s goal. He was in just the right place to tap in after a shot from Birgir Rafn Birgisson came back off the post. The visitors dominated possession in the second half as they came back looking for an equaliser. Had they display a little more composure in front of goal then I am sure they would have found one. But as it was they rarely troubled keeper Gunnleifur Vignir Gunnleifsson and we managed to hold on for a narrow 1-0 win.

Another midweek game followed as we travelled to Haukar and again failed to find the net away from home. After a goalless first half the home side went ahead on 68 minutes and in spite of carving out a host of very presentable chances we spurned them all to return with a 1-0 defeat.

Towards the end of May the Upper League Cup Final took place and holders FH lost out to Grindavik 2-1 after extra time. The next day the Lower contest was decided with Afturelding triumphing over KFS on penalties after an exciting 2-2 draw.

We closed the month with a home game against Breioablik and having conceded an early goal we struggled to get our game going. It was a strangely subdued performance and we never really got our attacking game going but fortunately GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson got a late equaliser with his 20th goal of the season. The result left us with a symmetrical record of won 2, lost 2 drawn 1 and we occupied 6th place in the table. Right at the end of the month we unloaded defender Ã�sgrÃ*mur Albertsson to non-league Reynir on a free transfer.

June began with a trip to KA and at half time it looked like we may get our first away win in the league as breakaway goals from Brynjar Skúlason and GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson had sent us into the break 2-0 ahead. Things looked even better when the home side had a man sent off after an hour but we somehow contrived to concede three goals to the ten men and ended up losing 3-2.

The midweek visit of bottom club Vikingur represented a good chance to get points on the board and the team didn’t disappoint me, winning comfortably 4-0. The opposition were poor defensively and we took full advantage. Jón Fannar Guðmundsson started the scoring from the penalty spot and not only did he put us a goal up, the referee’s decision to show a second yellow card to a visiting player also gave us a man advantage. All in all, the match official made 11 bookings – rather extreme as it was by no means a dirty game. We used our extra man well and Gunnar Örn Helgason added our second before GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored twice.

We had a weekend off before visiting FH in the 1st round of the Icelandic Cup. As in the Upper League Cup, the Premiership side proved just too strong for us, winning 2-1. After a scoreless first half the home side took the lead shortly after the restart. We were able to strike back immediately with a brilliant breakaway goal from Brynjar Skúlason and we were minutes away from a creditable draw when the winner was scored in the 89th minute.

We then had a break of several weeks before league action restarted in early July with a visit to Þór. The lads looked sharp after their layoff and goals from Gunnar Örn Helgason, GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson and DavÃ*ð Magnússon gave us a very good 3-1 win and advanced us to 4th place in the table.

Our next action was a Sunday game at home to Fjölnir, a team just above the relegation places. An unedifying contest was marred by a profusion of yellow cards and we ended the game with just nine players on the pitch after both Birgir Rafn Birgisson and DavÃ*ð Magnússon received two bookings. Some wild finishing meant that we failed to extend the visiting keeper and the final result was a frustrating 0-0 draw.

We went into our next game at Vikingur with two players suspended and thee injured and in the circumstances the 2-2 draw was a decent result against a tem in 3rd place in the league. Twice we fell behind and twice Brynjar Skúlason scored excellent equalisers.

Before the visit of Völsungur we agreed to release midfielder Brynjar VÃ*ðisson to Reynir on a free transfer. For 66 minutes we dominated the game but had just a single gaol from Brynjar Skúlason to show for our efforts. Then the visitors scored an undeserved equaliser to tie the game. Worse was to follow when they scored again deep in stoppage time to inflict a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat. With 7 games left to play we sat 5th in the table and had no real hope of mounting a push for promotion.

We began August with a trip to bottom club KS but conceding a goal in the first minute was certainly not in the script. I lost count of the number of chances we created and it was frustrating to say the least that we only converted one of them, GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson equalising on 70 minutes. The 1-1 draw meant that we had now gone four games without a league win and our season was coming to an anti-climactic conclusion.

We got off to a flying start against second place Haukar when Brynjar Skúlason scored in the first minutes but the visitors struck back with an equaliser inside ten minutes. A robust encounter saw five players from each side receive yellow cards but there was no further scoring and the draw does nothing for our league position.

We had two first-choice players suspended for the visit to Breiðablik and once again we received a rash of yellow cards, �rni Thor Guðmundsson getting two for his pains to reduce us to ten men on the hour mark. Thankfully a goal from Brynjar Skúlason inside the last ten minutes was enough to give us a narrow win.

Brynjar Skúlason maintained his scoring streak by getting our opening goal at VÃ*kingur Ó inside five minutes and GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson doubled our lead half an hour later. Unfortunately our top scorer was unable to continue after the break and we looked a lot less dangerous in the second half. The home side reduced our lead when Óli Þór JúlÃ*usson was credited with an own goal on the hour mark but we were able to hold firm for the win.

Þór were the visitors for our final game of the month and the first 45 minutes were as poor as I can remember seeing this season. But after some suitable encouragement at half time we did look a little better after the break. The game burst into life in the last ten minutes when we scored three goals – two from Gunnar Örn Helgason and one from Brynjar Skúlason who has now scored seven goals in his last seven games.

We entered our final two games of the season still with a mathematical chance of getting promoted and we had to get a win at home to second place KA to keep our hopes alive. In front of our biggest crowd of the season we put in possibly our best performance of the season, winning 4-0 with an excellent display of attacking football. Guðmundur Benedikt Þorsteinsson opened the scoring after half an hour and strikers Brynjar Skúlason and GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson added one each to give us a strong half time lead. Skúlason added the 4th with 20 minutes remaining to round off a great afternoon. The remaining results tied up the league title for Völsungur but left the runners-up slot wide open.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Völsungur | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 17 | +9 | 34 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | KA | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 15 | +8 | 30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | HK | 17 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 15 | +16 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | VÃ*kingur | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Haukar | 17 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
So going into our final game at Fjölnir our task was clear – we had to get a win and hope that KA failed to win at home to Haukar. At half time we were keeping our side of the bargain as we led 2-0 thanks to an own goal and a strike from Brynjar Skúlason but KA had established the same lead over Haukar. As the second half continued Skúlason added another goal and midway through the half we heard news that Haukar had pulled a goal back. With 15 minutes to play Gunnar Örn Helgason scored our 4th but there was no further news from KA. As the final whistle blew we had still not heard of any further goals and a few minutes later it was confirmed – KA had held on for the win and we had fallen just short.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Völsungur | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 17 | +9 | 34 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | KA | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 15 | +8 | 30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | HK | 17 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 15 | +16 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | VÃ*kingur | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Haukar | 17 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Þór | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 19 | -3 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Fjölnir | 17 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 21 | 25 | -4 | 20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | VÃ*kingur Ó | 17 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 26 | -5 | 19 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | R | Breiðablik | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 30 | -14 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | R | KS | 17 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 31 | -22 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
It had been a valiant effort but we were undone by our poor run of from in July and despite winning our last five games we had left ourselves too much ground to make up. But there were some impressive performances from several of our players - GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored 27 goals in 29 starts and Brynjar Skúlason managed 19 in 25 appearances.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Av Rat| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Gunnar Örn Helgason | 22 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 7.68 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson | 29 | 27 | 9 | 6 | 7.62 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Brynjar Skúlason | 24 (1)| 19 | 10 | 1 | 7.60 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Óli Þór JúlÃ*usson | 19 | - | 1 | - | 7.58 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Birgir Rafn Birgisson | 29 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 7.48 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Guðbjartur Haraldsson | 28 | 1 | 1 | - | 7.43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Guðmundur Benedikt Þorsteinsson | 20 | 1 | 1 | - | 7.40 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jóhann Ingi Jóhannsson | 22 | - | 3 | 1 | 7.36 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Hilmar Rafn Kristinsson | 25 | - | 5 | 1 | 7.36 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jón Fannar Guðmundsson | 24 | 1 | 1 | - | 7.33 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Finnur Ólafsson | 7 (6) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7.31 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Einar Hjörvar Benediktsson | 13 (1)| 2 | 6 | - | 7.29 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pálmar Hreinsson | 13 | - | - | - | 7.23 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | JúlÃ*us Freyr Valgeirsson | 10 | 2 | 1 | - | 7.20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ã�rni Thor Guðmundsson | 14 | - | 1 | - | 7.07 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Gunnleifur Vignir Gunnleifsson | 33 | - | - | 4 | 7.03 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jóhann Björnsson | 1 | - | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pétur Geir Svavarsson | 2 (5) | 1 | 1 | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Magnús Orri Sæmundsson | 1 (1) | 1 | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | JúlÃ*us Steinn Kristjánsson | 4 | - | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Hörður Már Magnússon | 3 (1) | - | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Bjarki Már Sigvaldason | 6 (6) | 2 | 4 | - | 6.92 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Victor Knútur Victorsson | 4 (4) | - | - | - | 6.88 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Þórður Guðmundsson | 0 (6) | - | - | - | 6.67 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DavÃ*ð Magnússon | 6 | 1 | 2 | - | 6.50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Guðni Már Kristinsson | 3 | - | - | - | 6.33 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Zoran Panic | 0 (5) | - | - | - | 6.20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Stefán Jóhann Eggertsson | - | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Baldur Finnsson | - | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Halldór Örn Jónsson | - | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Atli Þór Jakobsson | - | - | - | - | - | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_confal2

Pity your late rush wasn't enough to overtake KA. I like the way you summarize longish periods of time in a single post, whilst still maintaining an interesting level of detail. And as usual I'm in awe of your code mastery :thup:

retired_jgirl87

Bob, you must have both played and written a story on evey league available in CM/FM. Well, it seems like it anyway.

Good luck with this gig in Iceland.

retired_amyslack

Thanks for the support chaps - sorry for the delay in updating - too many distractions recently.

Season Two

During the long winter break I decided to release a few players who were surplus to requirements so we bid farewell to Zoran Panic, Baldur Finnsson, Magnús Orri Sæmundsson and Atli Þór Jakobsson. We played a few warm-up games in January 2005 – the results were mixed and the sparse attendances made no impact on our mountain of debt (£135K and counting) but at least it gave the players a semblance of match fitness.

We got back into competitive action in the Upper League Cup with a game at home to �A. A lively opening saw us have a goal disallowed and Gunnleifsson save a penalty before we fell behind on the half hour. We equalised before half time with a penalty of our own converted by Jón Fannar Guðmundsson. There was no further scoring and the game ended all square.

A few days after the match we made our first signing of the new season, 21-year-old midfielder Henning Eyþór Jónasson joining on a free transfer after being released by Premier League side KR. He was carrying a slight injury and it would be a week or two before he could be considered for any action.

We travelled to Valur for our second Upper Cup game and got off to a flying start, taking the lead from the penalty spot through Jón Fannar Guðmundsson after just 5 minutes. Sixty seconds later Gunnar Örn Helgason doubled our advantage, the same player scoring our 3rd on the 20-minute mark. The visitors pulled a goal back before the break but Helgason completed his hat trick midway through the second half to give us an excellent 4-1 win.

We made another signing a few days later, bringing in 21-year-old centre back Þorkell Guðjónsson from Valur on a free transfer. Our next game in the group was at home to Þróttur and GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored his first goal of the season to give us the lead at half time. He scored again late in the game before the visitors got a goal of their own but we were able to hold on for a 2-1 win despite having Hilmar Rafn Kristinsson sent off in the closing stages. We also lost Gunnar Örn Helgason to injury in the first half and he would miss two weeks of action.

A few days later we played our first Lower League Cup match at home to KS and goals in each half from Bjarki Már Sigvaldason and Hörður Már Magnússon gave us a comfortable 2-0 win. Brynjar Skúlason was the match winner in our next Upper Cup game at Premiership KR, scoring both goals in our 2-1 win. His first goals of the season took us to the top of our group and virtually assured our qualification.

Our second Lower Cup game at Stjarnan gave us our first defeat of the season as we returned with a 2-1 defeat, Einar Hjörvar Benediktsson scoring a late consolation near the end of the match. I had a policy of playing my second XI for these games to give them some competitive action and try to keep them close to match fitness but it was clear that they lacked the quality of my first choice selection.

April opened with a Lower Cup match at home to group leaders Fjölnir and a fairly uneventful game ended scoreless. A narrow 1-0 win at KA ensured that we qualified for the Quarter Finals of the Upper League Cup, GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scoring the only goal to get the win. The next day the squad was strengthened further with the acquisition of experienced right winger Rútur Snorrason from Keflavik on a free transfer. We also secured young striker Haukur Jónsson for a season-long loan from Haukar as we needed some cover up front.

In our penultimate Upper Cup game at home to VÃ*kingur Ó, GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored the only goal of the game to preserve our unbeaten record in the group. Our final game at Haukar finished goalless, thanks mainly to keeper Gunnleifur Vignir Gunnleifsson but the point was enough to finish top of the group.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | HK | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Ã�A | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Q | KR | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Q | Haukar | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | KA | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Valur | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 15 | -7 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Þróttur | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | VÃ*kingur Ó | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 17 | -13 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
A 1-1 draw in our Lower League Cup match at Tindastóll meant that we could not qualify for the next stage of the competition rendering our final game in the group meaningless. But before that we had other business to attend to – an Upper League Cup Quarter Final at home to FH. The first half was very disjointed and even though we took the lead through Gunnar Örn Helgason we were lucky to go into the break in front as the visitors missed a penalty shortly after we scored. We tied up the win in a mad 15-minute period in the second half when GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson scored twice and Hilmar Rafn Kristinsson struck our 4th. FH got a late consolation as we won 4-1 but we lost Helgason for a fortnight with a foot injury.

Our last Lower Cup game was re-arranged once more as we faced KR in the Upper Cup Semi Final. We had home advantage and soon we also had a man advantage as we won an early penalty and our opponents had a player dismissed for the professional foul. Jón Fannar Guðmundsson despatched the spot kick to give us a lead that we never relinquished to go one step better than our Semi Final appearance last season. We would face Fram (ISL) in the Final at the end of May in the hope of securing the first trophy in the club’s history.

We travelled to Höttur for the much-delayed final game in our Upper League Cup game and secured a 3-0 win. Bjarki Már Sigvaldason opened the scoring with on-loan striker Haukur Jónsson opening his account with two goals of his own.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Fjölnir | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Stjarnan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | KS | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | HK | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Höttur | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | -7 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Tindastóll | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_amyslack

Mid-May saw the start of the league campaign and we began with a visit by Haukar and an intensely frustrating 1-1 draw. As sometimes happens in football, we made all the running but an inspired display by the visiting keeper restricted us to a single goal from GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson. Then late on we were caught on the break and conceded an undeserved equaliser. The midweek visit of Þór followed the same pattern, except this time neither side managed to score and the game ended goalless.

Our trip to leaders VÃ*kingur was certainly eventful and I can’t say that luck was on our side. We took the lead through Hilmar Rafn Kristinsson after 20 minutes but then conceded twice before the half hour. The first can only be describes as a total fluke, the scorer converting a cross with his shoulder when facing completely in the wrong direction. The second was credited as an own goal to keeper Gunnleifsson after a shot came back off the woodwork and bounced in off his back. We got back on terms before half time through Gunnar Örn Helgason and then went ahead shortly after the restart thanks to Brynjar Skúlason. But the drama wasn’t finished yet – the home side had a man sent off with 25 minutes remaining but still managed to find a late equaliser to rob us of our first league win of the season.

A busy month continued with another midweek game as we travelled to Leiknir Reykjavik, a team newly promoted to the First Division. Two goals from GÃ*sli Freyr Ólafsson broke our sequence of draws and the striker would have scored more but was twice denied by the crossbar. But our top scorer was ruled out of the Upper League Cup Final at Fram, which was a big disappointment. We acquitted ourselves well in his absence, recovering from a goal down to square the game through Brynjar Skúlason but it wasn’t enough. The Premiership side proved to be too strong and a goal 20 minutes from time condemned us to a 2-1 defeat.

Moving into June we had to try to shrug off the disappointment of the cup final defeat and concentrate on our promotion challenge. Prior to resuming league action we had news of our first international honours as midfielder Henning Eyþór Jónasson, just recently arrived at the club, won his first U-21 cap in the 1-0 defeat of Hungary.

We then played our game in hand at home to VÃ*kingur Ó in midweek and were rarely threatened in our 3-0 win. Haukur Jónsson opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half. Holding midfielder Jóhann Ingi Jóhannsson scored a rare goal on the hour mark for our second and Brynjar Skúlason wrapped it up near the end.

We then travelled to leaders Valur at the weekend with spirits high and looking for a win. Another Jónsson penalty gave us an early lead but we then had to endure some intense pressure from the home side with keeper Gunnleifsson performing brilliantly to keep us in front. A late goal from Brynjar Skúlason looked to have made the game safe but Valur pulled a goal back in stoppage time to make for an edgy finish before we got the win.

We were drawn at Premiership side KR in the first round of the Icelandic Cup in midweek and I decided to go with my second choice selection to preserve our best players for the league campaign. We shocked the home side with an early goal from centre back Þorkell Guðjónsson but they soon recovered, scoring twice in each half for an easy 4-1 win.

Before our next game we secured another loan signing as 19-year-old Hjálmar Þórarinsson joined from the season from Þróttur. The youngster has a lot of potential and I planned to give him some playing opportunities whenever possible. Striker Ólafsson was fit again for the trip to Fjölnir so he was straight back into the starting eleven. We survived some harsh refereeing decisions that saw us reduced to ten men for the last half hour with the dismissal of right back Óli Þór JúlÃ*usson and goals from Birgir Rafn Birgisson and Gunnar Örn Helgason gave us a slightly fortunate 2-0 win.

Our early Cup exit gave us a break before our next match in early July and during that time we agreed a deal that sent full back Guðni Már Kristinsson to Reynir. He had no place in my plans for the team and we accepted a nominal fee but included a 30% sell-on clause, just in case. We had three players suspended and three more injured when we entertained �R and played quite poorly in a very dull goalless draw. I was told after the game that we had just established a record of 15 league games unbeaten and we have not lost in the First Division since July of last year.

Another uninspiring display at home to Þróttur followed at the weekend and whilst we never looked like losing we created precious few scoring opportunities and the game ended scoreless. We showed much more enterprise in our next match at Þór but despite hitting the woodwork twice we still failed to score and registered our third consecutive goalless draw.

Having just passed the midpoint of the league season we remain unbeaten and competing for promotion but with six draws out of the ten games we have played we could easily have been in a much more dominant position.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Haukar | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | HK | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Þróttur | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Valur | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | VÃ*kingur | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | VÃ*kingur Ó | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 14 | +1 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Fjölnir | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Þór | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Ã�R | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -9 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Leiknir R | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 20 | -16 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_Brandon Scott

Iceland? Challenging location Bob-nice one :thup:

retired_amyslack

But all my thoughts of the promotion fight went out of the window when I was contacted by Herning Fremad, a Danish Second Division club, asking if I was interested in their vacant managerial position. After some discussion I agreed to take the job on and I left to start a new career in Denmark. The club had just been promoted to Division Two and with the new season just about to start, my objective was simply to keep the team from being relegated. Herning is a small town in the middle of Jutland, the largest and westernmost of the three islands that make up the country of Denmark. They play at the Herning Stadion that has a capacity of 12,000, less than 700 of whom would be seated. With debts of around £65K there is no cash available for transfers although there is a little leeway in the salary budget.

I found a minimal backroom staff already in place when I arrive and I have no immediate plans to make any changes there.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Job | Name | Nat | Weekly wage | Expires | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Manager | Bjarni Gunnarsson | ISL | £1,000 | 11.9.2009 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Asst Mgr | Karsten K. Andersen | DEN | £400 | 31.7.2006 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Coach | Morten Lorentzen | DEN | £400 | 31.7.2009 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Physio | Johnny Madsen | DEN | £300 | 31.7.2009 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Scout | Jesper Frandsen | DEN | £200 | 31.7.2009 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
On the playing front there were just 22 players registered and an initial look at the squad suggested that we needed to strengthen midfield and attack as well as bring in at least a backup keeper.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Position | Nat | Age | Value | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Lars Poulsen | GK | DEN | 35 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | René Kjærsgaard | SW/D C | DEN | 29 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jesper Madsen | SW/D C | DEN | 29 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jacob Andersen | D R | DEN | 24 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Robin Clausen | D LC | DEN | 32 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Johnny Laursen | D C | DEN | 30 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Bo Møller | D/DM RL | DEN | 27 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ole Lauridsen | D/DM L | DEN | 28 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Heinrich Bak | D/DM C | DEN | 29 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jens Overgaard | D/DM C | DEN | 32 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Lars Holm Jensen | D/M R | DEN | 33 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kim Risager | D/M RLC | DEN | 20 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Daniel Holm | D/M L | DEN | 24 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Thomas Gaede | DM C | DEN | 29 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jesper Skamris | M RC | DEN | 25 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Thomas Christoffersen | M C | DEN | 28 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Anders Haugaard | M C | DEN | 31 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Morten Jørgensen | M C | DEN | 33 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Svend Larsen | F LC | DEN | 21 | £0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jan Carstensen | S C | DEN | 29 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mikkel Junge | S C | DEN | 27 | £3K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Thomas Kristensen | S C | DEN | 26 | £1K | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
A few warmup games had already been played but our first competitive match would take place just four days after my arrival with a trip to Norresundby in the 1st round of the Danish Cup. I took advice from my assistant regarding the team selection and sent them out in my favoured 4-4-2 diamond formation. It was a decent enough display against non-league opposition and Mikkel Junge scored the only goal in our 1-0 win.

In the ten days leading up to our opening league match I was able to work with our sole scout to bring in several new players. Keeper Mikkel Andreasen joined from Amager Utd and striker Henrik Johansson came from Askim, both on free transfers. In addition we secured several season-long loan deals. Brazilian forward Diego Viana and versatile midfielder/forward Lasse Kryger both came from Esbjerg fB and left winger Christoffer Olsen joined from FC Kobenhavn. I was particularly excited about the potential that the young loan signings brought and it would be fascinating to see how they performed. We also had one departure with midfielder Morten Jørgensen leaving at the end of his contract.

All of the youngsters were in the first eleven for our visit to HIK and they all gave a good account of themselves. We went into the break a goal to the good through Christoffersen and Kryger doubled our advantage early in the second half. But the home side came roaring back, scoring twice in five minutes to get back on terms. Substitute Risager put us back in the lead but that also proved to be short-lived and we conceded yet again and an open and entertaining encounter ended 3-3.

A much-changed team was sent to Avedore for our 2nd round Danish Cup tie and they returned on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline, Henrik Johansson scoring for us. There was a more familiar look about the team for our league match at home to Jetsmark but despite forcing the visiting keeper in several fine saves we couldn’t take full advantage of our chances and slumped to a 2-1 defeat, Kryger scoring our only goal.

Our midweek trip to Brønshøj saw us put in our best performance of the season so far with the players starting to gel and adapt to my preferred formation. Mikkel Junge scored twice and substitute Jesper Skamris was also on the scoresheet in our fine 3-1 win. Unfortunately Junge suffered a reaction after the match and would be absent for a week or so. We didn’t really carry our good form forward to our match at home to Holbæk and the game ended tied at 1-1 with Viana scoring his first goal for us in the second half to get the draw.

Another draw followed in our trip to FC Roskilde. The home side took an early lead with one of their few scoring attempts. We equalised shortly before the interval when Christoffersen was in the right place to fire home after Kryger’s shot came back off the bar. The month ended with a midweek visit from Helsingor and this time we conceded not one, but two early goals, finding ourselves 2-0 down after 20 minutes. We desperately needed a quick response and it came on the half hour through Lars Holm Jensen, his first of the season. Despite dominating the second half, some profligate finishing meant that we couldn’t complete our recovery and we lost 2-1. So a busy first month in charge had resulted in six points from six games and we sat in a disappointing 11th place in the table, just two points above the relegation places.

After a break for World Cup qualifiers we were back in action at struggling Glostrup and even this early in the season it looked like a must-win game, or at least a mustn’t-lose one. We managed to avoid conceding an early goal but only thanks to the referee’s intervention as he disallowed a scoring effort and awarded a free kick in our favour. We did come close at the other end though, Viana striking the woodwork. The home side carved out most of the chances in the second half but we emerged unscathed and gained a point in a 0-0 draw.

Next up was a home match against Thisted, another struggling team but this time it was our turn to make a dream start. Lasse Kryger scored after just 35 seconds and Diego Viana added a second one minute later. As if that wasn’t good enough. Viana scored again in the 6th minute and completed his hat trick before half time. The second period was a bit of an anti-climax after that with the visitors claiming a late consolation goal. The 4-1 win was just what we needed as the morale of the players had been in a downward spiral. The only thing that can rectify such a situation is to start winning and I felt that the nature of our victory would give the players as much of a boost as the win itself.

Our newfound spirit would be severely tested by the visit of Lyngby in midweek as the promotion contenders would definitely be looking for a win. But once again we came good with two first-half goals proving enough for an excellent win. Christoffer Olsen scored the first from the penalty spot and Viana doubled our tally just minutes later. Only the width of a post prevented Kryger scoring our 3rd in the second half but I was delighted with the 2-0 victory.

Before our next game I made some enquiries as to the fate of HK, the team that I had left behind in Iceland. Sadly they had gained just 5 points from their remaining games and had finished in a disappointing 8th place. I somehow felt that all of my good work had been undone and felt very sorry for the players that I had left behind.

A goal from Diego Viana against promotion challengers Holstebro was enough to complete a hat trick of home wins and lift us up to 5th place. The game was far from a classic but we did what we needed to get the points. At the beginning of October we were brought back down to earth at our visit to Kalundborg. Lasse Kryger gave us an early lead but the home side scored three times before the interval. We pulled one back when Kryger scored his second but they re-established their two-goal lead and held on for a 4-2 win.

After that disappointment I had to try to lift the players for what would probably be their toughest game of the season – a trip to league leaders B 1913. With ten wins and one defeat going into the game, the side from Odense looked like promotion certainties and they had conceded just three goals in their eleven games. But we defended as if our lives depended on it and broke forward with purpose when given the opportunity. Keeper Mikkel Andreasen chose a great day to play his best game of the season so far, producing some stunning stops, including a penalty save on the half hour. With a little more luck in front of goal we could even have stolen the points but I am very satisfied indeed with the 0-0 draw.

We faced the visit of Kolding FC with some confidence and set about the visitors with a vengeance, creating chance after chance. Unfortunately we failed to hit the target with 90% of our opportunities and the game looked to be heading to a goalless stalemate. Then with my stopwatch showing 89:57, Thomas Christoffersen scored with an excellent strike from the edge of the area. But three minutes of stoppage time had been signalled and with my watch now showing 91:33 we were caught ball watching at the back and conceded an equaliser.

We had to put the disappointment of squandering two points as we finished the month with a trip to in-form Dalum. A six-game unbeaten run had taken our opponents up to second place and we would have quite a game on our hands, of that I was sure. An early goal from Diego Viana did us no harm at all and when Christoffersen scored another from distance after 20 minutes we were looking in control. The home side came back strongly and we were forced into some desperate defending at times but we held firm until the interval. Our hosts were reduced to ten men on the hour mark and when Viana scored his second of the match just minutes later it was game over. The 3-0 win was mighty impressive and it saw us end the month in 9th place, but the table is so congested that we were only three points away from 4th place.

We opened November with a midweek visit from Næsby and after controlling the first 45 minutes we went into the interval a gaol to the good courtesy of Diego Viana. But we seemed to take our foot off the gas after the break, perhaps believing the game to be won. Nothing could have been further from the truth and the visitors gained a point to help their fight against relegation when they equalised on 64 minutes.

With the four-month winter break approaching we played our final game of the year at home to Brønshøj, the team directly above us in the table. A dramatic start saw us take the lead after just five minutes when Lars Holm Jensen scored his second goal of the season. Barely 60 seconds had passed before the visitors equalised. The game settled down a little after that but we were still making most of the running. We were rewarded a few minutes before half time when Lasse Kryger put us back in front. We extended our lead in the 65th minute through the excellent Thomas Christoffersen but we conceded a second within a few minutes to set the nerves jangling. However a second goal from Kryger five minutes from time settled the game and sent us into the break with a nice 4-2 win.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | B 1913 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 4 | +26 | 41 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | HIK | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 28 | 16 | +12 | 33 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Dalum | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 28 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Lyngby | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 10 | +7 | 27 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Jetsmark | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 27 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Kolding FC | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 26 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | HERNING FREMAD | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 28 | 19 | +9 | 25 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Holstebro | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 23 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Brønshøj | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 23 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Holbæk | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 21 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Kalundborg | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 26 | -8 | 18 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Helsingør | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 16 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Næsby | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 21 | -10 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | FC Roskilde | 16 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 20 | -13 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Glostrup | 16 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 9 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Thisted | 16 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 37 | -26 | 6 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_amyslack

The long winter break was spent trying to keep the players as fit as possible. When the transfer window re-opened at the turn of the year I was able to bring in a few new players. Michael Madsen is a 24-year-old central defender who joined from Brande and Dennis Østergaard, a 25-year-old midfielder came from Hjorring, both on free transfers. We also loaned Ali Sbeihi, a 21-year-old forward, from Frem for the remainder of the season.

We played one warm-up game at the start of March when Swedish Premiership side Helsingborg visited. As I expected they were too strong for us and were easy 2-0 winners. The three new boys all had a run out and performed competently enough.

It was not until the end of March that we re-started our league campaign with a journey to Holbæk and for seventy minutes it was as though we had never been out of action. We clicked from the first whistle and were 3-0 ahead after 15 minutes, two goals from Viana sandwiching a strike by Kryger. We started to tire in the closing stages though and the home side scored twice in the last quarter of an hour, the first coming from the penalty spot. Nonetheless, we held on for a good 3-2 win and with many of the other games being drawn we leapt up to 4th place, leapfrogging two other teams on goal difference.

We were brought back down to earth the next weekend when we travelled to Jetsmark, another team on the fringes of promotion. It was a very even encounter that was settled by a single goal scored by the home side just after the restart. Time and again we were denied by the Jetsmark keeper who made several excellent saves to secure the win.

Our next match was at home to second place HIK and we went into it without centre back Johnny Laursen who suffered a groin strain in training. Michael Madsen replaced him and put in a steady performance. The first half ended goalless but not for the want of trying and both keepers were kept very busy. We took the lead within a minute of the restart when Lars Holm Jensen finished with a delightful chip from the edge of the area after a shot from Viana was saved. The veteran midfielder then limped off injured but that failed to break our rhythm and Viana himself put us 2-0 ahead with 20 minutes remaining. The visitors pulled a goal back and we had to endure some determined attacks in the closing stages but we held firm for an excellent win.

Our next action featured a midweek visit from FC Roskilde, a team sitting just above the relegation places in the table and I was hopeful of a win. We certainly saw a lot of the ball but we didn’t always use it very effectively and too many of our attacks either petered out or ended up with an attempt off target. But we did find a goal on the half hour when Thomas Christoffersen struck a shot from distance that moved enough in the air to deceive the visiting keeper. We spurned several further presentable chances and paid the price later in the game when we were caught on the break and conceded and ended up with a 1-1 draw.

At the weekend we had another home game against lower-table opponents with the visit of Glostrup. I had rested Viana on the bench to give Mikkel Junge a run out but within three minutes I was forced into a change when Junge pulled up injured. The game followed a similar pattern to our previous match – we had good possession, failed to take advantage and fell victim to a breakaway goal in the second half. But on this occasion we had not scored ourselves and suffered a very disappointing 1-0 defeat.

We faced another midweek game and a trip to 13th place Helsingor and I sincerely hoped that we could reverse our recent trend and get a win. An early goal from Lasse Kryger was cancelled out five minutes later when we conceded a penalty and with no further scoring in the first half we went into the interval with the scores tied. Christoffer Olsen fired us into the lead soon after the restart and Christoffersen secured the win with a 3rd goal with 25 minutes remaining. We were buoyed by the return of Johnny Laursen in defence and Lars Holm Jensen on the right wing and both contributed significantly to our good performance.

April ended with another midweek game as we travelled to bottom of the table Thisted and with Viana struggling with a knock picked up in training I decided to give our latest loan signing, Ali Sbeihi, his first start up front. The home side led a charmed life in the first half as we spurned chance after chance and we reached the break goalless. It was more of the same after the interval but we were still unable to make the breakthrough. We suffered a close shave ourselves our hosts ventured forward and came closest to scoring but we were saved by the woodwork. The 0-0 draw was a poor reflection of the balance of the game but we had only ourselves to blame. At this point we had dropped down to 6th place although I still felt that if we could string some wins together then promotion wasn’t out of the question. The top two had opened up quite a gap but any of the next four were still in the hunt.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | B 1913 | 23 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 12 | +25 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | HIK | 23 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 41 | 21 | +20 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Lyngby | 23 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 15 | +10 | 39 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Dalum | 23 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 22 | +11 | 38 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Jetsmark | 23 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 27 | 30 | -3 | 37 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | HERNING FREMAD | 23 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 36 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
On the eve of our next match at Holstebro the Danish Cup Final ended with a victory for underdogs FC Fredericia with the Division One side beating Premiership team Viborg on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Our league match was scoreless at the break but we fell behind ten minutes into the second half. A penalty on 66 minutes gave us a lifeline and Johnny Laursen tucked the kick away to square the game. With time running out and the players tiring rapidly, substitute Mikkel Junge scored a vital winner in the last minute of normal time.

Next up was a midweek game at home to Kalundborg, a team some 7 places and 10 points below us. Left back Daniel Holm missed the game through injury and by the end of the game we had also lost captain and right back Jacob Andersen with a groin strain. We entered stoppage time with the game still scoreless but snatched a dramatic late win through Ali Sbeihi right at the death.

Two consecutive wins had moved up to 3rd, the final promotion spot, and at the weekend we travelled to Lyngby who we sat one place ahead of on goal difference. With 5 games now remaining until the end of the season a win here would give us a very realistic chance of promotion. We gave a decent account of ourselves in the first half but some wayward finishing saw us go into the break a goal down. The home side were dominant in the second period though and when they added a second on 65 minutes we were down and out.

The next weekend we faced another tough game when we entertained league leaders B 1913. They had already secured promotion and looked to be well on track for the league title. We couldn’t have got off to a worse start, falling a goal behind inside five minutes. But the lads don’t lack spirit and a second-half goal from Diego Viana gave us a battling draw. Unfortunately we suffered another injury problem as Lasse Kryger suffered a dislocated shoulder and would be absent for at least a fortnight. With three games remaining we had dropped to 5th and it looked like our promotion chance had gone.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | P | B 1913 | 27 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 43 | 15 | +28 | 58 | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | | HIK | 27 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 25 | +18 | 53 | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | | Lyngby | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 46 | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | | Dalum | 27 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 38 | 25 | +13 | 45 | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | | HERNING FREMAD | 27 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 43 | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
We had to get a win at Kolding FC and that would be no easy task as they were just one place below us in the table. The task proved to be well beyond us – two goals down at the break, we conceded again after the interval and ended with a poor 3-0 defeat. The fact that Lyngby suffered an unexpected defeat made the result doubly frustrating, as a win would have put us firmly back in the promotion fight.

We went into our midweek game at home to 3rd place Dalum with three key players missing – keeper Mikkel Andreasen and forward Ali Sbeihi both injured and striker Diego Viana suspended. Despite these obstacles we secured a fantastic 2-0 win with late goals from Lars Holm Jensen and Henrik Johansson. Backup keeper Lars Poulsen was our other hero and his man of the match display meant that we might still have a shot at promotion. The bad news was that we lost key midfielder Thomas Christoffersen with a groin strain and he would miss our final match.

So we travelled to Næsby needing to win and hoping that Lyngby, Dalum and Kolding FC would all lose. The fact that Kolding and Lyngby were playing one another rendered that scenario impossible so in reality our season was over. The players clearly felt there was nothing to play for and we lost a lacklustre match 1-0.

Despite the disappointment of a final-day defeat we could look back on the season with some satisfaction – for a team that was expected to be battling relegation a 6th place finish was a very decent result.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | C | B 1913 | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 46 | 17 | +29 | 62 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | P | HIK | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 46 | 28 | +18 | 57 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | P | Lyngby | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 35 | 19 | +16 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | | Kolding FC | 30 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 29 | 17 | +12 | 47 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | | Dalum | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 39 | 28 | +11 | 47 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | | HERNING FREMAD | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | | Holbæk | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 43 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | | Jetsmark | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 35 | 39 | -4 | 43 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | | Holstebro | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 32 | 28 | +4 | 40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | | Brønshøj | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 33 | 36 | -3 | 40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | | Næsby | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 26 | 32 | -6 | 37 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | | Kalundborg | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 32 | 42 | -10 | 32 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | | FC Roskilde | 30 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 34 | -16 | 31 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | R | Glostrup | 30 | 5 | 14 | 11 | 27 | 33 | -6 | 29 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | R | Helsingør | 30 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 36 | 53 | -17 | 26 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | R | Thisted | 30 | 1 | 8 | 21 | 17 | 61 | -44 | 11 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

There were some notable performance from the players. The unheralded Thomas Gaede was excellent in the holding midfield position; Johnny Laursen was a rock in the centre of defence; full back and captain Jacob Andersen excelled; top scorer Diego Viana came close to winning the divisional scoring award and Thomas Christoffersen was very effective playing behind the front two.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Thomas Gaede | 29 | - | 2 | 1 | 73% | 3.41 | 0.31 | - | 7.45 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Johnny Laursen | 27 | 1 | - | 1 | 66% | 3.30 | 0.26 | - | 7.41 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jacob Andersen | 27 | - | 2 | 1 | 68% | 3.22 | 0.49 | - | 7.37 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Diego Viana | 26 (1)| 13 | 4 | 3 | 84% | 0.53 | 1.14 | 45% | 7.37 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Thomas Christoffersen | 28 | 7 | 9 | - | 79% | 1.58 | 0.72 | 47% | 7.36 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Lars Poulsen | 3 | - | - | 1 | 55% | - | - | - | 7.33 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Christoffer Olsen | 30 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 80% | 1.63 | 2.66 | 36% | 7.23 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Daniel Holm | 28 | - | - | - | 71% | 2.93 | 0.54 | - | 7.21 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Lars Holm Jensen | 26 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 78% | 2.19 | 1.94 | 33% | 7.19 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | René Kjærsgaard | 29 | - | 1 | - | 70% | 3.00 | 0.17 | - | 7.03 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Henrik Johansson | 3 | 2 | - | - | 76% | - | 0.33 | - | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mikkel Junge | 7 (10)| 4 | 2 | 1 | 85% | 0.54 | 1.48 | 68% | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jesper Madsen | 3 | - | - | - | 69% | 1.67 | - | - | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jens Overgaard | 2 (1) | - | - | - | 64% | 0.49 | - | - | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Heinrich Bak | 1 | - | - | - | 66% | 5.00 | - | - | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kim Risager | 9 (11)| 1 | - | - | 68% | 3.59 | 1.26 | - | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ali Sbeihi | 7 | 1 | - | - | 79% | 0.77 | 0.92 | - | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Lasse Kryger | 25 | 9 | 5 | - | 80% | 1.05 | 2.23 | 46% | 7.00 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mikkel Andreasen | 29 | - | - | 2 | 62% | - | 0.03 | - | 6.90 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jesper Skamris | 2 (10)| 1 | - | - | 63% | 2.56 | 1.54 | - | 6.83 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Michael Madsen | 4 | - | - | - | 71% | 0.75 | - | - | 6.75 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Dennis Østergaard | 1 (2) | - | 1 | - | 68% | 1.99 | 1.99 | - | 6.67 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jan Carstensen | 2 | - | 1 | - | 83% | - | 2.00 | 40% | 6.50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
As well as we may have performed on the pitch, the story off the field was quite different – with debts approach £250K the club did not appear to be financially viable to my untrained eye and I wondered how long we could stave off going into administration. But now was not the time to worry about such mundane matters – now was the time for a short holiday before getting back into pre-season training to prepare for the new season just a couple of months away.