7.0.2
Reputation – Automatic
Favorite Club – Charlton
Nationality - American
Leagues Loaded
England (Premiership, Championship)
Norway (All)
Romania (All)
USA (MLS)
All things masked
Small Database
I decided to start an LLM game and see how far it will take me. I’ve been a pretty bad manager at most of the clubs I’ve been at, won no silverware, broke no records so I thought I would just enjoy myself and go into the lower reaches of the football universe. Sorry if it’s a bit long, hopefully I’ll go on to great things in this save.
I started off unemployed and after several applications I was offered the job at Levanger in the Norwegian Second Division. We had one game left in the season, safety was assured so all I did was scout.
Season 0 2007
Levanger G 26 – W 9 – D 9 – L 8; F 33 – A 34; Pts 36 = 6th
Semi – Pro
Value - 130K
Max 6000
Avg 441
Prediction 4th
Avg training + avg youth facilities
Account – 50K
Transfer – 5K
Salary – 220 p/w – 2 year deal
All I did was re-sign all my players for one more season until my scouts can find better ones. I also got a feeder club (Pioner IL) and mistakenly asked for youth expansion. After putting in a request for a parent club the board yelled at me for spending too much time in the boardroom as opposed to the pitch.
The U19’s out in the 2nd round of the Youth Cup
First Division
Viking 56
Stabaek 44
Lillestrom 40
Norwegian Cup - Tromso
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Season 1 2007
Administrative – Our money problems are eased a bit as we sign a new sponsorship deal worth 70K over 3 years. We also pocket 55K for TV rights. We also finally manage to enter into a partnership with Viking Stavanger, one of the heavyweights in Norway, wherein they will send us any players in need of experience and will pay us 36K per year on top of any $ earned at an annual friendly. Things are looking up, at least on the financial front!
Account – 93K
Transfer budget – 4K
Goal – mid table respectability
Transfers
Out – 7; mostly free transfers; sold my 23 yr old DR to Nottodden for 30K only to find out there was a 50% sell on from his old club.
In – 3; 18 yr old GK who’s already first choice + captain (1K), 25 yr old DC who’ll be expected to by my Tony Adams (2K); versatile Midfielder (3K)
Levanger G 26 – W 12 – D 7 – L 7; F 51 – A 41; Pts 43 = 4th
Value 150K
Account 164K
My batch of youngsters yielded a young 16 year old striker who made an instant contribution. Scored 5 goals from 16 matches and has just below 7 rating. Oddly enough he wasn’t the most highly touted youngster.
Started out the season in lethal form, unbeaten in 8 games. After a few losses and draws we regain our form and alternate between first and second place. A drought ensues soon enough and i get so frustrated that i fill the team with youngsters dropping all the vets. We win at first then lose again finding our place in 7/8th place. I decide to shake things up again and bring some of the vets back which gets me to 4th place. Not a bad season and some of my youngsters were very impressive. The downside is that we’re still too young to realistically challenge teams like Tromsdalen (champs) or Raufoss (runners up) for the title. My DC had been amazing and became a rock at the back. The Young GK was inconsistent, the midfield was pretty average and the frontline scored a lot but missed quite a few as well. I’m trying to cut the dead wood out and stay within budget but it’s pretty hard. My last year will probably be designated as a rebuilding one as well but i secretly hope my strikers get it together and we can get promotion.
Norwegian Cup – Winner: Bodo/Glimt – Win first game against non descript opposition; lose the next against a First Div side
Highlights: First game – After being down 0- 3 in the first 36 minutes the boys made an epic comeback to tie the game in the 90th and give me my first points as manager;
5 – 3 win against champs Tromsdalen – Classic
Lowlights: 1 – 6 loss to Raufoss; our reserve GK got transfer listed immediately
Way too many dropped points on ties
The U19’s crash out in the 2nd round of the Youth Cup
Premier League
Ham Kam (Champions) 44
Viking 44
Stabaek
National Team
Turkey 33
Norway 24
Greece 21
Norway barely survives the group and qualifies for Euro 08 on the back of Carew’s goals and Hangeland’s solid play. They fall into a group with England, Austria and France.
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Season 2 2008
My third season finds me in the final year of my K. Even if I won’t get a new offer, or get a better offer from another club, I feel I have stabilized the club and prepared it for the future by blooding so many youngsters. In keeping with my bargain mentality I managed to snap up an exciting attacking AMR who’s earning almost 1½ more than my squad’s highest earner. I’m still looking to add firepower upfront while trying to keep hold of my impressive DC, young ML and DL. My 19 year old FC who’s had an up and down career so far has seen his value rise to 12K!!! which I assume is a good thing. I yearn for promotion but this year’s group 4 will be quite tough: Raufoss, Mo and Alta are pretty much joint favorites to fight it out for top spot while we and Ull/Kissa are the dark horses.
With Viking’s annual friendly and payment we see our account go up to over 200K making the board increase the wage budget by over 30% giving me plenty of flexibility. I’ve managed to cut some more of the dead wood but am a bit short on depth having to dip into my U19 squad for cover in certain areas.
Transfer – 14K (say whaaaaaaaaaaa?????)
Before the deadline I manage to snap up a striker that’s within my budget range per scout indications but perhaps my biggest achievement rests in the fact that I am able to keep my squad intact. While DC’s been attracting interest it hasn’t come anywhere near the interest generated by my ‘enthusiastic’ 19 year old winger who can play on both flanks. The biggest bidders were Mo (from our own division) and I had to keep turning them down. If I’m not in a position to get promote halfway through the season I might have to sell him just so he has a chance to play at a higher level.
Out – 6
In – 2 (1 free, 1 7K)
In other news, Henning Berg’s the new Everton manager.
Objective
Board – respectable position
Fans – safe, mid table
The Chairman offers me a 2 year extension: 220 per week, 35K transfer budget and an increase in the wage budget from 5.5K to 7.25K next year. I accept. With that kind of money available I can hopefully push for promotion
Levanger G 26 – W 9 – D 12 – L 5; F 35 – A 23; Pts 39 = 5th
Value 170K
Avg Attendace – 506
Top scorer – 26 year old former U21 who bagged 11 out of 21 matches – 7.24 rating (also player of the year)
Top players – exciting AMR and good old DC who end up with 7.36, and 7.35 ratings. Best players I got
Popularity – apparently everyone’s delighted with how I’m doing – I even have on 16 year old DC who listed me as his ‘favorite personnel’
We started the season with our usual torrid pace not tasting defeat until the 8th game of the season. After the injuries hit our key players things went badly for a long stretch before finally getting another run by the time it was too late. After releasing the dead wood I have very few veterans and too many youngsters. Most worrying of all I cannot seem to score in matches I dominate and end up losing two points too many times. My bank account is up to 330K which means we’re financially stable but I hope that can eventually translate on the field.
In the league Rosenborg and Ham Kam Reserves are by far and away the best teams. Raufoss come in 3rd and get promoted (we end up 10 pts behind) while Mo take 4th (only 8 pts behind). I really feel like next season will be make or break. Ull Kissa put up a fight but fade pretty quickly, same as Alta. I hate playing with amateurs and want a shot at the big leagues. The team seems good enough but is too inconsistent, unlucky and too young. If I can find some good players I’ll probably invest in some veterans who can punch it in without a care. What I’ve learned is to stay away from FC’s – they don’t score! My two signings proved to inspiring as they’ve done very well and have played well above the rest of the team.
At the end of the season the Bryne job opens up. The club just barely retained their Second Division status and had actually played in the Tippeligaen a few years before. This job really appealed to me but I decided to stay loyal to my Levanger team at least until the contract runs out. I don’t know if it’s in keeping with LLM rules but if i get offered a job I feel I realistically deserve I will take it if I want it.
Norwegian Cup - Sandjeford – We were never entered into the cup! Am i missing something here?!?! We are part of the Norwegian league! Something’s going on here
Highlight - Being able to sign some of my players to full time contracts; having my defense improve and carry my team
Lowlight – My lack of goals, too many draws, too many injuries…frustrating
The U19’s advance to the 3rd round of the Youth Cup
National Team
Norge completely tanks it at the Euros going 0 for 3, scoring a solitary goal. Oddly enough Hareide is congratulated for a job well done but he decides to resign anyways and take the Brann job, keeping them up in the process. As I’m expecting the FA to call me guess who gets the job? The national U19 coach who also is manager of Hammerfest, a team not even in the 3rd Division! While I am a bit jealous I have to tip my hat off as he manages to lead the team to 3 wins out of 3 against Austria, Denmark and the Faroes.
Tippeligaen
Valerenga (Champs) 55
Molde 41
Stromsgodset 38
Note – RBK are almost relegated but manage to win their playoff to remain in the premier division. Otherwise, Valerenga storm through the league without taking any prisoners.
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Season 3 2009
Turns out our transfer budget is 28K as opposed to 35K. This is double what i had last season so I’ll be putting it to good use. Before anticipating making any moves I get word that one of the GK’s i’ve been tracking for a few seasons has been released by the club. In my first season I swooped for the 18, now 20 year old, instead of him. The young GK has potential but cannot be counted on to win which is why the 27 year old looks like a much more stable choice. I immediately snap him up and with my defense being solid only have to worry about getting a quality strike and / or a good central midfielder. I identify some targets and make a few bids but I’m not desperate especially since I’ve been able to get one of Viking’s reserve strikers to join us. The puzzle’s coming together.
I’m starting to get offers above 100K for my enthusiastic winger which I refuse. I’m also experience the first bit of drama on the squad. Remember the 16 year old DC who listed me as favorite staff? I had him learn from my best DC which didn’t work at all. The 17 year old now hates him and I can only hope I can retain both.
Transfers
In – 6 – As I mentioned i bring in an experienced GK, a club record, 10K, Swedish striker in his prime, as well as 4 other role/utility players of veteran ability to round out the squad
Out – 1 (aging striker)
Norwegian Cup – We finally make some headway in this competition, easily dispose of Algard in the 1st round; we barely manage to beat Sparta in the 2nd before bowing out at the hands of Honefoss in a game where their class showed
First Half of Season
We start off with two unexpected defeats to Ull/Kissa and Rosenborg before gaining some much needed points afterwards against inferior opposition. The biggest problem is that we cannot beat the contenders to the title either losing or barely drawing against them. The team has clearly not gelled, is playing erratically and inconsistent. Very frustrating, especially since i’m over budget and have some hard decisions to make come the end of the season regarding who stay or goes. After 13 games we occupy a mediocre 19th place 8 points behind the leaders Manglerud. All the hopes of promotion and glory have been snuffed out. The only bright spot is the record Swedish striker whose goals have kept us in our mediocre position. The defense has been porous at best and I dread to think what would have happened had I not signed the striker
Second Half of Season
The same old story repeats itself yet again: we win 3 of 4, then pick up just 3 points from 4 games. Win, loss, draw, draw, loss, win…I just got fed up with it and transfer listed everyone except youngsters. We eventually finish in 6th place, a creditable position but way behind champs Mo. My strategy from now on is to just rebuild with youngsters from my academy. I’m done with scouts recommending players who are over the hill. My best player was the Swedish striker I bought. He won the golden boot w/ 14 goals and considering how i benched him the last few games who know what he could have done. Both he and the other Norwegian vet striker kept my team up. I want to sell them to give youth a chance and let them go win. I thought money would get me over the hump and into the first division, boy was I wrong.
Levanger G 26 – W 10 – D 7 – L 9; F 41 – A 39; Pts 37 = 6th
U19’s – The most successful youth team I’ve ever had; they finish 3rd place to mighty Tromso and go on a crazy cup run, routing opponents left and right for 4 rounds before facing Aalesund’s (Premier Div) youth and earning a memorable 1-0 win; going on to the semi they face Sandefjord losing 1 – 0 and capping off and incredible run for a club our size; before the season I had seen there might be some potential in this team but I wasn’t expecting this; Ready or not they’ll all be in the senior squad next year.
Value 150K
Avg Attendance – 501
Account – 298K
Highlight – Uh….the U19’s???
Lowlight – The whole wasted season, lost money…getting your hopes up only to see them crushed, that sort of thing. I really should be sacked.
Tippeligaen
Ham Kam 43
Tromso 41
RBK 41
A closely fought contest throughout the season. Brann are the first team to go down, sad state for one of the biggest clubs in Norway.
A tribute for the memories (Wigan fans might recognize a certain DC lol)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Lv28O0hcTgU
Norwegian Cup – Winner: Start
National Team
Italy 27
Denmark 24
Norway 18
Though the team was dominant against token opposition when it came to playing the big boys they just couldn’t put up a fight. A 0-4 drubbing at the Ullevall vs Italy spoke volumes. Too bad, the world Cup won’t be the same w/out the long ball tactics. The youth policy, no one over 30 in the lineup, might bear fruit at the Euros though.
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Brrrr!!! It’s cold up here! 
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