We’ve now come to the end of Marit Enstad’s first season as manager of Lyn 1896 on Football Manager 2019. Having taken the reins following the former Norwegian champions’ promotion to the 2. divisjon, could she make an immediate impact and take them further up the leagues?
This post will recap Lyn’s fortunes in the league and the Cupen during the 2019 campaign. As ever with my end-of-season reviews, I’ll also provide some player statistics and reveal who won the club’s awards (SPOILER: one player claimed a hat-trick). I’ll then detail my initial plans for the winter transfer window before finishing up with a general look across the Norwegian leagues.
There will be obvious spoilers below this line. If you haven’t caught up with the full story yet and want to do so, then you can find Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 in the links provided.
2. DIVISJON, AVDELING 1
Our first match back in the third tier was an encouraging 2-0 win over Elverum, which disguised the defensive problems we would have early in the season. We generally played well at home but struggled away, which left us in mid-table a quarter of the way through the season.
A potential turning point came at Fram Larvik, where we came from behind to beat the then-leaders 2-1. Of course, that was followed by a 3-2 home defeat to Moss, who would end the season relegated. [It’s a funny old game, isn’t it, Marit?]
Thankfully, we got on track the following week, with a hat-trick from our new star striker Martin Trøen firing us to a 4-2 win at Nest-Sotra. We then destroyed Grorud before a thrilling 3-2 win over Elverum, in what was our second comeback from a 2-0 half-time deficit.
Our winning run ended in the final game before the short mid-season break, against Bærum. A 1-1 draw saw one last hurrah for 16-year-old winger Tor Fritzøe Östman, who had burst into the first-team before Rosenborg cruelly snatched him from us. Nevertheless, we ended this phase of the season in 3rd place and were pushing hard for promotion.
August began with Trøen snatching us a late point at home to leaders Alta, followed by back-to-back away losses at Raufoss and Hønefoss. A worrying run of form ended when our new loanee defender Benjamin Zalo inspired us to take a 4-0 lead over Ørn Horten, though the visitors did score twice in response.
I then made a few changes to my tactics to make us a bit more solid defensively. The tweaks paid off in September, when we conceded only twice during a run of matches that saw us win four out of five. As a result, we found ourselves in 2nd place and on course for the end-of-season play-offs.
Sadly, it all went wrong in our final three games. A goalless draw at Nest-Sotra was followed by a late Grorud equaliser, which snuffed out our slim chances of leapfrogging Alta into 1st.
We were now under huge pressure to beat Bærum in the season-ender to secure a play-off place. Sadly, we lost our nerve completely and fell to a 2-0 defeat, which allowed Hønefoss to overtake us on goal difference after they thrashed Asker 4-0. Though my first season as Lyn manager saw us finish an admirable 3rd, I thought we’d missed a great shot at promotion.
CUPEN
In a dress rehearsal for our league opener, we kicked off the Cupen by eliminating Elverum. Mind you, we did need a bizarre own goal and an extra-time winner from inside-forward Simen Vedvik to get through a five-goal thriller.
Our reward was a dream away draw against former rivals Lillestrøm in Round 2. We battled bravely against the Eliteserien side – who had a player sent off late in the second half – and took them to extra time. Sadly, the Kanarifugla broke our resistance after 105 minutes and halted our Cupen run.
AWARDS & STATISTICS
[Yes, I’m struggling to read those shirt numbers as well. Blame it on a database error – or the weatherman, if you’re an Irish girl group from the 1990s.]
Our awards night was dominated by one man. After signing from KFUM Oslo, Vedvik defied an erratic start to his Lyn career by recording six goals and four assists. While those statistics don’t look great on paper, they are promising for a 22-year-old who still has plenty of time to develop his game.
Simen was named our Fans’ Player of the Season, polling 37% of the vote. He also took the Signing of the Season and the Young Player of the Season awards to complete an impressive treble.
Midfielder Marius Østvold (also 22) also had a pretty good season and came 2nd in our fans’ poll, with captain Anders Lübeck in 3rd place. Despite scoring 14 goals, there was no place for Trøen in the top three, and neither was there room for our ever-impressive left-back Oskar Hansen.
The Goal of the Season was scored by winger Eirik Haugstad, whose 30-yard screamer inspired us to a surprise victory at Fram Larvik in June. That was probably the result that made us believe we could launch a promotion challenge, even if we did ultimately fall short.
[I’m not sure what happened to Martin Fasting‘s stats. Perhaps he destroyed them in a rage after his falling-out with Marit.]
As you can see, Vedvik’s average match rating of 7.08 was not the highest in the squad. Hansen performed much more consistently in averaging 7.27, and he had the third-highest average rating in the 2. divisjon. I should also give credit to Zalo, who excelled during his loan stint in the second half of the season and helped shore up our backline.
Aside from Hansen and Vedvik, Østvold was the only other first-team regular to average above a 7. Though primarily a box-to-box midfielder rather than a playmaker, Marius provided more assists than any other Lyn player this season. Five assists isn’t a lot, mind, and we’ll need more productivity from our midfielders and wide men if we want to get promoted next season.
We’ll also need someone who can score on a regular basis if Trøen isn’t on fire. His 14 goals (13 in the league, one in the Cupen) this season more than doubled the personal hauls of anyone else in the squad. Martin got 64% of his shots on target and had a 20% conversion rate, but a late-season slump meant he had to settle for 5th place in the Top Goalscorer standings. (Alta’s Vegard Braaten won that award, with 18 goals.)
I have an idea of where we might be going wrong. Though we were the division’s second-highest scorers, our shot accuracy was generally in the bottom half. Svein Melfjord only scored in one of his seven senior outings, but he’s only 17, so I will cut him some slack. I’m more disappointed with the likes of Jonas-Alexander Bakken and Henrik Lehne Olsen, who struggled to hit the target whenever we depended on them.
Of even greater concern is our defence, which conceded 31 goals in 26 games (one fewer than champions Alta, surprisingly). Though captain Anders Lübeck was one of the league’s best interceptors, he – and certain other members of our backline – made quite a few errors that ultimately cost us. Goalkeeper Knut-André Skjærstein only kept five clean sheets in 23 games but was largely blameless in my view.
When it came to discipline, our worst offender was Østvold, who picked up five yellow cards. In our last league outing, he collected his fourth booking in that competition and will therefore be suspended from next season’s opening fixture. The only Lyn player to see red this term was deep-lying playmaker Dulee Johnson, who lost his head in our early defeat at Alta.
Johnson had a higher pass completion rate (90%) than any other Lyn player, with Østvold and vice-captain Mads Pedersen next on the list. The latter two were also the players most likely to get stuck in, each averaging over three completed tackles per game.
FINANCIAL UPDATE & TRANSFER PLANS
Worryingly, we end the year over €100,000 in debt (it was even worse until our sponsorship money came in a couple of weeks ago). That is even after trying to keep wage spending reasonable without making my team uncompetitive.
Losing money is a fact of life in lower-league football, but a few more difficult financial years like this could plunge us into another disaster. I’m still hopeful that our new chairman Magnus Henriksen will provide some investment in the near-future to stop that from happening.
Magnus has increased my weekly playing wage budget to around €11,000, but to use all of that up would only make a difficult situation even worse. I will again restrict myself to only spending around €5,000-€6,000 per week on players’ salaries, which would still give us comfortably one of the biggest wage bills in the 2. divisjon.
A few players have already agreed to take pay cuts to stay at the club and assist with our recent problems. I’m very grateful in particular to Lübeck for agreeing to cut his weekly wages from €300 to a more manageable €220. His regular centre-back partner Andreas Østeraas has also accepted lesser terms, as has Skjærstein, who would probably have been moved on otherwise.
So what are my transfer plans? Firstly, I want to find a new goalkeeper to provide Skjærstein with competition. Thomas Sandsør has been at Lyn for quite a while, but at 34, he’s well past his best and can’t cut it at this level anymore. [Also, he’s retiring from professional football, which… erm, doesn’t actually change anything, seeing as he’s an amateur nowadays.]
I think we’re okay at full-back, though part of me thinks we could do better than Eirik Bækkerum on the right flank. It might just be a case of promoting 17-year-old prospect Martin Knudtzon from the youth team, who finished 4th in the Oslo Under-19s Championship this season.
Also, if any of you want a temperamental right-sided inverted wing-back, I have a 25-year-old Martin Fasting in good condition that’s for sale at any price. If you’re interested, then please contact me [on Twitter @Fuller_FM].
At least one new centre-half is a must, especially with the excellent Zalo returning to IFK Göteborg. I preferably want somebody who has reasonable composure and concentration skills, but I’m also mindful that our defenders didn’t win a lot of headers this season. Finding a part-time centre-back with good technical and mental attributes won’t be easy.
My top priority this winter is to sign a new holding midfielder who can provide our defence with adequate protection. While Pedersen has been alright, he’s not the strongest player, and neither is he the most capable man-marker. Similarly, I’m not too confident in either Johnson’s abilities or his attitude, and I’m open to letting the volatile Liberian leave for another club.
Further upfield, I think we’re good for playmakers – for now. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if a bigger club came in with an attractive offer for either Lehne Olsen or Lars Følstad. Likewise, I’m expecting plenty of interest in Østvold (who’s far too talented to be just a semi-professional), so I might have to find another box-to-box midfielder.
The occasionally brilliant but often erratic Haugstad needs serious competition on the right wing, as does our Player of the Year Vedvik on the left. Both Morten Lyngstad Bjørshol and Rune Isaksen have disappointed whenever called upon on either flank and will not have their contracts renewed.
And then there’s the centre-forwards. As things stand, we’re heading into next season with just Trøen and Melfjord, so we could do with another frontman – ideally one with better aerial ability than those two. We can’t be relying on just through-balls and low crosses for adequate service to our strikers.
In summary, I’m expecting to make around six to eight new signings before the 2020 season. It won’t be as busy a winter as the last one, that’s for sure. [I should know from previous experience that changing half the squad every season doesn’t do much for squad dynamics.]
2019 NORWEGIAN SEASON ROUND-UP
Eliteserien
1. divisjon
2. divisjon, Avdeling 1
2. divjson, Avdeling 2
3. divisjon Champions
Avdeling 1: Kristiansund 2
Avdeling 2: Eidsvold Turn
Avdeling 3: Odd 2
Avdeling 4: Sotra
Avdeling 5: Gjøvik-Lyn
Avdeling 6: Lørenskog
Cupen
Final: Odd 3-0 Sandefjord
National Under-19s Championship
1st: Brann, 2nd: Strømsgodset, 3rd: Odd
Champions League performances (2018/2019)
Rosenborg – Champions Playoff (lost to PSV)
Europa League performances (2018/2019)
Lillestrøm – Best-Placed Qualifying Round 2 (lost to St Gallen)
Sarpsborg – Best-Placed Qualifying Round 2 (lost to Rio Ave)
Molde – Best-Placed Qualifying Round 4 (lost to PAOK)
Rosenborg – Round of 16 (lost to Lazio)
Champions League performances (2019/2020)
Molde – Champions Playoff (lost to Sparta Praha)
Europa League performances (2019/2020)
Odd – Best-Placed Qualifying Round 2 (lost to Ludogorets)
Rosenborg – Best-Placed Qualifying Round 2 (lost to Hibernian)
Strømsgodset – Best-Placed Qualifying Round 4 (lost to Astana)
Molde – 3rd in Group L
And that’s your lot for Season 1. A promising first campaign has given me plenty of reason for optimism, as well as some food for thought. There’s plenty of work ahead, but I’m up for the challenge, which I’m enjoying more than my previous FM19 careers with Fiorentina and Shrewsbury.
The support this story has received so far – especially from Lyn supporters – has been magnificent and has helped this blog to grow over the last couple of weeks. I’m very grateful for that, and I hope you’ll continue to follow along as we progress further. “Onwards and upwards” – or, as I believe they say in Oslo, “fremover og oppover”!
“Takk for lesing!”
Fuller FM 
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