Welcome to the 100th post on Fuller FM. Has it really been eight months since I started sharing my Football Manager 2019 adventures with anyone interested in reading about them? Regardless of whether you’ve been here from the start, or this is your introduction to the blog, thank you very much for visiting.
Now… where were we?
Ah, yes. It’s almost summer 2020, but the sun isn’t exactly shining on Lyn 1896 right now. Some early-season defensive disasters have left Marit Enstad’s team closer to the 2. divisjon relegation zone than the promotion places. (You can read all the gory details in the previous chapter if you haven’t already.)
Let’s get back to the story right away, because I hear Marit’s signed yet another player…
LUNDAL CALLING
Hei, det er Marit, and I’d like you to welcome Martin Lundal to Lyn. The summer transfer window didn’t open until mid-July, but after such a poor start to the season, I brought in a free signing to try and give us more defensive depth.
Yes, Lundal wasn’t the top-quality central defender we desperately needed (more on that later). At 5ft 10in tall, he wasn’t going to win many aerial duels with big opposition centre-forwards. I actually saw the former Kongsvinger man more as a deputy defensive midfielder to Erik Lundanes Jonvik.
In case you’re wondering, our vice-captain Mads Pedersen was still unhappy about “being replaced” by the wrong player, but now he effectively had been. It was increasingly likely that the once-great Dane would leave us sooner rather than later.
LYN 1896 vs HØNEFOSS (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 9)
Lundal had to wait for his debut, as we held up surprisingly well against last year’s runners-up Hønefoss in a comeback victory. The visitors had gone ahead in the 17th minute, when Iraqi forward Sami Kamel planted a cross from winger Joachim Edvardsen into the net. [Surprisingly, the game didn’t register that as a shot on target.]
When HFK tried to double their lead from an Edvardsen corner nine minutes later, Anders Lübeck made a brilliant interception that allowed us to hit them on the break. Eirik Haugstad played a searching pass to Martin Trøen on the right flank, and the striker’s cross into the penalty area was hammered home by Simen Vedvik.
Another counterstrike on the stroke of half-time saw us go 2-1 up. The move ended with Haugstad neatly squaring a low pass into the box for Trøen to strike from an angle.
Hønefoss were wasteful in front of goal during the second half as we retained our narrow lead. The closest we came to increasing it came midway through the half, when Vedvik’s far-post header from Haugstad’s flick-on was ruled out for offside. Nevertheless, a valuable three points appeared to have given new energy to our push up the table.
LYN 1896 vs FRAM LARVIK (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 10)
Then we reverted to type, spurning opportunities to put 12th-placed Fram Larvik deeper in the mire. A win would have put clear daylight us between us and Fram, but a draw meant we were still looking over our shoulders.
We were clearly the better team in the first half, though we didn’t make that count until two minutes from half-time. Our loanee winger Vegard Somdal was pushed in the area by Fram defender Tobias Ødegård as they tried to reach Oskar Hansen‘s free-kick delivery. The referee awarded a penalty, which Trøen converted for his eighth goal of the season (seven of which had come in his last six outings).
Unfortunately, we couldn’t build on that. In the 53rd minute, just three minutes after Vedvik had fired a chance for 2-0 against the post, Fram drew level. Nicolas Pignatel Jenssen missed his interception from Mahmoud Laham’s corner, which was nodded into the net by Jensen’s centre-back counterpart Andre Emilio Garcia for 1-1.
After that, it was a case of so near yet so far. Adil Zahid and Marcus Mehnert were each thwarted by visiting goalkeeper Kenneth Stenild in the final half-hour, while Hansen and Trøen each skimmed the bar. There would be no third straight win over Fram Larvik, though we were still able to extend our unbeaten run to seven games.
Meanwhile, 2019/2020 has been another strong European season for Norwegian football. The Eliteserien is now the 22nd-most reputable league on the continent, while Norway’s UEFA club coefficient has climbed to 20th. If we can break into the top 15 soon, we will be able to enter two teams into the Champions League qualifiers.
In other news, youth team centre-back Eirik Melby celebrated his 17th birthday on 20 June by signing his first part-time contract at Lyn. His regular colleague Dan Tandberg – who’d already made his senior league debut – also agreed to turn semi-professional when he turns 17 next year. Whether this would deter larger clubs from approaching our rising stars in the summer window, I did not know.
ROSENBORG 2 vs LYN 1896 (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 11)
This was probably the worst match I’ve ever watched as Lyn manager. The defences clearly won out in a low-quality contest that only saw two shots on target – one from each side.
The first half was truly terrible, and it was one Jonvik would rather forget. Our holding midfielder suffered a couple of knocks and was replaced at the interval by Lundal, who had a pretty solid and assured debut.
Another Lyn substitute produced the game’s first shot on target after 72 minutes, when Mehnert’s powerful drive was pushed wide by Rosenborg keeper Lars Jendal. RBK defender Besim Serbecic then tested our goalie from Hugo Vetlesen’s corner in the 87th minute. Knut-André Skjærstein made a confident catch to keep the scoreline at 0-0, but neither team went home particularly happy.
LYN 1896 vs NEST-SOTRA (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 12)
We returned to form a week later, making light work of a Nest-Sotra side who were sitting in the drop zone under their new manager – ex-Lyn and Norway right-back Hassan El Fakiri.
The tone for a dominant display was set after just 11 minutes. Joakim Rishovd‘s corner delivery was volleyed in by loanee winger Vegard Somdal, who scored his first goal for the club. Five minutes later, midfielder Marius Østvold got his first of the season, hitting a 25-yard screamer after a couple of square passes from Vedvik and Zahid.
Nest-Sotra didn’t test our goalkeeper Alexander Vangen – making his Lyn league debut – until the 68th minute. Striker Jone Rugland got his head to a left-wing cross from Norway Under-19s winger Ørjan Bjørlo, Vangen made a diving catch that looked more spectacular than it perhaps needed to be.
We then put Nest-Sotra to rest nine minutes from the end, thanks to another first-time scorer. Zahid had dominated the midfield all game long, and he showed his class again by running at the defence before weighting a pass to our substitute striker. I’d not given Erlend Hustad many opportunities this season, but he certainly took this chance to complete a classy 3-0 win.
Our unbeaten run continued, and so did our pursuit of the promotion places. We were now only six points adrift of 3rd-placed Asker in the play-off spot (Nybergsund were still top, with Rosenborg 2 – who obviously can’t be promoted – just behind).
ØRN HORTEN vs LYN 1896 (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 13)
Ørn Horten were bottom of the table without a win to their name, and we heaped on the misery to register our first away league victory this season. The scoring began after only 12 record-breaking seconds, in which Mehnert chased after Østvold’s killer pass and drove a lethal finish beyond goalkeeper Jorge Vieira.
Ørn wasted little time to equalise, as 18-year-old winger Bastian Bergerud powered home a deadly delivery from Nuninho in just the seventh minute. Parity was restored for only seven minutes, though, before Hansen bent it like John Arne Riise to put us back ahead through yet another free-kick.
The next goal wasn’t as pretty, but it sent us 3-1 up in the 25th minute. The post stopped Trøen ending his two-game goal drought, but Somdal stretched a leg out to turn the rebound across the line. That was followed just before the interval by a FIFTH goal, as Kenneth Diallo pounced on a mistake by Vangen to give the hosts renewed hope at only 3-2 down.
Thankfully, our defence held firm, even when Ørn switched to a narrow 4-3-3 [aka the ‘Cheat Tactic’]. That left them vulnerable out wide, and we capitalised in the 77th minute to kill the game off. Hansen swung the ball across the penalty area for Somdal to side-foot in his third goal in two games.
Another bad day for the home team ended with an early dismissal for midfielder Sander Sjøkvist, whose 82nd-minute push on Zahid earned him a second booking. With a 4-2 victory safely in the bag, we stretched our unbeaten run to 10 games and pulled ourselves closer to the top three.
LYN 1896 vs NYBERGSUND (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 14)
Next up for us was a huge game in our promotion pursuit. Our visitors were 3rd-placed Nybergsund, who had themselves gone eight straight matches without defeat until inexplicably losing 3-1 at Nest-Sotra in the previous round.
Victory here would see us go to within three points of both Nybergsund and 2nd-placed Asker. If Steffen Iversen’s team won, they would draw level with leaders Lørenskog and leave us nine points adrift of the play-off place.
That right there is why Nybergsund are challenging for promotion while we are underachieving in mid-table. The visitors were absolutely deadly outside the area, thrice taking advantage of our reinstated goalkeeper Skjærstein’s vulnerability from distance. Midfield aggressor Jesper Sandberg was first to do that in the 16th minute, ending a clever passing move with a fantastic 30-yard curler.
Prior to that, in the 3rd minute, we’d had a goal disallowed when Lübeck’s shot struck the post and deflected in off an offside Mehnert. We found the net again on 24 minutes, as Rishovd slid in his first Lyn goal from Somdal’s volley-cross. Again, it wasn’t spectacular, but it got us back level.
Then disaster struck, as Trøen broke down with another mid-season injury. Martin’s fourth consecutive goalless game ended when he sprained his ankle ligaments after 29 minutes. He was replaced with Hustad, who formed what proved to be an ineffective strike partnership with Mehnert.
Though we kept the half-time scoreline at 1-1 after Trøen’s premature exit, Nybergsund turned on the style in the second period. Firstly, 36-year-old former Estonia left-back Andrei Sidorenkov put them back ahead on 58 minutes with a clinical strike from near our penalty arc. Ten minutes later, 17-year-old attacking midfielder Halvard Åretun clinched the game with another 20-yarder.
There was no way back from 3-1 behind against a team as confident as Nybergsund’s. We fell to our first home league defeat this term, though not before Mehnert had another goal disallowed for offside in stoppage time. What’s going on, Marcus?
MID-SEASON CONCERNS
“What’s going on, Marit?” was what 10 Lyn players were asking me a few days later. Faisal Dahir – still an influential presence despite playing hardly any first-team football this season – had called an emergency team meeting to discuss our poor league position. He had a point, as the Nybergsund defeat had left us down in 9th place – nine points adrift of the play-off spot I’d told the players we would aim for.
My response? “Yes, it’s hard to deny that, but I’m determined to turn things around. I just need all of you to come back on board to make that possible.”
Dahir and the other nine dissenters accepted that as an apology and pledged to work hard to repair the damage already caused. Problem solved… for now.
After the meeting, I demoted Dahir to the reserves, along with fellow centre-half Mathias Aadnoy. Simply put, neither Faisal nor Mathias was good enough to challenge for a regular starting place in what was a very weak defence anyway. They would finish the season at Lyn 2 before being released in the new year. Sorry about that, gentlemen, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
RAUFOSS vs LYN 1896 (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 15)
Desperate times indeed called for desperate measures after we showed rustiness in our first game back from the summer break. A woeful 2-0 defeat against Raufoss – in which centre-backs Jenssen and Lübeck were particularly disappointing – left me scouring the market for yet another new defender.
Our nemesis at the NAMMO Stadion was the tricky Ivorian winger Emile Dadjo, who twice beat Skjærstein either side of half-time. His first finish was an emphatic volley from Thierry Dabove’s deep right-wing cross in the 34th minute. Dadjo doubled his tally five minutes after the break, cutting past Rishovd before cracking a pot-shot into a despairing Skjærstein’s left-hand corner.
It was a forgettable afternoon at the other end for our attackers, and especially half-time substitute Somdal, who lasted only 25 minutes before pulling his knee ligaments. His replacement Mehnert showed some promise when partnered again with Hustad up front, but we clearly missed Trøen’s killer touch. Thankfully, he would soon be fit again following injury.
This latest defeat prompted the players to demand another team meeting. This time around, I got them back on side by pledging that we would work on a new tactical approach over the coming weeks.
In better news, mad Mads finally left. The Danish anchor man had sulked throughout the season because he thought Martin Holmen – a box-to-box midfielder – was signed to replace him. Pedersen has now swapped the Norwegian third division for Turkey’s second tier upon joining Eskişehirspor on €180 per week. [A strange career move, I must say.]
Rishovd was subsequently appointed as the new vice-captain to Lübeck. The left-footed 26-year-old had shown great consistency to usurp three younger colleagues and become our main right-back this season. I then gave Joakim another reward by giving him a new contract for next year, albeit on a lower wage. We were still in substantial debt, after all.
Meanwhile, I made a move for an experienced centre-back with plenty of international pedigree whom I had followed closely for the past year or so. He wouldn’t officially sign for Lyn until after we hosted league leaders Asker, but it would raise quite a few eyebrows. [My God… you’ve signed Virgil van Dijk, haven’t you?]
LYN 1896 vs ASKER (2. divisjon, Avdeling 1 – Match 16)
My new tactical approach was to switch to the 4-4-2 diamond – and as you can see, it worked a treat against Asker! We played some entertaining football during the first half, and although a stunner from Eric Kitolano put us 1-0 down at half-time, I didn’t panic.
As Asker tried and failed to stretch their lead, we emphatically hit back midway through the second half, when Zahid thundered a 25-yard equaliseer right into the top corner. That goal was assisted by Henrik Lehne Olsen, who would himself find the net from distance shortly afterwards. His shot just escaped goalkeeper Andreas Vedeler’s reach, and we led 2-1…
…until the visitors levelled from a 74th-minute corner. None of our defenders could keep tabs on Hallvard Håskjold before the midfielder powerfully nodded Fisnik Kastrati’s delivery into the net.
If Asker thought they’d broken our spirit with their equaliser, Trøen would make them think again nine minutes from time. A mistake by defender Aaron Lee Jones gifted the ball to our star striker, whose 20-yard shot slipped underneath Vedeler for his ninth goal of the campaign. 3-2 to Lyn!
The drama continued four minutes later, though, when Kitolano made it 3-3. He exchanged crosses with Håskjold before getting past his marker Haugstad to confidently finish from just outside the six-yard box.
40 seconds later, though, our despair turned to joy again! Hustad kept a wayward Rishovd cross in play before hooking it into Asker’s penalty area, where Holmen’s volley made it 4-3 Lyn and sent the Bastionen into raptures!
A precious victory had probably saved our season. We were now eight points clear of the drop zone, and just seven behind Lørenskog. Things were so congested that 10 teams still had realistic hopes of promotion, so a strong end to the campaign would surely put us right in the mix.
TRANSFER WINDOW
And here is the man who will hopefully make our defence somewhat competent. Marc Vales is not quite at the same level as Virgil van Dijk, but the 30-year-old central defender is an aggressive man-marker with 66 international caps for Andorra. He joins us on a free transfer after two largely unhappy years at Sandefjord.
Vales arrived on 10 August – two days before the transfer deadline. That final day would see a flurry of transfer activity at Lyn, as we sold three players for around €90,000 and all but cleared our debts.
The first man out was Østvold, who got his long-awaited move to the Eliteserien. We agreed an initial €40,000 deal with Kongsvinger, who’ll also give us 40% of the midfield general’s next transfer fee.
A player of Østvold’s obvious quality would be almost impossible to replace in the 2. divisjon, but I couldn’t stand in the way of his long-term ambitions. “Lykke til, Marius!”
The top flight also beckoned for 16-year-old striker Jon Andersen when we accepted €25,000 and a 50% sell-on clause from Sarpsborg. I had planned to promote Andersen to the first-team after he scored 26 goals in the Oslo Under-19s Championship, but he left before making his first senior appearance.
Lastly, 1. divisjon side Tromsø gave us €27,500 (and another 50% sell-on clause) for another youth product in right-back Martin Knudtzon. Martin made three league appearances for Lyn, but like several other players before him, he’s flown the nest before fulfilling his potential here.
A few second-tier clubs also took an interest in our other teenage right-back. Markus Frydenlund stayed loyal to Lyn and signed his first part-time contract, which will run until 2022.
With our financial situation looking healthier, I could now fill the gaps Østvold’s exit left in our midfield. A few players – including captain Lübeck – were worried about a lack of depth there, so I answered their concerns by signing TWO new midfielders. [Please try not to get them mixed up.]
22-year-old playmaker Mads Sande will provide some extra creativity after signing from Stabæk for €2,000. Mads made one Eliteserien appearance for ‘De Blaa’ this season, coming off the bench to score in a 2-0 win at Sogndal, but had largely been shunned since then. Some members of the ‘Bastionen’ might have problems accepting another Stabæk old boy into the team, but I hope his technical ability will quickly win them over.
And what do you do if you can’t beat Nybergsund? Steal one of their best young prospects! Jesper Sandberg is an energetic and tough-tackling midfielder, but the 19-year-old also has a mean long shot in him, as we’ve already found out. Sandberg has four goals and two assists to his name in the league this season, so maybe he could be the one to fill Østvold’s shoes.
Will those signings transform Lyn’s season and inspire a late surge towards promotion? Or will Østvold be too sorely missed? You will find out in the season finale on Thursday.
“Takk for lesing!”
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