Great progress since my last comment! 👏

That duplication bug sounds like quite the thing!

@Skinner_ thanks for taking the time to catch up! Really appreciate it. Yeah, we've made good progress, but more to come soon hopefully! That duplicate issue seems to ave resolved itself for now. I think it was to do with once I had signed them, I allowed them to join on trial, but since I stopped doing that, they don't duplicate. 

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 Mid-Season Update 2027 - Vikingur Olafsvik

  Things are going stupidly well this season. I really think everything is just slotting into place and we can go on to win the title. It may be that my time here in Iceland is coming to a close. It will be a sad day when it happens, but also one tinged with happiness as the journey can continue. We aren't here to build dynasties I'm afraid. You'll see we've had a ridiculous set of results in the European Conference League as well. You could say it's a miracle result….

Pepsi-Deildin

A mixed set of results to start the season off, especially after losing the first game to the holders Knattspyrnufelag Akureyrar. Not a great start to the league, but look at that form since then. We haven't lost and are currently on a 10 match unbeaten run. We've had some good wins including the clean sweep against Stjarnan. We ended out the first half of the season with our revenge against Knattspyrnufelag Akureyrar as we beat them 2-0 at home. A great result as we head into the break. But where did this fantastic set of results leave us in the table…

Disappointingly, we're still only in 3rd position which shows how strong the league actually is. We're all quite evenly matched. After 11 games, we have 26 points and sit behind Knattspyrnufelag Akureyrar and Stjarnan but more importantly we have a game in hand where we can go and draw level with the leaders. They have a superior goal difference but hopefully we can close that gap and build ours just incase it's the decider come the end of the season. We're ina a good position going into the last 11 games…

Mjolkurbikarinn

Our form wasn't going to last in every competition and it took a hit in the Mjolkurbikarinn. I'm not disappointed to be honest, as it gives us more of a rest. We beate Haukar convincingly 4-1 in the third round, before getting a tough draw against Breioablik UBK in the fourth round. They beat us in a close encounter securing the win 2-1. Never mind.

European Conference League

LOOK AT THAT RESULT!! I'm skipping the easy demolition of Malta's Birkirkara and heading straight for the match up against Celtic. I couldn't believe our bad luck when we drew them n the 2nd qualifying round. We couldn't have a harder draw at this stage but look at what we managed to do. Big Timur Melekestsev popped up and scored a booming header infront of our own fans to send them into manic celebrations. We were under siege for the majority of the match but held firm and secured a vital victory! 

Onto the away leg where we played in front of 43,000 fans, with 27 of our most faithful, loyal fans making the journey! They were rewarded with a brilliant effort and a great result to boot. A last minute goal from outgoing Omar Ingi Bjarkason secured us the draw and meant we were on our way into the third qualifying round. Giant killers they call us! What a result!

Player Stats:

Most Goals:

Timur Melekestsev (ST) - 15

Svein Andri Ottesen (AMR), Arnar Numi Hallsson (AMC), Tomas Bent Magnusson (AML) & Anton Logi Ludviksson (CB) - 3

Omar Ingi Bjarkason (CB) & Viktor Juliusson (AMR) - 2

Most Assists:

Tomas Bent Magnusson (AML), Robert Andri Omarsson (CM) & Ivar Reynir Antonsson (ST) - 4

Omar Ingi Bjarkason (CB), Gudjon Ernir Hrafnkelsson (RB), Kristofer Andre Cardoso (AMC), Bjarki Leossen (CB) - 3

Arnar Numi Hallsson (AMC) & Elis Dofri Gylfason (AML) - 2

Highest Average Rating:

Omar Ingi Bjarkason (CB) - 7.59

Timur Melekestsev (ST) - 7.50

Tomas Bent Magnusson (AML) - 7.22

Next Update: End of Season Update 2027

End of Season Update 2027 - Vikingur Olafsvik

DID WE DO IT? DID WE DO IT? You'll find out during this latest update, but things continued to roll nicely for us. We also had an even worse draw in the European Conference League to try and battle through. It stood in our way with the Group Stage. I'm going to get straight on with it, and get you all out of your misery.

Pepsi-Deildin

It looks like a pretty damn good set of results to me. Having only lost the once in the first 11 games, we managed to repeat that feat in the second 11 games, with a shock defeat against IBK Keflavik. We went into that game expecting a win, and they said, NO. Anyway less of that bad result, and onto the positives. We actually went 13 games in the league unbeaten until that defeat. I started to get a bit worried at the end of the season as we went 3 draws in a row against some good teams. Knowing that it would all come down to the last 2 games, one of which was against our nearest challenger Breioablik UBK. A lucky 1-1 draw against them saw us be in prime position on the last day, and with the victory against Knattspyrnudeild KR it saw us be crowned CHAMPIONS!

A FANTASTIC ACHIEVMENT! Remember when I took over, we were in the second division of Icelandic football, and 5 seasons later we are a regular in Europe beating some of the giants, and now we are PEPSI-DEILDIN CHAMPIONS! I'm ecstatic with what we've achieved here. But, we still had the European Conference League….

European Conference League

Look at that draw..Bayer Leverkusen, the giant of Germany. You wouldn't expect to find them in the European Conference League qualifiers for gods sake. I was desperate to reach the group stage for the first time and get that much needed money into the bank account, but they really did show their quality. A 2-0 defeat in front of our own fans is nothing to be ashamed about, as is the 3-1 defeat away from home. We also had a sell out crowd of 5,600 in our picturesque little stadium. Wasn't to be, but a fun journey was had by all.

Player Stats:

Most Goals:

Timur Melekestsev (ST) - 21

Sveinn Andi Ottesen (ST) - 6

Tomas Bent Magnusson (AML) & Viktor Juliusson (AMR) - 5

Most Assists:

Tomas Bent Magnusson (AML) - 7

Kristofer Andre Cardoso (AMC) - 6

Gudjon Ernir Hrafnkelsson (RB) & Brynjar Snaer Palsson (CM) - 5

Highest Average Rating:

Omar Ingi Bjarkason (CB) - 7.48

Timur Melekestsev (ST) - 7.33

Brynjar Snaer Palsson (CM) - 7.16

AND WITH THAT, I AM DONE IN ICELAND! THAT'S EVERYTHING TICKED OFF NICELY, AND IN SEMI-QUICK TIME. BOTTOM TO TOP IN 5 SEASONS. WHERE TO NEXT I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT I'M SAD TO BE LEAVING ICELAND, BUT EXCITED TO SEE WHERE IT LEADS ME ON THIS MAGNIFICENT JOURNEY.

NEXT UPDATE: WHERE NEXT?

EP.22 - Back to Belarus - FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk

I didn't expect to be in Belarus this quickly but an opportunity presented itself to me that I couldn't turn down. It actually took a while to get a job interview in the books, but once the first one was done, I had another one the day after.

Shakhtyor Soligorsk - Vysejsaja Liha - Belarus

Sturm Graz - Tipico Bundesliga - Austria

Obviously both are big teams in their perspective leagues and both had their positives and negatives. Shakhtyor were struggling this season after winning the league a few seasons ago, so I knew they had the ability in their squad to win, and it was a no brainer for me. The fact they are still in the Kubak Bielarusi (their national cup competition) which takes place over two seasons for some reason, also played a role in the decision. Can we tick off a trophy quickly?

You may remember that I sent them packing from the European Conference League when managing Vikingur Olafsvik in 2026.

Club Information:

Nickname: The Miners / The Moles

Founded: 1963

Club Colours: Yellow & Black

Stadium: Stroitel (5,934 all seated)

(Thanks to @DNZY for this little idea, I stole it from him)

Squad:

I have a fairly big squad at my disposal but unlike at Vikingur Olafsvik, I actually have an U19 team where I can put my youth players and my sort of fringe players that won't get playing time. I HATE having a big squad as players get upset with you too quickly! I went through the team when I arrived and tried to demote a few straight away, but they all seem pretty damn good and at a similar level so that may have to wait until I'm more settled.

KEY PLAYERS:

GK: Petr Kosarevskiy 

DF: Kirill Gluschenkov (CB)
MF: Ramazan Gadjimuradov (AMR/L)
ST: Islom Rashidhonov (ST)

Areas that need improvement straight away are clearly the attacking department. I only have one striker that is of a good enough ability, so I'll be looking at bringing someone in during the offseason. I have a healthy transfer budget at £1.9m and a damn healthy wage budget at £12.4k available. I'm sure I can bring in a few players. I do want to try and bring in my old CB Omar Ingi Bjarkason if he will move over to Belarus. 

Season So Far: 2027

So I took over right at the end of the season, with the club languishing down in 12th position in the league. I had two games remaining on the fixture list so the aim was to win them both and see where we could climb to. If we lost, who cares, if we won, bonus. It's a chance for the team to practice my tactic and get used to it ready for next season.

We enjoyed a cracking opening win against Neman Grodno (5th) with two lateish goals securing us the 3 points after they had levelled it up in the second half. A great start to my time in charge. We then went on to play the final game of the season against Isloch who aren't too good to be honest. We smashed them 4-0 and it meant that we had climbed to 9th in the league.

Next Update: Pre-Season Update 2028

@DNZY, credit where credit is due eh! I think success should be pretty instantaneous. It's all about picking the right job from here on in…

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EP.23 - Mid-Season Update 2028 - Shakhtyor Soligorsk

I'm back to where it all started, in beautiful Belarus and I'm loving it. I left here because I ended up getting relegated with Slonim-2017 back in 2022 and things didn't go to plan. I fell out of love quickly with it and jumped ship and moved to Iceland. This time around in Belarus things are going a lot better! 

I've only made the one transfer since joining the club. I was in need of another striker since I only had the one of decent quality. In comes Bartol Barisic from Nizhniy Novogrod for a hefty fee of £525k. He's an instant starter who has high finishing, technique and heading meaning he's going to be a good target man who can find the back of the net with ease. Here's hoping the Croatian can bag a lot of goals!

Show Spoiler

Kubak Bielarusi

The first taste of football here at Shakhtyor Soligorsk was in the Kubak Bielarusi. Once again it takes places over different seasons so we were already into the Quarter-Finals when I joined the club. We faced off in a two legged match up against Isloch and comfortably dispatched them 6-2 on aggregate. An easy match up means we are on our way to the semi-final. 

A much harder tie awaited us as we faced Belarusian Giants BATE-Borisov. We managed to win the first leg 2-1 before securing the win overall with a 1-0 in the return leg. The favourites have been knocked out and we're on the way to the Final! Could silverware be ours quickly?

Dynamo Brest awaited us in the Final, and in front of a bumper crowd of 8,500 we put in a brilliant performance! Goals from Lipi Veloso & Bartol Barisic saw us run out 2-0 winners as we hoisted the trophy high into the evening air! A first trophy in my time at the club!

Vysejsaja Liha

You actually couldn't wish for a better start at a football club! I'm unbeaten in all competitions and on a 15 match run this season without losing! We've only conceded 9 goals as we've been like a wall at the back! Up the other end of the pitch we've been ruthless, scoring 39 times in the 15 games. An excellent record if I do say so myself. 
 

The wins against Smorgon, & Lokomotiv Gomel were my favourites whilst the draw against Dinamo Minsk is the one that angers me the most. 2-0 up with 6 minutes to play and we end up drawing the game. Fuming wasn't the word! If that's all I've got to moan about, I'm a lucky, lucky man! 

Half Way Stage and we're right at the top of the tree leading the way. 11 wins and 4 draws means we total 37 points. We're only 3 points ahead of 2nd placed BATE-Borisov and 4 ahead of Dinamo Minsk so we need to continue this unbeaten run and continue to pick up points quickly and often. Let's go!!!

Player Stats:

Most Goals:

Ramazan Gadjimuradov (AMR/L) & Jean Morel Poe (AML/R) - 8

Alimardon Shukurov (CM) & Kirill Gluschenkov (CB) - 6

Bartol Barisic (ST) & Julius Szoke (CM) - 4

Most Assists:

Alimardon Shukurov (CM) - 7

Ramazan Gadjimuradov (AMR/L) & Achraf Achaoui (RB) - 6

Jean Morel Poe (AML/R) - 5

Highest Average Rating:

Kirill Gluschenkov (CB) - 7.78

Dmitiriy Bessmertnyi (RB) - 7.58

Ramazan Gadjimuradov (AMR/L) - 7.46

Next Update: End of Season Update 2027.

EP.24 - End of Season 2028 Update - Shakhtyor Soligorsk

Done, Finito, In the books! Another season is over and done with. I think I've managed to turn my Belarus nightmare around and now I love this countries football once again! Having managed to tick off the Kubak Bielarusi in the last update, I quickly moved on to securing the Vysejsaja Liha in which we were in the prime spot to do so. 15 games stood in our way though. During the last update I told you all about how we hadn't lost this season so far, and I was desperate to keep that up and complete my first EVER unbeaten season on FM. EVER. Did we do it though?

Vysejsaja Liha

The ONLY thing I see here is that solitary red dot on the fixture list. That result was so out of the blue and it's the only stain on our record this season! I was one game away from having an unbeaten season! FUMING. I don't even care that we lost 4-1, it's more the fact we lost. Anyway, enough of the rant.

We only dropped points in 3 of the final 15 games which is some going! Big victories against Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodin, Isloch, Rukh Brest, FC Minsk & Dynamo Brest were just the tip of the iceberg as we scored 44 goals which is even better than the first 15 games. Brilliant from the attackers as messers Bartol Barisic & Jean Morel Poe took over and scored for fun. Meanwhile, at the back we were stout once again only conceding 11 goals. Slightly more than last time but the 4-1 defeat didn't help that.

Did we manage to clinch the title though? 

The title at the first attempt with Shakhtyor Soligorsk but my second attempt in this league after the debacle with Slonim-2017. I'm over the moon with how we managed to perform this season. An attacking force and a defensive wall all in one!

Also, I managed to enter the Belarusian Hall of Fame somehow despite having only won two league titles and one cup title. That's some slim pickings! 

European Conference League

Another frustrating time out in the European Conference League as we managed to reach the 4th Qualifying Round once again and not making the Group Stage. All we have to do is hold on to a lead in a tie! It never happens though.

We managed to eventually see off Kolos from Ukraine after getting beat 4-3 in a thrilling game. A 4-1 comfortable victory in the return leg at home saw us progress to take on St Gallen from Switzerland who went into the tie as favourites. We managed to secure a 1-0 victory at home before losing the second leg 2-0. Frustrating as we were 12 minutes from making the Group Stage for the first time in my career!

Player Stats:

Most Goals:

Bartol Barisic (ST) - 27

Jean Morel Poe (AML) - 19

Ramazan Gadjimuradov (AMR) - 16

Most Assists:

Alimardon Shukurov (CM) - 16

Jean Morel Poe (AML) - 15

Dmitriy Bessmertnyi (RB) - 14

Highest Average Rating:

Kirill Gluschenkov (CB) - 7.61

Dmitriy Bessmertnyi (RB) - 7.54

Ramazan Gadjimuradov (AMR) - 7.52

I've just got the Supierkupa Bielarus to win here in Belarus, which I'm guessing is the Super Cup. We've definitely qualified thanks to winning the league and also the cup. It doesn't take place until the start of next season so I'm sticking around until then, and hopefully we can pick it up at the first chance.

Next Update: Supierkupa Bielarus Update

EP.25 - Supierkubak Bielarus - Shakhtyor Soligorsk

Just a quick update to bring you up to date with how we fared in the Supierkubak Bielarus after managing to win the Vysejsaja Liha & Kubak Bielarusi last season. We were up against BATE-Borisov in this big match up at the start of the season!

A nice solid 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Bartol Barisic & Maxim Doroshenko one in each half. Doroshenko came back in after a season long loan and showed us what he had learnt! He was really, really impressive. Not that it matters anymore as I've resigned and I'm searching for my next club already…

Easy work really in Belarus, and my second country is now complete! Who knows where I'll end up next, but I'm going to stay in Europe for sure! 

Next Update: The Next Club!

Bloody Smorgon! 😡

Still a fab time in Belarus! Eyes on the next club.

@Skinner_ I will forever have a hatred for Smorgon, and that will never ever go! I hope you will join me!
@DNZY, easy as that eh? I don't think they will all be as easy as that one though.

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EP.26 - Next Club News - FC Orenburg

It's that time again. NEW CLUB SEASON!! Oh yeah, and I'm excited about this one! I've stayed in Europe like I said I would. I've carried on my travels slightly East of Belarus and have landed in the freezing cold lands of Russia! Land of Vodka, Bears & Cossack Hats! I'll be sure to don one on the touchline to impress my new fans. Not sure if that would annoy them or make them love me! It's a risk I'll take…

Club Information:

Nickname: Unkown.

Founded: 1976

Club Colours: White & Blue

Stadium: Orenburg Stadium (7,316 Seated)

Squad

Finally! I have myself a small squad, and for the first time, I'm not happy about it. We don't have enough quality in this first team so I'll definitely be dipping into the transfer market when I get a chance to. I've actually taken over ¾ of the way through the season so I've got the remainder of the games to play first then in come the re-enforcements. That being said, I do have some good players, and they are:

Key Players:

GK: Luka Sanikidze 

DF: Nikita Khil'man (CB)

MF: Luka Lukanic (AMC)

ST: Artur Sagitov (AMC/ST)

The area that needs the most improvement is definitely the attacking department. My best striker is well down the line and I actually don't even have an out and out striker in the first team so that's the first port of call. I may even go back to my old team and try ad persuade Bartol Barisic to make the switch to Mother Russia. I will also be adding more CM's in my usual move so they don't get tired. A tried and tested tactic. 

Season So Far: 2028/2029

Like I said before, I have taken over around ¾ of the way through the season and have 8 games left of the season. The team was knocked out in the Kubok Rossil in the 3rd round so no chance of silverware this season which is not the greatest but it's all about next season. The team currently lie in 10th position in the Olimp-Russian Football Championship (2nd Tier of Russian Football). Can we rise up the league? Of course we can, but how high can we go? We'll soon see.

Next Update: End of Season Update 2028/2029

EP.27 - End of Season 2027/2028 Update - FC Orenburg

Russia, Russia, Russia, what are you doing to me! I've spent half the time on the training pitches in Orenburg and the remainder of the time in a vodka fuelled celebration in the local town centre! An excellent way to live eh? Seriously though, I've not made any transfers apart from bringing in the players on loan on a permanent basis.

Artur Shapulov - DM/CM - £525k

&

Nikita Khil'man - CB - £500k

These players have serious talent and have played pretty damn well in my short time here so it was a no brainer to try and bring them in full time. The next step is to bring in a striker and a few central midfielders to bolster out the squad. I'll also be promoting some of the better youngsters and giving them a shot next season. All about the youth. 

Olimp-Russia Football Championship

I've taken to life here in Russia pretty easily, and it's shown in the results. I started off with a 6 match unbeaten run with some good wins against good teams such as the 2-1 victory against Torpedo. To be honest, the teams we've played in my mini stint in charge have all been down at the lower end of the table. Krasnodar 2, Yenisey Krasnoyarsk & Torpedo are the only teams up there in terms of league positions and we did pretty well against all of those picking up 7 points out of the possible 9. 
I definitely need to bolster the defence as we conceded far too many in these games, only managing one clean sheet so far. A worryng sign.

 We started off in 10th position when I boarded the helm, and we finished in 8th. At one stage with two games to go we had a slight chance of stealing the last play off spot but we lost and drew the final two games so our playoff hopes disappeared into the horizon. I'll take an 8th placed finish for this season. Next season, it's playoffs or higher.

Player Stats:

Most Goals:

Aleksander Yanchev (AML) - 10

Luka Lukanic (AMC), Nikita Balakhontsev (AMR) & Artur Sagitov (ST) - 6

Vyacheslov Gladyshev (AMC) - 4

Most Assists:

Nikita Balakhontsev (AMR) - 6

Artur Sagitov (ST) - 5

Artur Shapovalov (DM), Thiago (CM) Konstantin Lyakhov (DR) & Alexandr Guz (DM) - 4

Highest Average Rating:

Nikita Khil'man (DM) & Aleksandar Yanchev (CM) - 7.05

Nikita Balakhontsev (AMR) - 7.04

Artur Sagitov (ST) - 7.03

Next Update: Mid-Season Update 2029/2030