Dreaming in Denmark (Football Manager 15)

[NarratorC]

It's been a while, but I've finally made it back to the Dynasty Reports thread.

Almost two years ago, I started a Football Manager story that I really liked a lot. My daughter Zoe took an interest in it from the beginning, and both of us had a lot of fun bringing the story of a little English club called Little Common to life.

Unfortunately, the challenges of teaching during a pandemic, with some of my class in the room with me and others learning virtually, became so exhausting that I had little time or energy for my story. Zoe was just as busy, experiencing the same challenges from a student's perspective. And, then, my laptop crashed, and my Little Common save perished with it.

Zoe and I still enjoy football (soccer) just as much, if not more. This morning, while we were watching a Premier League match together, we decided to team up for another Football Manager experience. This time, we're traveling to Denmark, where our family's ancestral roots are found.

Like we did with Little Common, we're beginning small. We've chosen to take over the managerial job at Skagen Idræts Klub.



As you can see, Skagen is the northernmost town in Denmark, and it's also one of the nation's most beautiful places. That's one reason why Zoe and I chose it.


Skagen Stadion is a beautiful setting for a game of football, too.

There are seats for 500 fans, but the grounds will supposedly hold a crowd of 5500. I'm guessing that never happens in the Danish Serie 2 Jylland league, seven steps down the national football pyramid. That's where Skagen are playing as our story begins.

Our manager character will be Tobias Mathiesen, who will turn 34 on 1 December 2014. He played professionally in Denmark, mainly in the second and third divisions, although he made four appearances in the Superliga with Odense. Toby holds a Continental A license.

Right now, Tobias has no players to manage, but Zoe and I are going to fix that very soon. Will this be the beginning of a storied managerial career, or will Tobias be just another fellow who will get to tell his grandkids that, once upon a time, he coached a football club?

Let's find out, shall we?

[NarratorC]

July 2014

Here are the players we've brought together for the start of the 2014/15 campaign. Skagen are an amateur club, so all these footballers will need to find a paying job here in town. Some of them will undoubtedly find jobs in the tourism industry, working in hotels, restaurants, and stores.



Let's get to know them, shall we?

The First Team

GK Mogens Korsgaard
Age 34
Former Clubs: Aalborg Freja
Experienced gloveman Mogens is sure-handed, commands his area well, and is comfortable with the ball at his feet.

D(R) Jeppe Quortrup
Age 24
Former Club: Lindholm
Jeppe is a small, athletic full-back with a mature understanding of the game.

D(L) Anders Thorhauge
Age 23
Former Clubs: Silkeborg IF, Brabrand IF
Anders is comfortable moving forward, utilizing his pace and crossing ability.

D(C) Mats Andersen
Age 21
Former Club: Hobro IK
Mats will be one of the first names on the team sheet; he is a complete ball-playing defender and a leader.

D(C) Klaus Christensen
Age 24
Former Club: Viborg FF
Klaus's lack of height might have made him less desirable for a big club, but his pace, strength, and understanding of the game make him just fine for us.

DM Jesper Kjær
Age 32
Former Club: Aalborg Freja
Veteran Jesper provides us a steady presence in front of our defense, and he's also a creative passer who will help us move through the lines in possession.

M(C) Kasper Gaihede
Age 28
Former Club: Frederikhavn
The only player on our squad list when we took over, Kasper is the heartbeat of the team and a dangerous free kick specialist.

M(C) Steffen Thorsgaard
Age 19
Former Clubs: AGF, Brabrand IF
Steffen is a tough box-to-box midfielder with loads of promise.

AM(R) Christian Ejlertsten
Age 23
Former Club: Aalborg KFUM
An industrious winger, Christian is also one of the team's most active presences on social media.

AM(L) Lennert Dalsgaard
Age 27
Former Club: Hobro IK
Club captain Lennert is an athletic, savvy Raumdeuter.

ST Sebastian Skjøt
Age 22
Former Club: Hobro IK
Another former Hobro man, Sebastian is a powerful front man with a scorer's touch.


Squad Players
Some of these men are challenging for spots in the first team and will play quite a bit of football for us this year.

GK Mark Hammershøj
Age 22
Former Club: Silkeborg IF
Promising 'keeper Mark communicates with his defense well, but needs to work on his shot stopping before he's ready for the number one shirt.

D(R/C) M(C) Philip Luplau
Age 18
Former Club: None
We brought former "grey guy" Philip to life to give us a versatile backup, but his balanced skill set will enable us to give him some game time.

D(L) Kenneth Nielsen
Age 21
Former Club: Viborg FF
Kenneth will probably split the left back position with Thorhauge; he's a bit quicker but less confident in his responsibilities.

AM(R/C)/M(R)/ST Rico Frandsen
Age 15
Former Club: None
Another "grey guy" we brought to life, youngster Rico provides cover for several positions.

M(R/C) Morten Bech
Age 27
Former Club: Lindholm
Morten is a valuable member of our midfield rotation, especially well-suited to more attacking roles.

ST/AM(R/L/C)/M(L) Tobias Worsøe
Age 21
Former Clubs: FC Hjørring, Silkeborg IF, FC Djursland
Well-traveled Tobias is a versatile attacker with a variety of useful skills; he'll play a lot.

ST Claus Speiermann
Age 19
Former Club: None
The third of our revivified "grey guys," Claus is a good pressing forward whom we might retrain as a defender.

[NarratorC]

July 2014

Tactical Talk[/b]
Since Skagen IK had only one player when we arrived, we could build our team around a tactic we wanted to use, rather than finding a tactic that suited our players.

Zoe plays as a defensive midfielder for her club team, so she wanted to include that role in our tactic. We chose a formation the game calls 4-1-2-3 DM Wide. I'm a goalkeeper who likes to play outside my box from time to time, so I like to use a sweeper keeper.

She also became infatuated with the Raumdeuter when we last played Football Manager together, so we'll see what happens when we add that role to our forward three.

I am far from a master tactician, but I do have fun seeing what I can come up with.

[NarratorC]

July 2014

In our next pre-season post, I'll introduce you to Tobias's backroom staff.

Assistant manager Per Rahbek is 30 years old, and holds a National C coaching license. He is extraordinarily skilled at working with young players, and I can envision us shifting Per to a role with our Under 19s at some point.

Our board allows us to have one first team coach, so Zoe and I added 34-year-old Janus Henriksen to our staff. Janus's mental traits are very good; he's an especially sound tactician for our level. He holds a National B license.

Reserves manager Rasmus Elfving is a very determined coach, a good motivator, and is nearly as good with youngsters as Rahbek is. Rasmus is 30, and he has a National B coaching certificate.

We picked Troels Frederiksen to manage our Under 19s. Troels, 32, is a good judge of talent, and like the rest of our staff, understands the needs of young footballers. He holds a National B license.

Our Head of Youth Development is Leif Kruse. The elder statesman of our back room at age 48, Leif has the requisite skill with young players and prefers the same 4-1-2-3 DM formation Tobias does. His Balanced personality could be better, but it's not bad. He has a National B coaching license.

Ralf Spring, our Physio, is pretty good at Physio things. He's 28 years old.

René Kejser is our Chief (and only) Scout. He knows the Danish football culture thoroughly, and since we can only scout in Denmark, his knowledge base is sufficient for our current needs.

Most of our computer-managed opponents don't have as complete a staff as we do, which definitely gives us a bit of an advantage. And, since all our staff members are amateurs, we can secure as many helpers as the board will allow without worrying about spending too much on their wages.

[NarratorC]

Just for Fun: Footballers' Jobs

The idea for this project came to life when Zoe and I noticed that our amateur footballers don't spend a lot of time on the pitch. They play matches or train two days a week.

"I wonder what they do with the rest of their time?" Zoe pondered.

We talked about the fact that amateur and semi-professional footballers work at other jobs. She knew Jamie Vardy worked in a factory while he played in the lower leagues. Charlie Austin was a bricklayer, and Peter Schmeichel worked for the World Wildlife Fund.

At first, Zoe and I thought about looking up the Skagen players online and finding out what they might have done to pay the bills. But we decided that seemed a bit creepy, and after all, at least three of our players--the former "grey guys"--aren't real people. And, as the game creates a new crop of "newgen" teenagers each year, more and more of our cast of characters will be fictional.

We decided to come up with a way to make our players seem more real by creating jobs for them. After several hours of fun, our Footballers' Jobs System is ready!

If you're not interested in how it works, please feel free to stop reading now. We'll never know, and you wouldn't have hurt our feelings if we did. If it seems intriguing to you, read on.

*************************************************
Players who are 17 years old or younger are full-time Scholars. We don't roll for them.

Some people don't have jobs; they're still looking for them, they don't want them, or perhaps they don't need them. To determine if any of our players are unemployed, we roll a d8.

Slackers might not really be Slackers. Maybe they're men whose families can afford to support them while they pursue their footballing dreams. They might have spouses with well-paying jobs. Perhaps they're looking for work, but can't find a job. Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was on the unemployment rolls for a year before he became a professional player.

Slackers might also be just that: Slackers. Maybe they do an odd job here or there, but they don't have a regular job.

Most players will be Productive Citizens, whose place in society will be decided by a further series of rolls.

Young Players (age 18-24)
If a Productive Citizen is between the ages of 18-24, he might be a full-time Student rather than a full-time member of the work force. His status is determined by another roll of the d8.


If the player is a Student, we next roll a d20 to determine what he's studying to be. There are universities located near enough to Skagen for a player to study there. There is also a Skipper's School which trains navigators for fishing boats and merchant ships. Perhaps a player is learning that trade.

If a Student is at least 21 years old, he might be doing postgraduate work in law, medicine, or dentistry. If we roll those results for men who are 18, 19, or 20, they're University Students who aspire to careers in that field. If they're still around when they turn 21, they'll simply continue their educations.

Full-Time Workers can be employed in a number of jobs. We learned that tourism is the most important industry in Skagen. About 2 million people visit the area each year. We figured lots of Skagen residents would be employed in hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops. We also included jobs that young men might typically have in towns the size of Skagen, which has a year-round population of about 7,500 people (according to one source, the population swells to over 50,000 during tourist season).

A roll of our percentile dice gives us a result from 1-100, which we refer to this chart:


Older Players (ages 25-up)
If a Productive Citizen is at least 25 years old, we roll the percentile dice and take the result from this chart. It reflects the fact that men in their late 20s and 30s might have jobs that require more training, more experience, or both.

Rolls of 85-100 give players jobs for which there are minimum age requirements. If a player fails this age check, he works in a support role in that field--a paralegal or a medical/dental/veterinary technician instead.

Life Goes On
When a player moves from one life stage to another, his employment situation might change. The experience he's gained on the job could lead to a better position at the hotel, restaurant, bar, or store where he works. He could acquire the skills and certification he needs to qualify as a master technician.

Perhaps the player decides a new type of work might suit him better. Or, he might decide he likes what he's doing and wants to continue at the same job.

When one of our players reaches age 25, we roll a d8 and refer to the Life Goes On chart:

Stays In Same Job results mean exactly what it says. The player continues doing exactly what he did as a younger man.

Promotes To Higher Level results give players new, better jobs in the same field, if they're available. Here are the possible promotions players can achieve:
Hotel Desk Clerk - Concierge/Hotel Manager
Waiter/Restaurant Host/Bartender - Restaurant Manager
Cook - Chef
Retail Salesperson - Retail Manager
Carpenter - Master Carpenter
Electrician/HVAC Specialist - Master Electrician/HVAC
Plumber - Master Plumber
Fitness Trainer - Physiotherapist

For a player who rolls Gets New Job, we roll the d100 and check the Older Players chart for his new occupation.

If the result would place him in a higher-level job, we simply have him work at the corresponding entry-level position. For example, the Chef result would make him a Cook, and a Restaurant Manager would make him a Waiter, a Bartender, or a Restaurant Host.

Zoe and I had a blast putting this together. We think it will make us more invested in our game than we otherwise would be, as our players' identities are fleshed out even more. We're about to roll for our players' occupations, and we'll be back with the results!

Note: While I was writing this post, Zoe came up with a modification to the "slacker roll." A roll of 2 will make a player a Stay-Home Dad, if he's at least 25 years old.

[NarratorC]

July 2014

Here are the occupations of the members of Skagen IK's first team:


The first roll told us that star midfielder Kasper Gaihede is a Stay-Home Dad. His wife, Elisabeth Haagensen, is a former model who owns one of Skagen's most popular boutiques.

We also learned that center forward Sebastian Skjøt is a Slacker. (We flipped a coin to decide that Seb is, in fact, looking for work. The restaurant where he waited tables closed several weeks ago.)

Dr. Mogens Korsgaard, a family practice physician, swaps his scrubs for his goalkeepers' kit twice a week. Jesper Kjær and Lennert Dalsgaard are partners at a local accounting firm. Center backs Mads Andersen and Klaus Christensen work well together on the pitch and off; they've opened a boat maintenance business together.

Steffen Thorsgaard earns rave reviews for his performances as the lead guitarist for a popular local band. As a result of his Fairly Professional personality, he's careful to limit the amount of gigs he plays during the season, but he's a fixture in the Skagen music scene during the summer.

Rico Frandsen is only 15, so he's a Scholar. Kenneth Nielsen chose to continue his education at the university level. (He's 21, so he could be close to graduation. We'll figure out how to handle this situation when it's time. )

Because Skagen's staff members are also amateurs, they need jobs, too...


I'm a history teacher, so we gave Tobias Mathiesen my job. He teaches at the same school as midfielder Morten Bech, and U19 manager Troels Frederiksen is a docent at a local museum.

We didn't roll for physio Ralf Spring, either. We figure he works as a physiotherapist...

Two members of Toby's back room staff are exceptionally creative. Janus Henriksen is one of the most popular painters in a community that has valued the arts highly since the nineteenth century. Rasmus Elfving is an up-and-coming chef who specializes in dishes featuring local seafood.

Then, there's assistant manager Per Rahbek. We rolled a pure Slacker's identity for him. His personality is Balanced and he's friendly with the media, so we've decided Per is trying to establish himself as a podcast host...with limited success.

[NarratorC]

July 2014

In the last of our pre-season posts, we'll take a look at the Danish Serie 2-Jylland 1, the league in which Skagen IK play.

The division contains eight teams, located in Nordjylland (North Jutland).



If you count only seven pins on the map, you're not missing one. The city of Hjørring contains two clubs, whose grounds are half a kilometer apart as the crow flies.



The coach driver who takes a team from Hjørring IF to Hjørring AIK Frem makes exactly two turns. The Hjørring derby must be a hotly contested one.

There are also two clubs in Aalborg, the largest city in Nordjylland.



Aalborg KFUM are located on the west side of the city, while B52/AFC (B52 Aalborg Fodbold Club) are southeast of the city center.

It's a compact league, and teams don't have to spend hours on coaches in order to travel back and forth. The trip from Skagen to Aalborg KFUM is the longest journey in the division, and it's just over 100 kilometers. A supporter can make the drive in under an hour and a half.

"I like this league," Zoe decided. I agree with her. Part of me almost hopes we don't get promoted right away. The pundits don't think there's much chance of that happening...



In fact, because the bottom two teams are relegated to Serie 3, there's every reason to believe we'll be fighting the drop with all that we have in us. I don't think I've ever seen such long odds against promotion before.

Wish us luck!

[NarratorC]

26 July 2014

A tall, distinguished-looking gentleman with greying hair opened the door of the restaurant and stepped inside. The day was warm, but he had draped a blue-and-white striped Skagen scarf around his shoulders. He nodded and smiled at a couple seated at a table just inside the door.

A moment later, he was greeted by another man, shorter, broader, with a thick shock of dark brown hair. The men shook hands, and they went together through a door that led to the business end of the restaurant.

They entered an office and closed the door behind them. "I wanted to see you before today's match, Lars," said the taller man.

Lars nodded. "Yes, Anders...when I saw the odds, I figured you would find me." He sat down at a desk and removed a notebook and pen from a drawer.

Anders wasted no time. "I'm making two wagers today. Each will be one hundred Euros," he explained as Lars scribbled in his notebook.

"I am picking Skagen to win the league, of course," Anders continued.

"Of course," Lars agreed. "Most of all, you are a supporter."

It was true. There was no bigger fan of Skagen IK than Anders Vilhelmsen. He had bought season tickets for eighteen years now, and he traveled to away matches as often as he could. He'd be at the Stadion later that afternoon to watch Skagen play their season-opening game against Hjørring IF.

"You are making your wagers separately, Anders?" Lars asked him.

"That's right." While both bets were being made with Anders' own funds, he had his reasons why the transactions were kept apart.

"Very well." Lars closed his pad and returned it to the desk drawer from which he took it. He locked the drawer and stood up from his desk. He and Anders shook hands again before they left the office, and again in the dining room. Then Anders stepped out the door and set off on his way to the Stadion.

Anders Vilhelmsen could afford to risk two hundred Euros on a long shot. If it came through--if his beloved club won the league--he would become an even wealthier man.

He would also become a man who could afford to make a dream come true.

[Izulde]

Love the job system. Hopefully this one sticks around

[NarratorC]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Love the job system. Hopefully this one sticks around

Thank you, Izulde. If you guessed we've played some tabletop RPGs at our house, you're correct. We've had fun with the job system. It will work for our club's players until/unless they sign full-time contracts. There are probably a few unforeseen situations that our system doesn't cover, and I just noticed there's an error in our Life Goes On table; a result of 6 is listed in two categories. Oops...

I'm hoping this story will have a nice, long run, too. Thanks for stopping by!

[NarratorC]

6 December 2014

I’ve decided to update this story a little less often than I did last time. I’m planning on keeping this going for a while, and I don’t want to burn out. The structure of the Danish season lends itself to semi-yearly updates, so that’s what I’ll do; I’ll also write a special feature when our youth candidates join the team.

We rebounded from a rather uninspiring loss in our opening match with a much better effort on August 2, a 5-1 rout of Østervraa IF that featured a hat trick from Tobias Worsøe. We called on Tobias because Sebastian Skjøt was shelved with a painfully broken jaw. Neither forward had demonstrated much of a scoring touch during preseason, so Worsøe’s statement was especially welcome.

Two weeks later, a Worsøe brace gave us a victory against B52/AFC that briefly put us top of the league on goal difference. The luckless Skjøt never regained the starting spot again.

Tornby IF were the league’s best team for much of the first half of the season. Their 0-1 victory over us on August 23 at the Stadion–while they played with ten men for nearly an hour–helped establish their credentials. A spate of injuries during the first weeks of September made it difficult for us to keep up with Tornby’s pace. Klaus Christensen and Jesper Kjær suffered the same fate–a twisted knee--within days of each other. Christian Ejlertsen and Mads Andersen went down with ankle sprains. When Kasper Gaihede accepted the opportunity to play at a higher level with Brabrand IF, our depth was severely tested–particularly in the middle of the park.

The supporters would miss Gaihede, a reliable presence in the middle of the park. They'd also miss seeing his stunning wife around Skagen Stadion, although they could still visit her boutique if they needed an Elisabeth Haagensen fix. For the time being, at least, Kasper would commute two hours or so to Brabrand twice a week.

Zoe and I feared our current best eleven wasn't good enough to keep us in contention. We also found ourselves unable to fill out our bench. We combed through our scouting reports, looking for at least one player who could reinforce our team’s spine. We settled on free agent Søren Hansen, a 21-year-old midfielder who had experience with Viborg FF and Thisted FC. Tall and rangy, Hansen offered more creativity than bite, but with tough Steffen Thorsgaard available, we didn’t need a destroyer. Søren found work as a fisherman once he arrived in town.

We may look back one day and decide that the turning point of our season took place on September 24, when we made our second signing of the fall. Our scouts spotted a veteran defender, Jens Vad, recently released by Aalborg Freja. At age 33, Jens was starting to lose what speed he once had, but his strength and aerial prowess remained. Those skills, combined with his calmness and his passing range, made him a good fit for our back line. A natural center back, Jens could play on the left as well. He was an interesting personality away from the pitch, too. He made a decent living as a writer, with several novels and a collection of short stories to his credit.

Vad was quickly inserted into our lineup and he remained there, even with Christensen and Andersen now healthy and available for selection. The three center halves rotated through the lineup, with Vad occasionally appearing at left-back. As you’ll soon see, it worked very well.

Klaus Christensen was the star on September 27, disrupting Hjørring IF’s attack with 21 interceptions. Late goals from Worsøe and Lennart Dalsgaard earned us a 2-1 result, our fourth win in five matches away from Skagen Stadion. Strangely enough, however, we didn’t win a game on our own grounds until October 25, when we routed B52/AFC, 4-0.

Tornby also kept winning, and we remained four points off their pace as October turned to November. We traveled to Tornby on November 8 and beat them, 2-1, Worsøe and Dalsgaard again providing our goals. That result narrowed our deficit to a single point, 24-23, with Aalborg KFUM close behind on 21.

A week later, we squandered a two-goal advantage and drew with Hjørring IK. However, down the road in Aalborg, KFUM edged Tornby, 1-0. Just like that, there were three clubs at the top of the table, all on 24 points…and our +13 goal differential put us top of the league!

Another 1 v. 2 clash took place on November 29, when KFUM visited the Stadion. A crowd of 399 supporters turned out on a gusty, unpleasant afternoon, and they saw football that was as unappealing as the weather: a drab, goal-less draw. But Tornby’s poor run of form continued; they closed out the first half of the season with four consecutive defeats that left them four points adrift. Meanwhile, we’re undefeated in eight. And, our deeper roster came in handy, because Kjær and Christensen got hurt again. The former got the worst of a rough challenge against KFUM, and the latter suffered a chest injury while lifting weights.

The board declared my job status Untouchable in their December update. And why not? Skagen were flying high, top of the table, with more goals scored and fewer conceded than any other side. Tobias Worsøe was one of the top three scorers in Denmark, with 13 goals in 15 games. Lennart Dalsgaard proved that a Raumdeuter isn't too fancy for a small team; he scored five goals and assisted on five others. And while our defense held opponents to just over two shots on goal per game, Dr. Mogen Korsgaard saved most of those that came his way.



We’ve assembled a hard-working team that’s easy to like. They cover a lot of ground and play attractive, robust football while keeping it clean; Skagen have been awarded three fewer yellow cards than any club in the league.

We’re about to begin a winter break that will last until late February. By then, our injured players should be back to full health, and we’ll return to the task of securing the title.

[NarratorC]

14 March 2015

Here come the youngsters! The first crop of graduates from our youth program have arrived. The ability ratings posted here come from assistant manager Per Rahbek. Per is not world-class when it comes to spotting football talent, however; his scores for Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential are 5. I wish I could post coach Janus Henriksen's ratings. He's the best judge of talent on our staff. (10 for JPA, 8 for JPP).

That being said, if Per's assessments are anywhere close to accurate, all these players have the potential to be valuable members of our first team...and most of them could be as good as the best players we have.

Our Head of Youth Development, Leif Kruse, is very proud of them. I can understand why.



The stars of the class are, without a doubt, Jacob Winther and Søren Nielsen. Rahbek thinks both of them are ready for the first team from Day One.

Winther, especially, looks like he could step into our first eleven. He isn't a tremendous natural athlete, but he understands the game exceptionally well for a teenage player and his technical skills compare well to the most talented players in our league. Jacob can play on either wing and in a more central position, ideally in a role where his creativity and work rate can supplement each other.

Nielsen shares several of the same qualities: his technique, his determination, and his work rate are all outstanding for a youngster. There is a flashy side to his game that will make him a wonderful creator when his awareness and vision catch up with his natural flair and skill on the ball. Zoe and I believe Søren will quickly work his way into our midfield rotation.

We're also big fans of Thomas Amtoft. This tall, strong defender just turned 16, and he should get bigger and stronger. He lacks pace, and he may never develop much finesse, but we can envision him as a powerful, defense-first center back.

A few of the other lads bear watching, too. Ole Larsen is a promising goalkeeper with a professional attitude. Left back Joakim Sørensen is raw, but he's a tireless worker and a hard-nosed tackler. Rasmus Stavad is even more physically imposing than Amtoft. And, as Zoe pointed out, all of the graduates have decent personalities that, at worst, won't stand in the way of their development.

The youth candidates played against a side that combined our Under 19s (mostly grey guys) with some younger first team players, such as Rico Frandsen and Claus Speiermann. The recent grads triumphed, 1-0. Winther, playing on the right wing, headed in a nifty Thomas Schwartz cross. Rasmus Stavad was our Man of the Match; he and Thomas Amtoft teamed up for 24 interceptions and won 13 of 17 headers.

We're going to offer contracts to all these youngsters. It will be fun to see if they become the foundation of a Golden Generation for us!