Approach to Building HK

When I started this save, I knew I was in my element. Starting with no playing experience and no coaching badges was certainly going to provide an added challenge, especially with the new team dynamics system, but growing out-of-the-way clubs to new levels in Europe is what I love to do. Settling in with HK after an extensive job search, I hoped to replicate my previous experiences. Did I expect to leave at some point? Absolutely, the lack of population and subsequent domestic financial resources makes Iceland a particularly tough nation to forge a world class club in. But, the success came quickly and with it a passion for the task at hand. The culmination was my first job offer received since my hiring at HK, Besiktas of Turkey trying to lure me to the Mediterranean. I said no. With that in mind, here is how I've gone about turning HK into a team turning down Besiktas for - from a perpetual second flight team in Iceland to the country's three-time reigning champions and a Europa League group stage appearance in just seven years.

The first key to growing a club in orders of magnitude, especially with the new team dynamics system, is to decide on a cohesive core and train team cohesion with them incessantly. I often find there will be one or two players from far away that don't gel properly with the squad, in my first season at HK I stuck with entirely Icelandic players to fast track team cohesion. At such low levels, like what I found in the second flight, a unified squad can be a huge initial bonus due to the positioning and vision bonuses it provides. I was certainly not the most talented team my first year, but we played together and made fewer mistakes than our opponents.

After cohesion brings a burst of initial success, the second move is to acquire actual talent. The only thing harder than gaining promotion is preventing relegation the following year, and it would have been impossible without a serious addition of talent with HK. For FM18 I find trialists to be an effective way to acquire more quality, as agents are all too eager to offer them up from all over the world once you start winning. I would be wary of moving too far out of a soccer/footballing culture when adding better players however, as a manager you have to pick your spots and find players that fit a system you want to build and won't be too lost once they arrive. It is hard to resist the temptation to sign every Brazilian and Argentinian that flies across your desk because they are at least a slight improvement, but if you're in Iceland like I am, it is a steep adjustment to say the least, a fact that has caused multiple signings with HK to flop outright and be seated for the Icelandic players they were supposed to replace.

A word of warning at this stage: do not just look at the talent of the new players you are acquiring. Every FM player will value personalities and determination differently, but I find that a high determination stat is very, very important in improving the character of a lower-level squad. The first year with HK was a patch job built off cohesion, but FM is played over longer spans of time, with team success tied to slow plays as well as fast ones. Low determination will lead to struggles with adversity, both individually and collectively, plus an inability to develop young players through tutoring, both of which kneecap forward progress. If a player is a must-have due to availability or need but has low determination, make sure to balance said player out with some high-determination teammates so the team stays plugged in.

The 'develop cohesiveness, add talent' strategy is the base of my successful club development strategy. With each new level the club reaches this cycle can be repeated to meet the challenge at hand, but of course there is much finer detail required to execute this strategy. Welcome to the website and here's to many more posts to come regarding such strategy!

#Philosophy