Unofficial French League Superthread

[karanhsingh]

Just caught up - @Ronaldo Beckham great job especially in winning the Cup! That's a superb achievement. First piece of silverware on board, for you and for this thread both!

@AddicksFan - a nice, solid start there.

I have finished my season too, hopefully have time to make an update later today.

Great to see this thread so popular even with no one playing with the larger more fashionable sides (yet).

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Just caught up - @Ronaldo Beckham great job especially in winning the Cup! That's a superb achievement. First piece of silverware on board, for you and for this thread both!

@AddicksFan - a nice, solid start there.

I have finished my season too, hopefully have time to make an update later today.

Great to see this thread so popular even with no one playing with the larger more fashionable sides (yet).

Thank you buddy, I appreciate the kind words and I look forward to seeing how you are doing.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@Jogo Bonito & @karanhsingh are you looking to manager an African national team alongside your teams in your saves?

[Jogo Bonito]

11 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

@Jogo Bonito & @karanhsingh are you looking to manager an African national team alongside your teams in your saves?

Not for me, I don't recall ever managing an international team. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Not for me, I don't recall ever managing an international team. 

Oh ok I thought it would be good if we all tried to win the World Cup with an African National team like smp20 done with Guinea. I am aiming to do it with Cameroon.

[karanhsingh]

12 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

@Jogo Bonito & @karanhsingh are you looking to manager an African national team alongside your teams in your saves?

Yes definitely however still waiting for a job to open up!! No one seems to be getting sacked. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Yes definitely however still waiting for a job to open up!! No one seems to be getting sacked. 

Yeah I really wanted to get the Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast or Mali job but I will settle for Cameroon on this save.

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah I really wanted to get the Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast or Mali job but I will settle for Cameroon on this save.

I just want anyone. The only country that sacked their manager recently was Egypt but for some reason I couldn't apply for the job 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, karanhsingh said:

I just want anyone. The only country that sacked their manager recently was Egypt but for some reason I couldn't apply for the job 

That is weird that you couldn't apply for it. But yeah keep checking once a week, that is what I do.

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Ronaldo Beckham said:

That is weird that you couldn't apply for it. But yeah keep checking once a week, that is what I do.

Yes doing that. I have 3 good Ivorian new-gens in my squad now so somewhere down the line, that is the job I would probably want.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 minute ago, karanhsingh said:

Yes doing that. I have 3 good Ivorian new-gens in my squad now so somewhere down the line, that is the job I would probably want.

I just like Ivory Coast cos their history and beautiful kits.

[smp20]

Great to see this thread doing so well 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, smp20 said:

Great to see this thread doing so well 

You inspired me @smp20. I hope to have as much success as you do with Lens.

[karanhsingh]

27 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

You inspired me @smp20. I hope to have as much success as you do with Lens.

Me too, although it will take a lot longer for sure!

[karanhsingh]

2021-22 End of Season Update

Here is how we got on in the final 3 months of the season.

Again we came up unstuck against the big sides, losing to both Lyon & PSG. There is still a sizeable gulf there, as is to be expected. However, I have to be really pleased with how we performed against the rest of the league, as we were pretty consistent in terms of putting the points on the board. And this is how the final league table panned out as a result:

We were 3rd for a long time, but Monaco were unbelievable in the second half of the season. Once they pulled ahead of us they just kept on winning & winning. At the same time we kept a fair distance to Marseille and the rest, so we comfortably finished 4th in the end. This means a direct entry into the group stage of the Europa League, which I am pretty chuffed about for our first season back in Ligue 1.

Finally, the player stats of the season. Will be doing an in-depth on some of these, particularly the youngsters.

The best performers:

Thierry Ambrose absolutely took the league by storm as you can see, scoring no less than 25 league goals which saw him finish 2nd in the race for the golden boot behind Moussa Dembele of Lyon. A truly unbelievable return from the former Man City man.

Isaac Lihadji continues his improvement and has developed into a super inside forward. He notched up 10 goals and 7 assists in the league, and is now being scouted by Premier league side Fulham.

Oumar Solet was a rock at the back and has really strengthened the side since his move to Lyon, also contributing with a few handy goals & assists.

Special mentions to two people at opposite ends of the spectrum, Loic Puyo at 33 still showed he has got it with some great play-making in the middle of the park, while the young 19 year old Ivorian Frank Zadi showed some real glimpses of his quality and is threatening to oust club favourite Said Arab from the AMC spot.

The disappointments:

Not many really but I suppose if I had to pick it would be the club record signing Matteo Tramoni who just did not work out, scoring only the 1 goal and getting 5 assists all season long. He often threatened but didn't quite have the end product. Let's hope he improves next season.

[karanhsingh]

Club Updates

Finishing 4th in the league meant that finally some money comes in! Which means we are out of the red.

Immediately, this was invested into the facilities. After 3 seasons of asking and continuous rejections, Training & youth are both being updated, while we have gone up a level on youth recruitment & junior coaching as well. 

There is also good news on the stadium front, as the board announced that the construction for the new stadium will now get underway. However this will take 2 whole seasons apparently so we will only be able to move in during the summer of 2024. By which time we will probably already need an expansion  That said, I am quite excited about this!

I also convinced them to give me a contract extension with some nifty bonuses  

And finally, with us being in Europe now, I have also been given some money to spend.

Looking Ahead

Even though we now have a decent transfer budget, I am not sure how much money I will actually spend in the summer. The team has performed really well and some of the youngsters have been making solid progress. I will do a full youth spotlight tomorrow and also update me spreadsheet, however the plan is to break in 3-4 of them into the first team squad next season. This means we will probably restrict the summer signings to two or at the most three players. Instead I will use the remaining wage budget to tie in contracts for all our best players.

Next season should therefore be one of consolidation, we will be competing on multiple fronts but we will look to confirm our status as one of the better teams in the league, while at the same time continue the development & progress of our young & promising squad. At the same time, will continue to invest across all the club facilities to bring them up to speed with our competitors as fast as possible.

[luke4387]

Not really got started on my Montpellier save due to work and family and couldn’t get into the save.

I have now taken over Reims though.  I like the players and the club philosophy of buying players with potential and moving them on for a lot more than they paid.

Rajkovic and Maresic are already at the club and I’m targeting DM Cheickh Niasse of Lille and Agustin Almendra to add more quality, and in line with the club philosophy, more potential and youth.

I’m not interested in the Marin, Arezo etc that are popular signings for everyone. Can anyone recommend players under 21 who have good potential that are not the usual suspects everyone signs? For example two other targets are Krepin Diatta and Odilon Kossounou both of Club Brugge and Kevin Ruegg of Zurich. I’m looking for players in leagues such as Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Scandanavia etc.

I’d also recommend a player named Joilson who plays DM or anywhere across the midfield. 21yo Brazilian.

Thanks 👍

[karanhsingh]

Big decision time

So Norwich offered 12 million for my star winger Isaac Lihadji. As a bit of a joke I asked them for 30 million all up front, and they immediately accepted!! Isaac is on 3.9k/ week with us, he still has another 3 years to run on his contract but he wanted 40(!!)k per week when I tried to extend. Now I am stuck and I don't know what to do. In terms of realism, there is no way that a club like Red Star or frankly any French club with the exception of PSG would not take such an offer. It's simply put a lot of money. However it will obviously weaken us. I don't know what to do - am going to sleep on it but if anyone has feedback let me know!

[AddicksFan]

@karanhsingh I'd sell to be honest, 30m will get you a replacement and maybe allow you to increase the wage budget to cover any more contract renewals.

 

I'm getting slightly annoyed at players coming to me and asking for a new contract when I have nothing left in the wage budget....even when I promise it will be done at the end of the season....now i've got a grumpy 5 star potential player whose just broken into the team unhappy and threatening me with going to the media.....

[Ronaldo Beckham]

F.C Metz Season 4 Transfers

Sorry for lack of updates today. Just been busy with other stuff.

So my main transfers in were Ivorian midfielder Ibrahim Sangare signed for £4.2m

My other big signing was French winger Jonathan Bamba signed for £3.3m.

Main transfers out were Issiaga Sylla going for £4m to Swansea as he was getting on in age and wanted a more youthful left back.

I also sold Swansea my player of the year Opa Nguette for £1.3m as I didn't think he would be able to replicate his form from last year and was getting on in age as well.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

My Europa League group looks decent, CSKA Moscow, Schalke and Everton.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ronaldo Beckham Some inspired signings in there my friend 

@luke4387 Best of luck with Reims, it's good to go for different types of player.

@AddicksFan Contract demands are a difficult part of the game, yours being a perfect (bad) example. The demands are even worse after a promotion campaign!

@karanhsingh I've given my thoughts on your FMCU thread, but would edge towards selling if you can replace for a much smaller outlay.

[AddicksFan]

Nice signings @Ronaldo Beckham

I have had to sell my 5 star potential "I demand a contract" CB to Lyon after they unsettled him, sold for 900K up front with a further 400K over 2 installments. Not overly happy but I do have another 5 star potential CB that I've called up into the first team....

Still with the 500K the board gave me I was finally able to get Brahima Ouattara for 180K, also searching for a new prospect LB to back-up the rather good Pendant, which will allow me to terminate the loan of Rocchia who is costing 1.5K a week to sit on the bench

Also got three further youth players who have improved so much they are actually good enough to play regularly, one of them is only 16!! By calling them up I've been able to terminate the loan of Livolant which added 2.2K back into the wage budget which mean't I could extend the contract of Lasme who has been excellent so far this season... 

Loving this save, it's certainly keeping me on my toes in terms of managing the budget....

Just lost my first game of the season to OM on Pens in the 3rd Rnd of the Coupe da la Ligue, Crunch game against Lorient next who are currently in 2nd.

[Jogo Bonito]

@AddicksFan I like your approach, using the young players and terminating non-essential loans. Naturally, I hope Lorient end your unbeaten run in the big top of the table clash 

[Things Could Get Messi]

Great to see so many of you choosing to manage in France. I had a 25 season spell in charge of Toulouse on FM19. I like to build my club and develop talent so Ligue 1 was a perfect fit for me. It took me about 10 years but we were in the end superior to PSG. Saint Etienne became the 3rd best team in the league after a tycoon takeover around half way through the save. My favourite story though had to be that of Bastia. They started in the non playable 5th tier and worked their way up to Ligue 1 inside 12 seasons before establishing themselves in the top flight. 

 

Whilst I'm here, I feel the need to mention the quality of the French regens. There were plenty on my save over the years with incredible ability and you won't find a better standard anywhere else in Europe. I never had more than 10 foreigners in my squad (I didn't count African as foreign) and yet pretty much every top club had a couple of class French players, if not more. Getting some of the best HG talent signed up before they get the chance to move abroad is really important if you want to do amazingly well. Affording to bring them home is an almost no go. 

[AddicksFan]

@Jogo Bonito

Well it wasn't quite defeat but we were lucky after Thomas Toure got sent off

[Ronaldo Beckham]

9 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Ronaldo Beckham Some inspired signings in there my friend 

@luke4387 Best of luck with Reims, it's good to go for different types of player.

@AddicksFan Contract demands are a difficult part of the game, yours being a perfect (bad) example. The demands are even worse after a promotion campaign!

@karanhsingh I've given my thoughts on your FMCU thread, but would edge towards selling if you can replace for a much smaller outlay.

Have I signed players you have signed then @Jogo Bonito, I didn't do it on purpose I promise. My DOF went for Sangare and Bamba and I let him sign them due to the fact they fitted my French and African player criteria.

[Jogo Bonito]

36 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Have I signed players you have signed then @Jogo Bonito, I didn't do it on purpose I promise. My DOF went for Sangare and Bamba and I let him sign them due to the fact they fitted my French and African player criteria.

I have included Abdallah, N'Diaye and N'Guessan in my starting squad. I don't have him, but Sangare is well rated IRL (was part of my Toulouse team a few years back too). All I can say is your scouts are doing a good job!

6 hours ago, Things Could Get Messi said:

Great to see so many of you choosing to manage in France. I had a 25 season spell in charge of Toulouse on FM19. I like to build my club and develop talent so Ligue 1 was a perfect fit for me. It took me about 10 years but we were in the end superior to PSG. Saint Etienne became the 3rd best team in the league after a tycoon takeover around half way through the save. My favourite story though had to be that of Bastia. They started in the non playable 5th tier and worked their way up to Ligue 1 inside 12 seasons before establishing themselves in the top flight. 

25 years is some effort! I've managed Toulouse a few years ago, also ASSE and PSG. Very nearly went with SC Bastia this year before settling on Lorient

1 hour ago, AddicksFan said:

@Jogo Bonito

Well it wasn't quite defeat but we were lucky after Thomas Toure got sent off

A very fair draw, which would have sent both managers home happy I think.

 

By the way I have updated my Lorient intro on FMCU yesterday, it's got much more in it now and there is just one section left to complete. I've gone through pre-season and the first month, so will update in due course.

[djiwai91]

6 hours ago, Things Could Get Messi said:

Great to see so many of you choosing to manage in France. I had a 25 season spell in charge of Toulouse on FM19. I like to build my club and develop talent so Ligue 1 was a perfect fit for me. It took me about 10 years but we were in the end superior to PSG. Saint Etienne became the 3rd best team in the league after a tycoon takeover around half way through the save. My favourite story though had to be that of Bastia. They started in the non playable 5th tier and worked their way up to Ligue 1 inside 12 seasons before establishing themselves in the top flight. 

 

Whilst I'm here, I feel the need to mention the quality of the French regens. There were plenty on my save over the years with incredible ability and you won't find a better standard anywhere else in Europe. I never had more than 10 foreigners in my squad (I didn't count African as foreign) and yet pretty much every top club had a couple of class French players, if not more. Getting some of the best HG talent signed up before they get the chance to move abroad is really important if you want to do amazingly well. Affording to bring them home is an almost no go. 

It seems to fit with this recent survey from the CIES (most exported nationalities): https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/mr/mr55/fr/

[Ronaldo Beckham]

10 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I have included Abdallah, N'Diaye and N'Guessan in my starting squad. I don't have him, but Sangare is well rated IRL (was part of my Toulouse team a few years back too). All I can say is your scouts are doing a good job!

25 years is some effort! I've managed Toulouse a few years ago, also ASSE and PSG. Very nearly went with SC Bastia this year before settling on Lorient

A very fair draw, which would have sent both managers home happy I think.

 

By the way I have updated my Lorient intro on FMCU yesterday, it's got much more in it now and there is just one section left to complete. I've gone through pre-season and the first month, so will update in due course.

Yeah I am sorry if it is annoying you that I am going for the same players. I think when we both have the same recruitment strategy that will happen and I did scout a few of the players you mentioned in your Lorient opening post as you have much better knowledge on African players then I do.

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah I am sorry if it is annoying you that I am going for the same players. I think when we both have the same recruitment strategy that will happen and I did scout a few of the players you mentioned in your Lorient opening post as you have much better knowledge on African players then I do.

It's not annoying at all my friend. Your scouts are doing a good job of finding players that convinced me to include them in my squad.

Because of my age 23 limit on new signings, and wish to go also to French lower leagues for young players, there will be plenty of differences in our squad. My plan, having made the 2nd Team & Under 19 squads stronger from the start, is to not really sign many new players. My dream would be for the bulk of my squad to play many seasons at the club.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

7 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It's not annoying at all my friend. Your scouts are doing a good job of finding players that convinced me to include them in my squad.

Because of my age 23 limit on new signings, and wish to go also to French lower leagues for young players, there will be plenty of differences in our squad. My plan, having made the 2nd Team & Under 19 squads stronger from the start, is to not really sign many new players. My dream would be for the bulk of my squad to play many seasons at the club.

Yeah my plan eventually is to implement players from my youth teams. I am slowing moving old players on and keeping transfer business to a minimum.

[AddicksFan]

Golden Generation...never had that on any FM20 save.....gotta love the French Leagues

[karanhsingh]

13 hours ago, AddicksFan said:

@karanhsingh I'd sell to be honest, 30m will get you a replacement and maybe allow you to increase the wage budget to cover any more contract renewals.

I'm getting slightly annoyed at players coming to me and asking for a new contract when I have nothing left in the wage budget....even when I promise it will be done at the end of the season....now i've got a grumpy 5 star potential player whose just broken into the team unhappy and threatening me with going to the media.....

Yes that is what I did ultimately. Who is the promising defender you had to sell?

12 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

F.C Metz Season 4 Transfers

 

Good transfers, I recently scouted Sangare as well. However I went with another Ivorian midfielder as I wanted more of a BWM rather than a BBM.

[karanhsingh]

Thank you Isaac!

And just like that, he's gone. After two amazing seasons at the club which have seen him go from a young rookie to our star player, and indeed also winning the Ligue 1 Promising Player of the Season Award. Isaac scored a total of 19 goals and notched up 14 assists in his 2 seasons with us.

Ultimately though the money was too good to turn down, 30 million and all of it up-front. The money will be re-invested into our new stadium and hopefully better facilities, and of course a little bit in the playing squad as well.

We have since gone on and signed not one but two players to replace Isaac in the squad, one promising youngster and another a very established player who will hopefully give us one good season before he rides off into the sunset. I had to break my unwritten transfer rule to bring him in but for some reason I just wanted to do it, not least because of which club he joins us from. Here he is: (I was surprised he even wanted to join TBH but maybe he just wanted to stay longer in Paris )

[Ronaldo Beckham]

5 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Yes that is what I did ultimately. Who is the promising defender you had to sell?

Good transfers, I recently scouted Sangare as well. However I went with another Ivorian midfielder as I wanted more of a BWM rather than a BBM.

Thank you buddy, yeah I play with a a BBM and Mez in centre of midfield so he fitted well there.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Someone has just started a Marseille career if anyone wants to follow it.

 

[Travis Bickle]

2 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Someone has just started a Marseille career if anyone wants to follow it.

 

Cheers! I am going to be doing my best to bring success

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, Travis Bickle said:

Cheers! I am going to be doing my best to bring success

Yeah Marseille is a club I want to manage again at some point on FM2020. I look forward to seeing how you do. If you get stuck and need some help then feel free to ask in here.

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Travis Bickle said:

Cheers! I am going to be doing my best to bring success

Best of luck!! Show PSG who's the boss 

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah Marseille is a club I want to manage again at some point on FM2020. I look forward to seeing how you do. If you get stuck and need some help then feel free to ask in here.

You seem to have a very long list of clubs you want to manage bud 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

You seem to have a very long list of clubs you want to manage bud 

Yeah I am nearly as bad as Jogo lol.

I am really enjoying my Metz save so wont be leaving that for a while but I still want to manage Marseille, Rennes, Palermo, Stuttgart, St.Pauli etc. So many clubs I will eventually do a career with.

[karanhsingh]

11 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah I am nearly as bad as Jogo lol.

I am really enjoying my Metz save so wont be leaving that for a while but I still want to manage Marseille, Rennes, Palermo, Stuttgart, St.Pauli etc. So many clubs I will eventually do a career with.

I'm quite similar tbh. But similarly red star should hold my attention for a while yet! 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

13 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

I'm quite similar tbh. But similarly red star should hold my attention for a while yet! 

Yeah you are doing really well with Red Star. I am glad you are enjoying it still.

[bendixkunert2]

I have currently recovered my Rennes save in the 6th season right now. If anyone is interested I could provide updates although it's probably a bit boring because it has been a dominant save from day 1. But I'm also interested in starting a new save with recommendations being helpful.

[karanhsingh]

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT UPDATE - JULY 2022

So I have updated my spreadsheet, I have now split it into two blocks - defensive & attacking players. I am tracking most of the attributes for all the players on an annual basis to see how they are changing/ improving. This is the first time I have done something like this and it is indeed very interesting & useful, there is a lot of stuff that I would otherwise be missing out on. Without further ado, this is how the youngsters have been getting on.

Defensive players

We saw some improvement finally in Hamache & Simakan, along with Solet in his first season with us. This is encouraging as they are already all established players who seem to have further room for progress. However what is more encouraging is the far more rapid improvement of the two new-gens who were both out on loan for the season - Djedje and Dao. I have now promoted them both to the first team squad for the upcoming campaign. Here are screenshots of their current profiles:

Youssouf Djedje - he will be our rotation LB this season

Aruna Dao - listed as LB but I plan to use him almost exclusively as a CB

Attacking players

Slow but steady improvement in our home-boy and academy product Said Arab. Lihadji as has been documented did come on a lot again this year and has shown the most improvement overall in 2 seasons. However he is now at Norwich and we wish him well. Tramoni was very disappointing with both his form and his development as you can see.

On the flip side are the new-gens again, with 3 of them making very solid gains, namely Roger, Zadi and Kouanda. Zadi already played a squad role for us last season while both Roger & Kouanda were on the fringes, however this year I plan to give all of them a lot more game-time. The only disappointing one was Diogo Matos which makes me think maybe his potential is not as much as earlier anticipated. 

Titouan Roger - will be used as a rotation option for both AML & SC

Franck Zadi - will continue to rotate with Arab at AMC, he is also now a French U20 intl.

Abdoulaye Kouanda - will be back-up for Ambrose our main SC

These 5 players above have all come in for a grand total of under 400k in transfer fees during the last 3 seasons, all direct from Africa except for Roger who joined from Tours at age 15. They all show up as 4 gold stars and 1 black for potential, and I am really excited to see how they progress especially with more first-team football!

[AddicksFan]

and the unbeaten run ends....

League table, still looking good though

Injuries to several key players isn't helping though

 

[quee]

1 hour ago, Travis Bickle said:

Cheers! I am going to be doing my best to bring success

Your save in Italy didn't take off then? 

[Jogo Bonito]

@AddicksFan A very good start, the unbeaten run had to end sometime! You already have a big gap to 2nd, so it looks like it's already in your own hands.

@bendixkunert2 New challenge might do you good. What kind of league and level of challenge are you after?

[bendixkunert2]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@AddicksFan A very good start, the unbeaten run had to end sometime! You already have a big gap to 2nd, so it looks like it's already in your own hands.

@bendixkunert2 New challenge might do you good. What kind of league and level of challenge are you after?

Looking at a couple interesting teams just really and maybe restoring a legacy. No restrictions. I like Lille, St. Etienne and Lens.