[FM22] Pour L'Eiffel - Mission Paris

[karanhsingh]

And so I am back in my favorite league on FM 

Fantastic youth, no money, bargain basement signings, a juggernaut to try and overhaul... what's not to love eh?

The chosen club for the journey is Paris FC - cross town "rivals" of the mighty PSG (and I use that term loosely). 

Paris FC split from PSG in 1972 and since then each club went their own separate ways - it's fair to say with very different fortunes. It's now a fairly modest club although they do have a decent size stadium in the Stade Charlety which holds 20,000 fans. However the club currently averages only between 3-5k per game. Definitely a long way to go.

But Paris seems like too big a city to only have one proper football club, doesn't it? Hopefully we can, over time, set that right.

There was some news recently about a takeover from Bahrain and the club finding themselves in new money.

https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2020/07/28/5f2090afe2704e39418b45fc.html

However, it seemed unfounded at best. It certainly is not reflected in FM where the club is as cash-strapped as your average Ligue 2 club.

And while they have a small fan base, they can certainly be passionate (or sometimes overly so) as the below story demonstrates:

https://staddoha.com/en/football/paris-fc-and-lyon-thrown-out-of-french-cup-for-fan-violence/

Hopefully we will not give the fans too many reasons for violence in our time at Paris FC 

[karanhsingh]

By the way, I like to holiday a bit into the future, so I took over the club in April 2022.

They were having a rather nondescript first season, even flirting with relegation at a point.

Managed to steady the ship a bit, although we only got 3 wins from the 8 games in charge. Finally finishing the season down in 12th place.

[karanhsingh]

This post is reserved for future career summary.

[karanhsingh]

Objectives & Principles of this save:

1. The first one is simple - stay at Paris FC for at least 5 seasons. I usually get itchy feet on FM after a couple of seasons at any club, but this time I am (hopefully) in for the long haul.

2. Progress the club step by step in a realistic manner. I don't want to go from Ligue 2 to Champions League football in 2 seasons.

3. Youth Development will be a big part of the journey. Luckily that's reflected in the club vision too. I really want to get a few academy players into the first team, and also in time bolster the academy through affiliations & youth signings.

4. Transfers wise it will be bargain basement all the way through. That was a huge part of the attraction of France - in other leagues like England & Germany the money gets too silly too soon. However at Paris we will essentially only get rich if & when we are regulars in UEFA competitions.

5. In terms of nationalities I want to focus on my favorite areas to scout in FM which is essentially Africa, especially the Western & French speaking parts. I'll not be totally limiting myself but will be looking to make realistic signings for a French club.

6. The style of play will be positive, but I want a physical & hard-working team. That will be the primary ethos. Not set on a particular formation and that may vary as the save goes on.

And so I think that about covers it... off we go!

[karanhsingh]

So you saw how season 1 ended, here are the key transfers for the 2022-23 season:

We apparently broke our transfer record for the signing of the "Jordanian Messi" aka Musa Al-Tamari. I remember it was one of @Jogo Bonito's saves that alerted me to this player initially and I had been following his career since. When my scouts found out that he was transfer listed, I quickly swooped in.

The second big one is the attacker for the left flank, Lass Bangoura, another player who was transfer listed at his club.

The wings were weak spots for us last season so I hope that these two signings can make a huge difference in the quality of the play.

The next one is another attacker but this time one for the future. It's a name I recently heard about IRL as he was picked for the Ghanaian senior team recently for the AFCON. He does look pretty handy in FM too and is already doing pretty well since joining. Here is Issahaku Abdul Fatawu:

And finally one transfer which is not showing up in the screenshot above as it was a free transfer completed back at the end of last season. A rather high profile signing as ex Man City defender Elaquim Mangala decided to join the ranks.

After having a great start to the season with us though he promptly went and got himself injured for 3-4 months... probably should have seen that coming TBH

[karanhsingh]

Meanwhile, these are the few key players from the original Paris FC squad:

Bamba came through the academy and is a future club captain for me, if he stays. Marseille were sniffing around but no offers have arrived yet.

Diakite is another hugely exciting prospect to come through the ranks and is getting a lot of game time in the senior side. Bayer Leverkusen are currently interested in signing him, hope they stay away.

Laura is the main man up front and is exactly the sort of striker who should do well at this level.

[karanhsingh]

And a quick word on the first intake - while pretty under-whelming overall we did get one good prospect who seems to be coming along well. I will definitely be looking to give him a debut at some point this season.

[karanhsingh]

Tactically this is how we are currently set up. Took a little time to get it going but seems to be doing well now.

I would like to see more productivity from the wingers though. I wonder if I should try any different roles there.

[karanhsingh]

And finally, an update to bring this thread to my current in game date, which is half way through the 2022-23 season.

The fixtures so far:

Leaves us 2nd in the table, a point behind Caen. Sorry for the thrashing of Toulouse @DefinitelyTaylor  

There are NO play-offs this season as a part of the league system restructuring so we have to finish top 2 if we want to get promoted.

And finally, the squad stats so far:

Laura has been fantastic up top, averaging a goal a game and keeping the young Fadiga out of the side. Bangoura and Al-Tamari have both been decent without setting the world alight. The left back Hanin is excellent and our biggest threat from set pieces. And finally club captain Mandouki has been a real midfield general.

I just hope that we can keep up the performance levels and go up this season!

[n1mez]

Amazing. I will follow this closely. I had the best save of my FM life with them in FM21. I had the same philosophy as you - buy cheap, develop players, and escpecially get some african players. Preferably from west and central africa. 

 

Edit: They have had some amazing players. Silas Katompo, Ibrahima Konate, Nordi Mukiele, Manu Kone, Karl Toko Ekambi

Edited January 11, 2022 by n1mez

[karanhsingh]

19 minutes ago, n1mez said:

Amazing. I will follow this closely. I had the best save of my FM life with them in FM21. I had the same philosophy as you - buy cheap, develop players, and escpecially get some african players. Preferably from west and central africa. 

 

Edit: They have had some amazing players. Silas Katompo, Ibrahima Konate, Nordi Mukiele, Manu Kone, Karl Toko Ekambi

Thanks! I knew about Silas and Mukiele but not the others. And of course Mamadou Sakho as well. 

Who were your best signings? Are you back in Paris for FM22?

[n1mez]

9 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Thanks! I knew about Silas and Mukiele but not the others. And of course Mamadou Sakho as well. 

Who were your best signings? Are you back in Paris for FM22?

Moussa Kone i would say, from Nimes. I bought him for 4 mio pounds, and sold him for 25. 

I started one with them, but i wasnt as good a save as last year, so it is parked for now. Im playing as Kaiserslautern. But still focusing on african players. 

[rmcf2017]

5 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

And so I am back in my favorite league on FM 

Fantastic youth, no money, bargain basement signings, a juggernaut to try and overhaul... what's not to love eh?

The chosen club for the journey is Paris FC - cross town "rivals" of the mighty PSG (and I use that term loosely). 

Paris FC split from PSG in 1972 and since then each club went their own separate ways - it's fair to say with very different fortunes. It's now a fairly modest club although they do have a decent size stadium in the Stade Charlety which holds 20,000 fans. However the club currently averages only between 3-5k per game. Definitely a long way to go.

But Paris seems like too big a city to only have one proper football club, doesn't it? Hopefully we can, over time, set that right.

There was some news recently about a takeover from Bahrain and the club finding themselves in new money.

https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2020/07/28/5f2090afe2704e39418b45fc.html

However, it seemed unfounded at best. It certainly is not reflected in FM where the club is as cash-strapped as your average Ligue 2 club.

And while they have a small fan base, they can certainly be passionate (or sometimes overly so) as the below story demonstrates:

https://staddoha.com/en/football/paris-fc-and-lyon-thrown-out-of-french-cup-for-fan-violence/

Hopefully we will not give the fans too many reasons for violence in our time at Paris FC 

Good save, Paris FC is always fun to manage. As for the Bahrain interest, as far as I am aware that is based on the club getting promoted. If they move to Ligue 1 they will be bought out, otherwise the current ownership structure will remain 

[Tilling]

Love to see you writing again, really enjoyed the Ujpest save last year - best of luck with this

[n1mez]

Btw - what is your facepack?

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, n1mez said:

Moussa Kone i would say, from Nimes. I bought him for 4 mio pounds, and sold him for 25. 

I started one with them, but i wasnt as good a save as last year, so it is parked for now. Im playing as Kaiserslautern. But still focusing on african players. 

Thanks I will definitely scout him. Hope to keep you entertained with my story

[karanhsingh]

2 hours ago, rmcf2017 said:

Good save, Paris FC is always fun to manage. As for the Bahrain interest, as far as I am aware that is based on the club getting promoted. If they move to Ligue 1 they will be bought out, otherwise the current ownership structure will remain 

Thanks! That's a bit of a strange one regarding the ownership. Anyway I hope it's not programmed into the game. 

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Tilling said:

Love to see you writing again, really enjoyed the Ujpest save last year - best of luck with this

Thanks a lot bud! Great to have you on board

[karanhsingh]

8 minutes ago, n1mez said:

Btw - what is your facepack?

DF11 

[n1mez]

1 minute ago, karanhsingh said:

DF11 

Aha - the pictures are different from mine. Maybe i have an old one :-) 

 

[KlaaZ]

Good luck! Hopefully Tamari is more productive for you than he is for us in real life (speaking as an OHL season ticket holder). 

[karanhsingh]

4 minutes ago, n1mez said:

Aha - the pictures are different from mine. Maybe i have an old one :-) 

 

Yes i actually need to update mine again too 

2 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Good luck! Hopefully Tamari is more productive for you than he is for us in real life (speaking as an OHL season ticket holder). 

Thanks! Small world. I thought he was quite good in Cyprus. Surprised to hear he's not doing well in the Belgian league. 

[KlaaZ]

Just now, karanhsingh said:

Yes i actually need to update mine again too 

Thanks! Small world. I thought he was quite good in Cyprus. Surprised to hear he's not doing well in the Belgian league. 

To be fair, he's mostly playing in more of an inverted wing back position for us on the right (as we play with three central defenders), but his tally both in goals and assists is still quite shocking. That said, Belgian football often gets underestimated. Not an easy league for attacking players.

[karanhsingh]

1 minute ago, KlaaZ said:

To be fair, he's mostly playing in more of an inverted wing back position for us on the right (as we play with three central defenders), but his tally both in goals and assists is still quite shocking. That said, Belgian football often gets underestimated. Not an easy league for attacking players.

That's probably right. There are a number of decent teams. So he's playing the role that Tuchel is training Pulisic for then. 

Belgium is definitely on my list for FM22. Maybe after france. I had a really fun save with Gent a couple of years ago. Jonathan David and Yeremchuk up front. 

[KlaaZ]

4 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

That's probably right. There are a number of decent teams. So he's playing the role that Tuchel is training Pulisic for then. 

Belgium is definitely on my list for FM22. Maybe after france. I had a really fun save with Gent a couple of years ago. Jonathan David and Yeremchuk up front. 

Yeah, we're technically playing a 3-2-2-2-1 system, if that makes sense. Three CD's, two (inverted) wingbacks, two holding midfielders, to attacking midfielders who technically start on the wing but have a lot of freedom and a targetman up front to link play. 

It's an interesting league but the competition format is pure bollocks. 

[karanhsingh]

3 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Yeah, we're technically playing a 3-2-2-2-1 system, if that makes sense. Three CD's, two (inverted) wingbacks, two holding midfielders, to attacking midfielders who technically start on the wing but have a lot of freedom and a targetman up front to link play. 

It's an interesting league but the competition format is pure bollocks. 

Why do you say that? You mean the second championship group phase? 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Awesome work as always @karanhsingh I have listed a lot of African hidden gems in the hidden gems thread with Karim Konate and Silas Nwankwo being ones I have managed in past saves and had good success with them. In case you were looking for additions.

 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Ronaldo Beckham

[karanhsingh]

13 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Awesome work as always @karanhsingh I have listed a lot of African hidden gems in the hidden gems thread with Karim Konate and Silas Nwankwo being ones I have managed in past saves and had good success with them. In case you were looking for additions.

 

Thanks bud. I saw that you have Fatawu on the list as well. Konate sadly already moved to Nice on my save but he does look very handy indeed. 

[KlaaZ]

40 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Why do you say that? You mean the second championship group phase? 

Yes, I think it's an idiotic system really. There's also a very big discrepancy in how tv money is divided compared to other (bigger) leagues. It's pretty much both part of a system to guarantuee the big clubs their top spots. 

[karanhsingh]

40 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Yes, I think it's an idiotic system really. There's also a very big discrepancy in how tv money is divided compared to other (bigger) leagues. It's pretty much both part of a system to guarantuee the big clubs their top spots. 

Got it. That's no good. Although one thing about the Belgian league at least there isn't really a runaway winner every season. 

[13th Man]

Interesting!  This a parallel Demba Ba universe from the Turkey to Germany one?  Or is this taking over now?

Paris FC is always a good one.  I love the city, but (for obvious reasons) can never get behind PSG.  Hopefully Ba can build them up and challenge the evil empire - or at least make them uncomfortable!

[karanhsingh]

6 minutes ago, 13th Man said:

Interesting!  This a parallel Demba Ba universe from the Turkey to Germany one?  Or is this taking over now?

Paris FC is always a good one.  I love the city, but (for obvious reasons) can never get behind PSG.  Hopefully Ba can build them up and challenge the evil empire - or at least make them uncomfortable!

Lol - it's a parallel universe. Essentially I was too lazy to create a new manager profile and thought Demba fit the bill again

I echo your thoughts about Paris and PSG both!

[extudassex2]

Managing Paris FC is in my to do list for the past 3 ou 4 FMs and somehow never did it.. I'll follow this for sure, hope you can dethrone the petrodollars!

[Hootieleece]

I guess Schalke didn't have the Romance of a French save...

Your approach reminds me of my Clermont save.....except I mainly used castoffs from Premier League Academies and Argentina for my players. For some reason everyone loves Brazil, but I prefer Argentina especially for DC's.

[karanhsingh]

8 hours ago, extudassex2 said:

Managing Paris FC is in my to do list for the past 3 ou 4 FMs and somehow never did it.. I'll follow this for sure, hope you can dethrone the petrodollars!

Thanks! Will be a long & hard journey but let's see

5 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

I guess Schalke didn't have the Romance of a French save...

Your approach reminds me of my Clermont save.....except I mainly used castoffs from Premier League Academies and Argentina for my players. For some reason everyone loves Brazil, but I prefer Argentina especially for DC's.

Schalke was going well but there's way too much money in Germany for my liking. We got some 80 million for finishing 3rd in the league  I really wonder if these prize monies in Bundesliga are reflective of real life. If so the German clubs should be up there with the English ones tbh. But anyway I digress. 

I love Argentina too there's definitely much more value for money to be had than brazil. But anyway in France I guess you can only have 3 non EU players, not including the Africans. 

[karanhsingh]

Our first star academy graduate is coming along well!

I am developing him as the long term replacement for club captain Mandouki. Hopefully he can keep up this level of development. He is now promoted to the first team but also available for the U19s.

[karanhsingh]

Jan transfers

The window ended up being a bit busier than expected as we had two major departures.

First Mangala, still injured, threw a fit when Dinamo bid for him. He pulled out of contract negotiations as well. I was definitely not having any of this, and 475k for a player we got for free 6 months ago seemed like a good deal. Goodbye, Elaquim!

The second one was definitely a lot more disappointing, but probably required. Gladbach & Hoffenheim both started bidding for our academy graduate Diakite. I eventually managed to take the offer up to 1.8m and also, crucially, include a loan back till the end of next season i.e. summer of 2024. The money from this deal is what has basically kept us from going into the red.

The major incoming was a young defender on loan from PSG to replace Mangala - he was recommended by my DOF and really looks like quite a gem! He has started absolutely on fire and I hope I can develop a good relationship with him with a view to maybe a transfer somewhere down the line. Here he is:

[13th Man]

That Nouri seems quality. Those mentals!

[rmcf2017]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

Jan transfers

The window ended up being a bit busier than expected as we had two major departures.

First Mangala, still injured, threw a fit when Dinamo bid for him. He pulled out of contract negotiations as well. I was definitely not having any of this, and 475k for a player we got for free 6 months ago seemed like a good deal. Goodbye, Elaquim!

The second one was definitely a lot more disappointing, but probably required. Gladbach & Hoffenheim both started bidding for our academy graduate Diakite. I eventually managed to take the offer up to 1.8m and also, crucially, include a loan back till the end of next season i.e. summer of 2024. The money from this deal is what has basically kept us from going into the red.

The major incoming was a young defender on loan from PSG to replace Mangala - he was recommended by my DOF and really looks like quite a gem! He has started absolutely on fire and I hope I can develop a good relationship with him with a view to maybe a transfer somewhere down the line. Here he is:

El Chad 

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, 13th Man said:

That Nouri seems quality. Those mentals!

He is coming along nicely...

20 minutes ago, rmcf2017 said:

El Chad 

Surprisingly I had never heard of him before!

[karanhsingh]

Class of 2023

On the tin, it says that this is an excellent intake but personally I am not so sure. Here are the top 3 talents. Let's hope at least one of them makes it.

[Hootieleece]

Bitshiabu is quite the CB at 17!

With players like that you will be Ligue1 in no time!

 

[karanhsingh]

14 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Bitshiabu is quite the CB at 17!

With players like that you will be Ligue1 in no time!

 

Spoiler alert, we already are  

[Sheriff7]

Great work and some very good signs there.Al-Tamari was on Olympiakos radars for some years but they never made an offer or an acceptable from Apoel offer. 

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Sheriff7 said:

Great work and some very good signs there.Al-Tamari was on Olympiakos radars for some years but they never made an offer or an acceptable from Apoel offer. 

Cheers, I guess he was tracked by a number of clubs. Olympiakos would have made sense! 

[KlaaZ]

3 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

Great work and some very good signs there.Al-Tamari was on Olympiakos radars for some years but they never made an offer or an acceptable from Apoel offer. 

 

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Cheers, I guess he was tracked by a number of clubs. Olympiakos would have made sense! 

He even was on Liverpool's radar, reportedly. 

[karanhsingh]

Paris FC - 2022-23 Season Update

Well, here are the fixtures from the second half of the season:

We really hit another gear altogether, with zero defeats in the league. Which means we secured the title sometime in April.

The final league table obviously makes for good reading:

The Lorient express is chugging along nicely too @Jogo Bonito  

Away from league duty, we also had a fairly memorable cup run going out in the Quarters to Ligue 1 side FC Metz. In what was a very hard fought game:

3 goals in the last 10 minutes including an 89th minute equalizer for us and 90th min winner for them! Certainly a great game for the neutrals.

[karanhsingh]

The squad stats from a memorable season:

Laura comfortably finished top scorer in the league. We also had no less than 8 players in the team of the season!

The surprise package of the season for me has to be young Ghanaian Fatawu who has come on leaps & bounds and taken over on the right wing from Tamari. Hoping I can keep him at Paris FC for a while to come yet!

[karanhsingh]

Finally, some bits & bobs to wrap up the season:

A strong increase in average attendance was good to see. Still a long way to go before we start selling out our 20k seater though.

The finances though have been consistently going down. We are now 2 million in the red even though the board have sanctioned the below budgets following the promotion:

Fortunately, I managed to capitalize on the good mood in the board room and get improvements done across the facilities:

Which means we are now up to 

- good junior coaching

- excellent youth recruitment

- great training facilities

- good youth facilities

[rmcf2017]

5 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Paris FC - 2022-23 Season Update

Well, here are the fixtures from the second half of the season:

We really hit another gear altogether, with zero defeats in the league. Which means we secured the title sometime in April.

The final league table obviously makes for good reading:

The Lorient express is chugging along nicely too @Jogo Bonito  

Away from league duty, we also had a fairly memorable cup run going out in the Quarters to Ligue 1 side FC Metz. In what was a very hard fought game:

3 goals in the last 10 minutes including an 89th minute equalizer for us and 90th min winner for them! Certainly a great game for the neutrals.

bahrain overtake in 3...2...1...