[FM23] Nancy Takes Les Reigns

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Introduction:

First and foremost, I must apologise for the thread's title. If there is one particular detail I struggle with when it comes to writing, it's titles. I asked my boyfriend for advice and here we are. He fancies himself as a comic and you'll learn the reason for the title shortly. Once again, apologies. 

Now, I enjoyed a couple of saves which I documented on these forums during FM22 but I abandoned ship a little earlier than I would have liked - particularly with the latter, a save with Norwegian outfit Alta IF. You can read this here. I'm aiming to ensure that this save is here for the duration and with things a lot more materialised than they previously were, I'm confident that this will be the case.

The Club - Why?

France seems to be a hot-bed for save suggestions this year more than ever. With the relegation of Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne, it comes as no surprise that the community has identified these two clubs as an excellent base for an FM23 save. However, my attention bypassed both of those teams completely. I am a real admirer of French football and everyone who knows me is aware of this. I absolutely detest how little respect that, particularly, Ligue 1 receives from the casual football fan. It is often dubbed as a 'Farmers League' by self-professed Twitter experts, which I feel to be far from the truth.

I remember when I first started following Ligue 1 via the highlights show that was featured on one of the television channels. I seem to recall it being ESPN or Setanta Sport, but I can't quite recall. AS Nancy-Lorraine were one of the sides to feature. They are by no means a powerhouse of French football, but they have spent the majority of their existence as a Ligue 1 outfit with brief spells in the second-tier.

However, the club suffered relegation from Ligue 2 last season in rather upsetting circumstances and will begin the 2022/23 season in the French third-tier, the Championnat National. Nancy suffered relegation through default as protests against the club's controversial ownership boiled over and caused for their game against Quevilly-Rouen to be abandoned with the tie ultimately afforded as a 3-0 victory to the opposition, therefore confirming their relegation. More will be discussed on the ownership later in this OP.

I see this as a prime opportunity to start from the lowest playable division in France on the vanilla database and guide a club that, I believe, have somewhat of a good affiliation with Ligue 1 and therefore have enough merit to credit themselves as a side that can be associated with top-flight football. It also seems logical to combine two things I enjoy in FM - managing in France and lower-league management, so why not?! Nancy were the perfect candidate for my next FM adventure.

Club History:

I have briefly touched on the club's history but here we will take a bit of a further delve into the archives. The information has largely been gathered from Wikipedia but reworked.

Early History:

Legend: Claude Cuny (right)

The club are often confused as being founded in 1967 given that the year features at the bottom of the club's logo, however, the club were officially founded in 1910. 1967 instead represents the year of which the club successfully transitioned into a professional outfit. The transition into professional status followed the demise of the club's initial identity of FC Nancy, who folded in 1964 and a relaunch by Claude Cuny followed. Cuny worked under the club's previous identify but left prior to its demise and is cited as one of the leaders of French football due to his innovative ideas. One such idea was the creation of Nancy's youth academy which subsequently became the first youth academy within France.

Prior to the formation of the 'new' club, Cuny sought to attract interest in the club by sending out over 18,000 letters and petitions to draw interest from the general public. Once the public were engaged, Cuny organised a series of friendlies to raise funds for the club and later used the money accrued to enable the club to make the move into a professional outfit. This officially took place on 16th June 1967. The club were then welcomed into Division 2, the second-tier of French football as it was known at the time and finished tenth in their debut campaign, also achieving a place in the last sixteen of the Coupe de France. They would achieve promotion to Division One in just their third season under the club's new guise, finishing thirteenth in their first season at France's top table.

Throughout the following years, the club brought through a number of talents - the shining star of the side was undoubtably Michel Platini. Platini helped guide Nancy to their first piece of silverware in 1975 after winning the Second Division title following relegation the previous season. He would go on to win the French Player of the Year award twice (1976 and 1977) and assist the club to a Coupe de France triumph in 1978, the club's highest honour to date. This ultimately allowed Nancy to qualify for European competition for the first time, participating in the European Cup Winners' Cup, where they were eliminated in the second round to Swiss outfit Servette. Platini would depart Nancy for Saint-Etienne at the end of that season having made 181 appearances.

Many of his talented colleagues remained and over the next three seasons, Nancy finished in the top ten. However, influential players would depart after the 1984 season and the club would suffer relegation to Division 2 at the end of the 1986/87 season but would return following promotion in 1989. This would mark a period of toing and froing for Nancy as they spent much of the next decade yo-yoing between the top two tiers before establishing themselves somewhat after the club's latest promotion at the time in 2005.

Modern History:

Winners: Coupe de la Ligue (2006)

Upon their return to Ligue 1, Nancy captured the Coupe de la Ligue title after beating Nice 2-1 in the final and similarly to their Coupe de France success in '78, they qualified for European competition through the UEFA Cup. They would fair better this time around but could still only reach the last thirty-two before crashing out to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. Nancy would regularly finish safely in mid-table with little fan-fare, aside from a fourth place finish in 2008 where they missed out on Champions League football to Marseille on the final day following a defeat to Rennes. Nancy failed to mark an impression in the subsequent UEFA Cup campaign as they failed to make it through the group stages.

Relegation would ultimately greet the club again in 2013, prompting a return as Ligue 2 champions in 2016, however Nancy were immediately relegated and almost suffered back-to-back relegations after a tumultuous campaign saw them narrowly avoid the relegation playoff. 14th, 12th* and 8th place finishes were achieved in the next three campaigns before the 2021/22 season ended in disaster.  Finishing rock-bottom, Nancy amassed a mere twenty-seven points, meaning they finished thirteen points behind Quevilly-Rouen in the relegation playoff spot and sixteen behind Rodez in seventeenth. They would also go through three separate managers with the last of the three appointments taking place on 3rd January 2022.

* - the season was not completed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Board:

It is important that we begin to understand the dynamics between the club's supporters and its ownership, particularly due to the volatile nature with which the previous campaign ended. In December 2020, the club was acquired by PMG, Partners Path Capital, owned by Chien Lee, and Krishen Sud. They replaced Jacques Rousselot who had been at the helm since 1995. Lee has a wealth of football clubs to his name, including Barnsley, FC Thun, K.V. Oostende, Esbjerg fB, FC Den Bosch and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Gauthier Ganaye, a familiar face for many Barnsley supporters, was appointed as the club's CEO. 

Unpopular: Gauthier Ganaye (left) and Chien Lee (right)

What I will go on to say is incredibly damning against the club's ownership, however, it must be noted that there has been success for the owners - just not at Nancy. They initially worked miracles at Barnsley as the Tykes secured a playoff place in the Championship during the 2020/21 season. The success was largely due to a smart transfer strategy, styled on the 'moneyball approach' - which will be an interest to many, I'm sure. You can read plenty of the groups approach - I found this article to be particularly informative. However, despite the achievements, last season was a huge disappointment for PMG. 

The group are somewhat known for their unfortunate achievement of guiding Barnsley, Esbjerg and Nancy to relegation all within the same campaign. A supporters group told the Sports Gazette, in an article you can find here, that Ganaye stubbornly tried to use data and gegenpressing. Neither of these worked. Supporters also feel aggrieved as he has not been present at the stadium or training ground for nine months*. A quote used within the article states "Our commander was happily enjoying a few cigars on the French Riviera while we were taking a beating every weekend." There is a lack of hope and direction for the ownership at the club, particularly as the club has never been as low as it currently finds itself. Some supporters have even gone as far as to say that they feel humiliated. It is obvious there is a clear message from Nancy supporters; they want the ownership gone.

Yikes.

* - As of the time of the article which was posted on 10th June 2022.

The Manager:

Now comes the part where the thread's title is explained. I must admit, I despair at my boyfriend's title idea yet I'm hardly in a position to speak either. The manager for the save will be Nancy Lorraine. Nancy is a character I have created for the save, inspired by the club's name. To give you some background into her, she was a coach in the local area before being afforded a job within the Nancy youth setup. From here, she has progressed through the ranks and served as part of the first-team backroom staff for the past three seasons. The board have since promoted Nancy to first-team head-coach for two reasons. The first of these is that she is a cheap appointment. An internal appointment spares a more costly appointment and the board were reluctant to look externally given the high turnover of managers within the past twelve months. The second of these is that they hope she can go some way into repairing the fractured relationship with the supporters, given Nancy is looked upon favourably, although there have been doubts surrounding her immediate appointment.

Welcome: Nancy Lorraine

As a quick aside, I am a huge advocate for women in football and see the likes of Emma Hayes as somebody who ought to be given a chance in the men's game if and when she feels that it is the right time. In France, we have seen two female managers appointed in the top two divisions, both by Clermont Foot. The first of these was Helena Costa, who now acts as a scout for Eintracht Frankfurt. The second was Corinne Diacre, who now serves as the French Women's National Team manager. Costa resigned almost immediately after her appointment citing a lack of respect and, unfortunately, sexist tendencies shown towards her, whilst Diacre managed Clermont for three seasons and guided them to mid-table finishes before opting to depart for her current role. Both these ladies have provided ample inspiration for many. 

Nancy, herself, is an outspoken individual and is far from a yes-woman. The supporters know this. She will not be one to cower to the board's demands. I am open to the idea of writing a little creatively at times throughout the thread and I will hopefully be able to demonstrate more of her character throughout the save. I understand that the creative writing side of things may not be for everybody, however, please do not worry as I do not plan to do such posts all too regularly.

Five Year Plan:

What is a club without a clear five year plan? 

Season One: Win Promotion from Championnat National

Of course, we have to be targeting an immediate return to Ligue 2. The media predict us to finish second behind Châteauroux, however, I believe we have enough talent to win the league title. It would be a devastating failure if we were to fail in delivering second-tier football to Nancy next season and expectations from the board also reflect this. They expect the club to win automatic promotion, so failure to win the division wouldn't be catastrophic from their point of view.

Season Two: Establish the club in Ligue 2

We should have the tools to be more than a team who are simply looking to survive in the second-tier. The gap between the third and second tier isn't all too big and I think that we should be able to stave off relegation comfortably. Whilst the gap isn't too big, there are teams in the division who will have much stronger squads than us towards the top of the division. 

Season Three: Playoff Push

After a season of establishing ourselves and a further summer to recruit, I believe we may have enough to mount a playoff push. This doesn't mean that I expect us to finish in the playoff, but I would expect that there will be strides made into making an impression that suggests we have enough to compete at the top of the division.

Season Four: Win Promotion

Ambitious? Perhaps, but that's the fun of Football Manager. You have to be ambitious if you want to succeed! At this point in time, the board only expect the club to continue itself in Ligue 2 and this remains the case the following season, so the pressure is off from the board's perspective, but from mine, I really do believe we can assert ourselves into the mix and get ourselves over the line. 

Season Five: Avoid Relegation from Ligue 1

By season five, I hope to have achieved our assent to the top. The jump will be much larger than that between the third and second tier, so I have to be a little more modest in my expectations and I will be happy to avoid relegation and deem that a success. Hopefully by this point we will see the board supporting us financially and our youth academy, which I will detail in the next post, will have produced some talents that can be put to use or sold for profit. 

Final Thoughts:

Many thanks for reading the OP of this thread. I apologise for the length but hope that this has covered all bases. If there are any questions, I am more than happy to answer them. I love the engagement that this forum has. I look forward to bringing this save to you all.  

[DefinitelyTaylor]

First-Team Squad

Facilities

Supporter Profile

Board Expectations

Edited November 29, 2022 by DefinitelyTaylor

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Pre-Season 2022/23

Apologies for the delay between the OP and this, the first of many posts to come (I hope!). In this post, I will endeavour to cover everything that happened during pre-season as the club readied itself for its first season as a Championnat National side. The club are well equipped to achieve the expectations set out by the board, however, the non-playing staff needed a few extra bodies to ensure it met the standard required. This saw a total of twelve additions made, seven of these for the first-team. You can see the full list of appointments here. There were some outgoings, namely that of Mohamed Ouadah (scout) as he departed for Ligue 1 side Reims. You can find this list here.

I was keen to stick with the existing playing squad at my disposal as I had enough confidence that it would be good enough to guide us into Ligue 2 at the end of the season. Subsequently, there was little in the way of action in the transfer window during pre-season with just two names brought in to bolster the ranks. The first of these was Carlos Baleba on loan from Lille. Able to play as both a central-midfielder and as a number ten, Baleba has the ability to play as a DLP and after noticing we did not have a lot of players who possessed the ability to play in the role as well as I would like, I felt his signature was an important piece of business to conclude. He joins us until the end of the season with us paying £550 of his £800 p/w contract.

The second arrival was another loanee as Enzo Tchato arrived from Montpellier. The right-back will provide competition for Baptiste Etcheverria who was the only natural right-back in the squad beforehand. Solid enough defensively but having enough about him going forward to play as a full-back on support, we will be paying the entirety of his £1,000 p/w wage during his time with us.

There were no outgoings as such but we did opt to terminate an existing loan. Thomas Basila was contracted to spend the 2022/23 season with us but would be sidelined until at least January with injury. Coupled with the fact we were expected to pay the entirety of his £4,700 p/w salary, it didn't seem feasible to retain his services and we cut our losses. It was disappointing as his quality is undeniable and he would have been a real asset to have but we have to be smart. We have enough about us in this area of the pitch to ensure it shouldn't be a costly error I would think.

This leaves us with a squad (planner) that looks like this. We are well-stocked in all areas I would argue - particularly in goal and in the heart of our back four. Diafra Sakho playing second-fiddle to Thomas Robinet should mean that we have a capable option off the bench up top and an option that I feel will largely out-trump that of what our opponents this season can welcome from their substitute bench. I hope I haven't tempted fate with that comment! Please give me a shout if you want to have a look at any player in particular. 

Of course pre-season is always about getting the players match-fit for the season ahead and allowing them to gain familiarity with the tactical setup, but a few wins never go amiss. We primarily played lower-league opposition where we came out victors, but we also impressed with a victory against Ligue 2 side Guingamp and a draw against Lorient of Ligue 1. 

Speaking of the tactical setup, you can see this below. We are running a 4-2-3-1, a favourite of mine.

I am far from a guru when it comes to tactics so now seems a suitable time to put a disclaimer of some kind that this will be far from a hub for tactical guides and discussion. There are many, many threads within just this sub-forum where you will find individuals with knowledge of the ins-and-outs of tactical management within FM, I won't be one. @MattyLewis11 is a favourite of mine.  A quick nod to @Shrewnaldo for the basis of this post, too, on the topic of mentions.

Nevertheless, I am hopeful that this tactic will form the basis of our success. Onwards to the new season we go. Allez!

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by DefinitelyTaylor

[SteinkelssonFM]

A nice introduction mate, you will know that I am a big fan of French football and agree with your statement that the league gets way too little good publicity, as there is an abundance of great young talent across the country.

You have set some nice objectives which are both challenging and realistic, I am keen to see how this one pans out.

Thanks very much for the compliment, I am glad to hear that my writing is valued and appreciated. 

How tight are your finances, will you be following a wage structure? 

[metallimuse]

Good luck with this pal, this was my FM23 main save idea as well, I entitled my save file as "Flight of Nancy" just as an aside .

I got 2 and a half seasons in before I started throwing my toys out of the pram about the match engine and I had to put the game and the save on the back burner for a few weeks until I calmed down and watched some twitch streams of other's playing and now I'm starting over again doing The Athletic's Community Challenge to ease my way back in. Defo coming back to this save file though in the future.

I managed automatic promotion in second in my first year and survived a few places above the relegation zone in second year with just the existing squad. Nangis ran his contract down which really disappointed me, think it was him at least. It was definitely one the younger lads I was planning on building round. I think they have a few gems in the under 18s/B team if I'm remembering correctly. I signed a couple of out of contract lads for third season, sure I needed a keeper, and was just below mid-table when I rage quit.

Nancy really appealed to me as I always remember them as being one of the Ligue 1 pack growing up and the home of Platini and where Arsene Wenger started carving a name for himself, couldn't believe it when I discovered they were in the third tier. 

Also, as a Scotsman seeing they have a Thistle on the badge and are known as Les Chardons (The Thistles) was a major plus point.

Following this thread with lots of interest.

[deltablue]

Nice to see more female managers.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

On 30/11/2022 at 22:25, MattyLewis11 said:

A nice introduction mate, you will know that I am a big fan of French football and agree with your statement that the league gets way too little good publicity, as there is an abundance of great young talent across the country.

You have set some nice objectives which are both challenging and realistic, I am keen to see how this one pans out.

Thanks very much for the compliment, I am glad to hear that my writing is valued and appreciated. 

How tight are your finances, will you be following a wage structure? 

Cheers mate! 

The finances are more than satisfactory for this level. We have over £1,000,000 in the bank, but recruitment wise we are also set with plenty of excess wage given we opted to terminate Basila's loan.

Naturally I'll be keeping an eye to ensure we never go over our budgets but, with no disrespect to the competition, we shouldn't need to be blowing our budget in the third-tier. That should mean we can use the excess wage moving forward and bank a bit of additional cash.

On 02/12/2022 at 10:34, metallimuse said:

Good luck with this pal, this was my FM23 main save idea as well, I entitled my save file as "Flight of Nancy" just as an aside .

I got 2 and a half seasons in before I started throwing my toys out of the pram about the match engine and I had to put the game and the save on the back burner for a few weeks until I calmed down and watched some twitch streams of other's playing and now I'm starting over again doing The Athletic's Community Challenge to ease my way back in. Defo coming back to this save file though in the future.

I managed automatic promotion in second in my first year and survived a few places above the relegation zone in second year with just the existing squad. Nangis ran his contract down which really disappointed me, think it was him at least. It was definitely one the younger lads I was planning on building round. I think they have a few gems in the under 18s/B team if I'm remembering correctly. I signed a couple of out of contract lads for third season, sure I needed a keeper, and was just below mid-table when I rage quit.

Nancy really appealed to me as I always remember them as being one of the Ligue 1 pack growing up and the home of Platini and where Arsene Wenger started carving a name for himself, couldn't believe it when I discovered they were in the third tier. 

Also, as a Scotsman seeing they have a Thistle on the badge and are known as Les Chardons (The Thistles) was a major plus point.

Following this thread with lots of interest.

The title is much less daring, I must say. 

There's quite a fair bit of talent hidden in the '2' squad and U19's. It's certainly worth me keeping a close eye on both squads as I do think we can mould a few of those players into something worthwhile.

Glad to have you on board!

On 02/12/2022 at 12:03, deltablue said:

Nice to see more female managers.

Absolutely. Hopefully we will soon witness this in English football.

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice choice of club, go for it Nancy