[FM23] Prickling the top

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

We don't have a lot to work with as the wage budget is all used up, but there is a bit of movement nontheless. Kristian Riis joins us on a free after his contract at Lyngby ran out. We also bring back former loanie midfielder Seydouba Cissé from Monaco and another defender with Christopher Wooh from Rennes, both on loan.

On the outgoing side, Fall joins Annecy on loan with an option to make the move permanent (good riddance, whiner) and Besse goes off to find some match experience at Orléans.

 

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[KlaaZ]

27 games played. The bad news is, our form is dropping horridly. We've lost half of our last eight games and have shipped eight goals in the last three matches. And it's dropping fast, the loss against Guingamp hurt a lot. It was an even game but we're so ridiculously vulnerable at the back right now. 

The only good news is that we're still in third and one point of second. The title's gone, I'm not even hoping anymore, but I would very much still like to avoid playoff matches. But with our current form, we'll be looking down rather than up.

[KlaaZ]

Honest to god I hate this game.

[KlaaZ]

Well, the Toulouse result pretty much blew our last chance at direct promotion out of the water. We won the next game against Grenoble but so did Reims, and we're now five points behind them with two games to play. The good news is we're six points ahead of Lorient, so we'll only have to play two promotion games at most. 

[karanhsingh]

French playoffs are a pain all right. But best of luck, you never know!

[KlaaZ]

5 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

French playoffs are a pain all right. But best of luck, you never know!

It's a bit of a must to go up I think. We're almost 3M in the red and the projection's not looking good. 😑

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Ah! I'm glad someone has given Nancy a go on these forums after my brief and abandoned effort at the beginning of the year.  

Looking very promising this season. I'll be following from here on in. 

[KlaaZ]

29 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Ah! I'm glad someone has given Nancy a go on these forums after my brief and abandoned effort at the beginning of the year.  

Looking very promising this season. I'll be following from here on in. 

Bienvenu. 😉

How did you fare with them, no luck? The Ligue 2 is a very unforgiving place, I thought the tv money would be enough to break even but it's not even close. In my Orleans game in 21 I had back to back promotions so didn't experience it in earnest.

[karanhsingh]

The finances in the French league overall are rubbish. But that's quite reflective of real life. I know even the Ligue 1 has been struggling to get a decent tv deal. 

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

The finances in the French league overall are rubbish. But that's quite reflective of real life. I know even the Ligue 1 has been struggling to get a decent tv deal. 

True, but on the bright side, I'm fairly sure that in Ligue 1, I can build a financially healthy club by selling players for a profit.  In Ligue 2, there's barely any interest for my players except for academy youngsters but the offers for them are laughable.

[KlaaZ]

Mathematically, it's still possible! Reims just has to lose and we have to win a bazillion to nil.

[KlaaZ]

We end up with a draw in Valenciennes, despite two clear cut chances in the second half. It didn't matter though, as Reims did what it was expected to do and won their game against Toulouse. Fun fact, this makes them actually top the table! A harsh verdict for the Téfécé, who have been top of the league since match day eleven. The playoff quarter final will be between Lorient and surprise package Guingamp who jumped over Paris FC on the final day of the regular season. They're both teams we can beat on a good day, but only then.

It's a shame about the drop of form in the second half of the season really. We were on 37 points halfway, which would have meant a league title if we had kept that pace up.

[KlaaZ]

Good start this. I really wanted to avoid Lorient as we have a terrible track record against them, and the game went to extra time as well so hopefully Guingamp will have some tired legs.

                                            

[KlaaZ]

Halfway and the game should have been over by now but scoring is hard. Jung hit the bar after only two minutes, and we missed two one on ones as well.

                                                                                   

[KlaaZ]

We went to penalties, over 2 xG was not enough to finish it.. Michel saved the first one!

[KlaaZ]

Cissé with the chance to put us in the final..

[KlaaZ]

.. AND IT'S IN!

[KlaaZ]

We will play Brest in the final. We have a goalkeeper crisis though. Michel is out for a month (played with injections in the Guingamp game) and his youngster backup is at the World Cup U20.. 

[KlaaZ]

Survived the first leg but judging by the performance, it's not going to happen. They play a very annoying 3-4-2-2 winger formation that I just can't penetrate and I couldn't stop the crosses from coming in either.

[KlaaZ]

JUNG, HOLY BATMAN!

[KlaaZ]

Absolute legend.

[KlaaZ]

1-2 at the break after a penalty goal. Away goals count here I think so we're still in a very good place. 45 minutes away from glory!

[KlaaZ]

Hattrick hero, it's in the bag I think.

[KlaaZ]

1-4, academy connection with Vardanyan setting it up and Mendy finishing!

[KlaaZ]

Ligue 1, here we come! Will do a proper recap later, but we're in for a very hard season. Budgets are.. modest, to say the least.

[karanhsingh]

Well done mate! Welcome to Ligue 1 

[KlaaZ]

2024-2025: Season recap

Ligue 2

A terrific first half of the season propelled us into second place. Unfortunately, form decline meant we couldn't hold onto an automatic promotion spot, falling back to third. We then went on to beat Guingamp (on penalties) and Brest after a heroic 1-4 victory in their ground.

All in all, we should be very happy with our performances. Goal difference clearly showed us as 'best of the rest', together with Lorient.

French Cup

We had a great cup run, eliminating rivals Metz and Reims before succumbing to RC Lens in a narrow 1-0 loss in the tenth round.

Youth intake

Four interesting prospects this year, with Fevre looking like the most interesting one.

 

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Finances and facilities

We were about 3M in the red at the end of the season. The board then injected a very welcome 2.5M, and our sponsorship income also went up with almost 70%, leaving us in a healthy position for now. Projection's also looking very good, if we can stay up that is.

I also managed to talk the board into increasing both youth recruitment and junior coaching, but they're currently unwilling to invest in the youth facitilies. Ah well, can't have it all (yet).

Squad building and player performances

There's a lot of work ahead of us for next year, and very little budget to get it done. Mayele has done great coming through the youth ranks at left back, but we'll need either a capable backup or a downright replacement as I'm afraid he'll struggle in the Ligue 1. On the right, Henry looks good but he'll turn 32 in September and has started declining slightly. I'd also welcome an extra central defender, although it's possible that I'll risk playing an academy player that was out on loan and has made some remarkable improvement.

In midfield, I need a bit more depth but I'm happy with Younoussa and Thioune. I'm considering throwing things around to a 4231 (as that is what was so successful against Brest) and give Mendy a chance as a shadow striker. On the flanks, I'm not entirely happy with Jacobo. Vardanyan will either go on loan or be promoted, and I'll be looking for backup for Cissé and Kaninda. 

Up front, Jung has an excellent season with 19 goals in the competition and a hattrick in the final against Brest. He'll lead the line for now but we're in the market for a better player. Alioui did better than last year, but turns 33 in June so he'll be allowed to leave.

Between the stakes, Michel's contract runs out and he doesn't want to resign for a reasonable wage. We'll be looking for a new starting goalkeeper.

[KlaaZ]

10 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Well done mate! Welcome to Ligue 1 

Merci beaucoup  

[KlaaZ]

The transfer market is a difficult one this year, with pretty much no room in the wage budget even after moving most of our transfer funds there. However, we did manage to strengthen the wings and central defense so far. 

Our first order of business are two loanies, one at the back and one who can play both wings AND up front. Osifo joins us from Oostende, Fernandes comes over from Sporting.

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We also make two permanent signings. The biggest one is probably Thorsteinsson, a polyvalent Icelandic winger in the prime of his career. I've seen him play this season in real life as he's contract to my real life club, OHL, and he could be an excellent piece of business. On a plus, he's free.

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We also sign 24-year old German defender Kevin Ehlers, who will hopefully be an excellent addition both with and without the ball. We paid Bochum 87k for his services.

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This means we still need a midfielder, and ideally two full backs. I've got my sights set on Cruz, who was on loan two seasons ago and did very well, but we need to free up wage budget first. 

[KlaaZ]

Oh, and important as well, Michel signed a new one year deal so we're covered in goal for now. 

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Some news on the outgoing side, as we need to trim some (unjustified) wages to bring in new people. Roger Tamba is sold to Villafranquense for 100k. Jacobo didn't deliver to expectations last year, ending the season on the bench so he no longer justified his 7.5k p/w. We ship him off to FSCM for 250k. And finally, Haag has been throwing a bit of a tantrum because I fined him after a soddy performance in preseason. It's not the first time this happens and as this usually indicates a personality issue, I pushed him to a transfer request. Clermont offers a way out, they pay 1.3M for his services.

That means I free up quite a bit of budget, and I can also shift some transfer funds to the wages. Cruz is almost certain to join us on loan again, and I'll be looking to make that deal permanent as his contract runs out next year. He's an excellent all round right back who could set us up for years. We're also in talks with three midfielders as we have absolutely no depth at all in that position. They won't all join, but I'm keeping my options open in case another club swoops in. And finally, we may need another striker as Alioui suffered a hip injury and is out for three to four months. This would leave only Jung up front.

[KlaaZ]

We're about to start the season and we're still without a new full back, both on the left and the right. Cruz rejected us multiple times, I'm now looking into the possibility of bringing him in permanently (if we can afford it). We did ship off Fall on loan to Portugal, which frees up another 6k of wage budget to bring in two midfielders.

Edo Kayembe is probably the biggest name. A bit of a gamble, but an established player with a lot of experience. Strong and with excellent mentals, and a good tackle to boot. Something which will be very necessary as we'll be fighting the entire season to stay up. We pay 155k to Watford. 

The second player comes over on loan. Cissé wasn't available so we opted for young Belgian Eliot Matazo, a fine all round midfielder. He's end of contract in 2026 but Monaco has an option for two more years so we'll see if we can bring him in on a long term deal afterwards.

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Preseason was ok. The game against Caen was an annoying blip on the radar but the performance was ok, and we were actually the better team against Brighton, who are an established Premier League team, for most of the game. We may be depending a LOT on Jung for goals though, who scored nine in four games.

[karanhsingh]

First season in Ligue 1 is always bargain basement. Think you'll be fine. 

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

First season in Ligue 1 is always bargain basement. Think you'll be fine. 

Based on our first game, you could very well be right.

[KlaaZ]

Done deal! Cruz didn't want to join on loan, but a permanent transfer was apparently not a problem. I went a bit overboard on his wage, and we had to pay 500k to grab him, but it needed to be done. With a five year deal, he'll hopefully be our right back starter for a long time.

 

In other news, we didn't look terrible in our first game of the season. Playing away at Nice who are favourites for European football after finishing fourth last season, we had a goal (questionably?) chalked off by the VAR in the first minutes of the game. We held on very well and had a few decent chances but once they scored from a corner, we couldn't hit back anymore. I'm satisfied with the narrow loss though, as this could easily have gone differently on another day.

[KlaaZ]

Currently at work, but drew our first home game against Montpellier in a game that should have gone our way. They only had a few pot shots and Jung missed a clear one on one.. very important away game against Troyes coming up now, who lost twice.

[john1]

Congrats on getting promoted

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Congrats on getting promoted

Cheers!

[billmatic]

Well done on promotion. Loving this.

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, billmatic said:

Well done on promotion. Loving this.

Thanks!

[KlaaZ]

Important one! Well deserved, and puts us three points ahead of the relegation zone. Happy for Jung too, had two horrible games so far and today was no different until he put that first one away. Here's to hoping it gives him the confidence boost to carry on.

 

[KlaaZ]

AIR JUNG BABY!

On our way to our first (and hopefully not last) shock result?

[KlaaZ]

The transfer window is now shut, and we haven't made any more signings. Because we're out of wage budget and because I couldn't find an affordable striker to provide competition for Jung. Here's to hoping he stays healthy but if not, we have an interesting prospect in the youth squad that could fill in for a little while. Maybe. 

Spoiler

That said, we also have some league news. With four games played, we've given ourselves a nice little platform to build on. Losing on the opening day away at Nice was always on the cards but we did rather well and losing only 1-0 is nothing to be ashamed of. A bore draw against Montpellier could just as easily have been a win and away at struggling Troyes, Jung finally broke his deadlock, scoring a brace to secure us a very important first win of the season. We then took Lyon by surprise, running out 2-0 thanks to another Jung brace. We had to fight to survive in the second half but luckily, Cherki's consolation goal came too late to actually threaten the win. In hindsight, we could have finished the game at the break with Thorsteinsson hitting the post and missing a tap in.

This puts us in a very comfortable 8th place, six points away from relegation. Stop the clock please!

 

[KlaaZ]

Investing some hard earned profit!

[KlaaZ]

When you just don't want to win. Got even worse, Kayembe sent off thirty seconds later.

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Well, this was one hell of a reality check.. Possibly the most frustrating game I've played in the last three years.

[KlaaZ]

Well, another month has flown by and we're looking good for survival based on this. We were a bit lucky in Strasbourg but their higher xG was mostly down to a boatload of **** poor shots. Jung put us ahead after only eight minutes but we couldn't hang onto the lead. The Bordeaux game started badly with a tiny right back scoring on a corner to give them the lead but we fought back marvellously to record a very deserved win. Youngster Vardanyan scored his first league goal ever to secure the win with a lovely screamer from outside the area.

I've already talked about the ASSE game in the previous post, if you miss two penalties and pick up a completely unnecessary red straight after, it's always going to be a difficult day. We completely imploded after Kayembe got sent off and for a moment it looked like we were going to get the beating of the century but I managed to stabilize somewhat and limit the damage. The good news is that we bounced back with a very slick 1-0 win over high flying Nantes, with Joelson Fernandes heading home a beautiful cross from Cruz near the end of the game.

This leaves us in *checks notes* seventh places, drawn with fifth and sixth but lower based on goal difference. More importantly, we're ten points off relegation. At this rate (which I don't think we'll sustain, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts), we'll be safe by the end of January.

My only real issue is that we're VERY dependant on Jung for goals, him having scored five so far. The remaining four are spread over four players.

[KlaaZ]

An example of how we are having an excellent season thanks to some defensive wonderwork. 

Spoiler

As you can see, we are quite similar to Lille in xG but they needed twice as many shots to get there, implicating a lot of desperate efforts. In fact, it's why they only have four attempts on target as well, as most of their shots are either not on target or easily blocked thanks yo our defensive setup. This also becomes quite clear when looking at the xG match story.

We scored with a beautiful shot from the edge of the area but as you can see, those five big jumps indicate quite a few very good attempts on goal, which could have finished the game earlier. 

We're also very aggressive in defense, which comes with a few drawbacks (25 yellow and a red so far) and has us topping the charts with 222 fouls, almost 70 more than second placed Toulouse. 

[KlaaZ]

A slow month of October passed by with only three games. We ran into a home loss against Lens in a game where they bossed us around in the first half and we fought back in the second, but failed to find the back of the net. This was offset however by a very surprising win in Monaco, and another one at home against Lille. Both games were similar in the sense that there wasn't a big xG difference but we had far fewer shots, and thus better quality chances.

Some more good news is that Alioui made his return from injury against LOSC, giving us an extra option next to Jung. 

This leaves us in shared fourth place with Monaco, with a +1 GD as we're king of the 1-0 wins. And there's room for improvement because we're actually underperforming according to our xG stats.

[KlaaZ]

Oh, and untouchable, baby!