[FM23] Prickling the top

[KlaaZ]

Prospect spotlight

Due to a lack of transfer opportunities in the attacking midfield position, we were planning on integrating young academy player Mendy into the first team. He began the season as a starter but his performances were erratic (to say the least). However, we have another bright youngster, Saris Vardanyan, who profited from this and has been doing very well instead. 

Young Saris is originally a left winger but he lacks the acceleration and crossing ability to be an effective influence there. I considered retraining him for an IF position on the right but since he's already accomplished in the AM role, I tried him there and he's been repaying my faith with some very consistent performances, and a goal and two assists. Even better, he only just turned 17 so hopefully, he can turn into a real baller in a few years.

[KlaaZ]

Another month flew by, with four games played and unbeaten. We went ahead in Reims after only two minutes but conceded on a penalty. They had a big miss to go ahead but missed and after that, it was all us with the chances and a deserved goal from Thorsteinsson to grab the win. The Toulouse game was more difficult than it looked, they scored after only two minutes on a tap in. Luckily, the goalscorer got sent off fifteen minutes later. Thorsteinsson equalized halfway through the second period and two minutes later they had another sending off. Despite that, we needed an owngoal to go ahead, and Vardanyan sealed the win in added time.

The draw in Rennes was luck more than anything. The first half was slightly in our favor and Jung rewarded us just before the half time whistle. We had a terrible second half though, and Rennes' equalizer was no more than deserved. They should have gotten the win really, but couldn't hit the target. Finally, we end the month with an excellent 4-0 thumping of Angers, highlight being a hattrick from Jung. 

We're travelling to Paris next, so I'm assuming our run will end here, but I'm still very pleased to say that we are in a mindboggling third place, five points off the Parisian giant. Long may it last! I don't see us keeping this up but I've said that before and here we are..

We have Jung to thank for a lot of it too. An average player by all means but with eleven goals in fifteen games, he's responsible for over half of our goal production and heading the top goalscorer charts.

[KlaaZ]

Game took five minutes too long, almost pulled it off.

[karanhsingh]

Nice strong start to the season!

[KlaaZ]

Happy new year! It's January first, 2026, and we've played three games in December. 

We lost in Paris, deservedly, but it was a close one nontheless. We defended well to limit the amount of high quality chances and when Coman put the Parisians ahead, we didn't panic. Alioui came off the bench to put us level in the second half and it really looked like we would see it out until Michel pushed a long range shot into the feet of Coman, who secured the win for PSG with his second of the game.

We bounced back with an excellent performance at home against OM. Who else than Jung put us ahead with his 12th (!) goal of the season, which was enough to pick up the three points.

Unfortunately, we're already out of the cup. I played a rotation squad against Red Star and they took us to penalties. It took 22 spot kicks to decide, with Michel missing the last one. The biggest highlight was academy striker Melis scoring on his debut. We just needed to be competitive though, which means the board doesn't really mind.

There's still a lot of games to be played but with a seven point gap, it looks very much possible that next season will see European football return to Nancy. A man can dream!

There are some personal accolades as well. For myself, I won the Ligue 2 manager of the season award which isn't very surprising considering our promotion. Jung was deemed Relevation of the season in the Ligue 1, which is also much deserved. His contract runs out at the end of the season and he's asking for too much money so it's very possible that we'll lose him.

I'm already looking at free transfers but the economic reality is that we're way over wage budget and can't free up any money. We'll see what happens.

[KlaaZ]

Not much to see in January with only three games played. We beat Montpellier in a very difficult game where we were helped by a red card halfway through the first period after going behind. Thorsteinsson and Jung then turned it around in three wild minutes in the second half to clench the win. We went on to win against Troyes with another early goal from Jung, and almost caused another upset when we went ahead against Lyon. Two corner goals secured them the win however. 

This leaves us once again in fourth place, three points off CL football and, more importantly, nine points away from 7th. 

We also have a bit of transfer news, with a deadline day signing of Theo. The 23-year old Algerian has been on our radar for a while since his contract ran out last summer at Real Madrid but we didn't have the wage budget to bring him in. Things changed however as we let Mendy and Thioune leave on a free. He's settled for a very reasonable contract and will provide extra attacking options in midfield. 

There's also quite a bit of interest for academy prospect Mendy, but nobody has been willing to match the price we put on his head yet. I'm not opposed to selling him as his reactions to both fines after bad performances and to the league bonus was quite bad, which indicates some personality issues under the hood.

[KlaaZ]

A perfect record in February with three out of three and five goals from Jung, what more can one ask for? Especially happy with the Bordeaux game, they're down in a relegation spot but we were missing our entire midfield and two wingers. 

This also means that nothing really changed in the ranking. We're still in fourth due to goal difference with third placed Lille but more importantly, the gap with seventh is now so big (14 points) that with eleven games to go, we're pretty much set for Europe.

[KlaaZ]

One standout player in this year's youth intake, Pierre-Louis Herrmann looks very decent already and his twofootedness ensures he can be a candidate for both back positions. Professional with 20 determination as well.

[KlaaZ]

March is done and dusted, with four games played. A win in Nantes, a heavy thumping by RC Lens, followed by two very important wins against Monaco and more importantly our rivals for third place, Lille. We had a tough time against the latter until we got a penalty, converted by Theo. Six minutes later Osifo headed home an excellent free kick by, again, Theo and Jung finished the game with his second of the night. 

Speaking of Jung, we weren't planning on offering him a new deal but as he just keeps scoring and the fans really like him, I changed my mind. He signed an extension until 2029, which pretty much equals seeing out his career at Nancy. He's now on 22 goals, four more than second placed Simeone. Impressive!

With seven games to go, we're firmly in third, five points ahead of Lille. If we do well in our next two matches, European football will be secured already, but I now feel that we can aim for the CL.

Finally, there's once again a rumour for a takeover. I've had a few and they always crashed, let's see if this is the real deal.

 

[KlaaZ]

Let's see what happens.

Meanwhile, we have secured European football with four games to go, and are in a good spot for CL football.

[KlaaZ]

Two games to go.

[KlaaZ]

One game to go, and we've lost the CL spot after an absolute horror performance in Marseille, losing 4-0. We have a serious form collapse on our hands with only one win in five games. Jung hasn't score ever since he signed a new deal, and I'm starting to regret giving him that contract extension.

The only good news is that Lille has a home game against PSG on the final day, but as we play Nice I'm fairly sure we're done.

[KlaaZ]

It's a good start, well deserved. Now let's hope PSG do their jobs. Rennes is winning so if we drop the ball here, they'll jump over us as well.

[KlaaZ]

Heartbreaking. I'll do a writeup later today. We beat Nice (with a little bit of luck, admittedly, but Lille scored a winner against PSG in the 90th minute, pushing us back to fourth.. An amazing season but if you get that close, only to see it slip away in the final seconds.. Gutted.

[billmatic]

3 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Jung hasn't score ever since he signed a new deal, and I'm starting to regret giving him that contract extension.

The Aubameyang effect. A heartbreaking end to an otherwise incredible first season in the top flight. What are your targets for next season?

[KlaaZ]

18 minutes ago, billmatic said:

The Aubameyang effect. A heartbreaking end to an otherwise incredible first season in the top flight. What are your targets for next season?

It'll depend on what we can do in the transfer window. We got almost 9M transfer budget now (could've done with those CL millions) but the wage budget is only 215k so I'll have to shift some money there. I'm hoping to see some interest for a few players to gather some extra funds as well. 

Either way, I'll be very happy with a top eight finish next year. The board wants me to avoid relegation and reach the knockouts of the conference league which keeps the pressure low. 

If I can strengthen a few positions (left back, striker despite Jung's performances, goalkeeper) I might challenge for Europe again. A man can dream, right? 🙂

[KlaaZ]

2025-2026: Season recap

Ligue 1

An amazing first season with the big boys ends with a slight anticlimax when we lose our CL spot on the final day of the season to Lille when they miraculously beat PSG in the final minutes of the game. That said, we can be very, very pleased with how things went down. Our main target going forward will be scoring more goals. We outperformed our xG by four goals, which is not too bad so we'll need to improve both tactically and in players quality to achieve this. At the back, we did very well, only conceding 35.

French Cup

A disappointing run where we lost our first game on penalties away at Red Star. 

Finances and facilities

Finishing fourth has its perks: We receive little over 12M for our final standing, significantly boosting our bank balance. We'll put the money to good use, expanding the training facilities, youth recruitment (after some discussing with the board) and junior coaching.

Speaking of the board, our board takeover collapsed but they're still looking to sell and don't want to set long term objectives until that happens. I'm hoping this gets taken care of sooner rather than later.

Squad building and player performances

We have seven first team players leaving the club at the end of the season, three of which are loans. This should free up about 35k wage budget, which will help to revamp the squad going forward. Michel is the most important player to leave, joining Nîmes. This means our priority will be a new starting goalkeeper. Jérémy Mayele has risen with us through the leagues and is an ok rotation option on the left, but I'll be looking to improve here. We've made a contract offer for Matazo, on loan and end of contract, but Monaco has a two year extension option. Finally, a new winger (maybe two, it's also possible we promote from within) and a striker would also be nice.

Edited May 29, 2023 by KlaaZ

[karanhsingh]

Ouch - did not realize that 4th spot dropped into Europa. But honestly, that's probably a better competition for you to be a part of right now.

[KlaaZ]

28 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Ouch - did not realize that 4th spot dropped into Europa. But honestly, that's probably a better competition for you to be a part of right now.

Results wise definitely. But I was planning to play a rotation squad in the CL anyway, as my focus is on becoming an established Europe qualifier before actually challenging for anything meaningful there. Once my squad is at that top five level, it usually means I can rotate easier in the league without throwing results away.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

As explained in the season recap, the squad would need some revamping in a few positions. Luckily, the qualification for the Conference League and the prize money for fourth place gave us a bit more leeway to do a few deals. It's now July 1st, and most of our homework is done. We could do with an extra striker, and will probably bring in a few more loanies for squad depth, but that's it unless anyone leaves.

In goal, we bring in two new players, one for the now and one potential for the future. As Michel left the club on a free, we bring in an upgrade with Joao Valido from Lyon for 775k. He had a solid season on loan at Spanish second division side Gijon last year and with a deal until 2030, he'll be our main goalkeeper for years to come. Great personality as well, something I always pay a lot of attention to.

Our second goalkeeper signing is something more of an opportunity. Mendes-Dudzinski was end of contract at Benfica and at only 21, he still has years to fulfill his potential. I'm fairly confident of giving him cup and European games to see if he gets better but if not, it's a low risk investment. The downside is that they're both not French nationals, which is something that I would like to focus on, but Dudzinski at least is young and thus fits the profile we're looking for in that sense.

At the back, we signed two new central defenders and a left back who will gradually replace Mayele. I was not very happy with Gartenmann and Riis, so both will be allowed to leave the club if a decent offer comes in. Hady Camara was an established first teamer at Guingamp in the Ligue 2 and did consistently well, and he was entering the last year of his contract which means he was available at an interesting price. We sign him up for 900k and he'll be a prime candidate for the BPD position. He's also ridiculously tall which hopefully will help us on set pieces.

The second central defender was a recommendation by our scouts. I'll never pass up on very young talent, even if they're not French, so when Abadia's scouting report came up I had no hesitation in signing him, for only 1.7M. We had a few other foreign candidates in central defense as well but they were all too expensive to my taste. He has some work to do on his technicals but nontheless looks like someone we can later make a lot of money of. 

At left back, we pay 1.4M for the services of Guilherme Montoia, another Portguese (we not have a bit of an enclave in that regard) but from Lorient so accustomed to French football. He only played 10 games in the Ligue 2 surprisingly, but never disappointed so I'm hoping he'll do better than Mayele. Either way, it's good to have some extra depth on the left and as he only expected fringe player status, he won't be too disappointed if he hits the bench.

In midfield, we sign two new players. Matazo was on loan last season and did consistently well in his 30 appearances, so we snatched him up after his contract at Monaco ran out. A bit of an expensive contract, but one I feel is very much worth it until we find better prospects. He's also still only 24 so hopefully, he can grow a bit more.

Our second signing can actually play all midfield positions, but is more adapt as an attacking midfielder in the center or on the right. Pedro Santos is another Portuguese, another one from Benfica, another one on a free. He'll provide some much needed depth behind the striker.

And finally, we have another winger with Ishak Boussouf who joins us from ASSE on a free. Technical dribbler with flair and pace, I'm hoping he'll bring a lot while at Nancy.

We're still in the market for a striker and I would also very much like to bring in another midfielder if I can find anyone that fits the bill. We had our eyes set on another Portuguese lad but he chose ASSE over us. 

[KlaaZ]

Some more transfer news. We're cutting some dead wood and are letting some not so bright prospects leave for reasonable amounts, in the hopes of gathering enough funds to buy a very interesting young striker currently playing in the Ligue 2. Youngster Bayraktar didn't progress on loan and turned 19. He doesn't look like he'll make the cut and when Brest came in with an offering running up to 1.1M, we didn't hesitate. Gartenmann moves back to Denmark, Brondby pay 1M for his services. Kristian Riis is also on the way out, for 250k to either Vejle or Guingamp. 

We also have a very interesting offer for young defender Mukiele. His progress has been excellent though so I'm hesitant to let him go and would rather move him to a Ligue 2 side for better match experience. 

[Hootieleece]

I am Guilherme Montoia and prepare to die! 

Transfers are looking good for free.

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

I am Guilherme Montoia and prepare to die! 

Transfers are looking good for free.

Thanks, and the biggest one is about to drop!

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

Some more outgoing news, in order to facilitate some very exciting incoming news!

As predicted, Riis leaves for 250k to Guingamp. We also sell Cissé, who rose with us from National to Ligue 1, for a deal running up to 2.2M to Angers. He was a rotation option at best and with the arrival of Boussouf got pushed back even further. This gives us a transfer budget of 3.4M, and frees up a lot of wage budget.

We use that to bring in Bertrand Tissier in what is a record transfer for Nancy. Tissier was a starter at FCSM in Ligue 2 last season, scoring nine goals and judging by his current ability, he looks like someone who could hopefully lead the line for years to come. at only 19 years of age, I'm sure there's still plenty more to come from him. We pay 3M up front, 1.7M in three brackets over three years and FCSM has the right to 30% of further profit (unfortunately). 

[KlaaZ]

Preseason 2026

A few very good confidence boosters and no goals conceded except for that game against Luzern, where we had a defensive problem. All in all, a good preseason, where our final test was our opener in the third qualifying of the Conference League where we drove over Hungarian Puskas Academy. We'll open the league in two days away against Lyon. 

Edited May 31, 2023 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Did not expect this, happy coach! I also don't line up like this but in a 4231 DM, changed formation near the end of the game as they went a very aggressive 4-4-2.

Edited May 31, 2023 by KlaaZ

[karanhsingh]

Tissier looks excellent! I have noticed that Sochaux is definitely a good club for youth.

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

Tissier looks excellent! I have noticed that Sochaux is definitely a good club for youth.

Yeah, I vaguely recall the same thing from my FM21 save with Orléans. Saint-Etienne and Rennes as well.

[KlaaZ]

A decent August ends on a low after a very sorry loss against Monaco, who had zero points and zero goals scored up until this encounter. Europe has been a very mixed bag as well, and despite the qualification for the group stage and the performances in the league, I'm not very happy with how we're actually playing and I feel there's trouble lurking around the corner. We lost against Puskas in the return, against a team that has all but one player greyed out, and had to go to extra time against Gent. In all honesty, we've been saved on more than one occasion by Tissier, who has scored five in the league so far on an xG of 1. 

[KlaaZ]

I hate this game sometimes. 

[KlaaZ]

Just to clarify, had a power outage here before I could save, trying to simulate the game to get another loss but the exact result might differ.

[KlaaZ]

It turned into a 0-1 defeat, sorry about that.

In other news, I don't think I've ever seen this many A's.

[Hootieleece]

Looks like you should have at least 6 future Starters with that class of Youngsters.

[KlaaZ]

23 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Looks like you should have at least 6 future Starters with that class of Youngsters.

It would definitely come in handy because money is still very tight. I managed to convince the board for another youth facilities upgrade, so we're just on the brink of positive now. I actually have my fingers crossed that our good performances will draw some transfer interest but so far, it's dead quiet on that front. It's annoying too because I have a few very nice prospects on my radar but while they are affordable, I need a bit of budget nontheless. And I already missed out on two of them that moved to Liverpool and City. 

[KlaaZ]

2026-2027: Mid season update

It's January first, so it's time for another update on how things have been going since August. 

In the league, we can't have any complaints about how we are rolling. The PSG loss was to be expected but we didn't get completely steamrolled which is an encouraging sign. The home loss against Saint-Etienne was deserved, the one against Lens was unlucky. I'm a bit more peeved with the scoreless draws against Havre and Valenciennes, but it be like that sometimes. Tissier has scored thirteen goals so far in the Ligue 1, not bad for the newcomer. 

 

The table looks like this halfway, with us in fifth tied with two other teams. It'll be tight for Europe but on the other hand we're still within a shout of Champions League football as well, which would be nice because although we are pretty much break even thanks to the Conference League, we could do with a cash influx to start bringing in those talented youngsters. 

Speaking of the Conference League, we've done well in the new format so far, qualifying for the knockouts as per request of the board, perfect record as well. Not the hardest of competition at this stage, the 8-1 thumping of PAOK was especially juicy.

We entered the Cup in the tenth round where we immediately got a tough home game against Reims, who were doing well in the Ligue 1. We threw a 2-0 lead out the window with two idiotic mistake goals, but Tissier pulled us over the finish line with his third of the evening in the end. We'll play relegation threatened Ligue 2 side Lavallois in a few days, so hopefully we can progress another round.

Speaking of Tissier, he's been progressing really well, and has a lot of room for improvement left according to my coaches. I'm happy to have him on a five year contract without a release clause, so I'm hoping to keep him around for at least a few years before he starts nagging my head of for a big move. Either way, he'll earn us a LOT of money.

Squad wise, I have an 18-year old Bolivian winger on my shortlist that has not yet drawn the interest of other European teams, but I don't have the transfer budget. There's minor interest for Ehlers (who I would need to replace if he's sold) and Kaninda (who also plays the wing so should be fine. I'm hoping to get a bid for the latter that's big enough so I can sign the young prospect. Dudzinski has gotten the Europe and Cup games, but I'm hoping to loan him out for half a season as first choice somewhere as I feel the kid has a lot of untapped potential. 

 

 

[KlaaZ]

European Golden Boy, baby!

[KlaaZ]

Oof, not what I had in mind. Only 18 and already doing very well as a rotation player. I can probably negotiate it up quite a bit, but I really don't want to lose him so I'm considering flat out rejecting to see if I can change his mind.

[Hootieleece]

Unfortunately, this is what happens when they start playing well on European Nights.

Plus wanting to join a Top ten in the World Club is not unusual.....

[KlaaZ]

23 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Unfortunately, this is what happens when they start playing well on European Nights.

Plus wanting to join a Top ten in the World Club is not unusual.....

Talked him out of it, probably helped that I'm favourite personnel and that Nancy is listed as his favourite club. Either way, new deal until 2031.

[karanhsingh]

Good going - do you think you have a shot at the Conference title?

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Good going - do you think you have a shot at the Conference title?

We're a contender certainly, but I think there are teams with more quality than us still: Rennes, Lazio, Bilbao and Southampton. I'm hoping for some shock results to make it a little easier, but we first have to get past Fehérvar ourselves.

[KlaaZ]

After a few years of back and forth, our board takeover finally happened. No investments, nothing silly, which is probably for the best as I'd like to take Nancy to the top the old fashioned way. There's also a new contract for me, until 2031, and we set up another affiliate club, which I'll talk about more in the end of season report.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

I would normally wait until the end of the season, but this is very exciting! We had a young Bolivian who player for Chilean Colo Colo on our radar for a while, but couldn't convince him in January because he just extended is deal. It's March now though and we went back to the negotiating table. We met his 4.6M release clause and had to offer him star player status (which he will definitely get), and so the deal is done. Welcome, Rodrigo Apaza!

[Hootieleece]

He would make a lethal Ramdeuter!

[john1]

Wow. insane signing there!

[KlaaZ]

16 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

He would make a lethal Ramdeuter!

Yeah, he looks like an excellent finisher. Not sure yet how I'll play him, currently have Thorsteinsson in an IW(S) role there, with Vardanyan regularly playing in the position as well. 

21 minutes ago, john1 said:

Wow. insane signing there!

Thanks, very excited for him. 😀

[KlaaZ]

An update on Europe! We had no trouble with Fehérvar, beating them with clean 2-0 numbers both away and at home. Unfortunately, the draw in the quarter final was.. Unlucky. We could have faced teams like Randers, PAOK, or Hajduk, but instead pulled Lazio out of the hat. 

As we're still contending for European football and I didn't expect too much, I opted for a rotation squad in the home game against the Italians. They were slightly the better team in the first half but only managed half a dozen very low quality shots. Unfortunately, our attacking trio was quite impotent as well so we we saw a logical 0-0 at the break. After a good ten minutes in the second half without any major development from either side, I brought Tissier, Matazo and Boussouf in a triple substitution. This changed the game when only a minute later, Tissier opened the score after a beautiful cross by Younoussa. That same Younoussa put us up on 2-0 with an excellent shot from outside the area. In added time we refused to finish the game when Vardanyan saw a great opportunity blocked. But we head to Rome with a comfortable lead and everything to play for!

[KlaaZ]

Should've kept my mouth shut, we're out after an absolute horror show where we were second best from the first minute until the last. Hugely disappointing. Nothing to say really, I made five substitutions after 40 minutes but even that didn't impact anything.

 

[Hootieleece]

Lazio was complacent in the first match.

[KlaaZ]

6 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Lazio was complacent in the first match.

Possibly, and we were in the return. Gifted the second and third on a platter, twice with a defender losing possession deep inside our own half. There's some interest from Spain for Abadia and I will be very happy if anyone offers some decent money because he's not improved since his arrival and his performances are very inconsistent.