ToMexico!!

December 2024

November 2024 A good win over Saint Paul was followed by the first loss of the season and the first in 20 league games. We regrouped and dominated French National side Cholet to advance to the 8th Round of the cup. French Basque right-back Gostisbehere scored twice to beat Stade Bordelais. Top by a point after Grande-Synthe slip up.

October 2024 A superb month with four wins, two in the league and two in the cup, a what is even more pleasing is that we did it without conceding a goal. We return to the top of the table on virtue of goal difference.

September 2024 Another unbeaten month but a slightly weaker one with two draws in there. The draw with Anglet was disappointing but the clean sheet was a silver lining. We drop down to second as Grande-Synthe pick up one more win than us this month.

August 2024 On paper a difficult start, we faced 3rd, 2nd, 1st and 5th in the media predictions but come out the other end unbeaten and with 10 points. A hat trick for Fari opened the season account. We should have beaten Grande-Synthe, they equalised late in the game. Loon-Plage were the better side but three second-half goals stole the points. We scored after 38 seconds and then late on to defeat Belfort. Top of the pile by goal difference.

Thanks both @Carambau @Rick87 You could be right, we've kept the same squad. Team Cohesion is good, squad harmony is excellent, and managerial support is good. We could get off to a good start Fingers crossed, we'll see if they prop the club up when we slip into the red in a couple of months.

Pre-Season 204/25 A slow start to pre-season with draws against the second teams of Marseille and Rennes before a big loss to Portuguese side Boavista. We faired better against some lower league sides from France and Spain. Slim pickings in the transfer market as we had to hold on to 95% of the players we already had. One departure in Laprevotte who was on £1k p/w and wanted more to stay, he joined Regensburg in Germany on £4k p/w in the end. Thomas Dos Santos completes his permanent move and we sign a former team-mate of his and a player of ours Inaki Claverie on a free transfer after his departure from Saint Paul Sport. A poorer player to replace Laprevotte but on hell of a lot less wages at just £60 p/w. I have my eye on a couple more players but both want full-time contracts which we can't offer as a semi-professional side, hopefully, closer to the transfer deadline day and their lack of options will see them change their minds. We've been predicted to finish in 4th place behind Colomiers and two newly promoted sides in FC Loon-Plage and Olympique Grand-Synthe who both have players far too good for even this level. ASM Belfort moved from Group I to ours, which means a 1200-mile round trip, as does US Sarre-Union who make the same sideways movement and who are even closer to the German border.

June 2024 The new budgets have been calculated and scouting budget renewed, so we can now take a look at the new players that have come through in the 2023/24 intakes in France and Spain and see if there are any new French-Basque players. Mikel Diez - D(RLC) - Bordeuax Jon Zabala - DM/CM - Sestao Alex Iturrino - M/AMR, ST - AC Ajaccio Xabier Goti - DM/CM - Burgos Sergio Imaz - GK - AD San Juan Diego Murillo - AMR/ST - Marsielle Lucas Claudel - MC/ST - Alaves Iker Larrinaga - AMLC - Getxo Eduardo Agirre - ST - Creteil-Lusitanos Inigo Martin - M/AMC - Leonesa David Saenz - GK - Sestao Gaizka Diaz - DM/CM/AMC - Multivera There are some good players in here, both Sestao players Zabala and Saenz but both are unobtainable at the moment. Diaz at Multivera and Iturrino at Ajaccio also look good. All of these have been placed on a shortlist to keep an eye on for possible future transfers.

May 2024 Nothing has changed, the expectations going forward are no different.

May 2024 - Season Review A really strong end to the season with three wins albeit against three bottom-half sides. We even secured two clean sheets which was pleasing and we humbled Anglets with a 6-1 away win. French National 3 Group B - A 4th-placed finish at the end of the season is an improvement on our expected finish of 5th. We finish six points behind 3rd placed Colomiers who were pre-season favourites and six points clear of 5th placed Perpignan. We scored 63 goals which was the second most in the league, we conceded 42 goals which was the joint fifth-least as we end the season with just five clean sheets. French Cup - 10th Round - Vendee Foot, Ytrac Foot, Philbertine were easily beaten, we needed a penalty shootout win to get past Libourne from the tier above. We then faced and smashed Ligue 1 side FC Lorient. We faced another side Angers in the 10th Round but were easily beaten ourselves but a good display in the competition in our first season. Top Scorer - Mickael Fari (21) - a good season for the striker, scoring 21 goals from 20.94xG. He's signed a new deal to remain at the club. Most Assists - Thomas Dos Santos (10) - a good season for the on-loan winger with 10 assists but also 12 goals. Signed him permanently on a one-year deal. Ave. Rating - Alexandre Mariz (7.32) - 13 goals and 10 assists for the winger. Major losses from the beginning of the season, we were over the wage budget by almost £1k per week due to contract renewals and youth intake signings.

May 2024

April 2024 Another decent month as it is an unbeaten one. We were 2-0 up against Canet until the 80th minute only to draw 2-2. A first-half hat-trick for Fari in just four minutes sealed the three points. With three games remaining, we remain in 4th place.

March 2024 Just two games this month, a draw against Perpignan but we should have won we had 3.75 xG to their 0.21xG and they equalised in injury time. We dominated against US Lege but only came away with a 2-1 win, three more points though. We have five games remaining, so hopefully we can cement a 4th placed finish, the gap to 3rd is too big I feel.

Thanks @Rick87 Yeah putting a limit in a save adds drama and theatre. I've done a regional save before with Cantabria in Spain but we got lucky with a tycoon takeover after 3 seasons I think it was which sped things up for us. I think we'll need a couple more decent intakes to bulk the squad out a bit before mounting a promotion challenge. Thanks @john1

March 2024 Francisco Ugarte Whilst this isn't the best intake we do have a couple of players who could sit on the bench from next season.

We've improved significantly but whilst we're scoring plenty, we're still not keeping many out. Something that will have to improve if we want to be promoted soon.

January 2024 We started 2024 with one of the biggest results in the clubs' history by beating Ligue 1 side FC Lorient 5-2 in the French Cup, although only a crowd of 1800 turned up despite the 3500 capacity available. We followed that up with a win against Castanet. Another Ligue 1 side in the cup but Angers were far too good for us. Free-scoring Blagnac were also too good for us in the league. Still 4th, three points behind 3rd place.

December 2023 A good win over Stade Bordelais with midfielder Renard scoring a second-half hat trick to win the game. We then faced higher league opposition in Libourne in the French Cup, a 3-3 draw eventually saw us beat them on penalties, we face Ligue 1 side Lorient in the 9th Round. We are into the reverse fixtures now, we lose again to Colomiers before beating Bordeaux 2 convincingly. We remain in 4th place but are now two points ahead of Saint Paul.

December 2023

November 2023 A really good month with three wins from three games. A nine-goal thriller against bottom side Onet, thankfully we came out on the winning side largely thanks to a Fari hat-trick. We beat neighbours Anglet and secured a league clean sheet for the first time. Another win the French Cup, this time beating Philbertone 2-0 to reach the 8th Round. We move up to 4th place level on points with Saint Paul but six points behind a goal-happy Blagnac.

October 2023 A better month as we were unbeaten. We started the month with a third draw in a row, this time against Canet. We then entered the French Cup at the fifth round stage, we beat Vendee Foot 3-1 who are at the same level as us to advance to the sixth round. We then smashed Alberes-Argeles 5-2 despite some rotation to the side. We then secured a sixth-round win over Ytrac Foot who are non-league in this save, we secured our first clean sheet of the campaign which was pleasing. We move up to 5th place, our predicted finish. We also move above regional rivals Anglet.

September 2023 The month started brilliantly with a win over a then second-placed Blagnac, both new signings on the scoresheet to earn the three points. Another win followed against Saint Paul before a home loss to Pau FC 2 and then back-to-back draws against Perpignan and US Lege, with both these games probably fair results considering the chances both sides created and conceded. Currently 7th after eight games, we can score goals no problem we just need to start keeping them out of the other end. A tactical tweak may be needed.

August 2023 Not a great start to the season with back-to-back losses albeit against sides predicted to finish in 4th and 1st, and both were away from home. Against Colomiers, it was a pretty even game but they were clinical in the first half through Genty who scored a hat-trick. Bordeaux 2 are 1-91 on favourites for the league title, whilst they dominated possession we dominated the chances but failed to make them pay. They had the vastly better players with some like De Lima and Vetro who have made first-team appearances. We clicked against Castanet-Tolosan dominating them throughout the game, possession, shots on target, clear-cut chances and xG but the scoreline suggested it was a close game. 8th after the rough start, we're behind neighbours Anglet who are unbeaten.

Pre-Season - July/Aug 2023 A pretty poor pre-season but it's all about fitness and the players adapting to the formation. We've made two signings so far; Thomas Dos Santos was transfer-listed for £14k whilst we have the money in the bank we don't have the budget to sign him permanently, so we've signed him on loan, paying his wages in full for the season. We also signed Ugo Gostisbehere from Regional 1 Novelle-Acquitane side Juenesse Villanavaise on a free transfer as he was on an amateur contract there. These signings immediately improve the right-hand side with Thomas slotting into RW and Ugo at RB. We allowed aging Ivorian left-back Anoh Attoukora to join AFAD Plateau in his homeland for free, allowing us to free up £325 per week to bring in the above players.

Thanks @Carambau It has its been on my list since the back end of FM23. I was dubious about starting as the save file needed had a few comments saying that fixtures didn't work from season three onwards but I did a holiday save and they generated. Maybe the file got updated but the person who produced it didn't create a fix log.