DefinitelyTaylor

Many thanks mate. I’m enjoying this one!

Pre-Season 2022/23 As you would probably imagine at this level, finances are tight. We were blessed with £700 p/w to spend on improving our squad which, truthfully, I thought was well-balanced on the most part. Of course, there was room for improvement but the budget afforded to us seemed enough to pursue the targets I needed. I identified two positions where I thought we could do with either a) further depth and/or b) an upgrade on what we already had. The first of these was on the left-side of midfield. We had a few players capable of playing in that position but I had plans to use two of the three in other areas (Euan O'Reilly as an AMR and Matt Yates as our Advanced Forward) and with only Niyah Joseph left, we needed further depth. First and foremost however, we also needed to improve our backroom team. Michael McLaughlan (Physio), Michael Meechan (Scout), Kitty Forrest (Head Physio) and Jonathan Henderson (Head of Youth Development) joined the existing staff. After plenty of scouting and numerous trials in our bid to improve the squad as discussed, I settled on Callum Hambrook from Hearts, who will be joining us until the end of the season. The attributes I look for in a player in his position at this level are very basic. I look for 'Crossing,' 'Dribbling' and 'Pace,' as a very basic measure. If they have other attributes I tend to like in a player such as a decent work-rate, that's an added-bonus, but you simply aren't going to find the finished article at this level. You have to be a lot less expectant as to what you can bring in. I feel he ticks the boxes pretty well. The bonus with his signature is that it comes at a relatively low-cost as we negotiated his wage percentage down to 20% (£60 p/w). The second and final signing we have made to date is one that I think some readers may recognise. We completed the signing of former Dundee United, Watford and Hearts midfielder Prince Buaban on a free transfer. There is a lot to like about Prince, he's very versatile in the roles he can play, he's experienced and I truly think he is a coup for this level. His attributes are very well-rounded on the whole, again, something that drew my attention to him. I'm pleased we didn't have to break the bank either as he's agreed a deal until the end of the season on £180 p/w although part of that contract includes a £35 appearance bonus. There has been one ongoing in the form of Scott Walker who has departed to Vale of Leithen on loan to gain further experience. ... Friendlies Pre-Season is a little different for clubs outside of European competition in Scotland. The majority of pre-season is spent playing competitive football given the Scottish League Cup takes place throughout July. As a result, we participated in two friendlies prior to the kick-off of the competition before playing a third in the midst of it. We began with a 7-2 demolition job of East Kilbride, a side playing at the level below us, before succumbing to a disappointing loss to Jeanfield Swifts who play a further level down to East Kilbride. A 2-0 victory against another lower-league outfit, Clydebank, concluded our business. Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup begins with a group-stage format of eight groups of five. The groups contain Scottish Premiership clubs who aren't participating in European competition, Championship, League One, League Two and two clubs from outside the League. The team who tops the group progresses alongside three of the best-placed second-placed teams. The draw is also seeded. We were drawn alongside Hibernian (Premiership), Greenock Morton (Championship), Queen of the South (League One) and Albion Rovers (League Two). Expectations were minimal from both myself, the board and the supporters. It was a free-hit for us as a League Two side, but I saw the game against Albion Rovers as an opportunity to test ourselves prior to the league-opener which, ironically, is against Albion. The pressure was off us from the start of every game and I think that was what helped us. Our campaign began as we played host to Hibs, a side who will have been disappointed they're even having to participate in the group stages given their recent years of qualification for the Europa League. An early goal for the Premiership side quickly deterred any hope of a cupset but our performance across the ninety minutes was never to be sniffed at. I was very impressed with how we kept our heads up throughout and this is highlighted in the number of efforts we had on goal. Although they weren't high-quality chances, we weren't afraid to get forward and we certainly didn't bow down to the top-flight excellence of our visitors. A 3-0 defeat was probably an unjust reflection of the game, truthfully. Our next two games were trips to League One outfit Queen of the South, recently relegated from the second-tier and Championship side Greenock Morton. The Queen of the South game particularly demonstrates the type of game we played. We sought to frustrate our opponents and remain tidy at the back and we managed that in both ties. As a result, we took them both to penalties where we would prevail. Conor Brennan saved Ciaran McKenna's effort after five conversions from us against Queen of the South to win 5-4, whilst he would save three efforts from Morton to win 3-2. Substitute Nat Wedderburn missed our only penalty of the four taken. Brennan would deservedly claim Man of the Match awards in both ties. The final game of the competition would earn our first outright victory with a 2-1 win against Albion Rovers. The xG paints a bit of a false picture of the game with Albion challenging us throughout until we managed to bag a second with Matt Yates, who hasn't impressed as much as I would have hoped so far, nine minutes from time. There was a fairly nervy ending once Blair Malcolm netted but we managed to see it out to claim all three points. We performed well-above expectations and I couldn't be happier of our efforts. It is a fantastic way to mark our start here at Stenhousemuir and hopefully this can give us a boost heading into the new season. ... Upcoming Fixtures

Much appreciated mate!

*Reserved*

Welcome It would be rude of me not to begin this thread by addressing the elephant in the room. What happened to the Nancy save/thread? The answer is pretty straight forward. I haven't enjoyed this year's game as much as I have previous iterations. Usually, I would return home from work having thought about my FM save at some stage of the day, open up the laptop and start playing. Yet I wasn't getting the same urge or motivation to play. Not to say there was anything wrong with the save I was playing as I still feel it would be excellent save to play and document, but my heart wasn't there and ultimately the save fell by the wayside. My game-time on FM23 has been spent playing a network save with my boyfriend and a mutual friend of ours a few times each week. Whilst, again, I haven't probably enjoyed the save as much as I have in the past, I have found enough enjoyment to remain faithful. In fairness, I probably haven't given FM23 a fair chance outside of the network save. My time has been divided up between multiple different things but particularly work. Now that the festive period is out the way and things are, hopefully, about to become a little less chaotic, I should finally be able to have some time off which in turn means I can give FM23 a fair crack of the whip. As a result, a new save begins... and so with it a new thread. ... I will be taking over Stenhousemuir Football Club who ply their trade in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scottish pyramid. I typically enjoy lower-league management and have done so within this game cycle having managed Spennymoor Town in the Vanarama National League North at the beginning of our aforementioned network save. Scotland presents a much more dynamic challenge than that posed in England however, so I am looking forward to testing myself. Much of the club's history has been spent in the third and fourth tier and interestingly, they remain the only club to have competed in the professional leagues since the 20th century but never to have won a league title, according to Wikipedia (so perhaps take this with a pinch of salt?). The club does, however, boast of just one piece of silverware. The SPFL Trust Trophy was captured in 1996 and has remained solitary in the club's trophy cabinet since. The aim will be to add to this and guide Stenhousemuir up the pyramid in the process. Setup Belgium (Jupiler Pro League -> Proximus League) England (Premier League -> Vanarama National League North/South) France (Ligue 1 Uber Eats -> Championnat de France amateur) Germany (Bundesliga -> 3. Liga) Republic of Ireland (SSE Airtricity League -> SSE Airtricity League First Division) Italy (Serie A TIM -> Serie C) Northern Ireland (Danske Bank Premiership -> Belfast Telegraph Championship 2) The Netherlands (Eredivisie -> Keuken Kampioen Divisie) Portugal (Liga Portugal Bwin -> Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG) Scotland (cinch Premiership -> cinch League Two) Spain (LaLiga Santander -> Segunda Federacion) Wales (JD Cymru Premier -> JD Cymru North/South) The Club Profile - Facilities - Supporter Profile - Manager - Squad

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

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!

First-Team Squad Facilities Supporter Profile Board Expectations

If you’re forcing it, it isn’t to be mate.

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.

Fantastic read as usual, Matty. Apologies as I have been a bit of a silent reader up to now! A few things to iron out, but results against Atletico and Valencia suggest that you can have a successful campaign, all-in-all.

A tough stretch of form. It can be incredibly difficult to turn the tide and it certainly doesn’t help when you have players like those highlighted who seem somewhat uncommitted given they don’t see their long-term future to be with the club. A separate note, I’m glad to see someone giving Super Nova a go. I was a big fan of the previous logo and its utterly bizarre design!

Still a very tightly congested division.

I love signings like Iliev. You bring them in for cheap or in your case, for free, watch them flourish under your management and then sit back as clubs begin to scramble for their signature — making a tidy profit! All in the space of twelve months, too. I’ll be interested to see whether you hold onto him or whether he will move on.

Wow. An incredible story to win the division with such a low points tally, making history in the process. It’s rather disappointing that the board have given you peanuts to work with. It’s going to be a serious ask to survive but enjoy the ride!

At least things can only get better?!

Glad to have fully caught up! Quite the journey so far but the previous update is something special. What a victory!

Enjoying the fact that you’re still sharing the save. We often see plenty of success stories but not particularly the other side when it comes to documenting saves. Although I hope to see you come out the other side sharpish!

After returning from a short holiday, I decided it was time to start a new save. I haven't really given England much of a look-in this year but having followed this thread once again, albeit commenting far less than last year, I thought I would give it a go. The team that interested me the most were Scunthorpe United given their poor performance irl but also the challenge that they present as within FM. I attended Glanford Park earlier this year and the atmosphere was horrifically flat. It was obvious that the club were on a downward spiral and they made a very poor Barrow team look far better than they were, although the scoreline didn't quite reflect that, in a 1-0 win. Scunthorpe have a transfer embargo placed upon them which means I cannot sign anybody until January and must put faith in the current team. There are a few decent players such as George Taft and loanees Luke Matheson and Hayden Hackney, but largely this is a squad that are, expectedly, set for a season of struggle. I'm looking forward to giving this a good go!