[FM19] French Lingerie - Acre State, Brazil

[Jimbokav1971]

Brace on debut. Sep 2019. 

González (BAS) (M.Citizen) HG is going to have to be renamed González (BAS) (F.Pro) HG, but he still scored 2 goals and created 1 assist on his debut. 

He is far from a finished striker but he needed to be squeezed somewhere so I opted to play him further forward rather than further back. 2 goals and an assist will do nicely on debut. 

(19b) Aguado (Unamb) * also made his debut, albeit in less spectacular fashion. He notched an assist which I hope will be the first of many. I'm planning on playing him as a DLP(s) in a 2, so he won't have the freedom initially that might suit him most, but he is still going to have a big impact. 

[Jimbokav1971]

September 2019.

[Jimbokav1971]

Budget cuts. Oct 2019. 

I've done my bit in slashing the wage bill from over £16k pw to just over £11k. It's still not enough though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

On a roll. Oct 2019.

It's not over yet, but we are certainly in fine form. I have been able to rotate the whole squad during the Cup matches and when  we have played twice in a league, and we look much the stronger for our youngsters starting to make an impact. 

[Jimbokav1971]

All good things must come to an end. Nov 2019.

We've been on a tremendous run until we lost in both the League and Cup, but we are still only 5 points ahead of 2nd placed Limoges. With only 1 team going up, this is still far from a done deal. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Ass Man poached. Dec 2019.

My Ass Man Franck has been nabbed by Pau who play in National 2B, (which is the League above us). Why didn't they offer me the job? I mean I know Franck was doing all the media stuff, and half the training, and arranging and controlling friendlies, (and normal games for that matter), and team-talks, and tunnel interviews, and tactical briefings, and press conferences and opposition instructions and I think I got him to help me to pick the team too on occasion when I couldn't be bothered, but other than all that he didn't do much. 

Good luck to him though. I just wish he had gone to a Basque club.

I like that there seems to be a natural progression within the club. (I just hope that the next Ass Man doesn't eventually get the top job). 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Franck's replacement. Dec 2019.

We have promoted internally again. Ra

He's not as good, but he is better at WWY, so maybe that will help him as I'm sure he is going to have plenty of kids to work with before too long. 

Now we just need to find a Reserves Ass Man. (I wonder why they didn't promote the Reserves Manager rather than the Reserves Ass Man?)

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2019.

It's strange the way that these leagues have a busy first 3 months of the season with 4, 6 and 6 games being played respectively in September, October and November, but then just 1 game in December, 1 in January and 2 each in February, March and April, before May finishes off with 3. It could be weather related, but I'm also aware that there are no lower league Cups in this database. It could be that they also play other games that I'm not playing. 

The gap to Limoges in 2nd place is still only 5 points and I bet they can't believe it that they are not top of the table having won 12 and drawn 2 of 16 league games. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Another crash, (laptop not FM). Will hopefully have lost just the December game. 

[Edit]

I have to go back to 30th October so now I have lost 7 games but 2 whole months of progress. 

Also, I've lost the only league loss and I'm gonna feel really dirty if we win it 2nd time around. 

I've also lost at least 2 more GK goals. 

 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Re-playing lost matches. 

This is what we got 1st time around.

This is what we got 2nd time around. 

We also played an additional game as a result of not losing the Cup 7th Round match 2nd time around. 

I feel un-clean. 

We didn't win either of these 1st time around. 

Explanation and apology. 

We drew a previously won game and then won a previously lost game, (both in the league). The change in fortunes in the Cup was more down to an easier draw than anything else. USBCO are 2 leagues above us, (I think), and we were never going to beat them, but both US Le Plontet and Stade Plabennecois are both inferior teams at our level and we beat them as expected. Apologies that I have come back with 2 more points than the first time around, but had I lost points at the 2nd attempt I would have accepted that, sucked it up and got on with it. 

The fact that I triggered 2 achievements the 2nd time that we didn't trigger the 1st time is really not ideal. 

To sort of balance things up though, our best player and personal favourite of @BoxToBoxRomain (BAS) (Bal) HG * scored 5 goals the first time around and 2nd time scored just 2 and then got injured for about a month. 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2020.

We finally crashed out of the Cup at home to Auxerre who are currently battling hard to avoid relegation from Ligue 1. 

Yes, I have saved. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfers in.

We didn't sign anyone last season, but this season we have signed 2 players on a free to add depth to the squad. 

Blasco (BAS) (Bal) came through the Academy at San Sebastian before spending 3 seasons with us and then 3 more seasons at Stade Bordelais in National 2. We have brought him back but not sure how much he will play. I think i was just keen to sign anyone rather than sign him particularly. He is obviously Basque. Actually, he's played quite a few games this season. (certainly more than I was expecting). He's very much a MC in the mould of my MLC position which has a far more conservative role than the right, so he probably offers something different to some of the more talented members of the squad.

Ibargoien (BAS) (Bal) was the 2nd player that I signed and again it was more about squad depth than making an immediate impact. He came through at Vitoria in Spain before joining our local rivals Anglet. 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2020.

Don't you just love a GK scoring to extend your winning run. 

We now have a 10 point buffer with just 7 games to go, it would seem to be all over bar the celebrating. (Famous last words). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day. Feb 2020.

I think that there might be different levels within "Golden Generation" tags and I have mentioned this before. I was almost sure of it in FM18, but obviously this is a different beast. 

"Have a real chance" is the wording to look at here, but also "very gifted" in terms of the individual player. 

I'm going to at least try and list the different tags used and then maybe sort them if and when I think it's appropriate. 

This isn't brilliant, but then again our facilities aren't great, so it's probably decent actually. The club is capable of producing much better, but not without investment first. 

"Kriss" (20a) Rubén (F.Det) (2020) *.

(20b) Álvaro (F.Sport).

(20c) Garitano (Unamb).

(20d) Iñigo González (Unamb).

(20f)  López (F.Sport).

[Jimbokav1971]

Tracking "Kriss". 

I'm trying to use anything I can to track the relative ability, or more accurately, relative potential ability of the best player to come through each intake. Why we can use the PA stars, the wording introducing the Youth Intake message, "promising" labels and player attributes, we can also use value. 

I am going to compare the wage of each "Kriss" on the day that they sign their Youth Contract. While the wage will go up as our reputation grows and he rise up the leagues, (hopefully), it is at least another tool at our disposal. 

(19a) Núñez (F.Amb) (2019) * was valued at £450 when he signed his youth contract, but (19b) Aguado (Unamb) * was valued at £2,400 when he signed his youth contract.

(20a) Rubén (F.Det) (2020) * was valued at £1,900 when he signed his youth contract. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Well that's a relief! Mar 2020.

If I had gone unbeaten during a domestic league season after losing a game and then winning it after replaying after a crash it would have REALLY taken the shine off the achievement. As it is, Limoges gave us a right doing and were worthy winners. 

We are 7 points ahead, (and it might as well be 8 because of goal difference), with just 5 games remaining. Surely we can't throw it away from here? 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2020.

Our 1st trophy of the save. 

After going so long without a loss, we almost bottled it near the end with 2 losses and 2 draws from our last 7 games, but we still finished 6 points clear and with a vastly superior goal difference. It was never really in doubt, (despite my protestations).

We are just over £1M in the red, (£1,173,095 to be precise), and I'm not sure there is going to be any money in the league above. 

Anyway, it's up to Tier 4 we go. 

[After]

Nicely done. 

[turnip]

I've never noticed there being any money in the National, but as long as you keep to your wage budget, it's not like they can blame you, right?

[Jimbokav1971]

10 hours ago, After said:

Nicely done. 

Thank you. The ease with which we romped the league suggests that I should have performed better in the 1st season I think. 

[Jimbokav1971]

9 hours ago, turnip said:

I've never noticed there being any money in the National, but as long as you keep to your wage budget, it's not like they can blame you, right?

Yes. That's the only attitude that will get me through, but when you want to promote youth products to the 1st team and need to improve facilities it's not ideal. Added to which I also started off with no badges and just Sunday league experience so that needs a boost too. 

[Jimbokav1971]

French National 2B. Jul 2020.

So let's have a look and see what this league is all about. 

There are 4 Reserve Teams in the league and I'm not sure if they can get promoted or relegated. 

It also looks like there is 1 auto-promotion place and 3 relegation places. 

Well for a start, our money problems are not over. 

There is indeed just 1 promotion place and the B Teams can't get promoted but seemingly can get relegated. 

Troyes Reserves are the holders though, and they are not in this league though so.......

Ok. So they have moved from National 2B to National 2C. (No idea why). 

Here are the National 2 tables from last season.

National 2A. The top 5 teams in this league were all B Teams, so 6th placed Annecy FC were promoted. 

National 2B. Only the top 2 teams in this league were B Teams, (Reserves are B Teams and I wasn't sure about that initially), so Rodez got promoted after finishing 3rd. 

National 2C. 3 Reserve/B Teams at the top of this league so Vannes OC promoted in 4th.

National 2D. 3 Reserves Teams at the top here so ASM Belfort promoted in 4th. 

The Season preview suggests that we should be able to avoid relegation. 

We  have 4 reserve Teams in the league, (Saint Etienne, Metz, Nimes and Auxerre, but Metz and Auxerre were promoted with us last season so it's possible that they won't be as strong as Saint Etienne and Nimes this season, (but who really knows right).

I never usually look at the following screen, but it's quite interesting. 

Surprisingly, (at least to me), the B Teams don't play at big stadiums and the biggest stadium by far is that of FC Fleury 91 who are suggested to be struggle this season, (they finished 10th in National 2D last season. It seems as if which league you are in at this level is drawn completely randomly each new season. 

Auxerre reserves play on a synthetic/grass mix pitch. (Must look out for that). 

We were averaging 1,000+ at home games towards the end of last season and I would hope that pushes on again this season. 

With regards to the Reserve Teams in the league, we were beaten 3-1 at home by the Auxerre Senior team in the Cup last season, so I don't think Auxerre Reserves should worry us too much. 

Well this rule is interesting....

We are a Semi-Pro club and have a mix of Youth, Semi-Pro and non-contract players at the club. While I have signed our brightest stars to Semi-Pro contracts, many of the fringe players have been signed to Non-contract terms. Additionally, I was quite tight with the contracts I was offering so many have been signed to Seme-Pro contracts of less than £250 pw. Oh hang on. That says full-time players and not semi-pro players who are part-time. I might be ok. 

[Jimbokav1971]

National 2B Promotion odds. Jul 2020.

Well this looks more realistic than the previous season preview, (which I have updated below). 

It's not perfect though because the reason that the 4 Reserve Teams are at the top is because it's not looking at the Reserve Teams but the main clubs themselves, (hence Saint Etienne Reserves league history showing as L1C for the past however many seasons. 

Also, Saint Etienne Reserves have been made 1-5 favourites to gain promotion this season, despite it being actually impossible for them to do so. They can win the National 2B title, but they cannot get promoted. 

Updated season preview. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2020.

We won 3 points at the 1st attempt in National 2B and then gained a point away at a B Team. As far as I'm concerned, any points gained home or away against B Teams are good points, even if I might have slightly under-estimated Auxerre Reserves. (They battered us). 

Saint Etienne Reserves however sneaked past us in a narrow game that might have gone wither way.

Anything better than relegation is the goal this season. Decent start. 

 

[zlatanera]

4 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Troyes Reserves are the holders though, and they are not in this league though so.......

Ok. So they have moved from National 2B to National 2C. (No idea why). 

 

I think you're the reason why. They leagues are organised regionally, right? You're so far away from the centre of France they're not going to put you in another division, and from memory Troyes is way over in the East (got decent at French geography when I was making a filters for a save where I tried to make PSG like Athletic Bilbao) so they'd be the obvious one to move out of the league?

[Peter G]

Have they changed the National 2? I seem to recall in previous years it was 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss?

Or am I dreaming?

[Nobby_McDonald]

You've made a decent start Jimbo.

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, zlatanera said:

I think you're the reason why. They leagues are organised regionally, right? You're so far away from the centre of France they're not going to put you in another division, and from memory Troyes is way over in the East (got decent at French geography when I was making a filters for a save where I tried to make PSG like Athletic Bilbao) so they'd be the obvious one to move out of the league?

The leagues might be organised geographically, but they are just identified as A, B, C & D rather than N, S, E & W or by region or whatever. I'm honestly not sure. 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Peter G said:

Have they changed the National 2? I seem to recall in previous years it was 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss?

Or am I dreaming?

I have never heard of 4 points for a win, but then again I'm not really into French football so even if it were true I might not have heard of it. 

It's definitely 3 points for a win now though. 

I suppose it's possible it was a trial that was done previously that you remember. 

Maybe this is what you were thinking of. 

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, zlatanera said:

I think you're the reason why. They leagues are organised regionally, right? You're so far away from the centre of France they're not going to put you in another division, and from memory Troyes is way over in the East (got decent at French geography when I was making a filters for a save where I tried to make PSG like Athletic Bilbao) so they'd be the obvious one to move out of the league?

I should have just asked Wiki in the first place. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

You've made a decent start Jimbo.

Yeah, not too shabby at all, (and a couple of early goals for my GK). Anything other than relegation will do my. I'm aiming low this season. 

[Peter G]

40 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I have never heard of 4 points for a win, but then again I'm not really into French football so even if it were true I might not have heard of it. 

It's definitely 3 points for a win now though. 

I suppose it's possible it was a trial that was done previously that you remember. 

Maybe this is what you were thinking of. 

I went an had a look back through previous seasons, seems they stopped doing it after the 2015-16 season; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015–16_Championnat_de_France_Amateur

You can see that Quevily-Rouen won the A season with 92 points but only 17 wins, 11 draws and 2 losses (68+22+2) - the following year Cholet were promoted with 51 points from 14 wins, 10 draws and 6 losses. (42+10 - They were deducted a point for some by the FFF)

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Peter G said:

I went an had a look back through previous seasons, seems they stopped doing it after the 2015-16 season; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015–16_Championnat_de_France_Amateur

You can see that Quevily-Rouen won the A season with 92 points but only 17 wins, 11 draws and 2 losses (68+22+2) - the following year Cholet were promoted with 51 points from 14 wins, 10 draws and 6 losses. (42+10 - They were deducted a point for some by the FFF)

That's interesting. 4 pts for a win would seem to encourage attacking football and "result" games, but actually looking at that league there were lots of draws. 3 of the top 4 teams drew at least 33% of their games compared to only 4 teams in the whole league. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2020.

We've done ok this month, but Vendee Herbiers were very good against us and on that showing, it will be them who finish top of the "others" league with Reserve Teams at the top. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I've had so many crashes since the last update that I'm thinking of jacking it in for a while.

I'm trying some of the Nvidia fixes that have been mentioned, but this stopped me playing FM18 at one point too. 

Let's see how this goes. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2018.

I've got to be honest here. I've been so preoccupied with the crashes and finding a fix, that the game itself has taken a bit of a backseat recently. We've been doing ok, in fact I see we are just 3 points off Vendee Herbiers, (who I think are the strongest of the non-Reserve Teams in the league). We are not ready to challenge them, but I'm pleasantly surprised that we are even in contention at this stage. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sick of this. 

Thought I had fixed it but no.

[Nobby_McDonald]

What a bugger.

[Bigshow1]

Do you have graphics packs such as logos added in? Seen a few people having crashes this year because of this. Only thing I do is download the real names fix every year.

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, Bigshow1 said:

Do you have graphics packs such as logos added in? Seen a few people having crashes this year because of this. Only thing I do is download the real names fix every year.

No. No graphic packs. I#m using an IR skin, but that's it.

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2020.

We were well beaten by Ligue 2 team Le Havre in the Cup and then we were on the end of an 8-goal thriller in the next game against one of the reserve Teams. Despite that, we have actually closed the gap on Vendee Herbiers and are now just behind them on goal difference, (except that out goal difference is actually better, so I'm not sure what the sorting rules are. Games won or head to head perhaps as goals scored are the same). 

It's head to head.

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2021.

I expected a bit of a drop in form after the 2 losses late last month, but we actually remained unbeaten this month. 

As a result we have jumped 3 points ahead of Vendee Herbiers and are the top ranked non-Reserve Team.

[RioImmagina]

Leagues with reserves teams are horrible. Reserves team players could vary every week, and maybe you can find at your opponent a world class striker

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, RioImmagina said:

Leagues with reserves teams are horrible. Reserves team players could vary every week, and maybe you can find at your opponent a world class striker

You know it's funny that you should say that, because this morning I came up against a Hatem Ben Arfa inspired Auxerre Reserves. 

Although we only drew, it was probably the best result and performance of the save so far. Ben Arfa scored a direct free-kick and then provided a glorious assist for their 2nd. 

He might not be Worldclass, or even a striker, but he was too good for us. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job Offer 1. Jan 2021.

Bergerac Perigord are bottom of the French National (Tier 3). I'm not sure that this would be a good move even if I were doing a Journeyman save. As I am doing a Basque only save, (not saying that I will never leave Bayonne), Bergerac are not for me.

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2021.

Vendee Herbiers gave us a right doing. They absolutely battered us and 5 or 6 nil would have been a fairer reflection. 

Despite that, we jumped above them in the league again as we snuck past relegation-threatened Blagnac while Vendee Herbiers lost to Fleury 91.

Edited November 17, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2021.

A relatively easy month where we might hope of not expect to collect maximum points. Thankfully we didn't disappoint. 

Significantly, there is now a 6 point gap between ourselves and Vendee Herbiers. At this rate we might just finish above them as the top ranked non-reserve side. VH are a much better side than us, but they have been inconsistent against the poorer opposition and this has given us half a chance. 

The only thing is, I don't think we are anywhere near good enough to go up again. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day 3. Mar 2021. 

No 5.0 players and not even a 4.5 PA player suggests that this intake is a poor one. 

"Kriss" (21a) González (Cas) (2021).

He might not be a 5.0 player, but he's a 6'4" centre-half at 14 years old so let's not be too picky. 

That being said, anyone who follows my threads will be aware that I am never completely convinced by a Day 1 PA rating from my Ass Man.

If I look at current CA and PA ratings for previous Youth Intakes, when I list them by name, the PA should be highest at the top and lowest at the bottom. 

The 2019 intake looks a little different than you would expect in that after the (d) player, the rest of the intake are much of a muchness in terms of PA. 13th ranked (19m) Muñoz (Bal) is actually rated joint 5th highest by PA. 

The 2020 intake looks a little different again. The bottom of the list looks much as you would expect, but (20j) Sarabia (Fickle) stands out as now being rated FAR higher than was the case on Day 1. Also, players (e) and (f) have either improved upon initial reports or players (c) & (d) have declined. 

[Jimbokav1971]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Job Offer 1. Jan 2021.

Bergerac Perigord are bottom of the French National (Tier 3). I'm not sure that this would be a good move even if I were doing a Journeyman save. As I am doing a Basque only save, (not saying that I will never leave Bayonne), Bergerac are not for me.

Of course this wasn't a job offer. It was just an interview, (which I didn't get because they weren't keen on developing products of the Academy and because I demanded that they improve Junior Coaching. 

Here is a 2nd interview offer. 

Pau is very near the Basque Country. Sop near in fact that I thought it was actually IN the Basque Country until I did research into this save. 

Pau are outside the relegation zone in the league in which we are currently the top-ranked non-Reserve team. This doesn't seem to be a good move to me. I will hopefully use the interview to extend my contract as we don't have the money for an upgrade of Facilities. 

[Edit]

I needn't have worried though. My preference for developing players from within was not to the Pau boards liking. 

Edited November 17, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2021.

We did brilliantly to beat Nimes who are 1 of the big Reserve Team, but then we undid all our good work by losing to lowly Colomiers who are still in the relegation zone even after taking 3 points off us. 

Edited November 17, 2018 by Jimbokav1971