Can I win things in France? Cors-I-Can!

[RoguPL]

18 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Thanks, promotion is well within our grasp but I'm not sure I want to go up just yet, whilst our finances are positive I'm not where I would want to be. We're lacking a little in quality at both full backs but can't afford to make the step up to bring in some permanently so I'm having to loan in both a RB and LB this season. 

Promotion at this time would be a financial disaster for the club in my opinion. 

 

hmm. Tbf I haven't yet checked what are the prizes to play in Ligue 1 . You would expect them to be a bit better then Ligue 2, but you might be right, as players will expect more wages as well  

[ToMexico!!]

3 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

hmm. Tbf I haven't yet checked what are the prizes to play in Ligue 1 . You would expect them to be a bit better then Ligue 2, but you might be right, as players will expect more wages as well  

We currently get no prize money in Ligue 2, if we were to get promoted we get nothing extra to strengthen, then if we get relegated we don't get any money either to act as the parachute payment. 17th upwards get £6.91m increasing from 7th to 1st after. 

TV would obviously increase but thats paid over the course of the season. We currently get £5m over the season in Ligue 2. 

[ToMexico!!]

Squad Overview

Coming into our 6th season in France I thought I would give an update on how my first team looks now. 

GK - Antonis Stergiakis - signed for free from Blackburn, had a solid first season at the club keeping 11 clean sheets. 

RB - Yannick Agora - loaned in from Toulouse, cheap wages compared to permanent signings.

CB - Lorenzo Prso - a free signing from Nice back in 23/24 season, ever present since joining. 

CB - Soumaula Coulibaly - another freebie from Dortmund back in 23/24, signed a new contract to 2030 recently. 

LB - Fabrice Gombessa - another loanee on cheap wages, this time from Nancy. 

CM - Nassim Benaissa - into his fourth season with us at the heart of CM, score each of his last 19 penalties. 

CM - Titouan Thomas - partnered Nassim for two seasons now, 13 assists last season, hoping for the same this one. 

AMR - Francisco Perez (YP3a) - youth prospect whose developed well, struggled at ST, retraining to AMR. 

AMC - Harvey Vale - freebie from Chelsea. Struggled with injury to begin with but ended with 7 goals as a shadow striker, hoping for much more this season. 

AML - Mons Bassouamina - only player left from original squad, 74 goals as an inside foward since save started. Club captain

ST - Aminu Mohammed - signed 18 months ago and scored 31 goals since. Proven his worth and earnt a new deal. 

[ToMexico!!]

Yves Bessala 

Just wanted to make a post about my 16 year old youth player Yves Bassala who has improved incredibly since joining the U19s. 

He was one of two Perfectionists who came through the 2023/24 intake. A natural winger, he's being retrained at an inside forward in hopes he will join the first team next season as back up to club captain and first choice left inside forward Mons Bassouamina. 

If we can get him to increase his finishing, dribbling, passing, vision and decisions more we will have a great player on our hands. 

[ToMexico!!]

Intake Preview 

More greens than yellows and not a golden generation. I think this could be a positive intake. 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Outlook 

Whilst on the subject of youth lets take a look at the better players to have come through the intakes in recent years. 

Francisco Perez (YP3a) - Originally played as striker, moving him to the wing has seen him flourish. Six goals this season in 13(4) games so far. Will try and get him to lose the trait. 

Lucien Tramoni (YP2b) - played a bit-part role for last two seasons, loaned out to fellow Ligue 2 side Stade Lavallois, he's scored 6 goals in 15 games for them. 

Gaetan Casalta - has some potential but some way off the first team, currently working on his defensive positioning. 

Paul Alves - comfortable at either LB or MC, capped at France U19 level where he played CM. Perfectionist. Also working on his defensive positioning. 

Yves Bassala - mentioned in the previous post. Perfectionist. Improved ten-fold. Working on his attacking movement and learning to move the ball to his right foot when dribbling. 

Moustapha Badji (YP5b) - one of two decent potential GK's from last seasons intake. Poor first touch. Currently working on his GK Reactions to improve anticipation and concentration. 

Candra Bakayoko - young Malian centre-back who has improved well, currently working on his defensive positioning. 

Juddy Kalonji - a promising RB with some good attributes in the right areas. Also working on his defensive positioning. 

Nakibou Ali (YP5a) - most promising player from last seasons intake, retraining as a left inside forward and working on his composure and decisions. 

We're looking in a promising position with plenty of full backs and wingers. We can hopefully bring in a couple of midfielders and centre backs over the course of the next few intakes. 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview Offer

Saint Etienne offer my another chance at an interview, the second time this season. 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview Offer

Biggest club to offer me the chance so far, Lille find themselves in 12th place. Predicted to be 4th, they still have Jonathan David and Timothy Weah, along with Botman, Mingueza, and Henrichs.

[ToMexico!!]

5 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Intake Preview 

More greens than yellows and not a golden generation. I think this could be a positive intake. 

I'm disappointed to be honest. Eric Gilbert (YP6a) is the standout player, better as a full back but can operate at central midfield. 

Spoiler

We add Tunisia to the map as a new nation being represented. 

Spoiler

 

[ToMexico!!]

2025/26 Season Review 

We've really become a decent side now, I've refrained from buying swathes of players to improve the squad every season in a bid to rush promotion but after slowly building season upon season we've reached the promised land in Ligue 1. I said before I didn't think we were ready for the top flight and I still don't but there were a number of things that keep me mildly optimistic about our future. 

We didn't just achieve promotion via 2nd place or the play-offs, we bloody well went and won the whole thing. We had an indifferent first half of the season but we managed to clamber up to 3rd place by the half way mark and were a massive eight points behind the leaders Lorient after 19 games. I was happy plodding along in the mindset we would achieve another play-off place. Lorient had other ideas, they sold their best player and talisman Enzo Le Fee to China for £11m, that after selling Stephy Mavididi to Norwich in the summer, they shot themselves in the foot. 

We slowly began to reel them in, a point at a time until match day 32 at home against Lorient, a real six-pointer, we hammered them 3-0 and leap-frogged them to the top spot. International break came at the wrong time, two friendlies kept morale and fitness up as we went into the last six games of the season. Ajaccio (2-0), Sochaux (2-1), a slight slip against Grenoble (1-1), a 2-1 win over relegation threatened Auxerre, a 4-1 drubbing over island neighbours Bastia; promotion was secured, we needed to equal Lorient final day result to be crowned champions. Lorient put four past Grenoble but we put three past Guingamp. 

Final League Table

In the cup we beat Genoble 3-0 and drew Lyon in the 9th Round, we lost 2-0.

Defensively we had such a good season, conceding just 33 goals which was the 3rd best after Lorient and Reims, two former Ligue 1 teams. We were slightly undercooked offensively compared to last season scoring 74 but conceding less meant we didn't have to score as many to win games. 14 clean sheets for Antonis Stergiakis earnt him international recognition, being called up to the Greek senior side but unfortunately not making his debut yet. 

On loan full backs Agora (from Toulouse) and Gombessa (from Nancy) made a good impact on the side both making contributions assists wise. Centre backs Prso and Coulibaly were solid both earning an average rating over 7. A quieter season for Beniassa with six goals, not all from the penalty spot however. His midfield partner Thomas made another nine assists. In attack, wingers Perez (YP3a) scored 12 goals and made 5 assists and Bassouamina scored 13 goals and 8 assists. Centrally, Harvey Vale had a much better season scoring 10 and making 4 assists, hopefully he can make a step up. Aminu Mohammed had a quieter season scoring 17 goals and making 8 assists but I don't mind that dip in numbers as other players were contributing. 

I sent youngsters Lucien Tramoni (YP2b) out on loan to Lavallois (10 goals in 36 games), Bernard Thierry to Pau (12 goals in 14 games) and Yves Bessala also to Pau (1 goal and 1 assist) in a bid to give them first team football. 

The finances have really dwindled and as of writing this we have just £85k in the bank. The board have given us a transfer budget of £4.8m to spend and increased the wages to £79k per week from £59k p/w. I don't plan on spending that sort of money if I can help it. I will look to keep the core of the squad together again and use the feel good factor at the club to hopefully bounce us through to avoid relegation. We have the main kit sponsor due to renewal this season so hopefully the board can improve on the £250k a season we receive. 

[ToMexico!!]

Just days after the season ends we've been rocked by the news that Harvey Vale wants to leave the club. 

He doesn't even want to give next season a go with us. I've offered him out and no one wants him. 

[ToMexico!!]

59 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Just days after the season ends we've been rocked by the news that Harvey Vale wants to leave the club. 

He doesn't even want to give next season a go with us. I've offered him out and no one wants him. 

And out of the blue in come Derby County...

Really pleased with this money, sorts our financial problems out for the forseable future. He's immediately worth £11m so that 20% profit clause comes into play. 

[ToMexico!!]

On 21/08/2021 at 10:13, ToMexico!! said:

Poached 

A sign of the steps in the right direction the club is going in, we're beginning to produce players that other clubs are looking at. Gaetan moves down to the southern end of the island with AC Ajaccio, a club in the tier below us. 

Forgot to check earlier but this poached player has come through and he's awful. 

[ToMexico!!]

Improvements

Whilst we've got the money I got some improvements in. 

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers

I continued to raid the free transfer market to bring in new recruits whilst allowing another couple of youth players to leave for cash + 50% profit clauses. Despite Nakibou Ali being the most talent prospect from our 5th intake he wanted a new bumper contract and to be considered a star player without having played a single first team game. Lucchini, whilst having some promise didn't look like he would make an impact for us. 

Felix Lemarechal looks a good option as back up in central midfield, signed from Rennes he has plenty of game time albeit for the second string. Seidu was a bit of panic signing in the aspect he was cheap on wages and can cover both full back positions. Abram Rankhasa is the direct replacement for Harvey Vale in the Shadow Striker role, either footed and a full international already for South Africa, he is our highest paid player on £6.5k per week. Brian Joensen joins from Danish side Nordsjaelland after his contract expired, at 17 he looks a great prospect and will get some game time mainly from the bench this season. Last to come in was Julius Luderer, a German national who was released by RB Leipzig, he will slot in at LB. 

I've promoted a few players from the U19s; Bernard Thierry and Yves Bessala who spent last seaon out on loan will offer some depth to the first team whilst France U19 international Paul Alves will be back for LB this season. 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview Offer

6th placed Lyon offer me the chance of an interview. I could follow in the footsteps of England great Steven Gerrard by managing here. 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake

I forgot to take a screenshot of the intake preview. 

This is a pretty poor intake with no real stand-out players and not a lot of potential. 

Spoiler

New nations in Haiti and Senegal represented. 

Spoiler

 

[ToMexico!!]

New Contract

Another wage increase and a deal taking me into the 2030's. 

[ToMexico!!]

2026/27 Season Review

The media expected us to finish 20th, the board thought we could avoid relegation, the players felt we would have a good season, I thought promotion to Ligue 1 was a step too far too early. All we had to do to survive was be better than three teams this season, an achieveable target. 

The squad clearly knew how the season would pan out as we were not just better than three teams or four, five; we were better than 11 other teams and finished in an amazing 9th place with 15 wins and seven draws from our 38 games. We opened the season with Monaco and PSG back to back, two losses, I thought it would be a long season. We then beat Zidane's Bordeaux 1-0 and then smashed six past Angers. Four wins including Lille in the next seven games set the tone for the season. No win in six meant we had a team meeting in which morale improved and we beat Rennes 3-2 in the next game. 

Christmas passed without much joy and there was more sorrow over New Year as PSG (with Mbappe, Demir, Olmo, Musah, De Bruyne, Salah, Joao Felix and Moukoko as attaching options) stuck eight past us, we did score two of our own though. We ended January with another win over Angers. Another team meeting mid-February saw an incredible turn in form and fortune. Six wins in a row against Nantes, Nancy, Lorient, Montpellier, Strasbourg and capped off against Marsielle saw us rise from 14th to 8th. In the last eight games of the season we picked up just five points, the one win being a 6-1 drubbing of Metz. Overall a really unexpected season as we beat the odds and finish in the top half of the table earning ourselves around £6m in prize money. 

We entered the French Cup in the 9th Round beating familiar foes Grenoble (4-2) to set up a 10th Round tie against Avranches, we dispatched them 3-1 to be drawn against giants PSG in the 11th Round. A 6-0 disasterclass compounded the fact we're so far behind the top sides in this league. Three games against PSG this season end in three losses and us conceding 19 goals. 

I didn't add any further players to the squad after those summer signings. I placed my faith in the squad we had assembled and the youth we had nurtured to do this team justice. New full backs Seidu (36 apps) and Luderer (34 apps) were solid if unspectacular. Summer promotee Paul Alves (who was watched by Zidane a couple of times) made 17 starts and 10 sub appearances with at LB or CM. Another summer signing Felix Lemarechal ousted Ligue 2 mainstay Benaissa from central midfield and made the Mezzala role his own, he made 10 assists also scoring three goals. 

Youth product Francsico Perez (YP3a) made another step up in ability and produced his best season yet at RW, scoring 10 goals and making 10 assists. He still has plenty of room to grow and progress as a player. Yves Bessala, another player promoted to the first team team made LW his own too as both Bassouamina and Capita dropped down the pecking order. The young inside forward nothced 12 goals and seven assists in a breakout season. South African summer signing Abram Rankhasa had an indifferent season scoring just six times but like his predecessor hopeully he will have a better second season after learning French and settling in to the area. 

Aminu Mohammed continued to score goals despite the step up in quality he was playing against, his season ended abruptly as he broke his leg with seven games to go, surely that was partly down to our downturn in form. He scored 17 goals in 32 appearances. 

Financially we're looking good, we have £12.5m in the bank and things look set to get better in the projections. Our wage expenditure is less than £100k p/w but the board look set to increase this by around a third. I would like to spend some of the money we have in improving the below average facilities we have. The board have also announced that the club will rent the Stade Armand Cesari in Furiani as our current stadium does not meet Ligue 1 rules, the minimum stadium capacity needs to be 15,000 whereas ours is just over 8000. 

Looking at the squad, we need some depth. I've already arranged the signing of two players both from Chateauroux, with Amrani being the better of the two and will be in and around the first team next season. I need to look at the possibility of improving at right-back; Candra Bakayoko will be promoted to the first team as another defensive option whilst we also need to look at depth up front especially considering the injury to Mohammed, his ability could decline after the leg break. 

[ToMexico!!]

Improvements

A cheap improvement to the training facilities as we look to upgrade the infrastructure. 

[ToMexico!!]

So close, yet so far...

3-0 up, 4-1 up, 5-3 up, 5-6 down. 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Preview

Plenty of full backs who aren't very good, a promising CB, a fine prospect in CM, a AMC who has caught the eye and a fine prospect at ST. 

Promising 

[ToMexico!!]

Improvement

Hopefully we can start attracting better youngsters from further afield. 

[KlaaZ]

Very impressive first season on the highest level!

[ToMexico!!]

4 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Very impressive first season on the highest level!

Thanks, a little bit of second season syndrome has set in this time but as long as we stay in Ligue 1 we are moving forward 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake

There was some optimism in the preview but I feel this is a poorer intake than described. However, there is more scope to this intake in the nationalities and locations they are being picked from which means the upgrades are working. 

Said Benayad is the pick of the players but has work to do, he's another striker who can't finish it seems but has good pace and acceleration. If we can improve his finishing a bit and his attacking movement and composure we may have a player who can be on the brink of first team football. 

Spoiler

New nations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Belgium being represented. 

Spoiler

Spoiler

Still very much the French speaking nations around the world where we are picking up the players. I think I have two more levels of youth recruitment to increase before we are capped out there. 

[ToMexico!!]

Improvements

THe board gave the go ahead for another training facility upgrade but rejected my advances for the youth facilities to be upgraded also. 

[deltablue]

That was a heck of a match against PSG!

[ToMexico!!]

2027/28 Season Review

This was very much a season of consolidation as we added just two players to the playing staff as I looked to keep financially tight on wages and use that money to build the clubs infrastructure which help us more in the long run. I did hand out a number of new contracts however; youth graduates Yves Bessala, Paul Alves, Candra Bakayoko and Francisco Perez all getting new deals with Bessala becoming the clubs highest paid player on £8k p/w. 

We opened the season with a mixed bag, two wins and two losses, both heavy defeats to Nimes (5-3) and Monaco (8-1). We had an unbeaten September before losing to PSG in that 5-6 humdinger mentioned in a post above. Four wins in 11 games through October, November and December saw us fall away and drop down to 14th/15th. January was no better another loss to Monaco was intertwined with positive results in the French Cup, we beat GOAL FC, Toulouse and Lens on the way to a quarter final showdown against Monaco. February started off better with a win and a draw before losing 5-4 to Monaco in the Quarter Finals. 

Lille hammered us 5-2 before we smashed Dijon 7-1 with Aminu Mohammed netting five. PSG next and I was fearing the worst but we only lost 1-0. March saw two wins from three games and another two wins in early April saw us rise up to 8th. Three losses on the bounce against Nice, Lorient and Lyon saw us fall away from the chasing European pack. Injuries and suspensions had began to mount and but a 1-0 win over Strasbourg was pleasing although a 5-1 hammering by Montpellier wasn't so nice, we only named 3 players on the bench for that game. We ended the season as we started, with a win over Reims as we finished in 10th place. 

Aminu Mohammed continued to defy his attributes with 26 goals in 34(3) games, finishing 5th in the league goalscoring chart too, even ahead of Mbappe. He was backed up by the young wingers Perez (14 goals and 10 assists) and Bessala (12 goals/5 assists) whilst the shadow striker Abram Rankhasa scored 10 goals and made 12 assists which was a good return. Beyond those four we struggled a little for goals and creativity, Thomas and Lemarechal making a combined 15 assists from CM were the next best. 

We received £5.6m for finishing in 10th place which will go a long way to paying for the training facility upgrade and cover most of the seasons cost of the youth setup. We have two expiring sponsorship deals which will hopefully be replaced and increased upon. The board have given me a transfer budget of £14m whilst they haven't increased the wage budget from the £135k p/w we already have budgetted for. 

We've already agreed the signing of two players for next season, an 18 year old striker from Danish side Kobenhavn and a 17 year old MC/AMC/ST from PSG for £200k, he is set to become our biggest transer in so far. I will cover these and any other transfers in a post further along. I really need to look for a back up/potential first choice AMR as we only have one real option in Perez and also a first choice RB as I will be letting the current one leave at the end of his contract. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Finances

First and foremost;

The news item should tell you how much it was but it can be found in the finances screen. 

Sponsorship

Two new deals with an increase of around 30% on the main deal. We're heading in the right direction. 

Overall we're in a strong position for a club of "our size". We have just over £20m in the bank after this months incomings and outgoings. We do have the cost of the Training Facility improvement to go out in August but that will hopefully increase the overall vaue of the club which is currently sat at £79m. 

[ToMexico!!]

Stolen Staff

Just the 2nd staff member to be "stolen" from us as former Barcelona scout Miki Albert leaves to join Lyon. £600k compensation is a great fee for us. 

[ToMexico!!]

Stolen Staff

Like London buses now... Cistaro moves to Monaco after a short stay on Corsica. Another £450k in compensation. 

[ToMexico!!]

Clause Sale

I took the opportunity to sell this clause because; a) Derby just got promoted to the PL and it was only worth £600k when they were in the Championship, b) he's worth £28m and can only see it going down if they're around the bottom of the table and c) he's not that good, I don't think a top club will want to even take a punt on him. 

It covers the cost of the training facilities upgrade for definite and also covers this youth facility upgrade. 

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers

The early in; 

PSG have either let one slip through the net or they don't deem him good enough, which ever way we're profitting. We spent just £200k on Ryan Payet but he becomes my record signing. 

I made a sale of an inferior player from my academy in Emeric Journee, who despite scoring plenty of goals for the U19 isn't a player I like. We recoup £500k plus 50% profit if he goes on to become a decent player. 

I've further supplemented the squad with five freebies from varying nations. 

Jeppe Bagger's contractual transfer was pre-agreed with a few months of the season to go, he joined from Kobenhavn in Denmark, he will likely be sent out on loan. Joe Maggs will likely take over as first choice striker ahead of Mohammed, the young Englishman joins from Liverpool, he spent last season on loan at APOEL in Cyrpus and netted 20 goals. Portuguese national Edson Ceita offers quality and experience as first choice RB, he joins from Olhanense. Benjamin Sagnier was signed mainly because he is a Model Citizen but he can be 2nd choice behind Bessala on the left allowing Bassouamina to be back up solely on the right. Last to sign so far is Brian Smith, another left winger and another Englishman, I have decided though to loan him back with a few English sides willing to bring him in. 

I think I am done for the first team for the season ahead. I will look to sign some young players to supplement the U19s. 

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers Continued...

I had a large wad of transfer money burning a big hole in my pocket and I've taken the plunge to spend some of it. 

Two players join in really key areas but most importantly they will have resale value due to their age and potential. 

I'd been scouting Yentl Ampe for around a year now but Lens wanted a lot of money for him, I permenantly put a scout on him and waited. Eventually his expected fee went down to around the £6m mark and I decided to take the plunge with £2.7m up front and more money after various clauses have been met. At just 16 he looks great, except for his acceleration and composure/concentration but we can work on those. He will play second fiddle to Rankhasa at shadow striker and take over once Rankhasa has outgrown us. 

I signed another teenager in Mario Galati from Ligue 2 side Angers for £1.8m rising to £2.2m. Again, he will act back-up intially and rotate with Perez at RW. I'm working on his crossing at the moment but I will also look to improve his finishing. 

[KlaaZ]

Money well spent, Ampe in particular could be very good!

[ToMexico!!]

1 hour ago, KlaaZ said:

Money well spent, Ampe in particular could be very good!

Thanks, Ampe is worth £3.4m at 16 years old but that will be due to the fee we paid for him. He's made two appearances from the bench, getting one assist. 

 

[john1]

Doing absolutely brilliant in the league since being promoted few seasons ago   Such a shame your staff being poached by other clubs  Who did you replace Weaver as new HOYD?

[ToMexico!!]

2 minutes ago, john1 said:

Doing absolutely brilliant in the league since being promoted few seasons ago   Such a shame your staff being poached by other clubs  Who did you replace Weaver as new HOYD?

Thanks, yeah we have done well since promotion. This season I feel we can go a step further and be on the cusp of European football. 

As much as its an annoyance, staff being poached by other clubs it shows we're hiring the right staff in the first place. Weaver was replaced by Thomas Caers (the Belgian perfectionist). 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Preview

More full backs, a good winger and a good forward.

[ToMexico!!]

2 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Youth Intake Preview

More full backs, a good winger and a good forward.

Youth Intake Review

The thing that strikes me instantly is the two Englishmen; Olly Lay-Gibbs and Kevin Fox. I went back to the news item and saw this;

U19 Manager Omar Edwards is influencing the intakes and not the HoYD?! I've looked through the staff responsibilities and can't find anything to be able to change that! Can anyone help? 

Anyway back to the intake... personalities aren't great but their is some potential in the likes of Lay-Gibbs, Pototou and Santoni. 

Spoiler

First time seeing neighbouring nations in Spain (specifically the Belaerics) and Italy, whilst we get two from London and Slovakia. 

Spoiler

We have 100 pins in this map now. So I will have to create a 2nd map going forward. 

[ToMexico!!]

Job Interview Offer

3 years since our last interview offer, Marsielle give me the opportunity to interview with them. 

[KlaaZ]

16 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Youth Intake Review

The thing that strikes me instantly is the two Englishmen; Olly Lay-Gibbs and Kevin Fox. I went back to the news item and saw this;

U19 Manager Omar Edwards is influencing the intakes and not the HoYD?! I've looked through the staff responsibilities and can't find anything to be able to change that! Can anyone help? 

Anyway back to the intake... personalities aren't great but their is some potential in the likes of Lay-Gibbs, Pototou and Santoni. 

  Reveal hidden contents

First time seeing neighbouring nations in Spain (specifically the Belaerics) and Italy, whilst we get two from London and Slovakia. 

  Reveal hidden contents

We have 100 pins in this map now. So I will have to create a 2nd map going forward. 

Not entire sure, but you can try and check under Staff - Responsibilities - Overview, then click the Staff tab. Under Transfer and contract responsibilities is the option 'Provides Youth Development Information'. Check who is assigned to that one.

[ToMexico!!]

5 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Not entire sure, but you can try and check under Staff - Responsibilities - Overview, then click the Staff tab. Under Transfer and contract responsibilities is the option 'Provides Youth Development Information'. Check who is assigned to that one.

Yeah checked that, it doesn't say who its delegated to but have selected my HoYD again. I'll have to keep an eye on it in the next preview. 

Edited September 3, 2021 by ToMexico!!

[ToMexico!!]

International Debut

We have a few international players but Candra Bagayoko becomes the first from our academy to become a full international. 

He played 90 minutes at CB bagging a debut goal also. 

Candra has taken a more important role this season, making starts in mainly either central defence or central midfield when niggly injuries or player suspensions have totted up. This game time has seen some serious improvement over the last 18-20 months and he has progessed well since joining the U19s back in 2024. 

[ToMexico!!]

15 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Job Interview Offer

3 years since our last interview offer, Marsielle give me the opportunity to interview with them. 

Marsielle appoint an inexperienced manager in Adam Lallana, not even a coaching role on his record since retiring back in 2023. 

[RoguPL]

Congrats on promotion to top league and good results !! Finances start to look really decent ! 

[ToMexico!!]

9 hours ago, rrozek93 said:

Congrats on promotion to top league and good results !! Finances start to look really decent ! 

Thank you kindly! 

Season review coming up shortly. 

[ToMexico!!]

2028/29 Season Review

After finishing mid-tabled again last season in 10th place and the new additions to the squad I felt we could do a bit better and climb a rung or two on the league ladder. 

We had an easier start to the season as we didn't face either Monaco or PSG in the opening set of fixtures. We returned 14 points from the first seven fixtures losing to a strong Bordeaux side. Losses to Lille and PSG were expected but we then had an easy run and picked up 13 points from an available 15. We started December with a bang, a 2-0 win at home against Lyon, we followed that up with a 2-1 win over Monaco in our next home game then unexpectedly lost 3-0 to Troyes. 

January was cup month but intertwined were good results against Rennes and a 1-0 win over Marsielle. A poor February was salvaged with a win over Brest. Just three games in March and PSG up first, just a 1-0 loss wins over Metz and Lorient  boosted us up the league. More wins followed over Amiens, St Etienne and Dijon and a solid draw against Lyon. A draw against Monaco in the principality opened up May but yet again we lost to Troyes but that result saved them from relegation. We ended the season with a 2-2 draw against Nimes. 

6th place was rather unexpected but probably deserved, to pick up wins over the likes of Lyon, Monaco and Marsielle through the course of the season shows the progress we have made. 

We opened our French Cup campaign against Marsielle and won on penalties, we got an easier draw in the 10th Round away to Andrezieux-Boutheon and won comfortably. Monaco gave us a hiding in the 11th Round, losing 5-2 at home. 

New summer signing Joe Maggs had a slow start to life in Ligue 1 but found his feet in the new year ending the season with 18 goals in 36 games. Wingers Perez (17) and Bessala (13) were the best supporting scorers. Rankhasa had a quieter season but that was due to being away with South Africa at the AFCoN, nine goals and eight assists was his contribution. Titouan Thomas and Paul Alves made good contributions with assists, especially the latter at LB with nine for the season. 

We received £10m for our sixth placed finish which outweighs our expenditure on players and the infrastructure. We sit with just under £30m in the bank before the sponsopship deals come through for the new season. 

I've made a couple of pre-contract signings already for the new season but I won't look to change too much next season, maybe I will look at a new CB to partner Prso as Coulibaly's form has been erratic to say the least. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Summer Transfers

I was given just a tad over £17m by the board but I wasn't expecting to spend much of it, we had a settled side but Europe to contend with this season. The wage budget was doubled to £300k p/w which was a god-send as every major player in the side wanted improved terms now we had reached Continental football. 

Stergiakis (GK), Prso (CB), Luderer (LB), Amrani (CM) and Maggs (ST) all agreed new terms and all doubling their wages. 

I complemented the squad with the following players;

We added Danilo Soca to the midfield on a free from Uruguayan side Defensor Sporting, he will come in as a direct replacement for Thomas in the heart of midfield and pull the strings for us. Good work rate, aggression and stamina make him perfect for closing down the opposition and has good passing and vision to play a pass when we've won the ball back. My only concern is his Star Player status he demanded when signing. Bruno Cunha is one I was chasing prior to last season but Sporting had always priced us out of a move for him. The young Portuguese winger will initially be back up to and rotate with Perez on the right wing. 

I wanted to sign a new CB to replace Coulibaly with and my scouts found Ruben Roa. The 20 year old defender had played 100 times for his previous club America de Cali but had a foreign release clause of £1.1m, I couldn't say no and he now partners Prso in the heart of the defence. Ruben has also just made his intenational debut for the Colombian senior side. A signing I wasn't expecting to make was that of Daniel Patrick from Dijon. My scouts were looking for full backs and reported back that he could be attained for around £6m, an enquiry followed and a short while later he was signed. The Canadian international will be first choice RB this season after last seasons summer signing of Edson Ceita didn't work out. 

That concluded our transfer business for the summer.