[FM24] Bordeaux: The Edge of the Abyss

[warlock]

In 2010 Bordeaux were at the pinnacle of French football, having claimed the 2009 Ligue 1 title and poised to compete in a Champions League quarter-final. Over the next decade the club would be plunged into turmoil, victim of the all-too-common malaise of the modern game: financial incompetence, scandalous mismanagement, and a hefty dose of bad luck.

On the pitch, results had already began to slide when the club was cursed with a gift - ahead of the 2016 European Championships the club had been installed in the new 42,000-seater Matmut Atlantique stadium, but it quickly became apparent that Bordeaux could not fill half the seats. This enormous albatross has haunted the club - and local tax-payers - ever since, with a 30-year lease that has more than two decades still to run. Beneath that, the club was also dogged by financial forces of darkness, with shifting club ownership, funding withdrawals, and business collapse. Then came Covid, the shutdown of the French league season and the disappearance of a TV deal that plunged all of French football into crisis.

At the end of the 20-21 season the owners announced they were withdrawing all funding, threatening Bordeaux with administration and relegation. At the last minute, a financial group took control and, incredibly, made things worse. In June 2022 Bordeaux finished dead last in Ligue 1 and were relegated. But the story doesn't end there... a year later the club were on the brink of promotion back to L1 when their own supporters delivered what might be the coup de grace: a pitch invasion resulted in a Rodez player being injured, the league awarded the result to Rodez. Bordeaux would face another season in L2.

If this sounds unbelievable, I can assure you that I have not done the story justice. For more of the full horror, read it here:

Bordeaux: from Champions League to the French third tier in 12 years | Bordeaux | The Guardian

And there may be one final twist in the tale, or nail in the coffin. This year, the French L2 will reorganise, from 20 clubs to 18, meaning that four teams will be relegated to Tier 3 and at the time of writing the table looks like this:

If the worst happens, it seems inevitable that Bordeaux will disappear into bankruptcy. 

This save, then, is not a rebuild. It is a rescue mission.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with FC Bordeuax. Good luck buddy.

[Carambau]

Nice! Good luck, mate  

[TheJanitor]

Great team pick. If I remember correctly, they played some nice stuff under Blanc during the 08/09 season.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, TheJanitor said:

they played some nice stuff under Blanc during the 08/09 season

I believe Blanc's reign was the high-water mark - they beat Bayern and Juve en route to the aforementioned Champions League quarter-final. The rot didn't set in immediately - they finished 7th in 2014 but then started to churn through managers, although in 2018 Gus Poyet took them to 6th. Then the club was acquired by a US venture capital group and, from Wikipedia: "On 18 August 2018, Poyet was suspended by Bordeaux after labelling the situation as "embarrassing" when Gaëtan Laborde was sold to Montpellier without his knowledge or consent." In September 2018, Ricardo Gomes was appointed as general manager but didn't have the necessary coaching badges to perform as manager and, I believe, the club physio took over as caretaker. And the death spiral began...

You can't make it up... but club boards and owners certainly can.

I'm hoping to get the save underway tonight. Just by way of double jeopardy, I don't have L3 loaded so if we end up being relegated it will be instant death for the club and the sack for me 

[Jogo Bonito]

Good club choice and I hope (know) you will turn around their fortunes promptly. Such a great history which will earn you a glass or two of 'Vintage Bordeaux' as and when you get them back to their rightful place near the top end of Ligue 1 or beyond. In the meantime, let us hope it's not Boredeaux 

On a general note, these venture capital groups, hedge funds, investment groups and any similar type of consortium are usually among the worst kind of owners a club can have. But sometimes clubs are in such a poor position that these are the only options available 

Good luck mate.

[warlock]

9 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Good luck mate.

Cheers! As for the poor performance of financial groups as owners, the game is awash with evidence to that effect. A blight on the beautiful game.

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, warlock said:

Cheers! As for the poor performance of financial groups as owners, the game is awash with evidence to that effect. A blight on the beautiful game.

Indeed. My own club has probably the worst current owner around, and the only likely sale is going to be to such a group. Out of the frying pan and in to the fire springs to mind, but if you're such a shambles you have to just hope to survive even if you know the new owners have no love for the club in question.

Looking forward to seeing what you can do in the vineyards of Bordeaux!

[warlock]

July 2023 - I may have been misinformed

Against a background noise of doom and gloom, I arrived in Bordeaux fearing the worst... and first impressions did not look good. Morale, as might be expected, was in the tank and my assistant warned me that the players were just waiting for a spark to kick off. The squad itself did not inspire optimism - a handful of good players, plenty of potential but nowhere near the quality I had with Malaga in the third tier of Spain. I expected little if any money for transfers but hoped there might be enough wage budget for a free signing or two. In the event, there we had no spare wages, but a transfer pot of just over £1m was far more generous than I dared hope and re-balancing the budget gives us enough to play with.

Yet, as I re-vamped the backroom team and began working with the players, a steady stream of optimistic emails began to arrive:

Turns out, we're strong favourites for the title . And the good news kept coming:

Not only do we have the favourite for leading goalscorer, but no less than three candidates for the league's best player. To be fair, once you get beyond those three, the quality runs out in a hurry, and there are other issues - we're short of options in the fullback positions, and we have absolutely no-one who is natural at DM, but if we can plug a couple of the gaps and figure out a tactic that suits, the season may not be as tough as I was expecting.

[SteinkelssonFM]

Good luck with your save in 🇫🇷 will make sure I follow along. 

[Alejandro_FM]

All the best with this save. Should be a cracker! 

I'm following. 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

will make sure I follow along

2 hours ago, Alejandro_FM said:

I'm following.

Thank you both - I'll try to make it entertaining 

[warlock]

July 2023 - Let's meet the team

Goalkeepers

Not the best group - Johnsson has the experience, Straczek has the potential. For now they stand in this order but I'll give as many minutes to Straczek as possible and see if he can claim first-choice status.

Fullbacks

Michelin is a clear first-choice on the right but behind him it's a toss-up - Godart is two years older than Younousse but the way is open for either to claim the position. On the left there's no contest... except that N'Simba has already made it clear he wants to leave and has missed pre-season with injury. As with RB, it's up for grabs.

Centre Backs

One of our strongest positions. Gergersen and Barbet are my starters but Bokele and Marcelin are good backups with the potential to take over.

Defensive Midfielders

Ahem!

Central Midfielders

Seven players competing for three positions, although none of them is good in DM (and I'm not in favour of a flat midfield three). If you had to pick a DM the choice would almost certainly be Ignatenko, but he's also one of our two best options at CM. Weissbeck is a natural AMC but we won't be playing one of those... happily he's almost as good in CM.

Forwards

We're good in the striker position - Vipotnik is tipped as the league's top scorer, and Elis is not far behind him (that 1* rating is because he can't play Vipotnik's complete forward role, but he's an excellent pressing forward). In the wide AM roles we have decent depth - Livolant and Davitashvili will probably start at left and right, respectively. My coaches rate Pitu highly but he hasn't shown it in pre-season and I'm hoping he'll step up as the season progresses. De Lima is one of the brightest prospects at the club but needs time to develop.

My summary: we have an excellent spine with Gregersen, Diaz and Vipotnik, and probably a good first 11, but behind the starters the quality is immensely variable from 'good' to 'not ready for prime time'. The major area of concern is DM; I have Cassubie and Depussy re-training for the DM role but will certainly dip in to the transfer market if a good option comes up in scouting reports.

Those of you adept at reading between the lines will have realised we'll be running with a 433 system, at least to start with, DM issues notwithstanding. Weissbeck's ability at AMC gives us the option to switch to a hybrid 4231 (with one DM and one CM) if we need a bit more oomph up front.

[Stuniverse]

7 hours ago, warlock said:

July 2023 - Let's meet the team

7 hours ago, warlock said:

Defensive Midfielders

Ahem!

Hmmmmn… DMs the priority, I guess.

Ah, 4-3-3… Will you look to change to something else if / when you have DMs?

—

I wasn’t quite sure from the original post whether Bordeaux are starting this save in Tier 2 or Tier 3?

What is the Board expectation of you?

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Stuniverse

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

whether Bordeaux are starting this save in Tier 2 or Tier 3?

Tier 2. IRL they were, briefly, relegated to Tier 3 but appealed the decision and were reinstated. Board expectation is automatic promotion to L1.

Since last year when SI emphasised DMs over CMs in shapes like the 442 and 4231 I've gone with that preference and had a lot of success, so a squad with no DMs is a bit of a puzzler. We can probably  make do while I retrain a couple of CMs but I'd certainly like an upgrade. So far, though, the scouting team is not finding a suitable candidate... they're either affordable but no better than current options, or an upgrade but aren't interested in joining us.

No-one said it would be easy 

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice squad review, although somewhat lacking in the DM area of course 

I'm sure you'll find somebody suitable. There are lots of talents already there in France, and always plenty of African players willing to head to Europe. Vipotnik should score goals, and you have decent support for him in attack too, which is promising. The board seem to be expecting plenty, but you're the king of first season success 

 

[warlock]

September 2023 - A flying start

Despite an extensive search we were unable to find any likely candidates to fill the vacant DM spot, so Plan B was to make the best of what we had while retraining the more defensive of our CMs to play the role going forward. With that in mind, we finalised on this tactical setup:

Largely based on @DavyDepuydt1's contribution in the tactics download forum:

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/578052-davy-4-3-3-a-realistic-plugplay-tactic/

I like the simplicity of it - which helps when you don't have world-class players - and it just happens to fit the squad perfectly (DMs aside, obviously).

With the squad settled, a tactic decided, and our pre-season prediction of title-winners, could we get off to a winning start? We could:

Striker Vipotnik came out all guns blazing, finding the net 7 times in his first four games and, not surprisingly, picking up the PoM award for August. Even better, we carried that excellent form into September:

Having started the season with a 1pt deduction for the fan violence at the end of last season, we occupied second place for several weeks as Paris FC matched our early results and sat top with a 100% record but they have slipped recently and allowed us to overtake them:

One particularly pleasing development has been the rapid emergence of Rafal Straczek as first-choice 'keeper. He came in for matchday 2 and kept a clean sheet against Concarneau, and has since cemented his place with 5 consecutive games without conceding. Hopefully he - and we - can keep it going.

[john1]

Good luck!

[Jogo Bonito]

I cannot believe you dropped a point already 

Great start - strong defensively and plenty of goals (especially from Vipotnik). I've just ordered you a crate of vintage Bordeaux wine and champagne for delivery in May...virtually ordered only, unfortunately 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I cannot believe you dropped a point already 

You ain't seen nuffin' yet. I'll update later tonight... for now, all I'll say is that any thoughts about this being the easiest FM ever have been reconsidered. Oh, and you might want to put a hold on that wine order 

[Stuniverse]

2 hours ago, warlock said:

You ain't seen nuffin' yet. I'll update later tonight... for now, all I'll say is that any thoughts about this being the easiest FM ever have been reconsidered. Oh, and you might want to put a hold on that wine order 

Ooooh, you tease, @warlock

[warlock]

November 2023 - Nothing lasts forever

Having recorded a flying start to the season with 9 wins in our first 9 games, I was beginning to wonder whether there might be something in the rumours that FM24 was too easy. And nothing in October changed my mind:

The fact we conceded at least once in each of the games was, perhaps, a minor concern but we were still winning comfortably. Certainly our forward line was banging them in for fun. So how to explain November:

Away to Bastia we were suddenly, inexplicably, dire. Two goals down by halt-time, our passing was woeful, we were snatching at chances and deserved to be behind. Harsh language was employed for the team talk but before we could respond disaster struck when our talisman Vipotnik was the victim of a crunching tackle that left him with an ankle injury that would keep him out for rest of the month. We managed to find the net twice in the second half but never looked confident and were lucky when Bastia had a late winner ruled out for offside.

I expected much better from a home match against mid-table Annecy but didn't get it. The visitors set up to frustrate us but we still recorded 7 shots on target and an xG of 2.8. But we couldn't beat the Annecy 'keeper, who earned the PoM award. Alberth Elis, given his first start as striker in the absence of Vipotnik, was terrible, earning a 6.1 rating.

So the cup game against non-league Avionnais came at the right time to give us a morale boost. At least against this level of opposition, Elis looked better. But we were back in the doldrums for the game against high-flying Paris FC, losing both the possession and xG battles. De Amorim's 75th minute goal was little more than a consolation as we were well-beaten.

We're clinging on to first position but need an urgent improvement in form. We have a week until our next game, which should see Vipotnik fit enough for the bench. But we will play Troyes who are the in-form team of the moment and the toughest opponents we could face right now.

Ahead of the season I noted the lack of quality in depth and November highlighted those shortcomings. A month away from the January transfer window I'm looking hard for reinforcements... and praying that Vipotnik doesn't suffer a relapse!

[Stuniverse]

10 hours ago, warlock said:

We're clinging on to first position but need an urgent improvement in form.

How many go up automatically, @warlock and are there play-offs?

10 hours ago, warlock said:

So how to explain November

What do you put November's form down to?

--

Hoping you can regain that run of green traffic lights.

[TheJanitor]

Still a very good start overall. A match against Troyes could be a blessing in disguise - beat them and you created a nice gap to build on. Good luck!

[warlock]

5 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

How many go up automatically

Top 2 go up automatically, then the next 3 into playoffs with the 16th place in L1.

5 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

What do you put November's form down to?

Some complacency, I think (which is probably not surprising given the run of results in the opening months of the season). Then the rest of the month we really missed Vipotnik - a goal-a-game striker is hard to replace, although we get a fair few goals from our midfielders. Some tactical tweaks required since we can't just play the same way without our star man up front.

3 hours ago, TheJanitor said:

A match against Troyes could be a blessing in disguise

Good point. If... 

[warlock]

December 2023 - Back on track

The arrival of our dip in form was sudden and mysterious; it departed the same way:

Five games in December, five wins... and four clean sheets. As if November never happened. One thing that didn't return was striker Vipotnik. For the Troyes game the medical staff said he was good for 75 minutes, I planned on giving him 60, he limped off after 25 minutes with a twisted knee that ruled him out for another two weeks.

Otherwise it was back to business as usual. We were excellent against second-placed Troyes limiting them to a single shot on goal:

Even better, that result seems to have knocked their confidence and they've dropped additional points, allowing us to open up a 6pt gap at the top of the table:

As I hinted in the last update, I also made a couple of tactical tweaks that may have contributed - at least to our defensive solidity. The first was to drop to a mid-block with the aim of compressing the space in the centre of the pitch and making us harder to play through. The second was to lower the tempo a notch, allowing us to control the game a little more and be a bit more considered in our attacking.

This month also saw the emergence of a potential star - Mathias De Amorim is a 19-year-old CMA who has scored 7 and made 3 assists in 11 starts this season:

Looking ahead to the January transfer window, we're playing well enough that I don't feel there's an urgent need for new faces but I'm still searching for an upgrade at defensive midfield. I hoped I'd found him in Jonathan Varane, younger brother of Man Utd CB Raphael. He's valued at between £425k and £4.5m and I hoped we might do a deal somewhere in the middle of that range but current club Sporting Gijon are holding out for the top value and we can't afford that.

The search continues...

Edited December 18, 2023 by warlock

[Stuniverse]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

December 2023 - Back on track

👍⚽️ That’s more like it!

[TheJanitor]

On 17/12/2023 at 17:01, warlock said:

Good point. If... 

What's the opposite of jinx? 

Mid-block tactics are my go to so far. Nice to see it is working for you so far.

[warlock]

January 2024 - Let the good times roll

With the transfer window open we had business to do - with some success and some frustration.

The first departure drew the ire of fans who considered the player a key member of the squad. I didn't and that, combined with the fact that his contract was expiring in the summer and he refused to discuss new terms, made the decision to cash in easier than it might have been. Alberth Elis was billed as our back-up striker, not far behind first-choice Vipotnik, but never lived up to that billing. After my overtures for a new contract were rebuffed again, he was offered for sale and drew immediate interest from a number of Saudi clubs. With offers at the top of his transfer value at around £1.7m we accepted all of them and allowed the player to choose. He eventually went to some outfit called Damac (me either).

The second player out was a more obvious transfer but a little more problematical. Aliou Badji was our third-choice striker but had been worse than disappointing when given a chance. Moreover, he was constantly complaining because he felt he should be playing to boost his chances of a call-up to the Senegal national team (not my problem, mate). He was moved on to Espanyol for £350k but, as glad as I was to see him go, that left us with no backups to Vipotnik so a new striker was essential.

The player I eventually settled on was, sadly, only a loan deal but someone who I believe can improve on both of the departures:

He doesn't look like a wonderkid, because he isn't. But he is a reliable backup at this level, with no real weaknesses in his game. And he scored on his debut, so he's in my good books already.

Our long-standing search for a DM continues without bearing fruit, but we did fill another hole. As well as being Vipotnik's backup, Elis was also backup at AMR, and I wasn't really looking but when my scouts flagged up the fact that Gelson Martins had been released by Monaco and  was available on a free transfer it didn't take long to make an offer. 

His wages are slightly more than I wanted to pay but I'm happy to have him on the wing running at defenders. Disappointingly, he didn't score on his debut... but he did rack up a goal and an assist in his second appearance, so he's also in my good books.

The window still has four days to go and I'm hoping there will be no more business (unless we can find that elusive DM). We've had to fend off interest in several other players - including Vipotnik and star defender Gregersen but we've agreed valuations with the players of £9m each and I'm confident that will kill off any interest.

Meanwhile, the footballing business continues and we're still very good at it:

In the league we recorded three more victories, including important results against promotion rivals in Auxerre and Angers. Perhaps more impressive, we travelled to L1 Lorient in the Coupe de France and emerged with an unlikely victory:

We outplayed them and thoroughly deserved the win.

With Troyes continuing to drop points, we've increased our lead at the top of the division:

Vipotnik is back to his best (4 goals this month) and we're getting great performances (and assists) from Livolant (AML), Davitashvili (AMR), N'Simba (LWB) and De Amorim (CMA). In fact, the only slightly questionable performances are coming from those CMs who are being played out of position at DM. I wonder if I'm being too picky with candidates for that position but if I could solve the problem... well, I'd be a very happy manager. Even happier than I am, which is very happy indeed.

[john1]

Decent signings you have bought in You should take a look at Yoan Kore from Paris FC.

[Stuniverse]

Looking good, @warlock. Looking very good 👍⚽️

[sherwinriga]

I'm very thrilled that you're managing Bordeaux, one of the fallen giants from the Ligue 1, which will be looked great if you can reclaim their glory to the top! I'll look forward into this to ensure that you'll make them a French powerhouse and possibly outlast PSG for sure!

Good luck in Bordeaux!

[Jogo Bonito]

Great progress here mate, hard to see anybody catching you already. Good transfer business by the look of it, too. 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, sherwinriga said:

ensure that you'll make them a French powerhouse

That's the goal; glad to have you along for the ride 

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

hard to see anybody catching you already

Cheers mate! Title would be nice but promotion is all that matters and we're certainly looking strong for at least second spot.

[Stuniverse]

10 hours ago, warlock said:

Title would be nice but promotion is all that matters and we're certainly looking strong for at least second spot.

I'm looking forward to the Promotion Party 🥳

Edited December 21, 2023 by Stuniverse

[warlock]

14 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

I'm looking forward to the Promotion Party 🥳

How does that press conference answer go? Football's a funny old game and I'm not counting any chickens 

[warlock]

February 2024 - Troyes again

Had a long post ready to go and a glitch in the editor means it has disappeared. So, in brief:

We should have beat Troyes but it was first vs second on their turf and a point was acceptable:

The cup gave us another tie against L1 opponents in the shape of Brest but with the visitors in the relegation zone of L1 there are just a couple of positions in the pyramid separating the teams and we deserved the win. Grenoble are also mired in the relegation zone of L2 so that win was expected, and as the home side Amiens should have given us a harder match but we cruised past them. The surprise package was Guingamp, a solid mid-table team, who came to Bordeaux and made us battle for a point.

New January signings Balde and Martins have settled in quickly and both added to their goal tally this month.

The two points dropped against Guingamp allowed Troyes to close the gap to 9pts, but we have a 15pt cushion over Paris FC for the automatic promotion spot. As said above, I'm not counting any chickens yet but will admit that my thoughts are turning to what's needed for life in the top flight.

 

[warlock]

April 2024 - well, this was unexpected

I had intended to play through until our title challenge was decided one way or the other. But then this happened:

So our season will last a little longer than expected:

Hopefully, we can get a decent payday out of it.

[Stuniverse]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

So our season will last a little longer than expected:

👍

Get that money in the bank.

[warlock]

3 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Get that money in the bank.

The semi earned us around £350k in prize money, plus our biggest attendance of the season so I'm hopeful 

[warlock]

April 2024 (part 2) - Job done!

We clinched the title in spectacular style... by losing to St Etienne . I was ready to rip into the lads but next thing, we were walking out to collect the trophy. But let's back up a bit:

March was another good month that allowed us to extend our lead at the top as Troyes continued to drop points. Even the draw against Paris FC - who had set the early running in the league before dropping back, and then clawing their into the promotion battle - was a match I half expected us to lose.

The first game in April was the Couple de France semi-final as previously mentioned:

A magnificent performance - the only tactical switch made was to drop from 'positive' mentality to 'balanced' and we controlled the game from start to finish. I hoped that would give us a massive confidence boost but against Caen - who were battling against relegation - we looked nervy and had to come from behind twice to secure a point. That left us with a 16pt lead over Troyes with 18pts to play for.

Against St Etienne we needed a win to guarantee the title but it was another mediocre performance as the pressure seemed to get to the players. But Troyes succumbed to a 1-0 defeat away at Angers and it was time for the confetti cannons!

So we have 5 games to play - plus the cup final against PSG - while we prepare for life back in the top flight.

[Stuniverse]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

So we have 5 games to play - plus the cup final against PSG - while we prepare for life back in the top flight.

Congratulations 🏆 Back in the BIG TIME 👍

So what’s the plan for the next five matches? Rest and rotate to keep your best players fresh for the Cup Final?

I assume PSG are running away with the top flight.

[warlock]

14 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

I assume PSG are running away with the top flight

They're 19pts ahead of Monaco with four games to go - and unbeaten all season . I have no expectations of the final, other than a stern spanking... if we can make £500k that would be great, thank you very much.

14 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

So what’s the plan for the next five matches? Rest and rotate to keep your best players fresh for the Cup Final?

I'm never quite sure how to play this, but my inclination is to try to win every game while trying to give minutes to backups if we're ahead - I don't want to go into the top flight off the back of 5 league defeats 

 

[Stuniverse]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

I don't want to go into the top flight off the back of 5 league defeats 

👍 A very good point well made there, @warlock

[warlock]

With the hectic social whirl of the festive season done, it's back to important matters.

May 2024 - PSG on the horizon

We clinched the L2 title on April 20, despite the loss to St Etienne. Thereafter I was only looking to maintain some good form ahead of the season climax: the final of the Coupe de France against PSG. And - by and large - we succeeded, with only the draw against lowly Laval to blot our record. A minor concern was the form of star striker Vipotnik, who still wants a transfer away and played like it. Better news came in the performances of AMR Zuriko Davitashvili, cementing his place as one of our most important players.

So ahead of the cup final we were looking good. Of course, no-one expected us to lift the cup but for the opening 30 minutes we were the better team, controlling the possession and matching the multimillionaires shot for shot. Then PSG grabbed a goal against the run of play, and we fell apart:

Suddenly, we were 2-0 down going into the interval, and conceded again within a minute of the restart before eventually succumbing to the utter spanking I'd expected. But I'd also hoped to make £500k or so and we did much better with £450k in prize money and rather more in a share of the gate receipts to give our finances a serious boost.

It also gave me an insight into our quality of players ahead of life in L1 and a quick reassessment of our plans for the transfer window was made. Our season-long search for quality at DM looks as though it might bear fruit, and with first-choice LB N'Simba set to leave on an expiring contract we may have found a worthy replacement. We still need a backup to Vipotnik up front, and if he leaves I'm not sure we can bring in a suitable replacement and a rotation option. The board have given me £6m in transfer budget, and an additional £70k a week in wages so we'll be shopping in the bargain basement for most of our signings. Hopefully we can do enough to ensure we meet the board demand of avoiding relegation next season.

Our end of season status:

[warlock]

August 2024 - Transfer window and L1 campaign begins

Ahead of the new season we had about £6m in the transfer budget and a spare £70k in wages. Inevitably, just about every player in the squad wanted a new contract with a pay rise so that £70k disappeared and we had to re-allocate some that transfer kitty. Which didn't leave much for upgrading the playing squad. However, the board just wanted us to avoid relegation and the media prediction put us in a safe mid-table position so I felt under no pressure to make a host of new signings.

We did need some, though - a couple of loans were returning to their parent clubs, and our first-choice LB refused to sign a new contract so left on a free. Meanwhile, we still didn't have a natural DM at the club. Additional complications arose in the form of our two backup CBs wanting new deals on silly money. The first was moved on for a reasonable fee but the second, Marcelin, prompted some unrest among the squad who felt he merited a pay rise. I agreed, but we simply couldn't afford to pay what he wanted. Eventually, a couple of other departures allowed us to free up enough money and we thrashed out a deal that Marcelin was happy with.

The first piece of business was out of my hands. CM Weissbeck, on loan and one of our better performers, had a pre-arranged deal that meant we had to sign him for £1.2m - and I was pretty happy with that. Among the outgoings were the aforementioned 4th choice CB, Malcolm Bokele, who went to Bochum in Germany in a deal that will rise to around £1m; and young AMC (a position we don't use) Lenny Pirringuel, who joined Lyon for £2m. A couple of young CM prospects were sent out on loan and raised some fees and wage contributions.

As for incomings, having said I hadn't planned much we eventually signed 7 new players . First in was a replacement at LB:

Quintilla was at Norwich a couple of years ago, since when he has bounced around various Spanish clubs. He's not outstanding in any department but is well-rounded and experienced. For £600k he seemed like decent value.

Next came the first of our long-needed DMs:

I'd wanted Varane - younger brother of Man Utd defender Raphael - back in January but we couldn't afford him. With our improved transfer budget I was happy to splurge £3.4m to secure his services.  Good potential and hard-working, he could become a star for us.

The plan was to settle for Varane and employ one of our more defensively-minded CMs as cover but then my scouts flagged up another potential target on a free transfer:

 

Erlingmark is a bit more of a physical presence, more of a destroyer to Varane's creator. And then, suddenly, we went from no DMs to an embarrassment of candidates. I'd completely forgotten about this guy who spent the season on loan in Portugal becuse we couldn't recall him:

My coaches rate Lacoux as the best of the three, and because of this - and in expectation of tougher opponents after promotion - I decided to make the tactical switch to a double pivot at DM (playing a CM-att in front of them in a kind of deeper 4231).

Next in was a backup to the excellent Livolant at AML:

Mollejo is a graduate of the Atletico Madrid academy and had caught my eye in my Malaga save. When I saw he was on an expiring contract I was happy to snap him up for free and more-than-reasonable wages. He's an old-school winger - nippy, tricky and with a great engine, but we'll working hard on those technical attributes.

Which left us with two gaps to fill in the squad. First up was the need for a 4th choice CB:

I had signed Pelayo in my Malaga save and here he was again - released by Barcelona and available for free. At 21 years, he has a lot of work to do but looks a decent prospect and has done well for us so far.

Finally, we needed a backup striker and found another free transfer:

Bedia comes to us from Servette in the Swiss top flight where he scored 32 goals in 71 appearances, which seems like a decent record. If he can bag a goal every other game for us I'll be very happy with him.

No wonderkids then, and no world-beaters but some good prospects and experienced hands who should be a good fit for the way we play. And speaking of playing:

We wrapped up our pre-season friendlies with the visit of mighty Juve, and we beat them. The result looked unlikely as we trailed 0-1 with less than 10 minutes to go but the ever-reliable Davitashvili popped up with an equaliser before new man Bedia gave us the win in stoppage time.

In our first competitive match of the season we succumbed to a narrow defeat against Lens, but I was happy enough with the performance away against a side expected to challenge for the European places. And then we strung together three good wins, with three clean sheets, too! The tactical switch to twin DMs means we're not as adventurous going forward but we are solid defensively. And it was pleasing to see Vipotnik bag his first goal of the season - it isn't clear whether he's struggling with the step up to L1 or we're just not creating enough for him, but I'm hopeful we can get him back to his best.

And it's early days, but over the opening month we have, at least, matched PSG's record:

Also on the positive side of the ledger, it's good to see two of our new signings featuring among our important players. And a special shout out to young GK Straczek who has been nothing short of magnificent so far.

Edited December 31, 2023 by warlock
Surplus pictures

[SixPointer]

Great first season at very good club choice mate. Second season off to a flyer as well! 

[Stuniverse]

Shame about Lens @warlock but three good results afterwards.

[warlock]

September 2024 - Ups and downs

Coming off the back of an international break I expected us to do well against a Metz side who were well below us in the league, and Weissbeck gave us the perfect start with a goal inside the first 5 minutes. Unfortunately, that proved to be our only shot on target for the entire game and we were somewhat lucky to come away with a point. We were only a little better against Brest:

After going down to an early goal, we played better after the interval and did just about enough to claim the win. But our luck ran out against league-leaders Marseilles:

A defeat away to one of the best teams in the league was always to be expected, but we were woeful and got exactly what we deserved. 

The home win against Paris FC was slight consolation - the visitors were promoted with us in the summer and are well down the table but we mustered only a single shot on target in the game and were fortunate to score from it.

Our problem seems to be individual inconsistency - every one of our players is capable of brilliance one week and an abysmal performance the next. Vipotnik is a shadow of the player who bagged 27 goals for us last season, with just 1 in 7 appearances this term. Davitashivili who was our leading source of assists last time has none in 8 starts this time. There's no reason to panic yet - we currently sit comfortably in 5th spot - but it always feels as though we're just one sloppy pass away from disaster.

Defensively, we're great; my feeling is that the midfield is the heart of our problems and we need to find a way to create more scoring opportunities.