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We're lucky to have him because Robinet is still stuck on only two goals. We made some drastic choices in order to free up wage budget. We terminated the loan deals for Dacosta, Robinet and Lefebvre. Dacosta was doing very well on the right back, but he had a whopping 6.5k p/w contract that we were paying 100% of. Robinet was just not performing and Lefebvre didn't play. With the freed budget, we'll be looking to bring in an extra attacking option and an attacking midfielder as El Aynaoui doesn't really have a backup.

We're halfway there, and still leading the pack. Four more games played, and although we were a little more erratic, we still have a virtual two point lead over Le Mans. We lost our first game against Borgo, but really should have won it. They were clinical though, fair play to them. The silly penalty didn't help, not the first time that happens. And the last, because we also dropped points against Chateauroux because of an unnecessary spot kick. Very happy with the mental bounceback though, coming from behind twice to grab a point thanks to a once again inspired El Aynaoui. This leaves us at the top of the league, exactly where we deserve to be. Finally, another shoutout for El Aynaoui and Sakho, who both have been instrumental for us.

Thanks! It's all feeling solid for now, let's hope it lasts.

What's up, my fellow French football lovers? Will post here a little as well, currently almost halfway through my first season with Nancy in the National.

Curious to see how Beljo will perform for you! I signed him with Kaiserslautern on FM22 and although he was my best striker by far and had the ability of a good Bundesliga player, I couldn't really get him to score double digits.

Another seven games played, and the stars are already lining up. We're still unbeaten and more importantly, very solid at the back. Only one goal conceded in those seven games, that says it all. The draw against Versailles was unfortunate as they seem to be our main contender for the title, but considering we finished with a man down, I can't have any complaints. In even better news, Versailles is starting to drop points with three winless games in a row now. This also means that we overtook them and are now leading the pack by four points, with Le Mans in second and Versailles in third. We've also entered the cup and played three rounds so far, where I field a heavily rotated squad of mostly promising youngsters. We had a bit of a scare against Arras who almost caused an upset, but then went on to trash Kronenbourg and Mûrs-Erigné. We face another small team in the next round, so that's an extra game to give the kids some experience.

This. Also, players who are bad at handling pressure and have low composure/decision making could also be susceptible to this.

Should have complained sooner, praise Jebus!

Ten league games in, and he's just in one big slump. I'm hoping Sakho will be fit again soon because this is the reason why we're not edging games. That said, we're still unbeaten.

Off we go! Seven games in, and we're sitting in second, unbeaten, two points behind an even more unbeaten FC Versailles 78, who are also bookie contenders to win the league, which is interesting, as they've been promoted twice in the last three seasons if I'm not mistaken and are new to the league. Then again, they're also the team that caused an upset in the cup last year, making it to the semis before being eliminated by Nice. We dropped points at home against Chateauroux and away at Cholet, but all in all we can have little complaints so far. Robinet is on a dry spell, but Sakho has been impressive in his stead in the last games, netting five in three appearances including a hattrick against Le Mans. Unfortunately, he ran into another injury which will keep him sidelined for a few weeks. The player I really want to applaud is El Aynaoui. The youngster has been very impressive with an average rating of 7.49 and six assists in seven games. Long may it last!

Transfer news Just before the closing of the transfer window, we snapped up one opportunity. It's a loan, and it doesn't cost us a penny. Lamine Cissé had a decent start of the season but I'm a bit worried about his low determination. Nice is also circling as an interested transfer party. Either way, we snap up someone to take some off the pressure off his shoulders, 20-year old Logan Delaurier-Chaubet (what a name!) joins from Bordeaux for a year.

It was a matter of time. Thanks! Yeah, I'm very happy with how he contributes, four games in and he already has a goal and three assists. In due time, I want to evolve to a 4231 with a double DM pivot though. But that will be years down the line as I have the idea in my head that I want to build my team around a regista.

The tactics I opted to play in a 433 DM wide, a formation that I'm very familiar with and have used on numerous occasions in the past. It favours our strong wingers and the midfield triangle provides a bit more stability. Funny enough, I set up that midfield triangle exactly the same way like you did at Anderlecht, @MattyLewis11. I started off with a CM(A) instead of the AP(A), but it felt too disconnected with the DM in combination with the BBM. Either way, it feels very stable now, judging by our friendly performances. I also used trap inside as a bit of an experiment, hoping to have my opponents lose posession around my BWM who will then access the AP to transition.

2022-2023: Preseason Seven friendlies, six victories, six clean sheets. A good foundation to build upon, I think. The only challenging game was at home against our rivals, Metz. The result was ok but the performance was even more encouraging, considering they're a contender for winning the Ligue 2. Apart from that, the most important news is that we got through preseason pretty much unscathed, with only Sakho picking up an injury that will keep him sidelined for the first game of the season.

Thanks! Le Havre was one of the other teams I was considering, in fact. Was it a youth only? I vague remember it, I believe, because of the colours (light blue?). Cheers! I've a soft spot for both French and German football in FM, but Germany tends to be easier because of the money in the Bundesliga once you get there. France is harder financially.

Meeting the team First, the bad. There is no transfer money and we're slightly over our 54k wage budget, which means no new players. Unfortunate, because I had a few free additions on my radar, but alas. Now, the good. We're expecting to gain promotion and the bookies have us touted for the title. Judging by a first glance at the squad, these predictions are based on facts as there is a lot of quality present. Goalkeepers We may be a little shortstaffed in goal but with Martin Sourzac (sour sack, haha), we have an excellent first choice goalkeeper. His backup, Diallo, is probably not of the standard for a promotion challenging team, but hopefully we'll never have to play him. Defenders In central defense, there's an excellent mix of young players to fill the gaps and two solid choices in the prime of their careers, Baptiste Aloé and Jules Mendy. Unfortunately, our best defender, Basila who is on loan from Oostende, is out for six to seven months. On the back positions, we have an attacking Julien Dacosta on the right and a more conservative Gaëtan Busman on the left. The latter will need replacing in a few years though, and I'm already making a shortlist for next season. Midfielders Giovanni Haag will occupy the defensive midfielder position, only 22 but with a lot of room to grow. I'm hoping that with some progress, he can rise through the leagues with us. In front of him, an ageing Lucas Deaux will be coupled to young talented playmaker Neil El Aynaoui. Attack We have a very good loan player in Thomas Robinet who will lead the line. On the left, I have my eyes set on playing 19-year old Lamine Cissé with Lenny Nangis as a backup. On the right, the honours will go to Alexandre Cropanese. That said, we're very well stocked on the wings. Youth I will go into more detail probably at the end of the season, but a short glance at both the U23 and U18 shows that there is a lot of talent to be nurtured.

Hello, and welcome to my first adventure in FM23. I held off on buying the game as I was still busy with a very fun Kaiserslautern adventure but recently, that fizzled out and I finally made the jump. In FM21, I had my very first try in French football by managing US Orléans, ending up with the new Mbappé coming through the youth ranks and winning the Ligue 1, finally toppling PSG. The one thing I love about French football is that, even at the lower level, there is a load of young domestic talent present. That is why in this game, I will try to stick to an objective of signing (young, if possible) French players. The only exception for signings abroad would be if they're 19 or younger, so that they can still be formed on an academy level before joining the first team. Either way, even in this case I would focus on young prospects from neighbour nations. As I feel that starting in the top tier of a bigger nation doesn't present enough of a challenge, especially for a long term save, I dived into the National to see if there were any interesting teams around. And my prayers have been heard, because AS Nancy got relegated from the Ligue 2 last year. Why Nancy? It's a club with some history. They won the French Cup twice, and the Coup de la Ligue BKT once. They also won promotion to the Ligue 1 on four occasions, the last one being in 2016. More importantly, it's a club with a renowned training center and it has a history of producing some excellent players. The most famous player to ever emerge from the Nancy academy is Michael Platini but there are others, such as Mustapha Hadji and, more recently, Clément Lenglet and Michael Cuisance. Finally, as to the name of this career log, AS Nancy are affectionately called Les Chardons by their supporters, which translates to 'the thistles'. And hopefully, these thistles will prickle once again.

It's done, no sugar daddy.

It is happening?

Not sure if I want this to happen, although it would make my life a lot easier I think. Takeover rumours have been going on for over a year, by the way, always with someone from the board wanting to step in but the deal blowing up in the end.

Transfer window roundup So, the 31st of August has passed. Majoros and Carballo made big money moves to top clubs in England. Majoros isn't the biggest problem, with Richer being promoted to a starting spot and Lubbers joining from PEC Zwolle, but the loss of Carballo (and Adli) will be felt. Our first option, Orsolini, was too expensive with Bologna asking over 100M. We then tried signing Bakayoko from Lyon but his wage demands were out of our league. Finally, we made a deadline day move for Harvey Elliot but he opted for Tottenham instead of us. Driouech will probably be our main starter for now, and Neco Williams (currently at right back) will cover for him. Worst case scenario, Camara can also play on the right. Two more players on the incoming side: A young Brazilian midfielder who will spend the remainder of the season at his current club and a Chilean right back from LA Galaxy.

Stop the clock please, thank you.

More transfer news Majoros is officially gone in a record deal for 74M. On top of that, Adli and Bernard both leave the club for Mönchengladbach, in deals worth respectively 18.25M and 15.5M. Adli pretty much didn't feature last season so he won't be missed, Bernard was a useful rotation option. Man City also moved for Carballo, meeting his release clause of 57M. He had a pretty average season but was still my number one choice on the right and with Adli gone as well, we'll need to dive into the transfer market for a replacement. The good news is that we have the cash now.

Transfer news It's July first, so the transfer window opens. And there will be some movement. I already touched on the subject of our new left back and central defender, who now officially join the club. Arsenal bid 74M for Majoros, which meets his release clause. He's agreed a deal and we're just waiting for his work permit to be granted before it's official. 74M will be a club record, obviously, and we'll use the money wisely. This means that Richter will get more playing time, and with young Dutchman Lubbers joining us after finishing his season at Zwolle, I think we can fill the gap the Croatian will leave behind. Up front, we've had an offer accepted from Inter for Lucca, but his wage demands were far over the top (240k per week and would not go lower). Our backup plan is a young Colombian who's currently active in Brazil, but I'm unsure if he's ready to lead the line. We could also promote from within, but I don't feel Atmaca is ready yet (although he's getting closer).

2027-2028: Season recap Transfer news Most of the transfer news from the winter break was already announced, but we signed another deal halfway through January. Kenneth Laursen comes over from Kobenhavn for 7.75M to strengthen the defense. He'll probably turn out as a decent rotation option. On the outgoing side, the most important piece of work was Graf leaving on loan to Galatasaray. We also arranged two deals for the next season. First off, we bring in a young Swedish left back from Elfsborg for 2.8M. And more importantly, we spend big on Mamady Dramé, a left footed central defender from Rennes who will probably be first choice next to Opoku in the heart of our defense. He comes at a hefty price though, we pay 46.5M for his services. Bundesliga Well, I've already given away the final league standing and the fact that I was disappointed. We were in second place for most of the season, at one point even seven or eight points ahead of Bayern but threw it away in the final stretch of the season. We were one point behind the giants from Münich before the final game but didn't capitalize on them losing in Karlsruher, giving away a lead twice in Köln ourselves. Finished level but ended up third because of goals scored. Dortmund were unstoppable in their ridiculous narrow 4312. Moukoko scored 45 (!) league goals. Meanwhile, Beljo scored four as my leading striker. Needless to say, we'll be in the market for a new player to lead the line. DFB Pokal Already mentioned, went out in the second round to an unstoppable Dortmund. Champions League We survived our group in second place to be pitted against Real Madrid. A very confident 3-0 home victory cemented our place in the quarter final, where we met Chelsea. We lost 2-1 at Stamford Bridge and despite being the better team at home, failed to convert that into a win. Despite that, I'm very happy with how we did. Finances and facilities Another third place means a good bit of cash, so we sit on a healthy 89M at the beginning of June. It's possible that we'll make a big money outgoing move, with Majoros or Carballo being a likely candidate. Telebar is on the verge of signing a new deal, and so far I'm happy that there is no interest in Opoku. We've been filling out the stadium quite well, so there's an expansion planned. 12k new seats for a whopping 71M, might as well have built a new temple. What I would really like is some better sponsorship deals because we're still only getting 7M yearly, putting us right at the bottom of the league with Arminia.