BethFM

For this save I am heading over to The Netherlands, to manage Willem II a team that is something of a fallen giant in Dutch football. I will be in the city of Tilburg in the Noord-Brabant province in the south of the country as you can see on the map below. King William II (1792-1849) was incredibly fond of the city, he publicly stated it is where he felt happiest. As a consequence of his love for the place, Tilburg thrived under his reign as money was always made available for new infrastructure, farms and jobs and he even commissioned a new palace to be built which he would use as his country residence. The local football club was established on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia, however, two years later the club was renamed after the King who had shared such a passion for the city and its people. From that day forward, the club became known as Willem II. Willem II are a well-known Dutch football club who have enjoyed some success on the domestic stage many years ago. The club has won the Eredivisie three times in its history, 1915-16, 1951-52 and 1954-55. The first of those titles saw the team go unbeaten throughout the league season, finishing with a goal difference of 50. The Tricolores have won two domestic cups in their time (1944 and ’63), the latter was the same year they made their European competition debut, losing to Manchester United in the first round of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Willem II vs Manchester United 1963 The club play their home games at the 14,700-capacity Koning Willem II Stadion (King William II Stadium). Willem II has been something of a football factory in terms of talented young players who have either come through the youth system or were brought in to earn their stripes and gain some key experience of first team football. Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk spent time in the Willem II youth system before moving on to Groningen. Sami Hyypia, another former Liverpool man, is a firm fan favourite at the club as he made over 100 appearances in Willem colours and captained the side to Champions League qualification. Swedish starlet Alexander Isak enjoyed a career-defining loan spell with the club in 2018-19 as he found his goalscoring touch and fired in 13 goals from 16 appearances. Other well-known players who have stepped out in the Tricolores include perpetual Man Utd target Frenkie de Jong, Jaap Stam, Marc Overmars and Earnie Stewart. Willem II didn’t enjoy the 2021/22 campaign as they were relegated from the Eredivisie and therefore begin the 2022/23 season in the Eerste Division. That is where we find them at the beginning of this FM23 save. In the long term I would like to go on to make Willem II the dominant force within Dutch football, Ajax have had their fun! We will need to become the ‘best of the rest’ beforehand but it’s nice to be able to dream. Before any of this can happen, of course, we need to get promoted back to the Eredivisie, that is the aim for the opening season. I would like to focus on signing and developing as many Dutch players as possible. I don't want to label this as a 'homegrown only' save because I feel that could lead me to lose interest, so let's just say, there will be more of a priority on signing Dutch players and developing talent via the youth system but we won't limit ourselves. The plan for this save: Focus on signing Dutch players when possible Overthrow Ajax as the dominant force in The Netherlands Have three homegrown newgens capped at international level Win a European trophy Successfully implement chosen tactical style The 2022/23 Willem II Squad: Goalkeepers: Konstantinos Lamprou (31), Joshua Smits (30), Connor van den Berg (21). Defenders: Wessel Dammers (27), Erik Schouten (31), Freek Heerkens (33), Lucas Woudenberg (28), Thibaut Lesquoy (27), Sam Tel (20), Leeroy Owusu (26). Midfielders: Pol Llonch (30), Jesse Bosch (22), Matthias Verreth (24), Wesley Spieringhs (20), Dani Mathieu (21), Dan Crowley (25), Thijs Oosting (22), Ringo Meerveld (19). Forwards: Max Svensson (24), Elton Kabangu (24), Joeri Schroijen (31), Nick Doodeman (26), Jazz Hornkamp (24), Michael de Leeuw (36), Jeremy Bokila (33), Jelte Pal (20) Current manager Kevin Hofland mostly sends the team out in a 4-2-3-1 formation which is something I had thought worth considering when looking at the current crop of players. I have decided upon my tactical approach for this save but to give it a detailed explanation I will be creating a separate post – I don’t want this one to drag on too long. Thank you for reading, I hope you have enjoyed this introduction, I’m looking forward to getting started with this save

February 2024: February began with a wonderful 3-0 victory in the Coupe de France which saw us into the Quarter Finals where a tie against Marseille awaited us. A very disappointing loss to Angers followed, we always seem to struggle against them. We actually created plenty of chances but failed to find the back of the net which has been the story of our season thus far. The Coupe de France Quarter Final was next up and Dimtri Payet ensured his former team saw what they were missing as we eased to a 6-2 victory. Charles Abi also ended his goal drought in this game, I have questions as to whether he is good enough to play at this level and I am considering moving him on during the summer window as we are well stocked in the attacking area and have far better players. Next up was a trip north to Lille (apologies for the lack of screenshot), we did reasonably well in this game and were unlucky to fall to a late defeat. Alexis ensured that we closed out the month picking up three points at fellow mid table team Montpellier. March 2024: March began with a loss to Brest, a poor result from a game which we dominated, we followed this up with a heavy defeat to PSG in the Coupe de France Semi Final. Fortunately our form picked up as Mohamed Bayo found his scoring boots and kick started the scoring in a 5-1 victory at Reims. Dimitri Payet was also on the scoresheet with a beautiful 25 yarder whilst Ibou Sané grabbed another one to take his tally to four so far since being recalled from loan. Bayo ensured that we took all three points against Rennes and then Dane Scarlett had an excellent debut where he scored both goals in a 2-0 victory against Troyes. Our good form has seen us climb a couple of places in the table and we now find ourselves in 9th place, just a couple of points off the European places. Whilst to reach Europe would be amazing and the financial benefits would be incredibly useful, I am more than happy to settle for comfortably mid table given that this is our first season back in Ligue 1.

January 2024: Our new tactic seems to have clicked rather well! We made it through to the next round of the Coupe de France thanks to a late goal from Alexis. The Chilean had a fantastic month in terms of goal output as he bagged a hat trick against former club Marseille and another one against Caen. The resounding 4-0 victory against OM was very impressive and something that could be a real catalyst as we look to gain some consistency and ensure that we will be staying in Ligue 1, we currently sit in 11 place so we aren't likely to be dragged into a relegation battle but it's always good to ensure we maintain our upwards trajectory. The answer to our goalkeeping conundrum arrived in the form of Alban Lafont, the Frenchman was relegated last season with Nantes and has been angling for a move since the summer. I actually looked into signing him back then as his asking price was only €2.4 million but his wage demands were far too high, six months in Ligue 2 has seen him dramatically reduce his demands so it was an easy choice to make the signing. Dane Scarlett joins for €13 million from Tottenham, he has a high level of potential and looks to be a natural goalscorer, he will need developing and nurturing but given that his value has virtually doubled since signing for us, there is potential for huge resale value. The same applies to Andrey Santos who was on the transfer list at Vasco da Gama for just €9 million. Whilst midfield wasn't an area we needed to improve, I felt that this was a good opportunity to sign a player we can move on for big money in a few years. Looking to sign a few youngsters that we can develop for the future, the first and highest recommended was Anders Ryste who was at Norwegian club Odds, he has been loaned back to his former club for the remainder of their season. At 18 years old he is in the Potential Phase which means we have plenty of time to develop him and make a decision as to where he fits within our team. Argentinian Gabriel Ramos and Australian Iain Grant both sign on free transfers, Ramos has also been loaned back to his former club Godoy Cruz while Grant has been placed in our Under 19 team where he has started really well already.

December 2023: December began with a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Nice which was very disappointing, I am very concerned with our defence and the performances of Etienne Green in particular. We did pick up a surprise victory at home to Monaco with Mélèye Diagne finding the net, he has largely cemented himself as a regular starter on the left wing for us. We then lost away at Lens and scraped a 1-0 victory against Bastia in the cup. The joker window in France means that teams can sign players from fellow French clubs throughout the season, I took this opportunity to bring in a couple of new faces prior to the window opening in January. Veteran Dimitri Payet signs from Marseille for the princely sum of 50k, the former West Ham man had fallen down the pecking order at the Stade Velodrome and despite his age I feel that much like Alexis, he will not only be able to provide an experienced mindset amongst a youthful team, he still has plenty to offer football wise and could prove to be a shrewd signing. Mohamed Bayo had fallen out of favour at Lille and was on the transfer list for just shy of €4 million, the deal was somewhat of a risk in the sense that he hasn't played much football during the last season however looking back at his stats during his time at Clermont, he scored upwards of 15 goals consistently and he is in the Peak Phase so hopefully should be able to hit the ground running so to speak. Looking through the stats just before the January window opens, I am greatly concerned about our goalkeeping situation, Etienne Green is conceding 1.12 goals per 90 which I feel is something we need to amend. Whilst he is undoubtedly a talented keeper, it could be that he is not quite ready to step up to Ligue 1 just yet. Amadou N'Diaye has made the Left Back spot his own so I am willing to let Sergi Palencia leave as he is demanding first team football and he has largely been underperforming compared to his colleagues, I don't wish to keep an unhappy player in the ranks. The midfield area is our strongest area and doesn't require strengthening in my opinion, the same cannot be said for our strike force. Charles Abi has failed to hit the heights of last season and we are struggling to carve out any real chances on a consistent basis during games. Finally, we have change tactic, as we are adopting the Clairefontaine training method which caters towards a 4-3-3 formation as the coaches believe this offers the most freedom and opportunities for individuals to shine, this is the formation we will be using going forwards. It is designed to retain possession and should allow plenty of attacking opportunities for our midfield to take advantage of. We will then look to press swiftly and efficiently to prevent the opposition mounting a successful counter attack.

October & November 2023: October got off to a much better start as we beat Reims at home thanks to two of last seasons stars, César Gelabert and Charles Abi. The latter is doing reasonably well but I do wonder if he has what it takes to propel us further up the league. We closed out October with a loss to Lille, it was a poor game in truth, a draw would have been fair... but when has FM ever been fair. The loss away to Troyes was particularly disappointing as again I feel we have lost a game we needed to win. As a result of our poor form, my plan is to do a little bit of moneyball-esque scouting, I plan to look at our defensive stats and compare with fellow Ligue 1 teams and look into recruiting based on those averages. Still sticking with the Campos methodology of course, I just think maintaining our Ligue 1 status has to be top priority this season if we want to attract better players next year. Not wanting to lose the derby against local rivals Olympique Lyonnais, I opted to use a 4-4-2 formation I had been training to try and paper over our defensive deficiencies. The tactic involves us sitting in a low block rather pressing high and being caught out. I also recalled Seydou Traore and Ibou Sane from their loan spells away from the club. Sane in particular I plan to use regularly in the first team. We drew 1-1 in the Rhone derby, Alexis of all people scoring a near post header from a Yvan Maçon cross. We were undone against Brest by two Steve Mounié headers, our defence does not possess a great aerial efficiency, Saidou Sow is frequently caught out, then as we don't win the headers, we don't win the second ball and this is where our problems stem from. Our new tactic came into its own against Lorient as we grabbed a 1-0 victory thanks to Ibou Sane scoring his first goal for the club. We currently sit in 11th in the Ligue 1 table, which is decent enough, I just want to ensure we don't end up fighting a relegation battle. I know we are newly promoted but I feel we have enough quality to play better than we currently are. Lots to ponder and lots to dissect!

September 2023: A bad month. We kicked things off with a goalless draw to Angers which on the face of it wasn't the worst result in the world, sadly we followed this up with a loss to Caen who were promoted along side us last season. These are the games we need to be winning if we are going to avoid a relegation scrap, defensively we are struggling and as we get closer to January I will have to take an in depth look into our defensive statistics to see where the issues are and how we can fix them. Next up was a very strange game against Strasbourg, second choice goalkeeper Boubacar Fall had to step in to replace the injured Etienne Green, it didn't go so well did it? Up next... PSG. We actually played well in this game and were incredibly unlucky as we carved them open several times with Charles Abi hitting the post twice, we contained their attack for the best part of 75 minutes until a Neymar shot from the edge of the area opened the scoring, followed by a Messi free kick.

August 2023: Game time has been a bit limited this last week due to work commitments but we did manage to get our Ligue 1 campaign underway! First though, a couple more preseason friendlies, a comfortable 4-0 victory at home to Feyenoord - a match in which we dominated and played them off the park. The team seems to be on the way to becoming a cohesive unit despite all the additions. Our final preseason game was a loss to Athletic Club Bilbao, a rotated team was fielded so I wasn't too concerned, we played well enough for me to be happy with the performance. Our first game back in the topflight was one that wasn't too bad, as we faced Auxerre who had just survived relegation last season. César Gelabert found the back of the net after eight minutes as Charles Abi held the ball up well and played him in behind the defence to place a low drive beyond the keeper. We dominated the game and arguably should have scored more that one, a win is a win though and three points on the board. Next up was a trip to Rennes, a tough game no doubt but we managed to go ahead as Abi scored a nice goal from the edge of the area, we had to cling on after that as we faced a bombardment from our opponents. They eventually found a way through as Martin Terrier scored an equaliser in the 89th minute. What could have been! We were so close but at least we took a point from a very string opposition. The final game of the month was a wonderful victory against Montpellier, our high press worked a treat as Cher Ndour won the ball back in the final third and placed a curling effort beyond the keeper. Cafaro and Abi, two of last season's stars ensured that we took all three points from a game that we dominated. Not a bad start! Deadline Day Signing: Something of a luxury purchase as he's not necessarily a player we needed but one that we can certainly use. Azzedine Ounahi was available from Angers for €3.4 million, a small fee for someone of his abilities. My view of this signing is that we can potentially make a decent profit on him in just a couple of years, this decision was influenced quite heavily by his resale value. Though of course he can play an important role in our squad currently as he is accomplished in multiple positions and at 23 he is still in the Pre Peak Phase.

Thank you! Thank you. Not too sure what you mean, as far as I know the intensity is calculated automatically by the choice of sessions you put in. Thank you! Thanks Ben! That's exactly my thought process and experiences IRL, when developing youngsters - the physicals aren't they key part of development. Yes, you track the physical development but every player is different and goes through their physical growth and development at different ages and rates compared to others. Improving the technical and tactical abilities of a player is a far better measure of how much ability they have and how much potential they possess. The FFF and Clairefontaine seem to have almost perfected the method of ensuring players get the right training schedules to suit their own individual development to become world class players but also retain the ability to play as part of a cohesive team when called upon by France.

Thanks both - I like the Treq idea. I think Sanchez could be a real asset for us this season. He's only here for a year so I don't necessarily want to build around him but might look to create a tactic that we can use to utilise his skills from the bench. Thanks for stopping by! Thank you... Really feels like training is important in this year's game, maybe that's just me. The like the Clairefontaine philosophy of training the individual to benefit the team. Hopefully we will see some development in the youngsters.

The Clairefontaine Philosophy About an hour outside of Paris lies the French football dream factory, otherwise known as INF Clairefontaine. One of the most celebrate and successful football academies ever to exist. Since its inception in 1988 Clairefontaine has consistently proven its ability to hone the skills of young talents with the potential to become footballing superstars. Distinguished graduates include Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Olivier Giroud, William Gallas and of course more recently, the golden boy of French football -Kylian Mbappe. In 1985 the then president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Fernand Sastre felt that France was lagging behind its German and Italian counterparts on the world stage. Since 1988 the academy has housed the French National Team, then Head Coach Stefan Kovács (the only foreigner to ever manage the national team) felt it would be beneficial for there to be a central hub where young talent could develop the skills which would benefit the national team in the future. It is one of 10 centres of excellence on mainland France, while two more are situated away from the mainland: one on the island of Reunion, and the other on the Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe, also a French territory. The best players are chosen by their clubs to attend a trial at Clairefontaine around Easter time each year. Of the participants, 22 will be selected to stay, train, and learn full time at the academy. It is thought that Kovács was inspired by the training centres of his Hungarian homeland, where individual skills are refined to be used for the good of the collective. Whilst at the academy the players must follow a strict regime that is designed to aid their development. In recent years there has been much more emphasis on the academic side as well as the football. On the pitch the academy aims to produce winners. There is a focus on knowing how to win and how each player can play a role in the team winning. Once again it emphasises the talent of the individual being essential for the team to succeed. Players who struggle to meet the demands are encouraged and afforded time but are constantly assessed. Equally, the coaches have priorities too. Training sessions are recorded and monitored; the coaches’ performances are assessed to ensure that the players are receiving the highest quality of coaching. Under the centre’s philosophy, the coach must consider the age of the player and set objectives, so they have the best chance of improving. The philosophy at Clairefontaine starts with the desire for individual technical perfection: · Being able to turn at speed · Improving weaker foot · Tactical decision making. The students are put through their paces in highly specific and regimented drills before ever touching a full-sized pitch. French Football though, is not concerned with playing philosophy such as Barcelona’s La Masia and is far more focused on individual player development. While all the youth teams play in a 4-3-3 as the FFF believe this is the most flexible formation, the stress is on producing the best individual players in relation to the team. Jean-Claude Lefargue the director of the programme, told The Telegraph in 2018 that France’s coaches are starting to embrace the philosophy of Clairefontaine: “All the coaches of the professional clubs come through Clairefontaine. Over the years we have been able to convince them of the philosophy, about what they have to find in a player. And so we have started to have this common idea across France. It takes time to convince others, to train coaches, but little by little we have all started to the same thing.” When Lefargue mentions a “philosophy” he is talking about player development, not tactics. Lefargue and Clairefontaine produce incredibly astute players that are tactically flexible and technically skilled, able to play whatever roles they are assigned. The French National Team has played in an abundance of different styles throughout the years, for example in 1998 they were incredibly solid defensively and prioritised the strength of their defensive line which included Lillian Thuram, Marcel Desailly and Frank LeBouef while relying on individual brilliance from Zidane and Petit to see them through. Whereas two years later in Euro 2000, Thierry Henry, and Nicolas Anelka, two Clairefontaine graduates, were leading the line and the style of play transformed to suit the style of these two leading strikers. The French played swift attacking football with speed, precision and power which saw them ease to victory. Within the academy, in the first year the emphasis is on improving with the ball, focusing largely on individual development. In the second, the players work on in game structures and awareness, where players will develop their skills within small, sided games. The idea of developing in a footballing sense also commands players to excel in their mental development. There are three tests that each player needs to go through on a regular basis and the results are constantly analysed and compared. The tests are based on three key areas – psychological, medical, and physical – with the most advanced systems, modern methods and state-of-the-art technology playing a part in formulating the results. The relationship between the FFF, Clairefontaine and Ligue 1 has seen a vast pool of players produced, which allowed Didier Deschamps to pick the second-youngest squad at the 2018 World Cup. Such is the depth of the talent in France, Anthony Martial, Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette, Kingsley Coman and Aymeric Laporte were all left out of the squad. Clairefontaine has many admirers including the English FA who commissioned the building of St. Georges Park and created the ‘England DNA’ philosophy with the same intention, to create the perfect player for the English national team. The French football academy has shown its ability to produce a never-ending convey belt of Golden Generations since its establishment. They are probably the greatest modern footballing country, equipped with a simple task - develop the best possible players. The Clairefontaine Philosophy in FM? As explained above, the idea is to create individual players with skillsets that can aid the collective. In other words, develop the individual and the team will also develop, after all you are only as strong as your weakest player. I have put together some training schedules with the focus on developing the technical and tactical skills that the Clairefontaine academy focuses on in order to keep churning out talents such as Henry, Mbappe and co. General Training: Technical Training: Tactical Training: Possession Training: Two Game Week:

July 2023: Transfers Out: The transfer window is upon us and preparation for our Ligue 1 campaign begins. Firstly, we said goodbye to some players who have either gone out on loan to get some first team experience or have departed permanently as they weren't good enough for Ligue 1. We raked in a fair amount of money from these departures especially as the board already gave us a transfer budget of €21 million. The likes of Leo Petrot and Ibrahima Wadji weren't really good enough for us in Ligue 2 so it was an easy decision to accept any offers for them. Jimmy Giraudon is a player I would actually have liked to stay with us but Reims came in with a offer and the he made it clear he wanted to leave so rather than disrupt the squad harmony I let him go. Troyes were happy to give us €500k for veteran keeper Matthieu Dreyer which I thought was a fair deal as we have a good replacement at the club already in Boubacar Fall. Jack Jenkins a young player released by Leeds that our DoF picked up was loaned out to Cambridge United for first team experience. Dylan Chambost and Benjamin Bouchouari wanted first team football which I couldn't guarantee so I was more than happy for them to go on loan. Newly relegated Nantes and Toulouse seemed to bid on the majority of players we transfer listed, the former took Lenny Pintor and Anthony Briançon off our hands. Pintor was a difficult one as at 22 I feel he could have developed into a good player however he was on quite a high wage in relation to his squad status and there was no way he was going to agree to a lesser deal. With 12 months left on his contract I thought better to offload him now that lose him on a free. Monconduit and Lobry departed for Toulouse, Monconduit was an easy one, he is 32 years old and one of the top earners in the squad, it made sense to let him leave while Lobry wanted first team football which again I couldn't guarantee. The remaining three transfers were youngsters sent out on loan for experience. Transfers In: Potential Phase: 17-20 Breno Bidon - Free Transfer A young Brazilian midfielder who looks like he could fill the Segundo Volante role for us in the future. He has the trait 'tries killer balls often' which I like in a midfielder and despite lacking in aggression he is a good all-round player with plenty of time to develop. He has gone on loan to Guarani FC to hopefully get some first team experience. Cher Ndour - Benfica - Free The opportunity to sign such a talented player on a free transfer was impossible to refuse. I see Cher as our starting Attacking Midfielder, don't get me wrong Abdiholiqov has been brilliant but I did only ever see him as a squad player and I feel that this guy really is a step up in terms of quality. Looking to the future there is a very high chance that Ndour will prove to be very profitable for us in the future. Scouting Africa has proven to be fruitful once again with our next four acquisitions. Diagne I have mentioned previously, he and N'Diaye will play a role in our first team squad this season while I have opted to allow Sané and Traore to leave on loan to Amiens and Niort respectively. I have taken this decision as I feel it is important they both get first team football this year as I would like them to come back and become first team players for us next season. Regular outings in Ligue 2 should ensure they continue to develop, I have the option to recall both of them should they not receive the required amount of football. Ibou Sané - Generation Foot - €475k Amadou N'Diaye - AS Pikine €105k Mélèye Diagne - Diambars FC - €120k Seydou Traore - RC Abidjan - €325k Pre Peak Phase: 21-23 Kofi Balmer - Crystal Palace - Free Released from Crystal Palace, Kofi Balmer hasn't lived up to his potential and I'm not entirely sure he ever will but I am willing to take a chance on him. He joins us on the basis that he will provide cover in central defence or defensive midfield should we require. I don't see us making a huge profit on him in the future but given that we have paid nothing to bring him in, a small fee will be sufficient. Han-Noah Massengo - Bristol City - Free Massengo I have mentioned previously, he and Beka Beka will be battling it out for that DM role and he will go on to be a quality player I am confident. Plus he is French so it's nice to bring a home grown player in. Facundo Colidio - Inter Milan - Free WIth Moukoko returning to Dortmund we were in the market for another striker, I don't know how well Charles Abi will fair with out step up to Ligue 1 so I wanted a player that could battle for a first team place and Colidio is just that. Available on a free transfer from Inter Milan I feel like he will get plenty of football for us and could step into ABi's shoes very easily. Tyreece John-Jules - Arsenal - Free Released by Arsenal, TJJ was available on a free transfer and was asking for a relatively low wage. I'm bringing him in to provide cover in the wide areas, I don't expect him to break through and command a place in the starting eleven but I certainly think as an option off the bench, we could do a lot worse. José Marsà - Sporting CP - €1.5 million An absolute bargain! I truly couldn't believe it when I was alerted to the fact that Marsà was available for such a small fee. He will be our starting left sided Centre Back. His value has already risen to €6 million before he has even played a game for us. Again, I don't think he will be with us for a substantial amount of time as I reckon if he plays well, some bigger clubs could come knocking but he could command a hefty transfer fee. Frederico Pereira - Liverpool FC (Uruguay) - €1.4 million Maçon was brilliant for us last season but one of the gaping holes in our squad was that there was no one who could step in when he was unavailable. It usually resulted in us having to play a DM out of position. So Frederico Pereira comes in to be the understudy. He has such quality that he could eventually become our starting Right Back especially as Maçon continues to attract interest from Premier League clubs. Alexis Beka Beka - OGC Nice - €6.75 million After an excellent loan spell, I just had to bring him back. Truthfully I couldn't stand the idea of such a good player stagnating in Nice's reserve team. The transfer fee was a decent amount but one we could easily afford and one I am extremely confident we will recoup and then some. Peak Phase: 24-28 Toti - Wolverhampton Wanderers - €700k We needed someone who could step into Marsà's shoes should be become injured or suspended and Toti was highly recommended to me by the recruitment team. There were a lot of clubs interested in him as Wolves had set an asking price of €700k. At 24 years old he is at the lower end of the peak phase and I believe we can get a few years out of him before looking to move him on. I don't think we will see a big return on Toti but I think we could at least double our money. Experienced: 29+ Alexis Sanchez - Free Transfer We have a very young squad and I felt an experienced player would be useful in terms of leadership both on and off the pitch. Alexis had been released on a free transfer and still appears to have excellent abilities (despite the lack of strength). I didn't want to sign a player purely for the experience alone, I wanted him to still be able to provide us with an input on the pitch and I think Sanchez will be able to do just that. St Etienne 2023/24 Squad: I am quite pleased with our squad for the upcoming season, Mahdi Camara and Yvan Neyou return from loan spells away from the club last season to become valuable depth options for us. Boubacar Fall has been promoted from the second team to be the understudy to Etienne Green. Charles Abi will start the season leading the line but with Colidio and Sanchez we have two players who could take that place should he not be bagging the goals for us. Preseason: Our preseason fixtures went rather well in July as we played well in all the games, winning against sides such as Nantes and Bordeaux was expected. We did lose at the hands of Real Madrid but we played very well, we were incredibly unlucky to fall to a late defeat.

Thank you - this system seems to suit Abi, it enables him to be in the right place at the right time. Definitely, my only target for next season is to avoid relegation. Don't get me wrong I'd like to completely avoid a relegation battle if possible but main thing is to stay in ligue 1 and then we can build on that.

May and June 2023 Our unbeaten run continued as we moved through May. Charles Abi notched up his 20th goal of the season in the 3-0 victory agains Guingamp, this victory meant that avoiding a loss in our next game would essentially seal the title for us. A comfortable 3-0 victory against Laval meant that we were crowned champions! At the start of the season I questioned our title credentials, I didn't think our squad was strong enough to successfully battle for the title. I don't really know what I was so worried about, we just seemed to carry on winning. Abi and Moukoko have both been phenomenal for us this season, with the latter joining us at a time when Abi's form was dropping off slightly. We finished May with another two victories as Mathieu Cafaro scored the only goal against Quevilly-Rouen while Moukoko and Lenny Pintor saw to it that we walked away with all three points from a trip to Caen. The final game of the season saw us play Valenciennes at home, Moukoko once again ensured we finished the season on a high. As we had guaranteed our promotion, the budgets for next year were announced. We have a significant war chest to be able to strengthen our squad, which we will definitely need to do if we are going to avoid a relegation battle. I made two pre transfer signings this month firstly Mathieu Cafaro will be joining us permanently as we activated our €450k option to buy in his current loan deal, Cafaro has been ever present for us this season and managed to score 11 goals playing on the wings. At 25 he is classed as being in the 'Peak Phase', one of the few players I intend to buy in this phase. We may look to move him on in a few seasons but we are in a good position to make a significant profit on him. In an ideal world I would like to sign Alexis Beka Beka on a permanent deal, however DM is an area I feel we are lacking particularly as I wish to offload Monconduit as he is 32 years old and in the 'Experienced Phase' meaning this is our last chance to get any sort of money for him. I am willing to consider any bids that should come in for Briançon and Giraudon due to their ages and squad status. My scouts drew my attention to Han-Noah Massengo - he was refusing to sign a new deal at Bristol City so we could approach him directly. At 21 years old he is in the 'Pre Peak Phase' meaning we still have plenty of time to develop him and look to sell him for a profit. After some further scouting I decided to go for it, should we fail to sign Beka Beka, he will be our starting Ball Winning Midfielder, if we can hash out a deal with Nice for Alexis Beka Beka then we have an excellent understudy in Massengo who will get plenty of game time over the season.

He's been quite good for us, he started out playing as a Half Back but then we changed to the 4-2-3-1 which sees him play as a BWM. Looking at his stats he averages 2.27 tackles won per 90, 93% pass completion with an average rating of 7.2. I'd say he is very reliable and just a good all round DM. His aggression does mean he picks up quite a few bookings which I kind of expected when deploying him as a ball winner.

April 2023: Our unbeaten run continued throughout April, beginning with a 1-0 victory at home to Niort. We left it late but thankfully Youssoufa Moukoko came off the bench to ensure we took all three points from the game. Charles Abi found the back of the net against Paris FC, whilst his form has fallen off slightly compared to the start of the season, he still scores vital goals for us and is attracting interest from Serie A clubs such as Udinese and Torino. A Moukoko double ensured we saw off Grenoble, Right Back Yvann Maçon has been something of a creative force for us this season and he grabbed another two assists in this game. Next up was Metz who had fallen off the pace and found themselves in 5th, somewhat surprising given the quality their squad possesses - should they not gain promotion it could be worth looking at some of their players as possible transfer targets. We closed the moth with a very poor 1-1 draw with Rodez. We were trailing for most of the game but thankfully Lenny Pintor came off the bench and tucked away a penalty to bring the scores level. We also received notification that our Under 19s team had reached a play off spot as they were top of their Under 19 league.

The system works so well, Cafaro and Gelabert are instructed to switch sides throughout the game and that seems to be really effective. Thank you - one club man is a rare thing these days but I always thought Loic Perrin was a bit of an unsung hero at St Etienne so it would be good to be able to emulate his loyalty in game.

Really enjoying following this save - been meaning to comment for a while so apologies for taking so long. Love an Austrian save. What a game against Sturm Graz! Spectators certainly got their money's worth that day! Enjoy being top of the table!

Thank you! Agreed - that's kind of why I want to see if we can actually develop a player who wants to stay with us, requires loyalty from their side but I have to ensure the club continues to grow so all of our best players actually want to remain at the club. Sow and Moueffek have been brilliant for me this season. Moukoko coming in has really helped us maintain our promotion push especially as Abi's form has fallen off slightly. I'm unsure if we will try and loan him again - I think I will look to bring in a striker permanently, I'm don't really want to spend too much time and money developing players who come in on loan for them to just return to their parent club. Thank you! Much appreciated! Yes, I think you might be right there, we've just had the first youth intake of the save - there's a couple of players who look they could turn out to be really good. Just overhauled my U18 coaching staff to ensure we've got the right personalities in there. Moueffek and Sow are 21 and 20. They are both quality players so I plan to keep them as long as possible. Will remain on the look out for our potential Loic Perrin of this save.

March 2023: The month of March saw our unbeaten run continue, we have stuck with our 4-2-3-1 and It seems to be doing the trick! We kicked the month off with a 0-0 draw away to Bordeaux in a game where neither team took their chances it was probably a fair result. We followed this up with a 4-1 victory against Amiens with help from a Mathieu Cafaro double. He is currently on loan with us from Belgian side Standard Liege, we do have an option to buy included in the loan for a fee of €450k and I have to say, I am seriously considering exercising that option. Cafaro has been in good form for us this season and is a player that I feel is capable of stepping up to Ligue 1 level should we gain promotion. The loanee scored again in the final game of the month as we beat Le Havre by two goals to one. Youth Intake: As it is the month of March we received our first youth intake of the save, back in December we were promised an 'excellent intake' and I must say, for the most part that is exactly what we got. Here is a look at the four most exciting prospects: The stand out of the intake is centre back Chancel Mulenda. Whilst his technical attributes need some work, there is the making of great defender there. He has excellent tackling, good decisions and bravery. As with most youth players, he hasn't quite developed physically yet but I am confident you will see this guy in our first team in a few years. The next player worth drawing your attention to is Nicolas Ollier - a left back/defensive midfielder who possesses fantastic determination and natural fitness. He is already a fairly decent crosser of the ball and has the trait 'gets forward whenever possible' so he will be a great attacking outlet for us should we utilise him as a left back. Younes El Kaddouri looks like he could be a very good striker in the future. He possesses good technical abilities for his age and has excellent natural fitness as well as good acceleration and pace. Another defensive midfielder in Gwendal Leonard but honestly I think he looks like he could develop into a fantastic player. Maybe the one I am most intrigued to watch develop from this intake.

That's a decent run of results from a tough schedule with the UEL fixtures in there, unlucky with the defeat to Gala. Seydou looks to have hit the ground running! Sarr looks like he could solve your problems in the DM department - big fan of him irl.

February 2023: February turned out to be a phenomenal month for us, we kicked the month off with a 3-0 victory at home to relegation threatened FC Annecy. The following game saw our Coupe de France campaign come to an end as we suffered defeat at the hands of Ligue 1 side Lorient. I can't say I was disappointed with this result as I want to focus on our league campaign so exiting the cup gives us the opportunity to do just that. Next up was that 'six pointer' agains second place Dijon, a victory would take us top of the league, a loss would see us fall off the pace. What a performance! Our unbeaten run continues. One of the best games we've played all season, new signing César Gelabert was brilliant throughout the game and managed to open his account with a header on 39 minutes. Our 4-2-3-1 formation sees us play very narrow and very often we have three or four people in the box who could get on the end of a cross or through pass. We counter press and are able to regain possession extremely well which enables us to utilise the pace of the likes of Bobir Abdiholiqov and Charles Abi. A hard fought victory against Nimes was secured thanks to a hat trick from Youssoufa Moukoko, this was followed by a five star showing against Pau which saw Abi continue his good form by adding two more goals to his season tally. The table after the Dijon game looked like this:

A one club man is essentially a player who spends his entire career at a single club, largely out of loyalty and love for the club. The player often becomes synonymous with the ethos of the club and the community. The idea of a one club man is becoming less and less common as football becomes increasingly guided by financial gain and agents are becoming much more influential in the decisions made by the players they represent. Footballers are rarely privy to the negotiations of their own contracts anymore with their chosen representatives given the power to thrash out a deal with the club and should terms not be agreed, said player will be swiftly touted out to gage if any interested parties are willing to engage in formal talks. The landscape of transfers in football was forever changed in 1995 with the 'Bosman ruling' this rule meant that a player could leave his current club at the end of his contract without the club having to receive a fee. This gave the players huge leverage when negotiating contracts with their potential employers and meant they were able to demand larger salaries and signing on fees due to the lack of transfer fee. This in turn placed a lot of power in the hands of agents. Around the time, the ruling facilitated big moves for Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert (Ajax to AC Milan, 1996 and 1997), Brian Laudrup (Rangers to Chelsea, 1998) and Steve McManaman (Liverpool to Real Madrid, 1999) among many others. Another reason the one club man is seen less and less is due to players looking to prolong their careers by dropping down the footballing pyramid and playing at a less taxing level such as John Terry signing for Aston Villa. Others look to move abroad to still be able to play frequently such as the influx of players who head to the MLS (Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, David Villa, Steven Gerrard, Nani, David Beckham - the latter making the MLS a much more viable option for footballers). There are a few footballers though who saw out the entirety of their careers at just one club, a few of these players: Paulo Maldini - A.C. Milan - In a career that spanned more than 25 years, Maldini only ever stepped onto a football pitch wearing the red and black of A.C. Milan. He made over 900 appearances for the Rossoneri, winning seven league titles, five Champions League titles and Club World Cup and so many more in a trophy ladened career. He has also gone on to become Sporting Director. Maldini followed in his fathers footsteps playing for Milan and his two sons also were coached through the academy. It's impossible to think of A.C. Milan without thinking of Paulo Maldini. Tony Adams - Arsenal - Should I say, 'Mr Arsenal' as he is known. The former Arsenal and England captain spent his entire career at the North London club making over 600 appearances for the gunners. Adams won four league titles during his time and three FA Cups. It's no secret that Tony Adams battled with alcoholism throughout his career, Adams has credited the arrival of Arsene Wenger as a key factor in his ability to stay sober. The Frenchman had a good understanding of psychology and was able to be a constant support to Adams who reward his manager's loyalty by captaining the side to two league and cup doubles. Adams retired from professional football in 2002 and is still very much loved by the Arsenal faithful. Carles Puyol - Barcelona - 'El Tiburón' captained the Catalan giants for ten years and picked up countless trophies during his career. A product of the famous La Masia academy, the club were in fact willing to sell Puyol in 1998 after receiving a bid from Malaga, the young defender refused to leave and wanted to force his way into the first team. The following year he was promoted to the first team where he would stay until his retirement in 2014. During his time at the Camp Nou, Puyol won six league titles, three Champions League's and two Club World Cup's, not to forget the World Cup and European Championship with the Spanish national team. In 2011, Puyol paid for Miki Roqué (a young footballer from his home province) to undergo specialist treatment in his ongoing battle against cancer, sadly Roqué passed away in June 2012. Other one club men include: Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Francesco Totti, Matt Le Tissier, Jamie Carragher, Xavi. Who was St. Etienne's One Club Man? Loic Perrin is the epitome of a one club man, born in St. Etienne he was scouted by the club in 1997 at the age of twelve, his commitment and work ethic meant that he was able to continue through the academy before being promoted to the first team in 2003. Perrin made his ASSE debut aged 18 whilst the club was playing in Ligue 2. The young centre back became a stalwart at the heart of St Etienne defence and was soon handed the captains armband of his hometown club. Perrin went on to make 470 appearances for Les Verts and stayed loyal to them throughout the turbulent times, despite various opportunities to move away. Perrin himself stated that he would find it 'weird' to play for another club. The closest Perrin came to leaving was a brief flirtation with Arsenal in 2014/15, The Gunners were serious suitors of the St. Etienne captain with Arsene Wenger reportedly a big fan of him but a formal offer was never made, likely due to Wenger's indecisiveness in the transfer market during his later years at the Emirates. In 2020 Perrin called time on his career after 23 years at the club in total, he stepped out in the green of St Etienne for the last time in the Coupe de France Final against PSG, the game didn't end how the Les Verts captain would have liked as he was shown a red card for a foul on Kylian Mbappe. St Etienne continued to battle but Les Parisiens seized the trophy with a 1-0 victory. St Etienne have recently retired the number 24 in honour of Perrin and have also installed him as their Sporting Director in the hope that he will be able to steady the ship at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Looking for Loic in FM23: It would be wonderful to have a player emulate Perrin's loyalty throughout this save, a player that can captain the side over a number of years and be at the core of our successes. We currently have two potential candidates at the club: Aïmen Moueffek Positives: Recently agreed a new deal to take effect at the end of the season Has been a regular starter Product of the youth system Showed no desire to leave when bigger clubs were interested 4.5 - 5 star potential Negatives: Balanced personality Lack of determination Saïdou Sow Positives: Fairly determined personality Product of the youth system Become a regular stater this season Negatives: May want to leave due to interest being shown in him 3 - 4 star potential ability We will have to wait and see how the save unfolds to find out if either of these two players will be able to emulate Loic and become a club legend but I imagine it is going to be interesting to see what happens.

Thank you Matty. Abi has been in amazing form this season, really enjoying the Advanced Forward role this year, finding it works the channels so well compared to previous years. Yes! Can't believe we picked him for 26k, he's developing nicely as a number 10 as well. His pace is proving to be so useful when we counter. Thank you! I've had many enjoyable FM saves with Lyon over the years, decided to take the reigns of their bitter rivals this year, such a massive club with a great history that deserves to be in a much better position than they currently find themselves. Cameron - thank you! I know I've told you before but you are such an inspiration when it comes to documenting an FM save. Yes, there is an incredible amount of talent coming out of Africa and as African players are not subject to foreign player rules in France there is a pathway to Europe and the opportunity to pick up some great talents for smaller fees. This is going to be pretty vital to us since we can't compete with PSG's Qatari money.

January 2023: As the new year rolled around I was hopeful that we could continue our good form and break into the top two, which we would need to do sooner rather than later if we are going to get promoted back to Ligue 1 this season. As mentioned previously, our main source of goals has been the ever present Charles Abi, as influential and important as he has been I have noticed that he does have a tendency to go missing in 'big' games. Plus, if he were to pick up an injury that would keep him out for a number of weeks there isn't really anyone I would trust to step into his shoes. Given that we are obviously Ligue 2 we can't necessarily attract the calibre of forward that I would be happy with until we are promoted so I made the decision that we would enter the market for a short term fix, we needed a striker who could step into Abi's shoes when required and who would be able to hit the ground running as we have a very pact schedule coming up after the winter World Cup. A well known young striker appeared on the loan list and after a scout report I was more than sure he would be able to help us out for six months, so we did this. We love a 1-0! The results in January saw us continue our good form and saw Yvann Maçon really come into his own, he's been such a good player for us this season that his stats deserve a more detailed look (which I will do at a later date, it's been a bit of a mad start back at work so game time is limited this month). Charles Abi continued his good form in a 1-0 victory at home to newly promoted Laval. New signing Youssoufa Moukoko made his debut in the Coupe de France game against fellow Ligue 2 side FC Annecy, the Dortumund loanee bagged himself a goal to cap off an impressive debut. First choice goalkeeper Etienne Green picked up a twisted ankle in training so that meant Matthieu Dreyer would be getting a run in the first team for the foreseeable, he stepped in with a Player Of The Match performance in a pretty drab 0-0 against Niort, a game where neither team had their shooting boots on. An early goal from Moukoko sealed a 1-0 victory against Caen in the Coupe de France. We followed this up with another two 1-0 victories against Sochaux and Bastia. At the end of the month we found ourselves still sitting in third place, however the gap between ourselves and league leaders Caen was down to two points and only a single point between us and second place Dijon, who were are due to face in February - a potential six pointer if you will. Deadline Day Singing: We were beginning to look a little short on numbers as I had let attacking midfielders Benjamin Bouchouari and Victor Lobry leave on loan, the latter has been complaining about his lack of minutes but I am happy with the way we are playing currently and Bobir Abdiholiqov has really made that number 10 role his own so I can't envisage Lobry getting much game time with us so will likely be looking to offload him in the summer. In the mean time our affiliate team Clermont Foot came in with a loan offer for him and he was more than happy to leave. Bouchouari on the other hand is a promising young player who I sent out on loan so not to stifle his development, Dutch second tier side Ado Den Haag came in and offered him regular playing time so I accepted. I was on the look out for a player who could mostly play out wide as our two wing players are instructed to switch positions so I wanted someone who was comfortable on either side as neither Wadji or Pintor have been outstanding, Cafaro is a nailed on starter, primarily on the Left but we really needed an upgrade on the right, plus I wanted someone who could also play as a ten if required. César Gelabert is our latest addition, on the transfer list at Osasuna, he was available for €925k which was a mere drop in the ocean from our €7.4 million transfer budget. At 22 years old he is in the Pre Peak Phase which means we should be able to get a good few years out of him before we have to look at moving him on. After we signed him is value immediately jumped up to €2.8 - €6.4 million so I think there is the potential there for us to receive a significant profit in the future. Overall he looks to be a quality player, he is strong on both feet, excellent in possession of the ball, good passer and is a flair player which is something we have been lacking, plus he does not have any player traits which means we can train him in the traits that will best suit our team. All in all, I am very happy with our January transfer window. Creating a wage structure: Managing finances will be key throughout this save, we are never going to be able to compete with the likes of PSG so I feel it is important to create a structure that can be adhered to in order to make sure we don't overpay and waste money on players who don't necessarily warrant such an outlay. This is what I have come up with: At St. Etienne we currently have a wage budget of €259,270 for the purposes of this I am going to round it up to €260k just so it's an easier number to deal with. In order to work out how much money should be allocated to each player, it is important to assess their status within the squad: Key Players - 5 Regular Starters - 6 Squad Players - 8 Youth Players - 56 Players in total at the club. Then assessing how much of the wage budget should each group be allocated this is what I came up with: Key Players - 30% Regular Starters - 30 % Squad Players - 25% Youth Players - 15% Doing the maths: Key Players: 30% of €260,000 = €78,000. €78,000 divided by 5 key players = a maximum wage of €15,600 per week. Regular Starters: 30% of €260,000 = €78,000. €78,000 divided by 6 regular starters = a maximum wage of €13,000 per week. Squad Players: 25% of €260,000 = €52,000. €52,000 divided by 8 squad players = a maximum wage of €8,125 per week. Youth Players: 15% of €260,000 = €39,000. €39,000 divided by 56 youth players = a maximum wage of €696 per week.

Looking forward to seeing you implement the Campos method, I like that you're targeting the young players, gives you the opportunity to develop them with the team DNA at the core.