FM08 : Olympique Lyon : Les Gones

[Agent Tiro]

Saivet is annoyed that I didn't let him hold talks with Arsenal, hell they only offered me 3 million!

Worst thing is, his contract expires at end of the season and he won't renew Well not at the minute. So i'm gonna try and get him happy before january

In other news i've been offered the Inter, Liverpool and Man Utd jobs during pre-season. All of which have been declined

[Purefun]

Originally posted by Agent Tiro:

Saivet is annoyed that I didn't let him hold talks with Arsenal, hell they only offered me 3 million! Those cheap bastards.

Worst thing is, his contract expires at end of the season and he won't renew Well not at the minute. So i'm gonna try and get him happy before january. I hope it for you mate.

In other news i've been offered the Inter, Liverpool and Man Utd jobs during pre-season. All of which have been declined I would think so.

[Agent Tiro]

Everyones at it, i'm getting offers of 3m from any club in a top division with that much money!

However started the season well, won the champions cup once again, and scoring for fun in first two league games. Going to try and not rotate the squad as much this year. Keep some players for cup's and some for league. Only drop players after bad performances.

[Purefun]

Originally posted by Agent Tiro:

Everyones at it, i'm getting offers of 3m from any club in a top division with that much money!

However started the season well, won the champions cup once again, and scoring for fun in first two league games. Going to try and not rotate the squad as much this year. Keep some players for cup's and some for league. Only drop players after bad performances.

Set Saivet asking price at 30 mil. Problem solved.

[Agent Tiro]

it's at 100m i aint risking any less. all my players are set at 100m

[liam_everton89]

Hi

Just a quaestion to anyone whos second season or beyond,

I presume he has, but can Clerc still cut it 2nd season (i presum so) and how much do you think he'd go for,

Also what kind of prive do you think I'm going to be paying for Ben Arfa?

[Purefun]

Agent Tiro

100 mil. One should be stupid enough to pay.

Liam

I am in sixth season and he is still class. And still going to use him in seventh season.

Cost +10 mil i guess.

Ben Arfa would go for around 20 mil.

[liam_everton89]

Jesus, more than I thought,

Seems they wont settle for less than £17m for Clerc,

I'm not even going to attempt Ben Arfa,

Ah well theyre sniffing around R.Albiol so I might try set up an exchange.

[Agent Tiro]

Liam, if you want to buy all the great players at lyon why didn't you just stay at lyon for that second season

[Purefun]

Originally posted by liam_everton89:

Jesus, more than I thought,

Seems they wont settle for less than £17m for Clerc,

I'm not even going to attempt Ben Arfa,

Ah well theyre sniffing around R.Albiol so I might try set up an exchange.

Wouldn't do that mate Albiol is class and there are more than enough wingers and rb's to go for.

[Spike]

I have almost finished my pre-season transfer activity, which looks like this:

IN

Samir Nasri - Free

Asamoah Gyan - Free

Distel Zola - Free

Jakub Dvorak - £14.75m

OUT

Mathieu Bodmer - £6.75m to Schalke

Loic Remy - Free + 50% sell-on to Leverkusen

I am also trying to offload Morais & Keita, but due to their high wage demands I am finding it difficult. If I can't sell them I will farm them out on loan to reduce the wage bill, which currently stands at £1m p/w It's a good job the stadium is being expanded, we are going to need the extra income.

Purefun

Forgot to respond to your earlier question about De Gea. He is my reserve team keeper at the moment, but when he has been called on to play in the first team he hasn't let me down.

[liam_everton89]

Originally posted by purefun:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by liam_everton89:

Jesus, more than I thought,

Seems they wont settle for less than £17m for Clerc,

I'm not even going to attempt Ben Arfa,

Ah well theyre sniffing around R.Albiol so I might try set up an exchange.

Wouldn't do that mate Albiol is class and there are more than enough wingers and rb's to go for. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I suppose yeah, Samba and Albiol have been solid so far.

[Purefun]

Spike

Great free transfers. And you got your regen.

Bodmer is still valued at 18.75 mil in my game. And why should you sell Morais didn't he perform great last season.

Thx for the reply.

[Spike]

Purefun

Morais's still a great player, but he probably won't play much. I will only sell him though if I can get a decent amount for him so he may still have a future at Lyon.

[Lisandro Lopez]

Cheers hulk, I'm just about to load up FM and carry on with my Lyon save.

[Agent Tiro]

Henri Saivet has announced his intention to leave the club on a bosman at the end of the season

Anyone know a way i can turn this around. He's just starting to really come good. Selling him isn't an option are people will only pay 4 million tops.

[Purefun]

Originally posted by Agent Tiro:

Henri Saivet has announced his intention to leave the club on a bosman at the end of the season

Anyone know a way i can turn this around. He's just starting to really come good. Selling him isn't an option are people will only pay 4 million tops.

How much are you paying him right now?

[Agent Tiro]

15k a week, board will let me pay up to 99k a week, which would make him earn more a week than the next highest paid person would in 3

[Purefun]

Originally posted by Agent Tiro:

15k a week, board will let me pay up to 99k a week, which would make him earn more a week than the next highest paid person would in 3

Offer him 55 k a week + key player and work +5.000 a week everytime he declines

[Agent Tiro]

i'll do that come december time. see if i can get him happy first.

[theincrediblehulk]

I've not had any time to play since yesterday and have only just got back to the game. The transfer window has only just closed and here's a summary so far:

Played 7 games so far:

1. Lyon 2:0 Sochaux (Champions Trophy)

2. Lyon 5:1 Valenciennes

3. Metz 1:3 Lyon

4. Lyon 2:2 LOSC

5. Sochaux 1:2 Lyon

6. Lorient 1:3 Lyon

7. Lyon 2:0 Caen

A good start I reckon. Top of the league atm on goal difference (joint top with LOSC). I've got some questions though which will come at the end! As some of you might know, I'm an Arsenal supporter. And guess who I land in the CL group stages?! This is my group:

1. Arsenal

2. Lyon

3. Schalke

4. Kobenhaven

As you can see, a very tough group. Schalke is by no means easy. The one advantage I do have however, is that I bought their GK!!

Update of transfers:

Transfers In

01. Alberto Zapater - 7M

02. Manuel Neuer - 6M

03. Habib Bellaid - 4.5M

04. Jeremy Mathieu - 3.1M

05. Christopher Samba - 1.5M

06. Abdou Razack Traore - 900K

07. Mamadou Sakho - 500K

08. Miralem Pjanic - 400K

09. Lubos Kalouda - 375K

10. Frederic Duplus - 275K

11. Joris Delle - 240K

...............................

12. Edison Cavani - 9.5M

13. Aquino - 575K

14. Levan Kenia - 500K

15. Damien Le Tallec - 200K

16. Matthieu Saunier - 325K

17. Heiko Schulz - 475K (regen, German, 15 years old, CB - looks good and scouts say "could be quality player"!)

Transfers Out

1. Sidney Govou - 9M (Newcastle)

2. Patrick Muller - 2M (RC Lens)

3. Jean Alain Boumsong - Loan (Geneo - 60% wages)

4. Francesco Migliore - Loan (Verona)

...........................................

5. Raphael Ville - Free

6. Stephane Monsanto - Free

7. Stephen Ettien - Free

Right thats the transfers. Cavani has started well getting 4 in 4. Benzema has 3 in 6 and 3 assists as well. Toulalan is doing great getting 1 goal and 5 assists in 7 games. Neuer has been a great buy. He's already saved my hide a few times due to defensive lapses.

So what have I learnt? Well, its not as easy as I thought. The games are a little tough. I just cant seem to retain possession at all. And keep concending goals all the time. I've only got 2 clean sheets in the 7 games. Thats not too bad but the other team gets a lot of chances to score and gets too much possession (as much as 67% at times!). So this leads me to my first question: What is the best tactic for Lyon? Especially one which will allow me to retain a lot more possession. I really need one here as I get VERY annoyed if my team doesnt dominate possession (Arsenal fan you see!) .

Second observation I made is that in France teams tend to play a LOT through the middle. Is this really the case or is it just a conincidence in the first 7 games?? Most of my goals came that way. If this is, I might need to play someone in the proper DM role. Also, my first question was about a tactic/formation. If this is true, I'm guessing my formation should focus on a lot of defensive work in the middle?

Thirdly, I need to know how much I can get for Keida in Jan. I've played him and he's done well. However, he's been coming up with the "not feeling confident" PR things the last 2 games. I hate players like that, so he's gone. Dont care if he's a good player. I dont want any jokers like that in my team (sorry Purefun. I know you like him a lot!).

Fourthly, can anyone please tell me what the "joker transfer window" is? I've just entered it and I dont want any team to make a joker out of me suddenly!

Finally, any other comments or suggestions? Everything welcome!

Now i'm happy as long as there are french youngsters to break through.

Sorry but thats what i meant, if you are losing money the chairman also accepts bids so do wait till the last week to buy an extra striker if he is needed.

I've not got anything against French youngsters Purefun! Its just that the guys I usually sign were being given "decent" ratings at best by my scouts. Am gonna get Saivet asap though. Am also looking at more French players next year. Armand Traore is firmly in my sights as I'll need a LB next year seeing as this will be Grosso's one and only year with me. Dont like players over 29 in my team. Juninho will stick around but mainly to tutor. If not Traore, I'll have to go for Taiwo as there are no other good LB's around who'll be affordable. Traore might not be either actually but worth a shot. Lloris will probably be at the club too next year as I'll sell Coupet. His stats will start dropping soon anyway. Ofcourse, I'll be looking at the likes of Nasri, Menez etc and see if any of them is available. But dont think they're realistic. Might get in Diarra though if I feel the need for another DM. Lets see. Any others I should think about? Is there any chance of luring Henry to Lyon is season 2 or 3??

[Lisandro Lopez]

Q1)

Best tactic, or most common one used for Lyon are:

- 4-4-2

- 4-3-2-1/4-2-3-1

- 3-5-2 (looks at purefun )

How much possession are you having in a game? I usually find for me with my 4-4-2 short/slow tempo retains possession a lot better for this. But you should also take into account your opposition formation which are usually 4-3-2-1 which would mean they technically have more around the midfield area (roughly not quite literally true, am I making sense here? Maybe not lol)

Q2)

Depends on the team, but yes I would say its more focused through the middle than old’ English style wing play.

Q3)

Varies, 15Million? Give or take.

Q4)

The joker window allows you to buy one player during the general close transfer window, does that make sense? Hope so

Some great transfers! And a good start hulk, sorry I kept the answers to the questions brief, I can go more into detail but I dont want to waffle

[theincrediblehulk]

Oh and one last question: How do you guys arrange your reserve games?? Do you have to do it for the whole season yourself or can you get the assistant to do it somehow??? I'm sure they'll need to play to develop. And what sort of teams should I be looking at?

[Lisandro Lopez]

Originally posted by theincrediblehulk:

Oh and one last question: How do you guys arrange your reserve games?? Do you have to do it for the whole season yourself or can you get the assistant to do it somehow??? I'm sure they'll need to play to develop. And what sort of teams should I be looking at?

If you want reserve games to happen you needed to have chosen all the french leagues when you created the Lyon game. Reserve league is called something like CCFA I think, its annoying that you have to choice to have the reserve league on, and it isn't on default! Thankfully when I started my new Lyon 8.02 I enabled it, if you haven't done so then sadly friendlies for your reserve team are your only option :/

[Lisandro Lopez]

And oh my god at my spelling/grammar in my two posts!

Sorry!

[Barnetboyz]

First time Benzema is actually preforming for me \o/

will be looking to sell Keita in january and replacing with the god Kalou \o/

[theincrediblehulk]

Thanx Hopey.

1. Yep, I'm using 4-4-2 as well but doesnt seem to work. I've also got slow tempo and short passing. My possession stats in my games so far:

- 42% (2-0 victory)

- 35% (5-1 victory)

- 48% (3-1 victory)

- 38% (2-2 draw)

- 43% (2-1 victory)

- 49% (3-1 victory)

- 37% (2-0 victory)

As you can see, there's something seriously wrong there. Those are pretty poor stats. However I was wrong on one count. The other teams are NOT getting too many shots off. But their possession % is ridiculous. And it usually costs me a goal as they finally find one pass to get through.

2. Thought so.

3. 15M?? Thats very little. Might have to hold on to him till the summer in that case. BAH!

4. So bascially that means I can buy ONE additional player between now and Jan when the window reopens? I'm guessing that's only from a team in France?

5. DANG! I'll have set up all friendlies myself?!! That's another hour gone!!!

[Lisandro Lopez]

Originally posted by theincrediblehulk:

Thanx Hopey.

1. Yep, I'm using 4-4-2 as well but doesnt seem to work. I've also got slow tempo and short passing. My possession stats in my games so far:

- 42% (2-0 victory)

- 35% (5-1 victory)

- 48% (3-1 victory)

- 38% (2-2 draw)

- 43% (2-1 victory)

- 49% (3-1 victory)

- 37% (2-0 victory)

As you can see, there's something seriously wrong there. Those are pretty poor stats. However I was wrong on one count. The other teams are NOT getting too many shots off. But their possession % is ridiculous. And it usually costs me a goal as they finally find one pass to get through.

That is quite low, especially the ones at the bottom end of 40, and obv the ones in the 30's. With your formation are you playing "wing style" by this I mean are you getting your ML/MR to run down the wing and cross it? I don't think that suits Lyon ideally, I use to use this system but I switched to have my wingers cutting inside (with a curly farrow coming inside) and I have reduced the amount of crossing, instead my wingers cut in and pass it on the floor mainly. This might improve your possession some more, other than that of the top of my head I can't think really why your possession is so low, espec with a squad that have some class passers in it. It might be down to what I suggested earlier where its more down to the fact the opposition is outnumbered you in midfield and are having more of the ball because

a) There on the back foot a lot more as in defending

b) They are just trying to crowd you out.

I would have a lil' tweak with your formation and see if it improves over time. I seem to remember on my first season with Lyon that my defence wasn't that solid (conceded a goal a game roughly) and my possession at times was quite low, although not as low as yours. Perhaps your defenders are giving the ball away too often? Or some of your players are in general?

I think it’s more down to the fact how most French team set themselves up, there general have a lot in midfield with the old 3-5-2 and 4-3-2-1 formations. It’s probably just a case of finding the right setting to counter the opposition being so well stacked in midfield

2. Thought so.

3. 15M?? Thats very little. Might have to hold on to him till the summer in that case. BAH!

Well it might be higher but it depends who wants him and how he has been performing. Keeping him till the end of the season is not such a bad thing though.

4. So bascially that means I can buy ONE additional player between now and Jan when the window reopens? I'm guessing that's only from a team in France?

Yes, as far as I'm aware it must be from a team within France, tbh I have never brought anyone in the joker period.

5. DANG! I'll have set up all friendlies myself?!! That's another hour gone!!!

Sorry! Lol

[dexta200]

Originally posted by purefun:

Dexta

Good first season so far. But you concede to many imo with that tactic you should get less goals in.

Valencia and those cupgames shouldn't be a problem.

Nice youth line-up just waiting to get there chance.

yyeah i know alot of those were at the start of the season though when i was experimenting with tactics. i think its just my defense as i say i use the same tactic with barca and chelsea and hardly concede.

yeah hopefully give some of those lads a chance, got a lot of them purely to sell on but should definitely give some of them a chance.

[AJ (Manager)]

Crikes its been busy over night. Should have an end of season update soon for all to see.

dexta

You sold Kallstrom far too cheaply, criminal

[dexta200]

i had a 12million bid from spurs but he accepted liverpool. liverpool paid all up front and spurs was over 24months so im not too fussed really. he was losing value because i wasn't playing him so i wanted to sell as soon as i could. how much do you get for him?

[Scott08]

Originally posted by dexta200:

i had a 12million bid from spurs but he accepted liverpool. liverpool paid all up front and spurs was over 24months so im not too fussed really. he was losing value because i wasn't playing him so i wanted to sell as soon as i could. how much do you get for him?

You can get up to 30m for him if your lucky

[Barnetboyz]

sweet lord i love Karim Benzema, just scored a hat trick in the 2nd game in the CL Group vs Liverpool \o/

[AJ (Manager)]

dexta

I haven't sold him yet, if I did, £30m would be the lowest I would accept. He has hit over 150 goals for me in just shy of 4 seasons.

[AJ (Manager)]

The start of the new year always brings around the new transfer window, so I was bracing myself for an influx of bids for my big named stars, however, it was me doing the early business, arranging pre-contracts for a few freebies at the end of the season. Signed were: Gianluca Curci a 25 year old keeper from Roma, Alex Tarweh Nimely a 19 year old Liberian striker from Man City with a promising future, and one City were far from happy to lose. The lads currently on loan to Oldham, where he has 12 goals in 20 games. Brazilian keeper Marcelo (regen) will join when he turns 18 in 2 years time from Flamengo. Dublin City Universities 15 year old striker Mark Gardner will also join the Academy in the summer The final piece of business sees the arrival of 24 year old French DM Ricardo Faty from Roma.

We do bring in another hot youth prospect from Holland. FC Utrecht's 16 year old attacking midfielder Pascal Voom joins us for £100,000.

This season has also seen us break the 500 goals scored barrier under my management, with Benzema getting the honour in our 6-0 league thrashing of Metz. It was also now that I approached the board and said that I wanted the youth facilities improved. Amazingly, they agreed, and they actually shared my vision. I was a little unsure about approaching them, since they rejected my request for extra transfer cash when I first took the job. Obviously 3 league titles in 3 seasons is enough to impress them.

It was time for Champions League duty once more, and we flew in to England to take on Tottenham who were currently sitting 2nd in the Premier League. The Spurs team hadn't changed much in 3 seasons, with only the additions of Rodrigo Palacio and Gerard Pique to their side. We held Spurs to a well earned 1-1 draw, which could have been better had Kallstrom put away his 24th minute penalty with us already 1-0 up. Still, the away goal, and home advantage for the 2nd leg, I was quietly confident we would progress.

So, to the return leg, when Spurs arrived, they had just beaten Liverpool 1-0 to go top of the Premier League, so we were sure in for a tough time. The only plus point, Pique picked up an injury in that game, and was now unavailable. However, we had the suspended Ben Arfa missing, but Aquino could cope on the left against Lennon (surely). So, to make things interesting we decided to give Spurs a 2-0 headstart after 20 minutes. However, Aquino repaid my faith and scored 2 crackers before the break to take us in at 2-2 but down on the away goals. Enter Paul Robinson (why cant he play like this in real life). Every shot I had he got to, and as a result, we again, third season in a row exited the Champions League in the 1st Knockout stage.

Along with this disappointment in the Champions League, we lost the Coupe de la Ligue Final 3-0 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw which saw us finish with 9 men. Kallstrom and Lulinha were injured after 75 minutes and I had used all 3 of my subs, meaning we played 45 minutes two men down, and didn't concede.

As we headed into April I received some shocking news when reading the news reports. Apparently, the Lyon board were contemplating whether or not to renew my contract at the end of the season, and have considered lining up Arsene Wenger as my replacement. Obviously 3 titles in 3 years isn't sufficient. I responded by slamming my 4th Ligue 1 title in a row in their desks in the very next game. A 1-0 win against Lens meant we won the league with 6 games to spare, and the earlies title win under my command. They came out and said they were impressed, lets wait and see how impressed they are.....

Three weeks after landing my 4th Ligue 1 title in a row the cheeky gits at Lyon HQ decided to consider my future once more in the public eye. This keeps happening I feel I will be out of a job, I've never been sacked after being this successful. So, I kicked off and requested a new contract, the board declined to consider my proposal. Then, 1 day later, May 1st, they gave in, saw sense and a new job offer was made. I negotiated it to 4 years, for long term security, the board gave me an ultimatum, sign for 2 years of get lost. I duly signed for 2 more years in my measley £19,500 p/w salary.

The French Cup Final pitted us against Marseille at the Stade de France. We had no Kallstrom or Fabregas available thanks to suspensions but they weren't needed in the end. Jeremy Menez gave us an early lead, which was shortly doubled by Sergio Aguero, meaning we led 2-0 at the break. Shortly after the break Aguero scored again to make it 3-0 and the trophy ours again, for the fourth successive season.

End of Season 2010/2011 Awards:

Ligue 1 Players Player of the Season: Sergio Aguero

Ligue 1 Most Promising Player: Sergio Aguero, Lulinha 2nd

Ligue 1 Players GK of the Season: Hugo Lloris 2nd

Manager of the Season: Me

Team of the Season: Hugo Lloris, Sebastian Squillaci, Domenico Criscito, Jeremy Toulalan, Jeremy Menez, Hatem Ben Arfa, Cecs Fabregas, Kim Kallstrom, Sergio Aguero

Ligue 1 Star of the Season: Hatem Ben Arfa, Kim Kallstrom 2nd, Sergio Aguero 3rd

Top Goalscorer: Kim Kallstrom 3rd (28 goals)

Ligue 1 Star GK: Hugo Lloris

Season Overview:

Ligue 1 - Winners - W32 D4 L2 F101 A27 +74 PTS 100 (17 points clear)

Couple de la Ligue - Runners Up - 3-3 (3-0 on penalties) Le Mans

French Cup - Winners - 3-0 - Marseille

Champions Trophy - Winners - 2-2 - (4-3 on penalties) PSG

Champions League - 1st Knockout Stage - 3-3 aggregate (away goals) Tottenham

Lyon Top Scorer: Kim Kallstrom - 40

Most Assists: Jeremy Menez - 17

Man of the Matches: Kim Kallstrom - 13

Total Team Goals 145 Conceded 44 in a total of 57 games.

Finances: Balance: £80.07m

Average Season Attendance: 56,227

This season we were dominant for the first time in the league. We won 32 of our games and only lost twice. We scored over 100 league goals for the first time under my management, and only conceeded 27. We also managed to hit the 100 point mark. We also won the French Cup for the fourth time in a row, but lost on penalties to Le Man in the Couple de la Ligue Final. The Champions League curse of the 1st KO Round struck again, as we went out on away goals to Spurs. We need to look at this next season.

Individually, Kim Kallstrom had another superb season, improving on last term by hitting 40 goals (8 more than last time). Ben Arfa lost his assist king title to Menez this season. We also scored a massive 145 goals in all competitions, and only conceeded 44. We also strengthened the finances by a cool £17m.

Managers Personal Stats:

Seasons: 4

League Wins: 4 Cup Wins: 8

Games Played: 230 Won: 166 Drawn: 37 Lost: 27 Scored: 571 Conceded: 207

Alexandre Lacazette returned from his loan spell in England with Cardiff lifting the Championship Goal of the Season award. His loan spell included 27 first team appearances netting him 5 goals. Roman Miguet returned from the Blue Birds also having played 9 times scoring 2 goals.

Georgino Wijnaldum returned from De Graafschap having played 21 times, scoring none but creating 11. Iago returned from Almeria playing 32, scoring 4, assisting 11, returning with him is Loic Abenzoar, who made 33 appearances for the Spanish outfit. Mamadou Sakho returned from Messina having played 24 times and averaging 7.50 for the season, and his defensive partner Matthieu Saunier returned with 23 appearances and an average rating of 7.22. Jamaican keeper Patrick Mendy returned from Almeria having conceded 41 goals in 33 appearances.

The plans for the next season are pretty much more of the same, with any luck I will be able to break the curse of the 1st KO Round of the Champions League and hopefully add that to the trophy cabinet. The emergence of Saivet from the youth team will mean a few more make the step up this season, and my two new 18 year old Brazillians seem to have adapted well, and will see more action this coming season.

[Scott08]

Season 4 has drawn to a close

What a fantastic season.. my team has really done me proud.

Before we go any further, Benzema has been out of this world. He's had the best season any player has ever had for me in my FM/CM career, dating back from 1995.

Here he is -

He secured all the awards going, for the second year in a row, and is fast approaching the goal scoring record of all time for Lyon.

Summary

League: 1st Place on 98pts (Despite a dissapointing start, we remained undefeated from early October, finishing 24pts clear of PSG)

Champions League: Winners (Came from behind twice to beat Juventus 4-2)

French Cup: Winners (4-2 vs PSG in ET)

League Cup: Winners (3-0 vs Nantes)

Champions Trophy: Winners (3-0 vs Marseille)

So, a clean sweep of all trophies. I didnt expect this at all. Some would say we had a kind draw in the Champions League but my motto is 'You can only beat whats put infront of you!'.

Domestically we had very little problems, after a slow start, with the youngsters finding their feet, we swiftly got in to gear. Jeremy Menez is worth a mention too, averaged an incredible 7.81 for the season in 32 starts from the wing.

Other News

We clinched the signing of Y.Gouffran on 10k per week for two years. I felt he deserved a shot at playing for a big club and for such a low wage i feel im not really taking much of a risk. He choose us over some clubs such as Villareal, Marseille and At.Madrid.

Apart from that, Nordtveit has come in on loan for the season from Arsenal again - I want to cast my eye over him before I decide to buy. His Arsenal team mate Fabregas only made 6 apps for Arsenal last year.. however Arsenal are still not prepared to offload him for a reasonable price.

Having won everything on offer now at Lyon and the club's long term future looking great.. the motivation to carry on isn't as high as it was in previous seasons. Who knows what's around the corner

I'll update in September

[Scott08]

Broken link again - Benzema

[Agent Tiro]

AJ

Nice season mate, i feel your pain in the champions league. I can't seem to get past first knockout round.

Scott

Well done on your season! Benzema is banging them in for me now, although i'm in same season as you his stats are one notch behind yours.

[Purefun]

Hulk

Your a big Arsenal fan mate!!

Tough group indeed.

Nice transfers. A good mix. Really like Aquino tbh keep up me up to date with his progress if you can. Thx.

What tactic do you use? Could you give a s.s.? Offcourse my tactic in the best. Right Hopey

No French teams do play a lot threw the middle in the game and irl. You could see this also in there transfer policy. Thats why i always buy some great defensive and/or controlling midfielders. So one DM and one CM that play next to eachother is the best solution imo.

Keita could be sold for at least 20-25 mil pounds (i'm guessing thats the currency you use). Why so much? Because thats what the big teams were offering on my game. Didn't sell him though.

Joker : Hopey answered it but i also believe it needs to be a transfer between teams in France. I've brought in Gouffrans like that due to injurycrisis.

About those scouts, i have to many with all big ratings in potential and ability but they suck at scouting so at this moment i use my own judgement. I hope you know what i'm saying. Just buy and if it doesn't work out sell.

About Henry in short and simple yes, i let him sign a contract but decided in the last minute to not go threw with it. Why? To many strikers as you can see in my location.

If you didn't select all french leagues your reserves want be playing games mate.

BB

I'm looking at Kalou too but his mentality in the game is just crap. Always complaining.

Benzema is a beautiful player. Just wait untill next years.

AJ

Again a lovely long post. Your competing with Tomtuck mate.

Curci and Faty.

CL is not your cup of tea mate. Bad luck.

Had the same thing happening to me in that season for my new contract. But they gave me a new one 3 days before my current one expired.

Congrats on your league and cup win. And your awards.

Scott

Nice to see you won everything. You're a lot like me.

Don't you dare to leave us mate.

Yes Benzema again.

[liam_everton89]

Hi everyone just thought I'd update you on how Lyon are doing on my game,

The new manager made some signings in January and has changed the look of team really, theyre still in the CL and 4th in Ligue 1 Orange, 7 points off Marseille.

IN

E.Cavani - £21m

L.Cigarini - Parma - £14.25m

G.Pique - Man Utd - £19m

Naldo - Werder Bremen - £7.25m

J.O Mikel - Chelsea - £20.5m

All in all it loks like there form is starting to pick up and now theyre in final part of the season I think they shpuld be able to win it.

Meanwhile at Valencia I'm battling it out with Barca in the league, neither of us have bean beaten all season, i'm 1 point ahead, in March, UEFA cup going well, although I've just declared intrest in a job at Feyenoord which I intended to take at the end of the season, now the board are unhasppy lol.

[Scott08]

Im not leaving.. but the big news of the summer is..

'Olympique Lyonnais Manager, Davide Zidane, has a major clear-out'

'Many of the clubs most senior players have departed to some of the biggest clubs around Europe, whilst Mr Zidane has been busy concluding deals for some very talented youngsters!'

'After winning 2 Champions league titles in 4 years, the Lyon manager decided it was time to freshen things up at the club'

'More news to follow..'

[AJ (Manager)]

scott

Congrats on the success, and looking forward to seeing the major squad overhaul.

Agent Tiro

One day I will win the Champions League, just hope its sooner, rather than later.

purefan

I just try and give people a detailed insight into whats happening. Glad you like the read.

[Purefun]

Scott

Eagerly awaiting that new squad.

Be sure to post s.s. of your transfers you're gonna be very rich me thinks.

[Scott08]

'The New Look Team'

GKs Lloris/Riou

DRs Abenzoar/De Silvestri

DCs Sakho/Pique/Dervite/Sassi®/Nordveit

DLs Traore/Marie(M.R)

MCs Toulalan/Fabregas/Sankhare

AMs Nasri/Ben Arfa/Menez/G.Assulin/Saivet

STs Benzema/Pato/Gignac/http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dubrocane9.jpg(M.R)

* ® = Regen / (M.R) = Regen from my Youth Ranks

INs

Fabregas (Arsenal 22.5m - Transfer Listed - See S.S)

Pique (Valencia 15.5m - Release Clause)

De Silvestri (Lazio 13.5m)

Pato (Milan 11m - Transfer Listed, Scouts say he's playing at full potential and he doesn't look too good, but i love the guy)

G.Assulin (At Madrid 6.5m - Release Clause)

Sassi (Anderlecht 4.4m - Regen CB, looks amazing, See S.S)

Dally (Marseille 975k - 15yr old regen, Scout says he can be as good as Benzema)

Nordveit (Arsenal Loan)

TOTAL = 74m

OUTs

Bodmer (Chelsea 18.75m)

L.Diarra (Villareal 11.75m)

Clerc (Man United 8m)

Bellaid (Inter 6.75m)

Keita (Spurs 9.75m)

Squillaci (Roma 4.9m)

Mathieu (Blackburn 4.9m)

Briand (Barcelona 12.25m)

Thiago (Celta 2.5m)

TOTAL = 80m

Transfer Dealings

Undecided on a formation at the moment. Still working it out in pre-season.

All eyes will be on Fabregas after his bargain signing from Arsenal, seems too good to be true I know. But i can assure you its all above board - Can provide any S.S's required. I've also lowered the average age of the squad to 22 which is great.

Not going to have much time to play now until Tuesday.

[Scott08]

Damn.. Dubroca's S.S didnt work from my Strikers list.

Here he is.. Dubroca

[Purefun]

Scott

Some nice dealings you did mate.

Lots of french players thats what i like.

[Scott08]

Originally posted by purefun:

Scott

Some nice dealings you did mate.

Lots of french players thats what i like.

Thanks mate. Yeh i've still kept the core of my team as French as i could. Last season my only player that wasn't french was Keita so i fancied a bit of a change this year.

I've got 5 or 6 players still in my youth ranks that i'll be introducing into the team in the coming years.

LB Marie isn't quite ready for the first team but he can potentially become better than A.Traore so i want to get him integrated into the squad asap. The same goes for Dubroca, he's got a massive future ahead of him.

Then youung Sassi from Anderlecht has a 5 star potential, so i've got high hopes for him too.

Im favouring a 4-4-2 at the moment, which can be adopted to a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-2-3-1 when required. Lining up as follows -

Gk Lloris

DR Abenzoar (Deserves his chance over De Silvestri to start with)

DL Traore

CB Pique/Dervite (Undecided here, Dervite impressed last term)

CB Sakho

MR Ben Arfa (With F-Arrow)

ML Menez (With F-Arrow)

MC Toulalan (Slightly Defensive)

MC Fabregas (Slightly Attacking)

FC Pato/Gignac (B-Arrow to AMC - Undecided here, Pato is at Copa America at the moment)

ST Benzema

Any adivce is appreciated as always

[Lisandro Lopez]

Well I have finally managed to find the time and finish my second season; here is how it went…

Ligue One 08/09:

I set my stool out from the start of the season, with my first five games crushing anyone who tried to play against me. This describes pretty much the whole season, any so called rival was quickly shown that Lyon are still the dominate force; highlights of this were my big derby games to which results were:

Lyon vs St Etienne 5-0 // 4-1

Lyon vs PSG 4-1 // 3-0

Lyon vs Rennes 4-2 // 2-1

Lyon vs Marsellie 2-0 // 3-0

(Both scores reflect a home and away match for Lyon with me being the team on the left in both score lines.)

Anyway enough before I ramble take a look here is how the league finished up:

LigueOne 08/09

Two domestic cups:

I was cruising in both of these, but my thoughts for both of these cups were to allow my French prodigies to gain some youth experience, so it meant often I would put out a young but talented side. I was in the semis of both competitions and everything was going nicely. Sadly in the league cup, I came up against a resilient Le Mans side, having been down 2-0 in the first half, I rallied the youngsters for them to produce a great display and level it up 2-2. It when the whole distance and to the lottery of penalty shoot out, I sadly lost it and Le Mans progressed, fair play to them I was still proud of the “young onesâ€

French cup, I used a mix of youngsters and experience, I met Stade Rennais in the final which again finished 2-2, Stade Rennais producing a dogged performance to keep coming back. I won the penalty shoot out none the less to ensure I had the double in France.

Champion’s league:

A hit and miss experience for me, being the current champion’s league holder I was expected to get through the group stages. I had a tough group of Bayern, Fiorentina, Shaktar and Myself. I topped the group by a single point, which I was pleased with. I was then handed Seville again in the CL first KO stage, I got them last year but the omens were good winning 5-2 on aggregate with two fine performances from the team. I was then handed Real Madrid in the quarter finals a disappointing draw considering my tough first round KO game but there was not much I could do. I decided to be bold in the Bernabeu and set out an attacking game and go for Madrid’s throats. I lost 3-1, maybe I was too naïve but I can life with that, so the home leg come round with Madrid being the favourites having a 3-1 lead. Fear not! My French troops were more than a match for Madrid, I was 3-0 up and looking good to go through when Robinho pops up in the 87Minute and scores leaving it 4-4 on agg and a draw as both had one away goal. Into extra time, it was tense but I believed in my French group, but sadly my French project has one flaw, at the moment not all my French players are at there peak or world class, something which Madrid have in a bundle, Madrid brought on Ruud Van Nistelrooy off the bench in the second half of extra time (Must be nice to have a world class striker on the bench lol) and who scores in the dying seconds of the game? Good old Ruud to make it 5-4 to Madrid and knock me out. Ruud scored in the 130Minute (Tech when the game was up) it was disappointing but I was still happy with my sides performance. It was my error on the first leg that gave my team such a mountain to climb, I have addressed that issue now and I look forward to next seasons CL with a big grin.

World Club Championship:

No need to go into much detail with this, I won it, and won it comfortable! A nice lil’ earner.

Generally:

Very pleased with my squad and how its shaping, my defensive was back to my more happier ways of solid with only 0.5 goals conceded in general over the whole season, I averaged 2.4 goals a game so I can’t complain. Kalouda was a great buy, he had a great first season chipping in with some goals too, he looks a great rival to Keita, he may even replace him in the coming years sooner than you think. Felipe has improved so much he is immense for me now. Costil is now world class but he is still improving, Benzema class player but disappointing for me, he was injured abit but he barely scored as you will see in my s.s of my squad he is however still improving and I will not give up on him.

End of season was a nervous time! My whole squad except Mathieu are wanted by all the top clubs around the world, luckily I was asking 100Million plus for all my first team squad so no one has left just yet.

End of season Squad 08/09

Summer In’s so far:

- Cavani

- Vidal (looks world class)

Summer Outs so far:

- Fred £10Million

- Gakpe £500K

I have sent my hot prospects out for first team football, the most promising so far are Saviet, Sahko, Sankaare(sp), Schwelchen, Rafeal Forster and Joan Carlos all known youngsters so not much of a surprise.

I hope the read wasn’t too bad, apologies for the rambling waffle which may have occured in some sections

[Purefun]

Scott

Love your line-up mate. Nothing to add tbh.

Hopey

Really really disappointed that you didn't score 100 goals.

I see Caen got relegated try and get Gouffran if he is still worth it.

Congrats on the league and french cup win. Also the big earner is won i see.

Yeah Real have everything and everybody they desire.

Two great transfers so far mate.

And your rambling is just fine.

[Barnetboyz]

January Window

Squad

£22M to spend, so where could i improve the squad in peoples opinions? if i get a big enoug hoffer for Toulalan he will go and his place will go to Flams