[FM18] Uncle Jimbo's Icelandic Sound Explosion, (featuring other Countries, hopefully, if I get lucky, maybe). (You know, if there is an award for the longest thread title I have a sneaking suspicion that I might just be in with a chance of a nomination).

[Jimbokav1971]

New Laptop blown up. Not sure what that means for save. 

How many tunes can you link me to between now and my return, on the subjects of blowing up, death, anger, emotional loss, boredom, heartbreak and of course technology! 😂

[henryzz]

You should be able to extract the disk. 

[endtime]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

17 hours ago, henryzz said:

You should be able to extract the disk. 

Extract what disk?

I have to send the laptop away to get it repaired.

[Deisler26]

 

[henryzz]

21 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Extract what disk?

I have to send the laptop away to get it repaired.

The hard disk of the laptop. You then put it in another to get the files off. 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, henryzz said:

The hard disk of the laptop. You then put it in another to get the files off. 

The laptop is relatively new and still under warranty so I expect.to get it back. Assuming that I do and assuming that there is at least 1 save available then I will continue.

Must remember to save to cloud more often just in case though. So easy and I would be gutted to lose a 2030 save when it's so easy to avoid.

 

[henryzz]

That assumes they haven't wiped it or given you a replacement. It depends on what has died.

[Jimbokav1971]

10 hours ago, henryzz said:

That assumes they haven't wiped it or given you a replacement. It depends on what has died.

Yeah. Quite possibly. Will just have to see how it goes.

[Deisler26]

On 14/02/2018 at 16:35, Jimbokav1971 said:

Extract what disk?

I have to send the laptop away to get it repaired.

In reference to your missing laptop

 

[Jimbokav1971]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

False 9. Youth Day. Stade Rennais. Mar 2030.

It's a "Golden Generation" but that doesn't mean what it once did. They seem ten a penny now in FM18.

Any intake with a 5.0 PA player has to be at least OK, and a False Nine is a different role and something that I'm keen on while playing with 3 up front. 

"Kriss" (30a) Ray (Pro) (FRA) (2030) *.

[Jimbokav1971]

Vanishing Act. Stade Rennais. Mar 2030.

A while ago now I made a post that one of my brightest prospects had somehow left the club on a free, despite the fact that I had a 3 year option on him. The option was showing in his contract, but I just cou'dn't find a way to activate it. 

Well the same thing is close to happening again and I am determined to stop it. 

This is the squad, (all squads), sorted by PA.

The 1st thing to say is, that to those of you who are used to following my threads, just 4 players at 5.0 PA might seem a little "meagre", but that's balanced against some  very good players in terms of CA. (Remember that the PA of players is based against the best players at the club, (in terms of their CA, so future ability versus max current ability). 

We don't have a single 5.0 CA player, and in fact don't even have any 4.5 CA players, but we have a few 4.0 CA players. Ranked top of the pile is 27yo striker Mputu (COD) (F.Pro). who has a Medie Description of Elite striker. He is valued at £64M and if he is 4.0 stars and I have 4 players who have 2 stars more than him, then that sounds pretty good to me. 

If I look at the squad again, (still ranked by PA), but this time using the contract option from the drop-down menu, then this is what it shows. 

Now obviously the green players are the new Youth Intake players who just haven't signed a contract yet, but as we are in Mar 2030, there is 1 contract here ending in Jun 2030, (27d) JJT (FRA) (F.Pro), (and he's unsurprisingly wanted), so I need to have a look and see if I have signed him to a +3 year option, (like I think I should have done). 

Yes, I have done. 

The only problem is..... when I hover over the contract tab, it doesn't give me the option to take up the 3 year option on the player. This has happened to me before in this save and it's obviously a big deal. 

Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether this is a bug, or something peculiar to French football? (Is it age related?) 

I have obviously offered him a new contract, (2 years), plus an option for 3 more years, (it's just habit now), but I have to pay more for the player to agree a +3 year option, and if I'm not actually going toi be able to trigger the clause then it means I'm just throwing money away, (which is no biggy in itself).

Has anyone else seen anything like this before?

17yo GK (27b) Mercier  (FRA) (Pro) * has another year on his contract and has a +3 clause that I can't trigger, but that is probably because he is currently on loan. 

16yo DM (28b) CJL (MTQ) (Driven) has another year on his contract and obviously has a +3 year clause that I can't trigger. In UK he would still be on a Youth contract at 16 so this is a bit new to me, (singing a pro deal at 16 rather than 17), so maybe this is just down to that and I will be able to trigger the clause at 17.

21yo DC Delaporte (FRA) (F.Pro) has another year on his contract . Of course he has a +3 year clause and this time I can trigger the option. (Interesting). 

22yo MC Monroy (ESP) (Bal) * has another year on his contract. Of course he has a +3 year clause and again I can trigger this clause. 

17yo DC (27c) Boyer (FRA) (F.Pro) has another year on his contract. Again, he has a +3 option, but again I am unable to trigger it. 

19yo MC Ngome (CMR) (Bal) * doesn't have a +3 year option in his contract, (I must be slipping as I really like him). He now has a 4+3 year deal. 

19yo GK Dussart (FRA) (Res) * doesn't have a +3 year option in his contract. (I think I was considering releasing him as I have better options), but I have reconsidered and he has just signed a...... oh no, he hasn't. He's not willing to discuss terms at the moment. Maybe that's why I was releasing him.

So it looks like I can take up options on players who are 19 years old. 18 years old is still a mystery, but I am unable to trigger +3 year deals on 16 or 17 year olds. 

Anyone else experienced this in France or anywhere else? 

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Deisler26]

 

[Johnny-Trotter]

21 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

 

Anyone else experienced this in France or anywhere else? 

 

I have seen it in a few saves, and my understanding is that it is age related - although it is very poorly modelled in-game. I believe they are trying to reflect that a minor (let's say under 18s) cannot have a professional job, according to labour law. I'm not sure if it's the same in all countries, but for now I would go with the view that it applies in the EU.

Thus, when it comes into football terms, a youngster can only have a professional contract from a certain age. When you offer a 3+3 contract, this means that the first part is always valid, as this will only 'kick in" (so to speak when the player is above a certain age. However, if the player is not old enough to qualify for a pro contract, I believe the +3 part becomes null and void - even if you can offer it to him in the first place, and he agrees it, and it's in the contract. 

It looks from your above analysis that the younger players literally have it written in the contract, but the games understanding of labour/employment law says you cannot trigger it because the player is still too young to be a pro.

I did see it before in previous FMs also - the kicker for me was where I was a smaller club and tried youth only and when a star came through I agreed 3+3, and after 3 years he rejected a new deal, thinking he was too big for the club and I couldn't trigger the +3 for the same reasons as above. I finally twigged it when I saw in the editor the lower age limits which can be applied for a nations settings and 14 is the minimum age a youth can come through at. Then it means that offering a 3+3 is logically valid in the game, but they normally can't turn fully pro at 17, so the +3 became null and void and I could not trigger it, and lost him at age 17. I guess there should be a 'blocker' so to speak to stop the possibility of adding a +3 trigger for a player under a certain age, and then it would take away the confusion.

 

Hope that explains it...

[BoxToBox]

3 minutes ago, Johnny-Trotter said:

I have seen it in a few saves, and my understanding is that it is age related - although it is very poorly modelled in-game. I believe they are trying to reflect that a minor (let's say under 18s) cannot have a professional job, according to labour law. I'm not sure if it's the same in all countries, but for now I would go with the view that it applies in the EU.

Thus, when it comes into football terms, a youngster can only have a professional contract from a certain age. When you offer a 3+3 contract, this means that the first part is always valid, as this will only 'kick in" (so to speak when the player is above a certain age. However, if the player is not old enough to qualify for a pro contract, I believe the +3 part becomes null and void - even if you can offer it to him in the first place, and he agrees it, and it's in the contract. 

It looks from your above analysis that the younger players literally have it written in the contract, but the games understanding of labour/employment law says you cannot trigger it because the player is still too young to be a pro.

I did see it before in previous FMs also - the kicker for me was where I was a smaller club and tried youth only and when a star came through I agreed 3+3, and after 3 years he rejected a new deal, thinking he was too big for the club and I couldn't trigger the +3 for the same reasons as above. I finally twigged it when I saw in the editor the lower age limits which can be applied for a nations settings and 14 is the minimum age a youth can come through at. Then it means that offering a 3+3 is logically valid in the game, but they normally can't turn fully pro at 17, so the +3 became null and void and I could not trigger it, and lost him at age 17. I guess there should be a 'blocker' so to speak to stop the possibility of adding a +3 trigger for a player under a certain age, and then it would take away the confusion.

 

Hope that explains it...

The pro contract age is 17 in France though(as you can see the player is on a pro deal), and the clause should be able to be activated as long as it doesn't make his contract longer than 5 years, which it wouldn't.

[BoxToBox]

Or is it that 17 year olds are only allowed 3 year pro deals and you have to be 18+ for a longer deal, which this would be as it'd be slightly over 3 years?

[Johnny-Trotter]

17 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

Or is it that 17 year olds are only allowed 3 year pro deals and you have to be 18+ for a longer deal, which this would be as it'd be slightly over 3 years?

I think that's it, indeed.

[Jimbokav1971]

I have 2 choices for this post depending on your mood. 

Mellow yellow. 

 

Explosive loose cannon. 

 

Yellow/Loose cannon. Stade Rennais. May 2030.

He might just have cost us our 1st Ligue 1 title. 

Max (FRA) (Pro) *.

[Jimbokav1971]

@Johnny-Trotter @BoxToBox Not having managed in France before, it seemed strange to me that I was able to odder Pro contracts when a player turns 16, where as elsewhere in Europe, what I was used to is offering a player a Pro contract when they turn 17. (This is certainly the case from what I remember of managing in England/N.Ireland and 100% the case in Italy, Gibraltar, Serbia and Iceland, (where I have spent recent issues of the game). 

Maybe the key is to offer the initial pro contract without a +3, (in order to get it cheaper), and then offer a 2nd "top-up" pro contract when they turn 17, (including a +3 clause). I will give it a go and report back. I just don't understand why I can offer a pro contract in the 1st place at 16 in France if that doesn't tie in with real life. SI is normally bang on the money with stuff like this, (in the bigger leagues at least), so I would expect that there is a reason, but just one that we aren't aware of. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nature of the Experiment. Stade Rennais. May 2030.

There is nothing special about this player at all, but he is the 1st player at the club to turn 16 since the above conversation. 

Where I would usually offer him a 3+3 contract at this stage, I have actually just offered him a 3 year deal as follows. 

What would usually happen is that he would have refused the initial offer, (because I would have made the +3 clause non-negotiable while removing both the 10% yearly increase and the sub appearance fee). He would have countered and then the following round we would agree at a higher rate, but with the clauses I want, (and I am happy with that as long as the clauses actually work). 

So that's a 16yo on a pro deal that we can follow, but now I need a 17yo to try the new thoughts on. 

The player at the club who has most recently turned 17 years old is (28b) CJL (MTQ) (Driven) and he's obviously a good choice because he is a (b) and has promising potential. 

He is 17 years old and has the +3 clause that I want, but obviously I am not able to trigger it. 

I offer him a new contract, (again discarding the yearly rise and the sub appearance fee), and after a bit of to and fro we agree. 

The deal is more expensive, but you would expect that right? In any case, I don't care at all about the paltry wages and all that really matters is that I get the player signed to as long a contract as possible with the clauses that I want included, and of course that I can actually trigger the clauses. 

Time will tell. 

[Deisler26]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

The Wonderkids of you. Stade Rennais. May 2030.

We have a number of wonderkids at the club and I keep losing track of who is and has been a wonderkid and whether or not I have mentioned it. 

Petrous (CZE) (L.Det) was signed by our DoF  for £1.7M. I don't particularly like him if I'm honest, (I especially don't like his personality), but  for such a small outlay it seemed like a no-brainer. I don't have anyone better than him and able to tutor him so will just look to sell him for a tidy profit when the time is right. 

Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) * is HG at club and one of my favourite players. He was already at the club when I joined, (hence no prefix before his name), and aged only 20, his next league appearance will bring up the 100 for Stade Rennais. 

There don't seem to be others at the moment. If there have been, I have missed them. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apparently Nothin - Young Disciples. Stade Rennais. May 2030.

You might think that retaining this trophy is decent, but apparently it's nothin special as Chelsea did the same in 2016, Benfica did it in 2020,  CSKA Moscow did it in 2024, and now we've done it in 2030. What still stands out here in the list of past winners however is the 2025 win by little Icelandic club HK. 

2028/29.

2029/30.

[Jimbokav1971]

Coupe de France. Stade Rennais. May 2030.

We may have needed penalties and extra-time to get to the Final, but we did beat both PSG and Monaco along the way, so we did it the hard way. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Milestones. Stade Rennais. May 2030.

[Jimbokav1971]

Four Seasons in one Day Summary. Stade Rennais. May 2030.

Ligue 1. Runners Up again. We really threw it away this time though.

We started off in poor form dropping 11 points in the 1st 7 games before aver-hauling PSG with 3 games to go, only to somehow lose at home for the 1st time this season in the League and hand PSG the title with just 2 games left. 

Cup.

League Cup.

Champions League.

[Jimbokav1971]

Unhappy son. Stade Rennais. Jun 2030.

[Jimbokav1971]

Somethin stupid. Stade Rennais. Jul 2030.

What a rubbish rule. 

[Jimbokav1971]

International Superstar. Stade Rennais. Jul 2030.

I'm not sure why this is still showing as greyed out.

[Jimbokav1971]

In Demand. Stade Rennais. Jul 2030.

I might consider an International job later in the save, but at the moment I am sticking with club football. 

[DavidBeckham]

I wouldn't be able to resist offers from Holland and Spain if I were you! Which nation will be your dream job? 

[Jimbokav1971]

@DavidBeckhamI'm not sure there is a dream National Team job anymore. When you have done what I have done with San Marino, National Team management loses a little of it's lustre. 

I would like to move to England at some point, (I got a hard Brexit), and take over a middling Championship club of some sort and turn them into World-beaters, and then maybe take an England U18/U21 role from there. I have never produced a player from my Academy that has won the World Player of the Year and that's what I hope to achieve in this save. PSG are proving a tough nut to crack because of their spending power, and as quickly as we are improving, they just go out and splash the cash on better and better players. Monaco have already fallen foul of FFP and I wonder if PSG might not be too far behind them.

PSG Net transfer spend. 

2017/18. -£36.5M.
2018/19. -£306.5M.
2019/20. -£68M.
2020/21. -£45M.
2021/22. -£42M.
2022/23. +£12M.
2023/24. -£19M.
2024/25. -£138.5M.
2025/26. -£154M.
2027/28. +£2M.
2028/29. -£104.5M.
2029/30. +£48M.

That's a net transfer spend over 12 years of -£852M which averages out at -£71M per year.

They have got to 1 Europa league Final and 3 Champions League Finals during this period, (losing all 4).

I'm not really sure how they can not be making a loss with wages on top of this. Maybe their income from sponsorship is enormous? 

[Jimbokav1971]

You're the best thing. Stade Rennais. Sep 2030.

[Jimbokav1971]

Sixteen. Stade Rennais. Nov 2030.

16 year old (29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) * has just made his debut. 

It was a convincing win.

It would be fair to say he made an immediate impact. 

 

[craigd84]

great thread i still get bamboozeled by the nick names you give them lol. Le Mau for instance im guessing is class of 29, A* potential with a fairly professional personality? 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, craigd84 said:

great thread i still get bamboozeled by the nick names you give them lol. Le Mau for instance im guessing is class of 29, A* potential with a fairly professional personality? 

Yeah. That's it. 

(29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) *

Class of 29. (29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) *

Ranked 1st in his class by PA. (29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) *

Fairly Pro personality. (29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) *

The best player of each intake  often gets the whole year written, just to highlight that they are "special". (29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) *

* indicates that he has at some point had 5.0 PA stars. (29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) *

I sometimes also include Nationality, or 2nd Nationality too.

[craigd84]

Ah fantastic, Idea, i do need to start doing something similar.

[Jimbokav1971]

15 minutes ago, craigd84 said:

Ah fantastic, Idea, i do need to start doing something similar.

I also use some others. 

If I put a "." at the end of a players name then it means I want to get rid of him. 

If it's a player at another club then I am not interested in signing him. 

I also use HG if it's a player who is HG at club, (to prioriitise him over someone not home grown), bit that's not appropriate for this save. 

I've used notes in the past bit they are a bit of a pain, but in simple terms, just having the note there is an indication of something, (which I quite like).

[craigd84]

Hmmm yes, makes sense. I tend to remember most things about my OWN intake players but it would be useful for other club players. 

What is the code you use on Elvis?

Edited March 6, 2018 by craigd84

[Jimbokav1971]

49 minutes ago, craigd84 said:

What is the code you use on Elvis?

His real name is Elvis, (I kid you not). Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) *

Although he came through the academy here, it was before I joined so he din't come through a named intake, (hence no year and rank). 

His 2nd Nationality is Cameroonian, hence (CMR). Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) *

If I am playing in France and the player is French, (and I have space), then I will add (FRA) to the player nickname, but if the player has a different 2nd Nationality then I will use that. It just helps oplayers stand out a little. "Oh yeah, this bloke is the good young MC with (CMR) as a 2nd Nationality. Everyone's French, (or just about everyone), so it's less important and just helps me get to know players and tell them apart when their actual names mean little to me. 

He's a Fairly Ambitious personality. Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) *

At some point he was a 5.0 PA star player. (Although he's not now). Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) *

 

[craigd84]

I didnt even question the name...i knew that had to be real. lol i know what types of crazy old fashioned names pop up.. just wish i got an Elvis through!! haha.

 

But everything else makes sense... such a great idea that I think i may implement.

I used to name my tactics but i think i may now name players too just to keep tabs. On my Liverpool save i know I have a player with potential above 180.... but his attitude stinks, doesnt want to be tutored ect, nicknaming him and players like him at the start might of been good to get to learn if one will make it to top class or not. 

[DavidBeckham]

Hasn't seen a better debut since Rooney for Man United  Really enjoying this, KUTGW mate! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Stay too long? Stade Rennais. Jan 2031. 

I'm enjoying my time in France at the moment, but we are struggling to fight on all fronts with regards to 2 domestic Cups, Champions League and what seems to be a more and more competitive Ligue 1 campaign. 

We had a shaky start in the league, (as I prioritised Champions League games ahead of Ligue 1 games), and despite losing only 1 of our last 18 games, we still only sit 6th in the league, (7 points behind 4th place PSG who are strangely having similar issues.

While we might not be losing many games, (only 1 more than top of the table Toulouse), we are drawing far too many games. The problem is that immediately after our Champions League fixtur6es, (there have been 6 so far, we have won only a single Ligue 1 game, (1 win, 2 losses & 3 draws), dropping 12 points from a possible 18. 

We even didn't manage to beat OM after I played a team of youngsters in the last Champions League game against Chelsea, (losing 7-0 in the process after we had already finished top of the league). 

We are in the Final of the League Cup, where we will play Montperllier who are 9th in the league. 

We are in Round 10 of the Cup, (which I think is the Quarter Finals). 

We are in the Knockout stages of the Champions League, (where we will face Spurs). 

Mputu (COD) (F.Pro) is our best player but he is out injured for the next month and we will miss both his goals, (23), and his assists, (11). 

Also missing is 22 year old Argentinian Cialoni (ARG) (Driven) who our DoF nabbed for £4M and who is already worth £34M. He has contributed 18 goals and 12 assists and is also out for the next month. I will probably look to cash in on him at the end of the season. 

Success this season will largely depend on how the other strikers perform while these 2 are absent. 

The main reason for this post was not a French update however, but a little insight into my long-term plans. 

Sunderland are 6th In League 2 in England. They are currently still in the Playoff positions but haven't won in 6 games. I am seriously thinking about applying for this job if it becomes available. I don't think they will go up this season because they just don't score enough goals. (I would fix that!) 

It's just too good an opportunity to pass up. 

[Jimbokav1971]

39 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

Hasn't seen a better debut since Rooney for Man United  Really enjoying this, KUTGW mate! 

Thanks. His opportunities have been pretty limited up until now, but with my best 2 strikers out for a month and that we start 3 each game and have 2 more on the bench, he could be busy for the next few weeks. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Khalid. Young, Dumb & Broke. Stade Rennais. Mar 2031.

It's quite hard to find a new track to go with each new Youth Intake. We have a player called Khalid and he's got a track with young in the title and it also has broke in the title and as these players are currently not being paid they must be broke. Most of them are not going to make it as pro footballers, so I guess that makes them young, dumb and broke. Tenuous enough?  

As I've said before, any 5.0 PA player = a good intake. We also have a 4.5 PA player and both are positions we use. 

(31a) Berger (Bal) (2031) * looks great and while a little more attacking than I would like, will certainly have a bright future with us. 

(31b) Segla (BEN) (Bal) is a little defensive-minded for the tactic, but I'm certainly not complaining. 

"Kriss" (31a) Berger (Bal) (2031) *.

[Jimbokav1971]

Success. Stade Rennais. Apr 2021.

Junior coaching to Level 20.

Youth Recruitment to Level 19/20.

Youth Facilities to Level...... not sure actually. I think they are Superb now which is level 16/17, but that's before this upgrade.

Stadium.  We don't own our own stadium surprisingly. It's council owned and we pay £1.06M per year in rent.  We are in the process of finding a location to build our own stadium though. Current capacity is 27,396 so this will be a significant increase when and if it happens. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

League Cup. Stade Rennais. Apr 2031. 

We do the "cheap double" as I call it. (Winning the equivalent of Charity Shield and League Cup). They were both trophies that I hadn't won before so I'm quite pleased in that respect, (and a trophy is a trophy is a trophy sounds somewhat nicer than the old LLM adage "Cups suck ass".

It seems almost rude not to win these 2 trophies, having to play a total of only 5 games to do so. 

[Jimbokav1971]

You've gotta go there to come back. Stade Rennais. May 2031.

First of all, this is a whole album rather than a single track, but the name has been in my head for a while with this save and it was the most apt I could think of in terms of having to take a step backwards to take 2 steps forwards. 

League Table. We had qualified for the Europa League already, (by virtue of winning the Coupe de la Ligue, but I will be honest that I was desperately trying to hunt down the teams in front of us to qualify for the Champions League again. A mixture of inconsistent performances, (we still ship too many goals and are over-reliant on our first-choice forward-line trio), and poor results after Champions League games meant that we came up short. 

We scored the 2nd most goals in the league, (92 goals compared to 94 scored by PSG), but it's our goals conceded that is our achilles heel. We conceded 55 goals this term in comparison to 47, 38, 47, 44 & 45 conceded by the teams above us. If we concede under 50 goals, then we are probably in the Champions League spots. That being said, if money isn't the issue, (it's not because we have £93M in the bank and £68M to spend), then maybe the Europa League and the supposed easier fixtures it provides is exactly what we need to perform better in the league. 

I made an error this season in selling the influential Italian Elite centre-back Kirillov (ITA) (F.Loyal) to Barca for £55M, but actually I did much more than that because I also sold 3 other centre-backs for a combined total of £20.5M and in hindsight I needed to keep at least one of them. I thought Kirillov (ITA) (F.Loyal) was staying, and then when he wasn't staying, it left us short. Both short in terms of numbers, but also on terms of quality. 

The playing experience will aid the development of our young home-produced centre-backs, but the fact is, that we are still short of quality in that area. I am contemplating asking my DoF to go get me a commanding young centre-half and giving him lots of money to do so, (funded by the sale of some strikers). 

League Fixtures.

Where as we might have been more than a little light-weight at the back, we were very much the heavy-hitters up front. 

Mputu (COD) (F.Pro) is HG at club so the real star of the show. (He was generated at Stade Rennais when the French structure was activated). He is now our record goal-scorer and although there are flirtations with Barca from time to time, he is prepared to stay even though we didn't qualify for the Champions League this year, (just so long as we do so next year). I think the next graphic says all you need to know about his importance to us. That's a LOT of goals. 

Rudinei (BRA) (Bal) is a 24 yo Brazilian that my DoF took a punt on at £8.75M. I knew it was going to be a bargain so I let him go with it, and after just 1 season, (where he didn't even start in my plans), he is now valued at £46M. He is contracted for 4 more years so I could keep him and sell him later, but I'm not a fan of his personality, (but I do love his PPM's). The big problem with him is that he obviously doesn't fit the HG nature of the save, (irrespective of how effective he actually is). I think what I might do is keep him for 1 more season, play him only in away league games, (we struggle more away from home). and play the kids at home.

He was obviously a huge bargain at £8.75M. Part of the problem with selling him on though is because I have had a hard Brexit, the ENglish clubs don't splash the cash with such carefree abandon and because PSG are our rivals, I don't want to sell to them. It really reduces the number of selling opportunities I have. 

The last in the trio is Cialoni (ARG) (Driven) who was another impulse buy by my DoF. How he signed him for just £4M I have no idea. Again, he didn't start in the side because I honestly didn't realise how good he was and hadn't really bothered to have much of a look at him. He is actually the most likely to be sold, (in fact I am going to sell him right now for a low-ish fee but with a 50% clause on top). He is a "righty" and it's his place that I want to go to (29a) Le Mau (F.Pro) (2029) *.

[Jimbokav1971]

Not Good Enough. Stade Rennais. May 2031. 

Coupe de France. 

There is absolutely no point in blowing away the likes of Stade Brestois 29 at home if we then go and crash out to FC Lorient away in the next  round with barely a whimper. I was REALLY not impressed with this. 

Champions League. 

We absolutely romped through the Group stages of the Champions League and the only blip came when I played the kids in the last game away to Chelsea, safe in the knowledge that we had already secured top spot in the Group. Then.... we went and did a Spurs.... against Spurs. Not happy. Not happy at all. Yes all 3 of our top trio of strikers were injured I think, but that's still rubbish.