Dexter_Morgan Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 It's not often I do a one club career (or at least that's my intention) but after stopping my FM15 save I decided to have a go at something I never got round to doing but had intentions back when the game was released. The reason being is that Metz have been something of a yo-yo club between the top and second flight of French football in recent years but have been a top flight club for over 60 years of their existence so there is a bit of pedigree there even if they only have a limited number of honours (there is another Ligue 2 title to their name but that was in the 2013/14 season so doesn't count in terms of this thread) Over the years they've produced players such as Robert Pires, Miralem Pjanic and Sadio Mane to name a few . The academy is obviously one of the reasons I wanted to have a bash at this but at the time Metz had spent 4 seasons in Ligue 2 where in their 4th season in the division they were relegated to the Championnat National, money is tight at the club and though there's a few players good enough for the division above the squad is young and not really ready for first team football even in this level so that in itself is a challenge. With a media expectation of 1st and the board expecting promotion the pressure is on from the very start and though I do expect promotion this year it's in the long term where this will get harder, the finances as mentioned aren't great and on top of PSG's wealth Monaco (currently in Ligue 2) have just had their takeover too so that's at least 2 sugar daddy clubs to compete with once promotion is achieved plus the likes of Lyon and Marseille but with Nantes, Auxerre, Lens and Le Mans we'll have at least 2 of those to compete with assuming we're promoted next year plus any Ligue 1 drop outs it's going to be a tough job to even get back with the big boys let alone think of challenging for titles with them. With a decent size ground and good facilities (plus this boost below) there is a good structure in place given time to change this club from a production line for other clubs to one of France's biggest. As I mentioned this is intended to be a one club save and with that in mind i've only loaded the top flights in Belgium, England, Holland, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain alongside all France. This may change later on but for now I just want to get on with one of the main saves i've wanted to do but never got round to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 Reserved Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 ... to defeat the Huns! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 FC METZ July - September 2012/13 Only Himcinschi has come in and there's been no outs because for one i've only just got applicants from the job center through and signed up (this includes coaching staff) and 2 the scouts we did have couldn't find anybody available on a free who we could afford, hopefully now we have a full complement this will change in the future but our scouting range is only Central, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia when in reality we're probably best looking at Africa but this is currently LLM so it's one of the problems you just have to accept Not the greatest of starts but at least we are up there. In all honesty it doesn't help that even though i'd like to play 4-3-3 wingers (i'll promise i'll try and avoid 2's at the back ect; in this save ) we sometimes have to go to a 3-3-2-2 because there is no depth at fullback which isn't helping because we have to move a DM to CB just to do that which weakens our midfield. Hopefully now we have 6 scouts we can start to do a proper search but i'm toying with the idea of sticking with what we have and save the wages for next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheriff7 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Do you have this Luxembourgian talent Thill??Also good luck with this very sympathetic club.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Sheriff7 said: Do you have this Luxembourgian talent Thill??Also good luck with this very sympathetic club.... No I don't, but I am aware of Metz signing a few from there in the past so i'll be keeping an eye out for any from there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 FC Metz - October - December 2012/13 We're hanging around the promotion spots but there's something missing which I can't put my finger on. We can be winning games and not see them out, if pushed i'd say midfield is our weakest positions but even then I don't think it can all be down to that. We're losing too much to even think about bringing anybody in so it's not like I can add some new faces to freshen it up a little, the best I can hope is we do enough to get through the 2nd half of the season and get out of this division as it certainly isn't doing the finances any good which obviously has an effect on bringing someone in. It's not like i'm unhappy with the performances but we're definitely a little short of where i'd want us to be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 FC Metz - January - March 2012/13 I still feel we're not quite as good as I would like us to be but there's definitely a bit of improvement in the last 3 months, I don't know if that's because i've promoted one of the reserves and a U19 to the first team as both have done well or just the players are a bit more used to each other. I think Amiens have probably got the league settled as they just never seem to lose but in all honesty as long as we hang on to a promotion spot i'm not overly fussed. The cup run has been a nice distraction even if it hasn't done much for our finances, admittedly we've got lucky with a lot of non league sides and a couple from this division but that luck ran out and we have Monaco in the Q/F It wasn't a great youth intake but these 3 according to reports have potential to be good Ligue 1 players, whether that's the case or not remains to be seen and i'm not totally convinced but i've signed them anyway Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 FC Metz - April - June 2012/13 It was a hard fought season really and we did well to almost snatched the title after being nowhere near for months (we were top for almost 75 of the 90 on the final day) but we lacked just that little something, in hindsight i'd have promoted Eren and Tastan (below) earlier as they added a bit of youth and quality to the side. I think there was definitely problems down our left which hindered us a little, Bussmann started the season well at LB but there was always a mistake in him and Lejune just never seemed to get going on the wing, if i'd have the quality at LW then Lejune would have been pushed back but with no finances and no real quality in back up in either position it was something I had to deal with. I've forwarded a few days past the past the season as the window opens early in France and i've raided 3 released youth players already All more for the future rather than now due to the step up in division but Ruben will be a handy backup at least. We've raided a few other players on Bosmans too which i'll link in my next post as I don't think i'm finished yet. The board have given me mid table expectations for next year which i'm not too sure on. I'd have liked avoid relegation but I guess our rep does cause a bit of a problem there but at least it isn't fight for promotion as we're a million miles away from even getting to that stage. Monaco surprisingly didn't get promotion Lens, Auxerre and Nantes are still in the division too and AC Ajaccio, Havre aren't mugs so it will be a tough ask to even compete in this division long term. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massilia93 Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Hi, nice to see someone taking "Les Grenats" as a team. Hope for you to find the next Jeff Strasser in your youth academy. Also, it looks like you're using a false and controversial version of the team's emblem (this is the correct one). For more info check this article. With the use of Google Translate it should be readable. Good luck for the season ahead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Massilia93 said: Hi, nice to see someone taking "Les Grenats" as a team. Hope for you to find the next Jeff Strasser in your youth academy. Also, it looks like you're using a false and controversial version of the team's emblem (this is the correct one). For more info check this article. With the use of Google Translate it should be readable. Good luck for the season ahead. Cheers for the info, in all honesty I didn't know and just picked one that wasn't too big got the real one in a decent enough size now Thanks for the comments, it's been a bit tough due to lack of finances but now i've promoted a few kids and brought a few in hopefully in time it'll get a bit better Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 FC Metz - July - August 2013/14 Probably not as big an upgrade on those positions as i'd have liked but they are all good ages to improve some more. I do want to try and keep this a more traditional French save with homegrown, Belgian and African players (not that we can scout there yet and obviously with the ACN not too many when we do get access to the continent) plus the Luxembourg connection if possible but i'm not setting it in stone because obviously you have to go for who is available and who actually improves your side but i'm trying to keep as close to it as possible. I'm reasonably happy really, we're not great but a few things I take in to consideration are I started off with 4-2-3-1 and as I was watching even at that early stage I could tell it was missing something so reverted to 4-3-3 against St. Etienne which i'd have probably done anyway seeing they are a top flight side but when it did so well I decided to go back to it. Another thing is i'm not sure on my best starting XI, 1 of the CB's is up for grabs, LB is a constant rotation as neither are doing that well so far, 1 CM spot is up for grabs as is LW though i've been playing Bazile there more often and dropping Beitia in to CM rotation and RW is undecided, even up front Kone is only just getting the nod ahead of Himcinschi. I should probably go with my ass man's choice but in the back of my mind the players are pretty the same ability so i'm trying to give them a fair amount of chances to improve. Thankfully the step up in division is seeing us make between £400-600k per month so we're only just over £1M in debt now compared to the £2.5M at the end of last season so hopefully that will soon see us a bit more healthier financially to attract some better players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 FC Metz - September - October 2013/14 Reasonably happy, we were on a great little run but struggled to put games to bed recently. Even so we were on;y beaten once in our bad spell and managing to beat another top flight side on pens in Valenciennes does show that there isn't too much wrong though. In terms of league position we are also still higher than I expected even with the blip we're closer to the top than bottom so we're on course to reach our target for the season. I made one signing since the last update in Silan Bonat which a great coup for us, we were also offered Renan Ribero but I wanted him trial first due to the fact that even though I knew he'd be an upgrade my LLM tendencies meant that if I could scout him or wouldn't agree to a trail then I simply don't sign the player. It's probably the one time I should have ignored that rule but old habits are hard to break and I went for Bolat, who isn't exactly a poor signing as he's got it in him to be a great long term signing himself Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 I must be doing something right and I must admit this was bloody tempting Obviously I turned it down but if it was a journeyman save i'd have definitely jumped at the chance to join them. EDIT: Toulouse offered me a job the very next day too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 FC Metz - November - December 2013/14 Another couple of decent months for us, the Montpelier game was a bit of a let down as the game was over at half time though there was a bit of fight in the 2nd half without reply but apart from that we've done well and should end up just above mid table. We seem to be getting 2/3 injuries at a time this season which is a bit frustrating but they're in game so there's not much we can really do about it. I've no plans for new faces in January as I think it's just going to add to problems I already have with the starting XI after finally getting it a bit more settled so i'll look more towards a few Bosmans for next season unless someone too good to turn down becomes available. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 FC Metz - January - February 2013/14 February looks a bad month after our recent form but we've been down to our 4th choice keeper who is also our 40 year old goalkeeping coach all year so in all honesty i'm surprised we got away with January We haven't been playing badly at all but we desperately need one of the other 3 keepers back, M'Fa was back for a day and ended up out immediately for another 3 months Thankfully Bolat is back by the 2nd game of March at latest which should see us tighten up a little again especially as we are going to be playing quite a few top half sides from until the end of the season. In some ways those injuries have done us a favour as we were 2nd at the end of January and we aren't anywhere near ready (or at least not in my mind) to go up yet so having a gap isn't a bad thing though I do want results to start picking ASAP as we have a cup quarter final against an improving Auxerre in March and with this below as the line up for the quarters anything can happen (Lens won it last season as a Ligue 2 side), the highest positioned side in that line up is 15th placed Toulouse at the time of writing so it is a very open competition this year. There's 4 players already signed for next season, 3 are regens and look excellent but we have also snatched Riyad Mahrez on a Bosman, granted he's not the quality he would be on FM16 upwards but still a very good coup for us Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 We've just had our youth intake which wasn't much to write home about except one which is an unusual one At first I wondered how we'd manage a Chinese player given we can't send scouts there and there's no Chinese members of staff or on the board so I looked at affiliates and this came up So with Canada in too there's potential for some more obscure stars of the future in there, Senegal and Belgian affiliates aren't that rare for French sides but the other 2 are quite interesting though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 We're through to the cup semi after 2-0 win at Auxerre, I dropped almost the entire team in the game before against Lens which I started to regret after we lost 4-1 but thankfully it turned out to be the right choice and we play CFA side Cannes. Obviously they can't be underestimated as they've beat a Ligue 1 and 2 side on the way and top their group but it is definitely the best draw we could have had. We're officially out of the red now too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Breezed through what could have been a tricky game and now we play Toulouse in the final Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Devastated in all honesty, we bottled it as they were there for the taking Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 FC Metz - March - May 2013/14 I never thought i'd say this but this is the very last thing I wanted to happen we were in 4th on the last day, 3 points behind Bastia who had what it seemed like a home banker against Boulogne and this happened i'd have played the kids if i'd have expected anything other than them to hold on to 3rd honestly it's seriously messed up my pre season now too as I had already planned in my head to maybe bring 2 more in and bed them and the other 4 in and give the ones capable of making the step up another season in this division, particularly the defenders who still aren't even 20 and in all honesty have struggled a little to even cope with this league when you look at the goals against compared to last season. Now i've had my little moan on to the positives Can't fault the players at all, we were predicted to finish 12th so we were well above that level and I was only expecting between 8th and that myself. What pleases me the most is that 13 players who have been at the club their whole career have managed 10 or more games during the season and it's going to be a shame to have to try and get rid of a few so soon but ultimately there's a few that aren't ever going to even be lower Ligue 1 level so I am going to have to have a bit of a sort out of the squad and for those that definitely won't get many opportunities next season try and get them a good loan and revisit it next year. We don't have a budget yet so I can't even give you an idea of what I intend to do for next season in terms of how many I will try and bring in, i'd have a guess at at a 2nd choice keeper, another CB and a CM as a minimum plus a right winger if any spare but we probably need 2 in each of those outfield positions. I think writing all this out has wound me up even more than at the start now as it has seriously caused me a big and unexpected headache Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Good luck surviving next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 FC Metz - Pre Season 2014/15 That's about as good as it can get with only £1.5M left for transfers until the winter at least. I would have liked another CB and a RB (I tried for Serge Aurier but even with instalments I still couldn't match the initial fee and Toulouse aren't receptive to a £100k a month loan deal and the future asking price which was the full amount) so for now i'll stick with Metanire who in fairness has never let me down but he's probably about as good as he's ever going to get and Silvestri will cover both LB and RB with Gabriel Silva now at the club plus I have Renard (below) in the u19's who is turning out really good for age so we'll have to make do. Central midfield is probably where we've really improved with Petrov and Badu so we really need to keep those 2 fit. Caiado wasn't my first choice for the right but Ait Fana wouldn't budge on his wage demands but at least he is a big upgrade on what we have and i've kept to trying to sign any half decent players from Luxembourg if the chance is available. Mahrez we all know about even though he isn't in the same class as newer FM's but he'll still do a job for the time being. Schwarz was a must have for me, i'm going to give him plenty of time as i'm sick of Sakho moaning about stuff that has nothing to do with him, he's off if someone matches the £2.5M I want for him (plenty of loan offers but I want cash). We're still in the black by £500k after spending more than we brought in so hopefully we can make a nice profit each month now. Youth coaching was improved but no sign of youth network being available yet Scouting has been improved to worldwide now and with extra scouts I can focus on Africa and South America too now thankfully with Africa obviously taking priority. I don't usually post staff brought in but this is probably the best HOYD I have had for a long while Hopefully that will improve the quality a little too that comes in. The board only want us to avoid relegation and obviously there's 2 other clubs that will have the same fears as us but looking at their transfer history they've not brought many in between them and only 1 of them spent a (£250k) fee so hopefully we've done a lot better in the window than them and have an edge on them. 2 hours ago, deltablue said: Good luck surviving next season. Cheers Delta, it's been a stressful window and I would still rather be in Ligue 2 for now but now we're here we've got to get on with it, I know the defence isn't good enough so i'm just hoping the rest of the team can make up for it and put some chances away Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 FC Metz - August - September 2014/15 I think the results show why i've not even bothered with more screenshots It's been an absolute disaster so far in all honesty I have to laugh because this is exactly what I expected, I knew it was too soon to go up. It's not been for lack of effort though if there's any positives to find plenty of times the ass man's advice in game has said the scoreline isn't reflecting the way we are playing but it's hard to take much comfort in that when you are watching your side get spanked each week In the last 3 games I have changed from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 wide diamond and at least it's seen us pick up a few points whether this is the start in an upturn of form remains to be seen but i'm going to give it 10 more games or so and see how it goes but after the first 5 games it was obvious I had to try something different. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Nice quick early progress. Do you mind if I ask what the thinking is with regards to FM13? Old laptop/PC or just a version you particularly liked and can't get on with newer versions? I'm managing Stade Rennais at the moment but after some early save success against PSG, they are firmly putting me in my place now. I can't even see any dim and distant hints that I might be able to beat them over a full season with the way I play. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 It seems we can win the odd game after all... God knows where that's come from as we haven't won since my last update My ass man says a few are struggling to communicate which is probably playing a little part in all this in fairness, I just hope we can survive somehow but I know this is going to be a long season 34 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said: Nice quick early progress. Do you mind if I ask what the thinking is with regards to FM13? Old laptop/PC or just a version you particularly liked and can't get on with newer versions? I'm managing Stade Rennais at the moment but after some early save success against PSG, they are firmly putting me in my place now. I can't even see any dim and distant hints that I might be able to beat them over a full season with the way I play. Good luck. Thanks It's more to do with too much going on in the newer versions if i'm honest, it isn't the greatest laptop in the world but it could handle 18 if I bothered to get because I don't tend to load many leagues just the big ones to keep them strong still or in case I fancy a change. The news feeds are too much, interviews are too much, I never answer them apart from signing a new contract or changing club but it's just taking up time I could be spending playing the game. I like FM15 still but even that can be a bit too much at times Also i've done my ankle in so I wanted a save I can fly through for the next weeks On this occasion though my thinking was it's just one of those saves I never got round to because I started my Iron Curtain save at the time and I spent 6/7 months on and off with it. Metz aren't a huge club but are pretty much a top flight club throughout their history so them being in the 3rd tier with a few kids that whilst not world beaters would at least do til I made progress in the top flight when I got there just appealed. In all fairness I think it's FM14 where LeMans went to the 5th tier along with Strasbourg, Grenoble and another that's slipped my mind and I could just have easily done one of those. You've probably got it much tougher than I have because you have Monaco to deal with too They've got the sugar daddy and have spent on this save but never seem to take control, i'll have the PSG problem like you though, they've spent £130M in the past 2 seasons plus £80M in the first. Stade Rennais are like a few others in France on this game with potential, always seem to produce good kids too Hopefully you can catch up with PSG and give them a run for their money Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 We've followed beating Lyon by beating the side top at the start of play twice in a week Mahrez has finally decided to be a footballer in the last 2 games after a shocking start which has help in all fairness but it seems stumbling across this diamond has really started to get the best out of us now which is surprising even me as I don't think i've ever played the wide diamond on any FM ever I recall the narrow one being good on FM11 but never really tried this as it always seemed to risky to me but what it's allowed me to do is put backwards arrows on the wide players to help the full backs who had been really struggling before the change Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 FC Metz - October - December 2014/15 Much, much better recently. As I said in my last post i've changed the formation and it certainly has helped us. I've felt all along the fullbacks seem to be doing poor, even Gabriel Silva at first but now they are less exposed it's made such a huge difference to us. The disadvantage to this is my wide players are attacking wingers so it is affecting their natural game so I need to have to make a decision on this formation long term obviously as this change came during the season I can't do much about it as I signed both wide men to play further forward so i'm pretty much left with my hands tied for the rest of the season. From a negative in terms of the formation comes a positive in Petrov, he's moved from CM to the tip of the diamond and since he's gone there he's been our best player IMO in the 4-3-3 he was struggling but now he's consistently good, creating lots of chances for the side and keeping it all ticking. Just because the present form is good i'm not assuming we're going to be fine, there's only 8 points between us and the relegation spots and it only takes an injury or 2 for us to be really weakened especially at GK, CB, DM and AMC and there's no sign of extra funds to help with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 FC Metz - January - February 2014/15 We're still doing alright considering we had 3 players at the ACN but it has really tested the squad over the past month or so. What's surprises me most is just how tight this league is, you could be in 14th and with 3 wins have a chance of making Europe so it's a bit hard to judge this league and give myself any targets other than just make sure we stay safe atm. The way it's going I wouldn't be surprised if it takes more than 45 points to make sure you are safe I've tried desperately to get a CB in for either now or next season, we've been turned down by Bruno Ecuele Manga, Jonathan Mensah, Alexandre Coeff and Cedric Mongongu in that position plus Sebastien Corchia at RB so it's been tough but hopefully we'll get some decent funds in the summer and find someone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 FC Metz - March - May 2014/15 Although the end of the season wasn't great we have done fantastically well to survive our first season in Ligue 1 especially when you consider I didn't even want us to be there Even with our poor end to the season we were only 3 points away from finishing 6th (I think Sochaux had a better GD if we finished level on points with them). For the moment I think i'll be sticking to the 4-4-2 diamond but realistically I do want to get back to 4-3-3 or go 4-2-3-1 but CB's and RB's are a real problem in finding as I am trying to stick to a core of Belgians, French and African players and 2 of the signings in place for next year are neither of them. I'm hoping with Montpellier's relegation I snatch a few but the early scouting report suggests the 3 I am most interested in are out of our price range, hopefully once the new season kicks in this will change though. I've got decisions to make about Mahrez and David Caiado, Mahrez's position on the left is in doubt with 2 possible candidates for that side but the fact he can play up front and his best performances have been there does at least mean there's a squad role for him if I keep him. Caiado will also be replaced on the right and with Sarr also able to play there I think he's a certainty to go if we can get a good offer for him. Only one of note from the youth intake but he looks a decent one for his age he looks superb, it's a shame our reserves aren't playable as he'd be straight in there gaining valuable experience. We have also boosted the junior coaching again, I would have liked the network improved but after 3 years still no option Finances mean we can't improve training facilities at all still and i'm desperate to do it but playing staff takes priority for now. I'd be happy with the same position again next season in all honesty, the league was very tight so it's a bit hard to judge but the same points has got you 5th and 8th in the last 2 years and with Monaco now promoted there's even more competition to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 FC Metz - Pre Season 2015/16 Not as much as I would have liked to have done in terms of first team players but at least they are all improvements on what we had. I'll be sticking with the diamond for the time being but we do have the ability to change formation if needed now at least. I spent a bit of cash on players for the future too but they will join at a later date Medic will have to wait 3 years but he comes highly recommended and for £325k it is worth a punt. Messaoudi is someone I am really excited about, it cost me a lot more than I would have liked (£4.4M) but he looks like he has the makings of a real star. I did make a mistake letting him stay at Le Havre but I was/still hoping they promote him to the first team and give him games, in hindsight i'd have taken him now and loaned him out myself but it's done and at the age he is it won't do much damage if he stays in their youth team. He does Zouita cost £550k and has French dual nationality again he looks like he could be a real talent and hopefully a mainstay in the future first team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 FC Metz - August - September 2015/16 On the whole a decent enough start the new players don't seem to be struggling to settle in to the extent that last seasons batch did which is a massive help along with the fact that apart from at DM this year I know exactly what the best starting XI is so everything seems much less of a panic than this time last year. It's getting to the stage now where bids are coming in for the likes of Schwarz, Petrov and Silva, thankfully for now they've accepted new contracts rather than kick up a fuss but it could be a struggle to keep hold of them longer term so i'm already on the lookout for replacements as I have to be realistic, that said I found some of the offers derogatory and it'll take more than that for me to consider. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 My pet hate on this save is when my ass man says this Quote The players look up for this and are tackling superbly which is usually at 0-0 and then followed by us conceding a goal within seconds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kubson Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 How is that chinese lad doing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 21 hours ago, Kubson said: How is that chinese lad doing? He's been out for 3 months so he's declined a little, I also wasn't convinced as him as a striker so been getting him more accomplished on either wing and been trained to use as an inside forward at some point. Still got high hopes for him though as he was improving before the injury Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 FC Metz October - December 2015/16 A good enough period of the season, i've got to be realistic about how good we are and I know we're lacking in defence and in all honesty even with a few players with good potential currently they and the senior players are mid table level at best so we're probably punching above our weight a little if anything. What I will say about this division is if PSG didn't have their resources this division is pretty level, 3 wins could see you jump pretty high in the table and similarly 3 defeats in row could see you drop a fair bit so it's good that there's a level standard in the main throughout the division. I seem to have a bit of a super sub in Sahko, he's only started twice but has come off the bench and scored 7 times which is a decent return, if we've not scored by the 60/70 minute mark he's the default sub and has chipped in with vital goals for us so after moaning about his attitude the other year he's really impressed me this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 This is good news because if he ends up making it i'd rather not lose him to Asian comps mid season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 FC Metz January - February 2015/16 We're still going reasonably strong especially as we seem to have 2 players banned each game at the moment I made a slight change in tactic after the Lille match, the formation is exactly the same but i'm trying to get the wide players to be a bit more attacking as I don't think we are getting the best out the players that are there as they are naturally more attacking players and I feel the way I set them up has restricted them a little. In all honesty I think i'll be going to 4-3-3 next season as i've brought in Colequin for next season from Arsenal so we should be solid enough to have 2 out and out wingers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Don't hang around too long before blooding Mougel. At least I wouldn't Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 23 minutes ago, deltablue said: Don't hang around too long before blooding Mougel. At least I wouldn't I forgot to mention actually as I didn't even realise until Christmas Our reserves are in the CFA now so I don't even need to loan players out as they can get a good standard of football before making the step up and at least I can keep a better eye an have more say in their development Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 Finally I have my hands on a trophy with the club! We were pretty much in control throughout and the one blip was an injury time consolation against us. We have 2 league games before we have a chance of making it a cup double against Bordeaux but whatever the result of that i'm just glad after 4 seasons at the club we finally have a piece of silverware to our name (you may remember we didn't even win the lower league titles) and after losing a final a few years back to Toulouse it is a good feeling to get something at last. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 Delighted again although after throwing away a 2-0 lead we made a hard job of it but thankfully we got there in the end. Winning the cup at least means if we are only to be in the Europa at least we are straight in the group rather than qualifiers though tbh with Amiens at home next in the league we should be securing 2nd place in the table and automatic CL football which will top of a great season for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 FC Metz March - May 2015/16 Delighted with the season, a cup double and 2nd in the league isn't to be sniffed at and shows that we are slowly but surely making progress. PSG are very dominant as you'd expect so i'm not even targeting them atm as I believe in the long term we need at least 1 more CB, a RB, and a CM or 2, the CM's are potentially there in the reserves but I believe they would be better off with at least one more season in the reserves with less pressure on them. A GK has to be looked at too, Bolat is a good mid table keeper but he'll never be anything more the problem i've had so far in this department is the majority of the ones i've spotted have been African so we'd be losing a key player every couple of years so i've been reluctant so far to invest. The youth intake brought us 2 defenders for a change which i'm delighted about Since the season ended i've turned down the Arsenal and PSG jobs, it's nice to be linked to them but tbh if this ever moves away from a one club save I have a list of countries I wouldn't mind (I won't go to England or Italy as did those in my last save) St. Pauli or a Berlin side in Germany Any Slovakian side other than Bratislava, there's a lot of decent talent from there in this save, if it wasn't for the rules i've set myself I could easily have 5/6 on the books A 2nd/3rd division side in either Turkey or Belgium or a 3rd division Spanish side live Oviedo or Murcia. I finally managed to get a bit of an upgrade on facilities, I nearly did both but decided I didn't want to lose too much potential transfer money Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheriff7 Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Amazing second place mate CL money will help.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Nice second season in ligue 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 12 hours ago, Sheriff7 said: Amazing second place mate CL money will help.. Thanks, definitely being in the group stage straight away is a relief as it's our first time in Europe so we wouldn't have been seeded so it saves any tricky games just to get there. 3 hours ago, kidthekid said: Nice second season in ligue 1 Cheers mate, i'd be happy with top 3 for a few seasons as catching up to PSG won't be easy. The one hope I do have is we beat them twice out 3 meetings last year so it's not as though i'm worried about them as such, just over the course of the season they have better players so are obviously more consistent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 FC Metz Pre Season 2016/17 You seen 2 of the signings already this stage last year and as I said if i'd have known the reserves were playable i'd have took Messaoudi from Le Havre straight away as he only wasted the year in their U19'S anyway (my own fault for not looking at notifications ) he goes straight in to the reserve side this year where hopefully he'll have time to progress. In fact everyone bar Coquelin and Takerboucht are going to be left to develop in the reserves, usually without reserves playable I try and fast track kids by giving them games as sub. cup games but with the reserves in a proper competition it means I can be more relaxed and let them develop in their own time. My biggest headache out of the kids is Berisha He can play DM (natural) CM, CB, LB and LM for the time being he's on a LB schedule as i'm overloaded with midfielders, it was my intention when I bought him to have him at LB but his pace is a little worrying so i'll be making that a focus in 6 months or so after he's had enough of the LB training. Out of the senior signings Takerboucht is probably the one i'm hoping will make more of an impact, we've been needing an improvement at RB for a while and have just about got away with it the last 2 seasons Coquelin is in all honesty not much better than what we had in terms of DM as Badu and Trebel but with the change of formation to 4-2-3-1 we needed better than what we had in reserve to strengthen the squad so he's a good signing for the short term at least until some of the kids make the step up. Again I struggled finding a CB and keeper, we can attract good ones but just couldn't afford the wages hopefully with the CL money and money i've made through sales this is the last season I have to worry about that as these are probably the 2 most needed both long and short term, I pretty much have the rest of the squad sorted now for both present and the future so I am pretty optimistic going in to the new season and the main thing I am worried about is the change in tactic but a change was needed to get the best out the underperforming wide players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 FC Metz August - September 2016/17 It's not the greatest of starts in all honesty but I have to take in to account i'm not sure on the best pairing at DM yet and the new formation is a work in progress, I made a few tweaks after losing 4-0 to Lyon and the AZ game apart which was shocking there's been signs of progress since then so i'll give it until Xmas and see where we are then. Even the Juventus game which we lost I made a substitution to bring Trebel on for Badu at half time and we deserved a draw for that performance in the end so i'm not overly worried yet over our form,. One thing that concerns me is Petrov though, he wants to move and has been moaning to the point i'm ready to let him go. I thought in the summer I could ride it out with him and decided not to let him go, in hindsight i'd have let Monaco cough up the £20M, not backed out of bringing Payet to the club at the last minute and moved Halilovic to AMC. It is a move (although the Payet deal is a no go now so i'd have to find an alternative) that I think I will seriously look at for January, it'd probably be better for the dynamic of the team too to have a proper wide player there rather than having Halilovic shunted out on the right. We made a joker signing at the end of September with this lad from Monaco for £4.5M, he looks an excellent prospect and i've decided rather than have him in the reserves to be a back up AMC and see how he does. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 FC Metz October - December 2016/17 It's tough to really sum up how our season is, especially as going in to this report I already had in my head the defence was my biggest problem as we've let a lot of late goals in and in the build up to this I was going to have a go, it's only when I look at the amount we've let in and if you ignore the 2 times we've let 4 in we haven't really been that bad even though I think we need better back 4 and keeper (if that makes sense ) we're playing well too but we seem to be missing a lot of chances and when you think we were top scorers in the division last season and 3rd this so far it's hard to pick exactly where that little extra is going wrong and what I can do to change it. My only thought is go back to the diamond but i've made signings for the first team and youth/reserves with huge promise that wouldn't fit that system so i'm reluctant to do so at the moment. I'm leaning towards moving the 2 DM's to CM with both on a box to box duty or at least moving 1 forward. Even with my concerns i'm still realistic enough to know we're nowhere near a top side yet, it's just I see more in the performances than what we're getting which for all of us is frustrating There's a potential deal that if Monaco pay for Petrov I may make in the window which will enable Halilovic to play AMC and I can get one of 2 right players in which would probably improve morale and give us a better balance but i'm not willing to let him go for less than £20M to a rival Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 FC Metz January - May 2016/17 I was so carried away with this it got to April before I realised I hadn't even done an update We were brilliant in the 2nd half of the year, as I threatened Petrov went for £17.5M + 50% of any sale. I think that for us and the more consistent results since it's proved to be the right decision. One thing that has concerned me a little is the central strikers have been getting a lot less this year but thankfully the rest of the squad has been chipping in with very good numbers and obviously as we were the top scorers in the league it hopefully won't be a major problem. The season went to the very last day but the St. Etienne game in reality is what cost us as we had 4 players suspended and it showed. Not really disappointed we didn't win it as I think we were top 2 weekends at most, it should really be Lyon that are the disappointed ones having led for the majority of the season but ran out of steam around April time. I'm pretty sure next season for us will feel like a title challenge, we have 3 great new signings to come (i'll link in the pre season post later) and our younger players have a year more experience. I've even finally managed to get round to promoting an academy in Guo Yifeng and Tristan Renard will become the new 2nd choice right back this year. At last I have managed some first team training upgrades and some more for the youth facilities. It was obviously helped with the fact we made more than £20M from the CL and the Petrov money but after 5 years of not being able to do it it is a relief as I try and push the club to the next level. Only aim for next year is to mount a realistic title challenge and not just finish 2nd without looking like we'd win it as we have been in the previous 2 seasons. That's not dismissing anything we've done, I think we've we've massively overachieved especially last year but this side should be getting close to it's peak, long term I know the likes of Francis Coquelin, Adrien Trebel and Yannis Takerboucht are good enough to win CL's but they are certainly good enough to win this division and get us into European knockouts until I can finally promote some of the impressive youngsters we have. I'm probably in a situation where I could upgrade on all of those with ready made players but i'm not in a rush in reality, I have players that I just need to be patient with ready to come in for those midfield positions, the front line only needs an upgrade on Mahrez to cover Wojciech Wojnarowski but for the moment i'm not overly concerned with that as Yifeng can play there while he develops so it's probably only the back 4 where i'm lacking on potential class and where I intend to spend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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