[FM19] French Lingerie - Acre State, Brazil

[optimusprimal82]

10 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yeah, you are probably right, but on the other hand, when you can only sign Basque players and you are keen to prioritise your own Academy players over externally produced players, a lack of

>snip<

Anyway, I meant to post something like this before but I think I got side-tracked so here it is. 

Great post and a conclusion I definitely seem to be drawing myself with the 'unambitious' personality type seeming to crop up an awful lot across my save; I've chalked ambition up (albeit temporarily) now as a 'not really bothered/nice to have' type of thing until I/someone can accurately clarify it's effect fully - I think (as you suggest) we're mistakenly dismissing it as having negative connotations when I'd be lying if I said I've seen any sort of undesirable behaviour? In actuality, the only one player who's kicked up a fuss and 'wanted to move to a bigger club' is a good test case for this;

Fraser Meaney joined my side as a youth in 2021 (so 3 in-game years ago) with a 'Fairly Loyal' Personality and a 'Reserved MHS';

What this tells us is that his Ambition, Loyalty & Professionalism stats are pretty reasonable (and the effect of Loyalty on neutering Ambition would also be interesting to investigate);

So the one good player who I know to have a decent score for ambition wants to leave? I'm not going to form a full opinion based on just 1 example but it's interesting - would have been interesting to see how he'd behaved with higher ambition/without high loyalty. In any case, for the time being if my guys have low ambition it's zero cares for me so long as Determination and Professionalism (and hope fully handling pressure!) are in the 'green zone' - issue this year seems to be keeping them there though with the overall squad effect seeming to be huge and dragging my higher stat youngsters down to the 'mean level' by the time they turn 24 (going to go and dig now and see if it has had the same level of effect in reverse for the asshats in the group)

Now in terms of developing the player, all I cared about was his sky high potential and his 12/high determination/professionalism combo - sure enough he's become my best player over the years - do i think if his ambition stat had been 1 that he'd in any way have turned out a lesser player/developed slower? No, not at all based on what I've witnessed this save - it's hard to be sure as none of the 'unambitious' players I've got have anywhere near his level of PA, and my one 'unambitious' success has indeed been slow to develop but he started with just 4 for determination so it's not exactly a fair fight/sound test? Fwiw though he's this seasons top scorer so far (after Meaney) above so his low ambition hasn't hindered him that much?

Last up, multiple MHS' do still exist in 19, they just seem to be (a lot) rarer - I keep getting this lovely cocktail through in my intakes which suggests my HoyD is on borrowed time;

Apologies for butting in and making a mess all over your thread - just a very interesting (and pertinent) topic for me right now!  

Edited April 11, 2019 by optimusprimal82

[Jimbokav1971]

Absolutely no need for apologies @optimusprimal82 I love a debate in my thread even if we don't agree. 👍

[optimusprimal82]

Thank you sir!

I'm not sure I even agree with myself regarding Ambition - it always was an important stat for me based on the testing some guys did way back around FM13, Cleons Ajax thread & the fact it's still a component of the model citizen personality suggests it certainly is still desirable/something to aim for - I've always thought/understood that it does play an important part in the development of players but have always kept it secondary to Determination/Professionalism, although how accurate that is I don't know - this ages old thread  I've got saved in my 'FM Keep bookmarks' suggests it's still very important in it's own right;

however an old test now so may not be quite as valid? Might be worth us politely 'bugging' Seb a little if Cleon doesn't know definitively when he comes to update his master thread...? But some of this being unknown actually adds a little to the mystique I guess so can be fun not knowing (so long as people aren't passing guess work off as fact of course!)?

It's hard to test properly with my team right now as our training facilities are so bad still that everyone develops slowly!  

 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by optimusprimal82

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2040.

We're a little bit his and miss at the moment, but that is by design rather than accident. I'm a big believer in not just good players but particularly fresh players and to that end I rested the 1st choice team in both the Nice and Paris games. We got stuffed against Nice, but a 3-1 loss at home to PSG is no great shame at all. 

While the hammering by Nice wasn't rewarded with a win or even a point, (these things don't work every time), we absolutely hammered Nantes after the PSG game and smashed 6 goals past them, (something that I'm pretty sure we hadn't before at this level). 3 wins in a month is great, and we also grabbed a point at home to Montpellier too. 

(36c) Schmidt (Bal) * scored his 2nd and 3rd goals of the season, (bringing him to 20 career goals), and 16 year old (39b) Xabier (Res) * scored his 3rd Ligue 1 goal. Of course he is finding it harder to score at this level. He's 16!

Edited April 12, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

@Tacchimade a comment on the previous page something along the lines that Sochaux, (FCSM), have forgotten that they are playing in Ligue 1 and are up near the top by accident, instead thinking that they are in Ligue 2. 

I have been meaning to go back and look at them and have just remembered his comment after seeing them still sit 2nd and unbeaten in their last 5 games, and... (omg, they have only lost once all season in 20 games! No wonder they are up near the top). 

They start the save in Ligue 2, but in a strong position after a recent extended period in Ligue 1. 

That didn't stop them from seeing relegation to the National in 2023/24 and although they returned to Ligue 1 in 2035/36, they have been relegated again twice since then. This season things seem to be going a little differently however. 

The only team to defeat them, is of course PSG. 

They have 2 distinct transfer traits.

1.  Pillage the relegated Ligue 1 teams. This seems sensible, at least from a financial point of view. You will be able to get the player for less than normal because their stock will be down after playing in a losing team, and also the relegated club will be keen to sell at a reduced price in order to get the player of the wage bill.
2. Spend big on youngsters. This has been a little hit and miss for them, but it sort of goes with the territory. If the player is successful then he will continue to play and will improve again and it's like a ball rolling downhill gathering momentum. If they don't do well and you get relegated, then the pressure is probably going to be on to cut your losses, sell the player (possibly at a loss), and recruit more tried and trusted options. 

What I would say in both these cases is that there is however an added hidden saving. 

First of all, young players will be paid less than established players. You are signing them not for how good they are now, but with the idea that they will, (hopefully), improve significantly over a relatively short period of time and you will soon find yourself with a much better player than you bought, but one who is still being paid what he was worth when you bought him. This "hidden saving" is also apparent when raiding the relegated teams. The players will be about to take a wage cut due to relegation, and are about to find themselves playing down a division below, and along you come offering them salvation in the form of another season in the big-time. You can offer them less than they are earning now, (or at least were earning before the relegation), and it might still be accepted on the basis that they are just about to see their basic wage slashed. Add in some hefty bonus payments, (if you are relegated again you probably won;t be paying out on them), and that might be enough to clinch the deal. 

Without a doubt though. Their #1 strategy in the transfer market is to spend big on young players. As well as the previously mentioned saving on wages, (which is really significant in my opinion), there is also the possibility of a sell-on value where they will make a potentially large profit if things go well. At the very least, the player is at the very least unlikely to depreciate as might happen in an ageing player. 

Jacques Guyot is 19 yo centre-half. FCSM paid £16M up front to prize him away from Metz in Jan 2040.

Léo Marty is a 19 yo MC who was signed from Monaco Reserves for £3.7M

Ablaye Diakhaté is an 18 yo MC who also came from Monaco for £12.25M.

Ahmed Prevost is a 17 yo DR who joined from Lyon for £6.5M in Aug 2039 when he would have been just 16. 

Pierre Ngatse is 21 now, but was signed in Aug 2037 (over 3 years ago), for £5.5M from Marseille. 

Tristan Sabatier is a player I really like the look of. Although he is 20 yo now, he was signed for £12M from Lyon back in Sep 2036, (4 and a bit years ago), and right now he is their starting striker and has scored 9 goals in 17 league games. 

Because they have yo-yo'd a bit over the last few seasons, (2 relegations and 3 promotions in 6 seasons), they haven't really benefited from their transfer policy. This has to be a long-term plan and their lack of success, (at least as far as staying up goes), has meant that they have probably had to cash in on some of the younger players who might have blossomed in other circumstances. Whether by luck or judgement, this group has been good enough not only to survive in Ligue 1, but to go on now and compete at a significant level. They are surely going to be playing in Europe next season, (more games for the development of the youngsters), and I think they will go from strength to strength. They have good facilities in terms of training and youth, but not in terms of producing from their own Academy, (which is decent rather than good). 

We already knew the most important thing about their manager. 

I think I would enjoy being at a club like this and the manager is doing brilliantly in a style that I like, (even if it's one that I have strayed away from slightly in recent years). I will be keeping an eye out on them and him and I hope to emulate him/them bu initially staying up and then pushing on towards a European finish thereafter. 

[nie jem frytek]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

They start the save in Ligue 2, but in a strong position after a recent extended period in Ligue 1. 

Not recent. They've spent 66 seasons in top tier in France. Only Marseille has more with current season being their 69th one.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, nie jem frytek said:

Not recent. They've spent 66 seasons in top tier in France. Only Marseille has more with current season being their 69th one.

Not recent? 

The game says that they were in Ligue 1 between at least 2007/08 and 2013/14. I'm classing that as relatively recent history. Is that not right? Or are you just saying it's a bit longer ago in real life than recent? 

[nie jem frytek]

I'm saying that they're traditionally a top tier team.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, nie jem frytek said:

I'm saying that they're traditionally a top tier team.

Ahhh. Ok. I get you. Apologies, my French football knowledge is limited to the big boys, Saint Etienne and the rugby dominated areas. Thanks. 

[Tacchi]

Haha, I did not expect such an analysis after my comment:)

I like your journey Jimbo very much, keep it up!

[Jimbokav1971]

Wonderkids are like buses. Jan 2041.

We haven't had a Wonderkid yet in the save, and now I notice that we have not 1, but 2. 

I was expecting to see (39b) Xabier (Res) * to be labelled a Wonderkid at some point in the future, but 16 years old seems astonishingly early. 

(36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * seems closer to the age I would expect to see a Wonderkid labelled, but let's be honest, managing in Iceland, San Marino and Gibraltar, they tend not to be ten a penny. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2041.

This looks like a terrific month, but actually when you remove the 3 friendlies and the Cup game against lower ranked opposition, (that we only won in extra time after I rotated most of the squad), then it doesn't look quite so good at all. 

Against lowly Stade Montois I rotated the whole squad other than (39b) Xabier (Res) * and he saved my bacon by scoring the opener and then providing the assist for the winner. 

I didn't take any notice of the friendlies, and this was to my cost as the Ass Man picked some of the 1st team to play against Orleans just 4 days before the Havre game. I was really targeting this game as a potential 3 points, and to find that 4 of my starters were knackered, another was suspended and 2 more had picked up knocks during the week meant that we were going into it with 7 1st choice players missing. We dominated the game and should have won, but we couldn't put the ball in the net and they sneaked it with their 1 chance. 

If we couldn't beat Havre away I thought we were unlikely to get anything from the Auxerre game, but they surprised me and claimed another vital 3 points with some ease. where 

We may have collected the points where I thought we would get none and got none when I expected to win, but the end result is still that we sit in 15th place, 6 points ahead of Rennes in 19th. Wow. Rennes in danger of relegation? I wonder if they have any players I could poach and then sell for a profit? Reims look dead and buried. I would obviously prefer to see Havre, Metz or Bordeaux relegated instead of Rennes, but I will be looking to pillage whoever does go down. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2041. 

Another very good month for us. 3 league wins, a Cup win, (although we needed extra-time again), and 3 goals by 2 different goal-scoring goal-keepers. 

Rennes are poor at the moment and I really want them to stay up, but it's looking unlikely at the moment. We beat them convincingly and should have scores more. 

I rotated the squad against Lille and we needed extra-time to progress. (36c) Schmidt (Bal) * scoring his 2nd in 2 games making it 5 for the season and his 22nd career goal. (He's 20 years old). 

I didn't think we could beat Sochaux with so many players suspended and fatigued, so I rotated the squad completely and started 8 teenagers and we somehow beat them 2-1 with a 1st First Team goal from goal-scoring GK #4, (which is actually his 3rd of the season and of his career as he has scored 2 goals in National 2-B for the Reserves this season. 

We're 12th in the league now, 7 places and 13 points ahead of Rennes in 19th. There are still 3 months and 10 league games to play though so we're not safe yet, (but almost). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day, Mar 2041.

I want a centre-half and a central midfielder. Pretty please. 

Another "Golden generation" it may be, but the best centre-half isn't that great, although we do have a decent centre-mid. 

3x 5.0 PA players is good when we are getting players to the CA that (39b) Xabier (Res) * is at now. He joined via the intake 2 years ago and is already ranked best player at the cup by CA.

(41a) Jérôme (F.Det) (2041) *.

He's no centre-half, and he's a little more defensive-minded than I would like, but he has the makings of a decent midfielder. 

(41b) Rubén (Bal).

Our 2 wonderkids (36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * and (39b) Xabier (Res) * are both strikers, and with Man City now showing an interest their time at the club might be coming to an end. I don't know if this bloke will reach their levels, but he looks decent. 

(41c) Lou Delaby (F.Det).

I've mentioned that I don't use a player in the AMC slot so I might have to use him in DLP role further back. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job offer number 21. Mar 2041.

Jobs offered.

FC Metz while 10th in Ligue 2. Dec 2025.
Dijon while 20th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
Troyes while 17th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
AJ Auxerre while 11th in Ligue 1. Nov 2026.
Strasbourg while 20th in Ligue 1. Jan 2027.
EA Guingamp were 14th in Ligue 1. Jun 2028.
Stade Lavallois were 1st in Ligue 2. Jun 2028.
Lille while 12th in Ligue 2. Oct 2028.
FC Lorient while 6th in Ligue 2. May 2030.
Nancy while 20th in League 1. Jun 2030.
AC Ajaccio while 1st in League 2. Jun 2030.
FC Lorient(2) were 17th in Ligue 2. Jun 2031.
Stade Lavallois(2) while 17th in Ligue 2 in Aug 2031.
Nancy(2) while 6th in Ligue 2 in Dec 2031.
Italy National Team. Jul 2032.
Lille while 2nd in Ligue 2. Feb 2033.
Saint-Etienne finished 7th in Ligue 2. Jun 2033.
Italy National Team(2). Jul 2034.
RC Lens finished 15th in Ligue 1. Jun 2036
France National Team. Jul 2038.
Bordeaux while 2nd in Ligue 1. Mar 2041.

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2041.

The only victory was in the Cup, but despite picking up only 1 point in 3 league games we scored 6 goals in the 3 games so it would at least suggest that we are doing ok going forwards. 

16 year old (39b) Xabier (Res) * scored 4 goals this month. I'm not overly concerned by his relatively modest goal return this season, (just 8 goals in 28(2) appearances). He's 16 years old, playing in a struggling team and all these performances at this stage of his career are money in the bank for further down the line. Ideally I would be playing him from the bench rather than starting him, or at least not starting him every week, but the reality is that he is just too good not to start. Sooner or later he is just going to click and the goals are going to start flying in. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2041.

I decided aft the Metz game that we were going to try and score our way out of the mini-slump we were in. We had been playing with a flat 442 and I threw caution to the wind and moved both wingers up from the M line to the AM line. The next game saw us lose a ding-dong end-to-end battle away to Marseille by a single goal and despite the loss I was sure this was the may forward. When it didn't work against Nice I was less sure, and when we needed 2 goals from goal-scoring GK #3 (36c) Schmidt (Bal) * just to get a draw against Guingamp I was all set to just let the Ass Man do what he wanted. (He prefers a very cautious 442). Thinking about it though, Guingamp are 10th in the league and we drew away. Marseille are 3rd and we could and should have won away. Nice are 7th and maybe it was just an off day, but even then we had 12 shots on target without scoring so are we just being a little unlucky? 

Something I have noticed recently is that I have somehow arranged for my strikers to come short at corners. I thought that was meant to be a wide player and then I have a striker lurking, but maybe that was in the 4231 tactic and when it has been transferred to 442 to wide player is now a 2nd striker. Either way I have to have a look at that right now. 

[Edit]

Sorted that now. That wasn't what I had planned at all. 

ps. That brings (36c) Schmidt (Bal) * to 7 for the season and up to 24 career goals. 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2041.

After just a point against Guingamp and then another narrow loss against Dijon, I bottled it with the 2 advances wide players and reverted to a flat 442 for the Montpellier game and it was enough to earn us 3 more points that would keep us away from the relegation zone. 

I'm a bit peeved by our poor finish to the end of the season where we won only 1 of our last 11 league games, (and only drew 3 more). 6 points from a possible 33 is an awful return, especially when we had been doing so well previously. Every single season we seem to implode after Youth Intake day and 2041 was no different in that respect. 

Lens managed to pip PSG to the title, (to break a run of 5 consecutive titles), and it's only the 2nd season in 15 where PSG have not been crowned Champions, (Lyon won in 2035).

Sochaux fell away a little, (ok more than a little), but have still done amazingly well to finish in the EURO Cup placings. 

At the other end, Rennes were 9 points away from even a relegation Playoff position and as a result will be playing in Ligue 2 next season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Update. Jun 2041.

Ligue 1 Table. 

National 2-B Table. 

U19 League Table. 

The winners of each of the 4 U19's leagues then go into a Playoff Semi-Final to see who comes out as the overall winner. 

We smashed 6 past Lyon in the Semi and then although I didn't manage the Final, I did at least pick the match squad, making 1st Team players such as (39b) Xabier (Res) * and (39a) Jesús (Fickle) (2039) * available for the U19's.  We then smashed 7 past Nice in the 

Overall Best XI. You will notice that (39b) Xabier (Res) * is straight in there after just 1 season and 10 goals. That's a bit of a surprise to me. 

Season Best XI.

Awards.

Stats.

Season Review.

Squad Dynamics.

Confidence. 

Finances. 

Facilities. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Confusion. May 2041.

Not really sure what is going on but either I didn't save last night or...... I don't know. Either way, although the season is over, I still have the last Reserves game and U19's game to play. 

That's particularly annoying as I have to go through everyone and make them available for squads that they don't normally play in and try and remember who was playing for which team. 

AND, I scored GK goals the last time too. 

[Edit]

Knowing my luck we will get hammered now. 

[Edit2]

Pre-games we get a long-term injury to 1st choice GK and 3rd choice striker. This game kills me man. 

[Edit3] 

We lose the Reserves game. Thank God that wasn't an unbeaten season on the line. I'm "watching" both games and we came out of the traps really quickly in the Reserves game and must have had about 10 shots in the opening 10 minutes. Then they scored, and then scored again, and although we got 1 back we couldn't get a 2nd. 

[Edit4]

It wasn't quite the goal-fest that we saw 1st time around, but we did still manage to win again despite going down to 10 men. Something that concerns me is that I noticed that (39b) Xabier (Res) * (who was playing as the right-sided striker), was 1 of 2 players set to stay back and defend at attacking free-kicks! That's not what is meant to be happening! what's going on! 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[numbas2]

Overall despite end of season woes, my general sense is one huge stride forward really...

[walterjocoski]

You're doing well!

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, numbas2 said:

Overall despite end of season woes, my general sense is one huge stride forward really...

Yeah. I was really happy with how the season went for the most part and it's easily possible that we would have finished 10 or so points better off. We may not be challenging for Europe yet, but we certainly seem to be moving in the right direction.

3 hours ago, walterjocoski said:

You're doing well!

Thanks. This save is a very slow burn so I am happy with any progress at all. As long as we avoid relegation next season I will be happy.

[Nobby_McDonald]

I'm sure you will Jimbo. Things are looking good.

[Reggiana]

What does the centre back from that last intake look like? He's got a good personality so should be able to develop quite quickly.

Good season for you overall, always annoying when form tails off but just staying in the division is the big thing.

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Reggiana said:

What does the centre back from that last intake look like? He's got a good personality so should be able to develop quite quickly.

Good season for you overall, always annoying when form tails off but just staying in the division is the big thing.

Jun 2041.

The centre-back from the last intake is........ this bloke. 

(41e) Tanguy (Pro).

He was only 4.0 PA when he came through the intake, but he is rated at 5.0 now so that will do nicely thanks. 

I'd say he's a little limited at the moment, (especially physically), but the benefit with the players coming through this young is that you don't really have to worry about it too much at this stage because at the very soonest we can't play him until January 2042 anyway. 

He's currently the 14th best centre-half in the squad, (but who cares about CA). 

He's not what I was dreaming of, (a 6'5" behemoth with anger issues and absolutely no footballing ability), but he looks like he could be the best centre-half that we have ever produced, )or 2nd best anyway but I find it hard to remember (37a) Théo (F.Amb) (2037) * because he hardly played for us. 

(37a) Théo (F.Amb) (2037) * left us in Aug 2038 having made just 1 First Team league appearance, (and 4 for the Reserves), but I can't really complain because we got £3M for him at a time when £3M was a LOT of money. 

What I like about him is that he is winning things even at an early age as he is developing. 

After leaving us he won the league with Lyon Reserves before winning the European U20 Elite League with France U20's and after joining Eibar in Spain, won thw Spanish 2nd tier and was also names in the Eibar Team of the Season. He will be playing in La Liga this season. 

I had decided though that if I didn't get a belter of a centre-half through the intake this season just gone, I was going to have to go out and buy not 1 bit 2 or 3, because what we have now just isn't good enough. 

Eneko (BAS) (Unamb) came in for £350,000 up front from Dijon. He immediately becomes our best centre-half, (if I ignore (35b) Renault (Temp) * who is a left back being played out of position because needs must). 

1 centre-half isn't enough though really. If I can sort us out defensively I think we are on the verge of a big step forward and will be able to stop looking over our shoulder at the relegation battle going on below us. 

With that in mind I have shelled out £1.1M on Arteaga (BAS) (Driven) and he is due to join us at the end of the month. There are however a few issues. First of all he seems a little injury-prone, but I have checked his injuries history and well it wasn't that bad, (if we ignore the fractured lower leg, torn wrist ligaments, damaged knee cap and fractured lower arm). Other than that he's fine!  In all seriousness though, yes it is a gamble, but it's not huge money and if he plays half the season for us then his value should soar to the point that we can flog him and make money on him, (of he's fit), but also he might start to look more like the PA him than the CA him. That being said, my coach rates him as the 7th best centre-half at the club. I wish we had 7 best centre-backs than him. 

Jon Aketxe (BAS) (Unamb) is joining us on at the end of the month on a free and I will completely admit that I took a bit of a punt on him. He doesn't look great, (and his Det is rubbish), but he doesn't look awful and I'm very aware that I have a gap between the players who are playing in the 1st Team squad right now, and some reasonable players we have coming through, I need something as a stop-gap and he might be it. I'm not intending to start him right now, but maybe after a season in the Reserves things will look a little better. (Have I mentioned that he was free?)

Yeah, possibly not the best bit of business I have ever done. 

Xabier Martín (BAS) might be young but I actually like him. We have paid Girona £750,000 for him which is a lot of money I think, but I'm also looking at him as an investment. Where as signing 1 is a litttle risky because of his injury record and signing 2 is a little bit risky because he is a little bit rubbish, signing 3 seems to be a much better investment all round. I've also got to hold my hands up about something. Until recently, (certainly since Christmas), I thought that Girona as in Italy. I would have bet the house on it, (and lost).  

Edited April 16, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2041.

[optimusprimal82]

Coming along very nicely now, definitely feels like you've taken a big step forward this season - good luck for next! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2041.

I've mentioned before that I'm a firm believer in under-promising and over-delivering. 

With that in mind, why would I choose anything other than "Attempt" to avoid relegation when it's offered? Yes we get a slightly reduced wage budget, but if I need to increase that then I can use some of the transfer kitty that I don't really plan on using much of. 

Slowly slowly catchy monkey. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Contracts. Jul 2041. 

I'm starting to find it increasingly difficult to get players to sign contracts in the manner that I am accustomed to.

• I like a +3 year deal
• I like a long initial term. 
• I refuse to pay a % of re-sale value to the player.
• I only offer 1 wage increase and even then only after 30 league appearances. 
• I don't offer an annual % pay rise. 
• I refuse to pay a bonus for sitting on the bench. 

This hard and rigid style has always served me well in the past but we seem to be reaching an impasse at the moment. 

(39b) Xabier (Res) * has 2 years left on his contract, (and there isn't a +3 option for some reason), which basically means that I'm going to have to sell him at the end of this coming season or risk him going on a free, (for compensation I think). I think he kept refusing the initial..... oh no. Now I remember. He didn't sign a normal contract. He signed a "pre-contract" and even if you include +3 options they don't count. Damn. Forgot about that.  

Kévin Proust, (his agent), can suck me! 

Struggling to connect with (30b) Jiménez (F.Sport) * is something I can resolve. He has been our 1st choice left winger for quite a few years and made 15(13) appearances last season, but he has fallen behind (39a) Jesús (Fickle) (2039) * and now (40a) Ruiz (F.Det) (2040) * has reached 16 he will be available and ahead of him in the pecking order. There are even a couple of more options beyond that. (30b) Jiménez (F.Sport) * is valued at £1.4M and only has 11 months on his contract. I'm going to flog him. 

Getting back to youngster (39b) Xabier (Res) *  I suppose the only way to encourage him to re-sign is to finish up near the European positions and I don't think that's very likely. If he scores 20+ league goals this season then you never know, but he only scored 7 in the league last season, (10 in total), and it's not as if I used him sparingly. He got a LOT of time on the pitch for one so young. If we finish comfortably top-half and there is proof of progression then he might re-sign, but I expect the demand for his services to be enormous if he scores 20+ league goals, (which isn't out of the question). 

I should add that he's not the only player who's contract I am struggling to renew, but he is obviously the most high profile. I completely accept that in a save of this nature it's perhaps unrealistic to keep our best young talent, but it doesn't make it any easier to let him go. If he goes then he goes, but we WILL be getting a fee for him and the % of next sale is going to be big and there are going to be LOTS of add-ons. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Player sale. Aug 2041.

(38b) Jorge Martínez (F.Amb) may only be 18, but he has been attracting some significant interest from the likes of Milan, Spurs  and Napoli, but it's actually Inter who have managed to seal the deal. I was desperate to keep him on loan for at least another season, but nobody was interested in that. I'm really surprised at that because if I'm the Manager of Spurs, Milan or Inter and I'm keen to sign this bloke, then loaning him back to us makes complete sense to me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Off Field improvements. Aug 2041.

There is something I don't like at all about French football, and for that reason I am unlikely to return in the near future while this rule continues to exist. 

The bit I particularly don't like is the bottom rule. "Maximum of 7 players allowed out on loan in a season to domestic based clubs". That's really awkward for a club like ours under my management as it properly restricts the 1st team opportunities available to fringe players. The flip side of the coin of course is that even our reserves play competitive football, so that does at least balance it up a little, but ideally I would like 50+ players out on loan before selling them for a profit, (or playing them in the Senior squad). 

I have had 2 feeder club for a few years and you have probably seen it in the Ligue 2 League table, but I'm not sure I ever really commented on it too much). 

Le Mans have recently been playing in Ligue 2, (after starting lower down in the save), but it seemed strange to have them playing in the same league as us while we were in Ligue 2. We could only sent them 2 players anyway so it was a bit of a non-event to be honest. 

The only other structure I had loaded was Spain, (well this is a Basque only save so did I really need anyone else), so my thinking was that I would try and get a Spanish club as a feeder and then I would be able to send them more players and these wouldn't count towards our 7 domestic loans out. 

They have been static in Second Division B2 in Spain all the way through this save which is a little bit of a surprise. Although only the Champions get promoted, the bottom 4 all get relegated and the 5th bottom team goes into a Relegation Playoff, (with I'm assuming the winner of the Promotion Playoff from the league below). There are 20 teams in the league so 16th is Playoff and 17-20 are relegated. The lowest they have finished is 13th, and the highest is 3rd. That's proper boring! 

I actually don't know if they are Basque and have no idea where they are based. 

Oh ok. Yes I do. Real Irun are actually called Real Union Club de Irun and I know them better as Real Union. They are Basque. Brilliant. 

They are basically the nearest playable Spanish club. 

Spanish Second Division B2 is the 3rd tier of Spain's structure. 

1st Division (I know it as La Liga).
2nd Division.
2nd Division B (4 leagues at this level). 

It would be good to see if I can improve their fortunes over the course of the save. 

I wonder what their rules are on incoming loans? Well there don't seem to be an y loan specific rules, but there is something else that might throw a spanner into the works. 

That seems like a very small squad to me. Now I understand why Arenas Club de Getxo sometimes can't field a whole set of subs in real life. 

Well, we will just see how it goes. 

Number of Coaches increased. 

[Jimbokav1971]

(39b) Xabier (Res) * update. Aug 2041. 

With an eye on (39b) Xabier (Res) * leaving at the end of this season for a big fee, (his contract expires at the end of the following season), I have started upping the ante a little. 

SLP, (I never know who the big Portgese teams are), I think are Sporting Lisbon. (They play at Estadio sa Luz in Lisbon so I think that's Sporting Lisbon...... actually no, that's Benfica. See what I mean?) So Benfica are in for him and have offered £16.5M rising to £23M, but I'm not having that. I've countered with this and we will have to see what's what because I am looking for a little more than that for him.

[Edit]

Ok, so this is a little unexpected. 

I don't have to sell him until the end of this season so I am really being quite flippant about the whole thing. I countered with the above deal and what they did was come back with a slightly improved offer. I'm in a real position of strength, (not having to sell him for basically a whole season), so I decided to go a bit silly. 

I basically went back to them for a 2nd time, this time increasing the instalments to £5M and making the loan back length and percentage of next sale non-negotiable. They didn't want any loan back length and only wanted to give me profit rather than sale %. 

They have just come back with this. 

The important bits here are at the bottom. They have agreed to him coming back to us for this year, (well he wasn't really going to leave before then anyway), but they have also agreed to him coming back the following season too, which takes him right up to when his contract was going to expire. That's better than I thought possible of I'm honest. Now I have them with their trousers down and bent over, it would seem rude not to take advantage. Let's see what else I can get out of them.

What this suggests is that he is better than I had anticipated and that's a real shame that he won't be staying with us. I had sort of assumed he was just an early developer, but he might actually be very good. 

So I think I was being a little bit greedy.  I hope that doesn't come back to bite me on the bum.

What I was asking for was this. 

£20M up front. (They were up to £16M)
£5M in installments. (They were up to £3.6M)
£5M after 50 league games. (They were up to £3.6M)
£5M after 1 International appearance. (They had agreed on £5M but wanted it after 10 games). 
£100,000 per 50 league games (£5M). (They didn't like this clause but as I said I was just seeing what I could and couldn't get).
50% of re-sale value. (Agreed)
Loan back length, End of NEXT season. (Agreed)
Arrange friendly. 

The other thing I should mention is that Benfica are actually the perfect club for him to go to. He's going to tear up that league when he gets there, but he's also almost guaranteed a move to a big club. If I sell him to Spurs, Atletico Madrid, R.Madrid or someone like that, there is a possibility that I am not going to get a huge add-on for his re-sale value. Benfica would have been perfect in that he might have made 50 appearances, scored 50 goals and then gone to a big boy. 

[Edit2]

The plot thickens....

I'm really keen for him to go to Benfica for the reasons mentioned, and I'm also really keen to secure his services for not just this year but also next year at the same time. I was thinking about offering him out, (but decided against it), but luckily Benfica have come in again for him. 

I've lowered the asking price a little, (remember that I had got them up to £16M before), and have also agreed to drop the instalments to £3M from £5M. This means that they make a saving on what they are definitely paying and what comes off their budget, but at the same time the potential fees are still quite hefty. They really didn't like the potential for paying £5M more via £100,000 after each league game up to 50 league games, so I have dropped this to £50k per game for 50 games, (so £2.5M). If they agree to this then I think I will accept.  

Edited April 19, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

The long Goodbye. Aug 2041. 

I'm positive that I could have got more money from him, but the biggest factors for me were that I wanted to get him back on loan for not 1 but 2 seasons, I wanted a 50% of re-sale value, and I wanted him to go to a club like Benfica rather than a big boy like R.Madrid, Spurs etc etc. I could have got more cash from Benfica, and I could have got more everything from a bigger club, but I really like this deal. It means we are really well set financially for a while now, (we are obviously doing quite well for the board to not intervene on any of these deals), and I'm hoping to bring in some experienced players to strength the team in other areas. I'm hoping that we won't miss him to much....... but of course I won't be missing him at all because he's still going to be here this season and next season too. Get in. Really happy with this deal. 

[optimusprimal82]

Great deal Jimbo, congrats! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2041. 

Expensive Basque? 

Spoiler

Pre-season didn't really go as pre-season goes because we hit double figure goals not once but twice. All that without (39b) Xabier (Res) * who was at the U19 Euro Championships with France. 

I didn't know what to think when we won the opening game of the league season 7-0 away from home, but 3 losses and a draw later suggest that it might have been a one-off. What i would say is that my young left winger (39a) Jesús (Fickle) (2039) * was injured for that game and didn't play, and where as he plays as an inverted winger, all my other left wingers play as normal W(s). He scored in the last game and I love him. He's going to be brilliant, but I'm not sure if an inverted winger is the answer when I'm already playing with inverted full-backs. I may have to just ask him to play normally, or even swap him to the right flank. I have a couple of good "righties" though so I think I will just ask him to play properly wide left. 

It should be added that (39a) Jesús (Fickle) (2039) * came through the 2039 intake ahead of (39b) Xabier (Res) * and that probably shouldn't be ignored considering the latest transfer. 

I got all excited with the opening day 7-0 demolition of Dijon, but we threw away a lead to lose at Montpelier and let a 2 goal lead slip against Sochaux so there is still work to be done. We have a great GK, great wide players and great attackers, but our central defenders and central midfielders mean that we have a very soft centre at the moment. I am going to have to spend some of this transfer kitty I think. It's hard though when you can only sign Basques. 

Edited April 19, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Champions League?  Sep 2041.

It may only be the U19 Champions League, but it's a start. I didn't actually realise we were in it until I saw we had played Slavia Prague and wondered what was going on. I actually love this competition and have been known to prioritise it over Senior League games as far as selection is concerned.  (I won't be doing that at the moment though). There were 7 players in the last 1st team match squad that are eligible for this U19's competition. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Praise from the GOAT. Sep 2041.

Messi is the Marseille manager. 

I'm not sure why he has opted for a Managerial career in France after a okaying career in Spain.

For what it's worth, here are my landmarks in comparison. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Party Animal. Sep 2041. 

This isn't ideal, especially when he is one of my 2 starting strikers. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Party Animal. Sep 2041. 

This isn't ideal, especially when he is one of my 2 starting strikers. 

HUGE Party Animal. Sep 2041. 

I warned (36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * after the 1st incident, (which was mid-week), but much as I wanted to fine him for the 2nd incident, (which was Saturday night/Sunday morning), I just couldn't bring myself to as he had just scored 2 goals against PSG in a MotM performance. He's scored 7 goals in 10 league appearances this season and as far as I'm concerned he can do what he wants if he continues to score at that rate because it means that he will end the season with 26 goals if he stays fit. There is no way on Earth we will go down if he scores that many goals. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep & Oct 2041.

It looks like a decent period with just 1 loss and a point against PSG, but actually I look at it and see just 1 league win in 5 games over 2 months The Caen and Metz games were poor results but October seems to have been an improvement on September. 

3 goals each from (36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * and (39b) Xabier (Res) * are no great surprise, but 3 goals from (39i) Jon Villar (Res) is probably a surprise because I have had little if any reason to mention him in the thread so far. He came off the bench against PSG to bag a brace, and then followed that up with a goal in the Cup against Havre. 

(39i) Jon Villar (Res).

I'm not pretending that he's the next big thing, but he's far from rubbish. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Big Money. Nov 2041. 

I knew this was coming but I'm even less of a hurry to sell (36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * than I was to sell (39b) Xabier (Res) *.

(39b) Xabier (Res) * had 2 years left on his contract and was never going to re-sign, so I got the best deal I could. (36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * on the other hand still has 4 years left on his contract, so whats the rush to sell? He's absolutely smashing the goals in at the moment and leads the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 12 goals from 13 appearances. He is going absolutely nowhere, (but lets see what sort of fun I can have with those who want to buy him). 

Besiktas have actually offered a straight £20M cash for him, but want us to pay £13k per week of his wages. They're taking the mick. 

I've upped his valuation to £25M. In fact no, I'm going to up it to £50M. He's going nowhere and I wouldn't even sell him for that. 

We don't need the money. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2041.

We've really started to click as a team and it's started to be shown in the results. We lost away to Monaco, but we're meant to lose to the likes of PSG, Monaco, Marseille and Lyon aren't we?  You might notice that (36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * scored a hat-trick against Havre and 1 goal against each of Lorient, Strasbourg & Monaco before not being on the score-sheet against Guingamp. The reason for that is simply that he's got a slight knock and missed the Guingamp game and is also likely to miss Lyon and Bordeaux before returning to the score-sheet against Lille. 

When one of our 1st choice players are missing I don't see it as a negative at all. I just think that it's an opportunity for the next player on the production line to come in and get some game-time. 

We're already 11 points clear of the drop and I must admit to looking up at the teams above us rather than down at those below us. We're 6 points behind Marseille in 6th, but that's after an awful start. 

[walterjocoski]

Could you show me the tactic you use?

[Jimbokav1971]

7 minutes ago, walterjocoski said:

Could you show me the tactic you use?

This is the current tactic. 

[Jimbokav1971]

And another thing. Dec 2041. 

As well as everything else that combines together to make up the (39b) Xabier (Res) * deal, I have just realised that we are also not paying any of his wages. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Wanted. Jan 2042. 

(39a) Jesús (Fickle) (2039) * is the player who came through the 2039 intake ahead of (39b) Xabier (Res) *. 

His arrival might have been greeted by less excitement in the thread, but I have always had my eye on him. Despite the fact that he's a player that plays on the wrong side, (I like lefties to play on the left and righties to play on the right), the fact that he had potentially better PA meant that he was always going to be a bigger deal to me. He has progressed really well though and I am quite enjoying the aesthetics of seeing him cut in from the left and cause mayhem amongst opposition defenders. I can imagine that as he develops some more he is going to really look an impressive sight in full flow. 

He's got 3 and a half years left on his contract and I would like to think that we can flog him for a decent price 2.5 seasons from now. I don;t mind that we will be a selling club for some time to come. If this was England then it wouldn't be a problem, but the reality is that everyone in France other than PSG is a selling club by the very nature of their finances. Even if we were to get to the stage that we were regularly beating PSG to the league title and competing at the back end of European competition, we would still be a selling club. I'm not sure that's ever going to change. 

What might change is when we have to sell the players. Where as in the past we might have lost our best players during their 1st pro contract, such as (39b) Xabier (Res) * for example, I think we have already reached the period where the board don't need to sell them at the 1st sign of a big offer and will let me sell them later, safe in the knowledge that we are financially secure with money in the bank. Obviously that's dependant on me keeping the money in the bank, but I think that's working well so far and I have started to get a steady stream of income coming in via player sales. Yes I have made 2 big sales this season, but I have also made 7 smaller ones too. It's this income that just keeps us ticking along nicely. 

When the add-on clauses start to kick in, (and they are going to kick in sooner or later), then I think it's really going to take our finances to the next level. 

Getting back to (39a) Jesús (Fickle) (2039) *, I think this is part of the reason why I have struggle during periods of the save. He is only as good as he is now because by the age of 18, (he turned 18 four months ago), he has already made 41(6) first team appearances and 17 appearances in a competitive league for the Reserves. That's as well as missing lots of games as he has represented France at U19, U20 and U21 level. Forget about (39b) Xabier (Res) *, this bloke could be the real jewel in our crown. The reality is that I would probably like to do a deal similar to the one that saw (39b) Xabier (Res) * go to Benfica but come back on loan for 2 seasons. Because the development has been slower here though, (and there is less of a demand to sell not only because of our improved finances but also because I was able to secure him to a +3 year deal as a result of his slower development), I think it puts us in a really strong position on the pitch. If you can imagine this player playing with us for another 2.5 seasons, (never mind about 3.5 seasons, then we could have a proper player on our hands. I can't wait.

There might have been a cost in terms of under-performance of the team to get to this point, (and of course that will continue), but there is shortly going to come a time where this "investment in PA" will really start to pay dividends. Already we seem to be making big strides this season, but next season everyone will be a year older and still be here, (I think), and that will be a test for where we are as a club.  

Edited April 20, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Wheeler Dealer. Jan 2042. 

I had a player, (38i) Álex Goiria (F.Pro), who came to me approximately every day for 2 weeks and submitted a written transfer request. It was annoying as hell and I couldn't really afford to sell him because I was a little short at right back after flogging (38b) Jorge Martínez (F.Amb) to Inter at the beginning of the season. I always preferred (38b) Jorge Martínez (F.Amb) over (38i) Álex Goiria (F.Pro) and this could be just subconsciously because Jorge was (38b) and Álex was (38i), but for whatever reason it stuck. (38i) Álex Goiria (F.Pro) was previously a spirited personality and has recently popped to (F.Pro) and that could again have played a part in why I didn't favour him previously. 

Now (38i) Álex Goiria (F.Pro) is a decent little player, but he's not £10M decent I don't think and knowing that I could get almost £10M for him I went out to see if I could replace him with not 1 right back but 2 right backs. The idea was that I get an experienced player for the right here and now who is better than (38i) Álex Goiria (F.Pro) and then I also go out and buy a young player who I can develop and who will be able to take over from the experienced player at a future date. In my head though, I also wanted to factor in the wages of the experienced player and how long I expected him to be at the club into any deal. You can't just think in terms of transfer fees. You also have to consider wages, bonus payments, signing on fees, agent fees etc etc etc. 

So here is (38i) Álex Goiria (F.Pro) on the day he signs for Spurs. 

He's not brilliant, but he's ok and he was obviously a product of our Academy, so what's not to like. 

I hoped to get almost £10M for him and in the end I got £10M cash + 30% of re-sale value and a friendly against Spurs, (which should be pretty lucrative. 

Only after I had signed the following players however. 

Oier Villanueva (BAS) (F.Det) is the experienced player that has been signed as a direct replacement. He cost £250,000 plus there was a signing on fee of just over £500,000 and then if we add an agent fee of £50,000 and wages of £30k per week = £1.56M per year and very roughly speaking I want to keep him for the rest of this season and then the whole of next season then that's a cost in wages of £2.34M which brings out net spend here to approx £3.14M. I think he's a little bit better now than the young player he is replacing. 

So that was the experienced player and now this is the longer-term prospect Gorka (BAS) (F.Det).

Again, he's not amazing, but he's decent, he's Basque and I think he will have a similar sort of ceiling to that of (38i) Álex Goiria (F.Pro). He's good enough to do a job right now and the more I play him the more he will improve. 

We spent, (or will spend), a total of £3.14M on the experienced player and then we spent £185,000 on this bloke and let's just add in another £15,000 in fees and what not because although I can't remember how much it was, I know it wasn't an awful lot. I'm not going to count this players wages because we would have been paying 1 player anyway. That brings us to a total cost for both players of £3.34M. We received £10M cash from the sale of the original player and we will get 30% of any re-sale fee which is likely to be somewhere in the region of £3M at current prices. That;s not the end of it though. I expect to sell the senior player for a small profit after 18 months, (although I also expect to pay some of his wages to the buying club), and then of course we will be in a position to start the whole process off again. I think a lot of people forget to factor in wages and signing on fees when looking at deals and they can quickly add up. It should also be mentioned that if the experienced player can't be sold then he will be costing me £1.56M per year so that's not to be ignored for a club of this size/stature. Despite that, I think this is some nifty business. We are better off on the pitch than we were before, we have more money in the bank than we had before and we also plan to have just as much in terms of saleable assets that we had before. It's win-win. 

[Edit]

The reason I'm mentioning stuff like this, (yeah I know it's pretty basic), is because this is the 1st save for a long long time where I have been actively buying/selling players. I think I have been largely youth based since about 2014 and have really dipped only sporadically into the transfer market since then, (usually for non-playing tutors). Apologies if it's both simple and boring. 

[Edit2]

Edited April 20, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Concerns. Jan 2042. 

Actually I'm glad I explained it. Now I can just link (36a) Dulce (Bal) (2036) * directly to this thread rather than explaining it to him. 

[Number seven]

29 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

[Edit]

The reason I'm mentioning stuff like this, (yeah I know it's pretty basic), is because this is the 1st save for a long long time where I have been actively buying/selling players. I think I have been largely youth based since about 2014 and have really dipped only sporadically into the transfer market since then, (usually for non-playing tutors). Apologies if it's both simple and boring. 

Please keep on going with this, I really like reading when you explain your actions. It's inspiring.