Unofficial French League Superthread

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I am just simply opening this for anyone doing a French League save as I find the French Leagues to be the most fun especially for Youth Development and finding Hidden Gems.

I am going to start a Lower League French League save soon and concerntrate on producing loads of good African players after being inspired by @smp20's succes with RC Lens.

If anyone wants to post their progress in here then that would be awesome.

I am sorry the opening post is a bit rubbish, I aint got the time to do a really good opening post now I am back at work so if anyone wants to add to it by mentioning teams that are decent, players etc then carry on.

Here is the FM16 and FM17 threads that the awesome @Jogo Bonito done.

https://community.sigames.com/topic/363320-fm16-french-football-joie-de-vivre/

https://community.sigames.com/topic/390628-fm17-french-football-thread/

Edited May 16, 2020 by Ronaldo Beckham

[OlivierL]

Just started a save in French ligue 2 with Paris FC with a special transfer policy (and with region tags). I'll post part of my updates here if u want ?

You should read the story about FC Lorient (FM19) (not on this forum , u have to search it on the internet). Great story and also about homegrown transfers + African players.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

45 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Just started a save in French ligue 2 with Paris FC with a special transfer policy (and with region tags). I'll post part of my updates here if u want ?

You should read the story about FC Lorient (FM19) (not on this forum , u have to search it on the internet). Great story and also about homegrown transfers + African players.

 

Thank you for contributing @OlivierL Your Paris FC diary looks really interesting. I will look at your FC Lorient thread now. 

 

[OlivierL]

8 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Thank you for contributing @OlivierL Your Paris FC diary looks really interesting. I will look at your FC Lorient thread now. 

 

Thanks The Lorient isn't my story  , but almost made me starting with FC Lorient(Brittany only)

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, OlivierL said:

Thanks The Lorient isn't my story  , but almost made me starting with FC Lorient(Brittany only)

Yeah I think I have seen it. 

Hopefully a few of us will pick a French team and this will become a popular thread like the Italian league thread.

[quee]

49 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

this will become a popular thread like the Italian league thread.

I actually trying to recall if I ever did a French save before. Maybe Lyon when Juninho was there, but I can't say for certain now.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

57 minutes ago, quee said:

I actually trying to recall if I ever did a French save before. Maybe Lyon when Juninho was there, but I can't say for certain now.

I think you should do a Lyon save then @quee and post it in here as I really enjoyed your Parma updates in the Italian league thread or pick a different French team. I am thinking of doing a St.Etienne save and post in here if I can't find a League 2 team I fancy being.

[quee]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I think you should do a Lyon save then @quee and post it in here as I really enjoyed your Parma updates in the Italian league thread or pick a different French team. I am thinking of doing a St.Etienne save and post in here if I can't find a League 2 team I fancy being.

Maybe I will, but not anytime soon. I haven't touch my Parma save for almost 2 weeks now. Not because I don't want to continue, just have other things came up and doing that instead.

Part of the problem trying to commit to doing updates on your save is you can't just blitz through playing the game and worry about what to include in the next updates.

I do miss the simpler time of just playing the game  I might go back to it, playing without updates, for a simpler save away from Parma.

Looking forward to reading your St. Etienne save

If I were to do one, Lyon or Rennes are the two that would interest me from first glance.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

8 hours ago, quee said:

Maybe I will, but not anytime soon. I haven't touch my Parma save for almost 2 weeks now. Not because I don't want to continue, just have other things came up and doing that instead.

Part of the problem trying to commit to doing updates on your save is you can't just blitz through playing the game and worry about what to include in the next updates.

I do miss the simpler time of just playing the game  I might go back to it, playing without updates, for a simpler save away from Parma.

Looking forward to reading your St. Etienne save

If I were to do one, Lyon or Rennes are the two that would interest me from first glance.

Yeah I aint decided yet which team I want to be, I just gravitate to St.Etienne cos I like their team colors.

Yeah if you don't want to post updates then that is fine. 

I usually just write up on update per season anyway so it aint much commitment to me.

Enjoy your French league save whenever you do it.

[RageMaster]

So I did originally center my thinking around picking a team from the National division or even below that however I don't tend to like using unofficial data updates as I've found some of them to cause annoying bugs. A quick look through the National and I didn't really see anything that got my interest up. A look through Ligue 2 however got me to AJ Auxerre and I started to remember about some of the players they've produced over the years such as Laurent Blanc and Eric Cantona to name just 2. I also learned about Guy Roux who had an incredible spell as manager between 1964 to 2000! 36 years of managing in a single tenure is some feat. He even had a further 2 spells as manager for the club for a combined 6 years. 

I am starting the game now and will hopefully report back tomorrow on how the season is going and my transfer dealings. Ideally I would like to make the club a conveyor belt of fantastic young talent once again but this may have to wait until we are established again in Ligue 1. I've also loaded up players from a host of African countries and will try to focus on French or African signings where I can so that I'm not just signing the same old wonderkids that i've managed on previous saves. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

46 minutes ago, RageMaster said:

So I did originally center my thinking around picking a team from the National division or even below that however I don't tend to like using unofficial data updates as I've found some of them to cause annoying bugs. A quick look through the National and I didn't really see anything that got my interest up. A look through Ligue 2 however got me to AJ Auxerre and I started to remember about some of the players they've produced over the years such as Laurent Blanc and Eric Cantona to name just 2. I also learned about Guy Roux who had an incredible spell as manager between 1964 to 2000! 36 years of managing in a single tenure is some feat. He even had a further 2 spells as manager for the club for a combined 6 years. 

I am starting the game now and will hopefully report back tomorrow on how the season is going and my transfer dealings. Ideally I would like to make the club a conveyor belt of fantastic young talent once again but this may have to wait until we are established again in Ligue 1. I've also loaded up players from a host of African countries and will try to focus on French or African signings where I can so that I'm not just signing the same old wonderkids that i've managed on previous saves. 

@RageMaster Jogo sent me a link to a great African leagues database if you want to use that.

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Jogo Bonito]

59 minutes ago, RageMaster said:

So I did originally center my thinking around picking a team from the National division or even below that however I don't tend to like using unofficial data updates as I've found some of them to cause annoying bugs. A quick look through the National and I didn't really see anything that got my interest up. A look through Ligue 2 however got me to AJ Auxerre and I started to remember about some of the players they've produced over the years such as Laurent Blanc and Eric Cantona to name just 2. I also learned about Guy Roux who had an incredible spell as manager between 1964 to 2000! 36 years of managing in a single tenure is some feat. He even had a further 2 spells as manager for the club for a combined 6 years. 

I am starting the game now and will hopefully report back tomorrow on how the season is going and my transfer dealings. Ideally I would like to make the club a conveyor belt of fantastic young talent once again but this may have to wait until we are established again in Ligue 1. I've also loaded up players from a host of African countries and will try to focus on French or African signings where I can so that I'm not just signing the same old wonderkids that i've managed on previous saves. 

Great choice of club, Roux was indeed an amazing servant of Auxerre. It will be good to see your African-inspired evolution. Bon chance! 

The website below often has some good stuff from the training grounds. This article might interest you?

https://trainingground.guru/articles/delia-smith-why-guy-rouxs-auxerre-is-norwich-inspiration

Edited May 17, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Here are some of the best African football academies in case anyone wants to find some good regens from Africa

Pepsi Football Academy – Nigeria

The products of the Pepsi Football Academy have been dominating the Nigerian national football team since early 2000. The football academy is based in Agege Township Stadium in Lagos.

The academy idea was launched by Coach Kashimawo Laloko, and the Pepsi company officially adopted the concept in 1994. Since then it has come to be known as the Pepsi Football Academy.

Some of the great football stars produced by the outfit include John Mikel Obi – current captain of the Super Eagles, Osaze Odemwingie, Joseph Akpala and many others who have shined in both local and European clubs.

Kadji Sports Academy – Cameroon

Kadji Sports Academy has also trained many successful professional footballers in Africa, and across the world. The academy is a sports training and fitness centre based in the western suburbs of Douala.

It was founded by Joseph Kadji Defosso.

Kadji has produced many quality players some of which include include Samuel Eto’o, Stéphane Mbia, Benjamin Moukandjo, Aurélien Chedjou, and Idriss Carlos Kameni.

The academy also has a partnership with some European clubs such as Atletico de Madrid, FC Sevilla, OGC Nice and more.

Mimos Sifcom Academy – Ivory Coast

Mimos Sifcom Academy was established by the duo of Roger Ouégnin and Jean-Marc Guillou in 1993, as the training centre of Asec Mimosas.

 

Just like Pepsi and Kadji academies, Mimos has also produced many soccer stars for the Elephants of Ivory Coast - the Ivorian national football team.

Mimos is one of the most popular football training centres in Africa and has produced a number of successful players such as Didier Zokora, Emmanuel Eboué, Gervinho, Salomon Kalou, Didier Ya Konan, Kolo Toure and his brother and Manchester City legendary player, Yaya Toure.

 Generation Foot Academy – Senegal

Generation Foot Academy wasset up in 2000 and within short time of existence has become a skill development and professional training centre in Senegal.

Players of the academy have participated in a variety of international competitions within and outside the African continent. Sadio Mane and Diafra Sakho are also groomed at the sport centre.

The French Ligue 1 side, FC Metzis the main channel through which talents developed at the centre are exposed to international footbal. This is due to the partnership between the two parties since 2000.

Ligi Ndogo Academy – Kenya

The Ligi Ndogo Academy is the most famous football school in Kenya and was established in 2002. It is also set up as the main training school of the Ligi Ndogo Sports Club.

 

Some famous players produced by the academy include Swedish international John Guidetti and Kenyan international Ayub Masika.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@Jogo Bonito did you say the other good African academies were ASEC and ASPIRE. is there any others ?

[Jogo Bonito]

4 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

@Jogo Bonito did you say the other good African academies were ASEC and ASPIRE. is there any others ?

I vaguely remember seeing that article before, some years ago. I think it's quite out of date and can be taken with a pinch of salt, but better than nothing.

Mimos (mentioned above) is a feeder to the better known ASEC Mimosas.

https://footballchronicle.co/2019/10/23/the-mimosifcom-academy-developing-superstars-for-ivory-coast/

https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/03/24/the-mimosifcom-academy-way/

ASPIRE in Senegal are a modern well-funded Academy. They have a similar set up in Qatar (I think that is where the money comes from) and they used to hold a tournament in the Middle East called Al-Kass when I was there, it used to be shown on TV (not sure if it still runs). I recall ASPIRE used to have a set-up in Ghana too, but don't think they do any more.

There are loads more Academy organisations in Africa, but doubt many are good producers in the game. You're better off looking at actual club sides.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I vaguely remember seeing that article before, some years ago. I think it's quite out of date and can be taken with a pinch of salt, but better than nothing.

Mimos (mentioned above) is a feeder to the better known ASEC Mimosas.

https://footballchronicle.co/2019/10/23/the-mimosifcom-academy-developing-superstars-for-ivory-coast/

https://thesefootballtimes.co/2015/03/24/the-mimosifcom-academy-way/

ASPIRE in Senegal are a modern well-funded Academy. They have a similar set up in Qatar (I think that is where the money comes from) and they used to hold a tournament in the Middle East called Al-Kass when I was there, it used to be shown on TV (not sure if it still runs). I recall ASPIRE used to have a set-up in Ghana too, but don't think they do any more.

There are loads more Academy organisations in Africa, but doubt many are good producers in the game. You're better off looking at actual club sides.

Oh ok cool, I didn't know when the article was released, I thought it would be a bit old but thought I would put in here as you never know.

What club sides in Africa would you recommend scouting if you have the time @Jogo Bonito. No rushing replying in case you are busy. I just know you are more knowledgable on this then I am.

[Jogo Bonito]

I would just go in game, click on Africa and manually go down the list of club sides from biggest reputation like this. Obviously  if you click on major clubs from the page it will show as many as you want.

I was curious to check, and can see that the Al-Kass tournament is still indeed running. Years ago they had ex-Sunderland players Michael Gray and Chris Makin as studio pundits for the channel that showed the games. If you click on any of these clubs, go to info and it will show you their entire squad lists if you want to scout them. As I said before, the young African players are not so likely to be accurately represented (or even appear) in the game.

https://internationalcup.alkass.net/u17/teams.php

[Ronaldo Beckham]

53 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I would just go in game, click on Africa and manually go down the list of club sides from biggest reputation like this. Obviously  if you click on major clubs from the page it will show as many as you want.

I was curious to check, and can see that the Al-Kass tournament is still indeed running. Years ago they had ex-Sunderland players Michael Gray and Chris Makin as studio pundits for the channel that showed the games. If you click on any of these clubs, go to info and it will show you their entire squad lists if you want to scout them. As I said before, the young African players are not so likely to be accurately represented (or even appear) in the game.

https://internationalcup.alkass.net/u17/teams.php

Thank you for the information @Jogo Bonito. 

I will be announcing the first French team I will be managing very soon.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I have chosen my team and this is the reason why 

FC Metz - Excellent youth facilities, they have also have gained recognition for its successful in France and Europe for its successful youth academy, which produced star players including: Rigobert Song, Robert Pires, Louis Saha, Emmanuel Adebayor, Papiss Cissé, Miralem Pjanić,  Sebastian Bassong, Kalidou Koulibaly, Maxwell Cornet and Sadio Mané.

Here is an article on their top 10 academy products.

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/08/21/the-academy-series-10-best-metz-products/

They are predicted to end 20th in the league so my main aim this season is to just stay in the division while scouting Africa for the next big thing over there.

I am using the create a club mode as I wanted to pick some decent African sides as my affiliates.

Here are the affiliates I have, I went a bit overboard lol.

@OlivierL feel free to comment in here with any advice with FC Metz if you want as you and @Jogo Bonito know the French and African football world better then I do.

[OlivierL]

Great choice, best of luck ! I'll follow this and tell u what Metz is doing in my save.

Good luck with the African gems !

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 minute ago, OlivierL said:

Great choice, best of luck ! I'll follow this and tell u what Metz is doing in my save.

Good luck with the African gems !

Thank you my friend. I am hoping to just buy from my affiliates and use players from my youth intake.

[Jogo Bonito]

Metz are a great club for you to start with. They were one on my candidates list, but I forgive you as I'm nowhere near starting up in France just yet 

You certainly have added a few affiliates, mostly good random choices you made 

Asante Kotoko are a good link to include. Despite being far from my base in East Africa, they used to do regular adverts on TV during those years and I remember them fondly for that. I'm pleased to see you didn't link up with my preferred Ivory Coast side too

Did you change your squad in that mode, or just used it to create the affiliates? Did you find the club creation frustrating? I do when I've done it as there is always some really minor detail I forget/screw up, often making me cancel and start again 

[Hootieleece]

@Ronaldo Beckham : I was hoping you would go for ASSE, but Good luck with METZ.

I often end up spending sometime at ASSE in my journeyman saves. Usually after the Regens have taken over...but they usually have good facilities and youth recruitment.

I am not quite ready to give up my current save (in which ASSE was my last job before joining Hertha in 2035)

Also might start unemployed in France for a change. Otherwise Clermont will probably be my choice for an "advanced" start.

[karanhsingh]

Hey guys, good to see this thread up and running! 

I have finally taken the plunge and started a challenge I had been thinking about a long time:

Red Star FC - L'Etoile Rouge

Red Star is the lowest placed of the 3 Parisian clubs at the beginning of the game. Strangely they have Paris FC listed as rivals but not PSG, event though PSG have Red Star down as in-game rivals! In any case, our aim is simple. Dislodge PSG, knock them off their perch as Fergie would say! It will definitely take a long time but time is what I have now 

The club starts off in the National league (third division) after having just been relegated. We have a small 6.5k seater stadium which the club currently rents out, that will need to be addressed at the appropriate time. We have a small but passionate fan-base, and something of a left-wing reputation which is a nice little detail. Basically an anti-thesis of everything that PSG is. We also have below average training and basic youth facilities only, again something which will need to be tackled when we have the funds to do so. Talking of funds, there is basically zero money, and we continue to lose on a monthly basis. As you may know, money is very hard to come by in the French lower leagues, so we will have to rely on loans & free signings for a while yet. 

I have actually already played through a season and a bit so a quick update to bring everyone up to speed. We won the league on the last day of the season, and truth be told we didn't have to be very good to do it as you can see from the final points tallies. Our only transfer of note in season 1 was Diafra Sakho on a free for some added quality up top.

Season 2 transfers below as we prepared for life in Ligue 2:

I was finally very happy with the business done in the summer. Isaac Lihadji didn't sign a new deal at Marseille and we were happy to sign him up, he seems to be a promising young talent. He will definitely get plenty of game time with us. Thierry Ambrose steps in to be the main striker at the club and again is a good young player. Mamadou Thiam will add some more quality to midfield, as will Maxime Etiun. Finally we were looking for a defensive reinforcement which arrived in the shape of Mohamed Simakan on a two year loan deal. Roger & Matos are two newgen signings from Tours FC (who always seemed to produce quality talent), they are both strikers who I have high hopes for. 

I also forgot to mention that I will be trying to limit signings only to French & African players and no other nationality to add some extra realism and a unique element to the save. African players also from the Francophone nations will be prioritized.

The same philosophy is being followed for the staff as well, wherein we have brought in some experienced internationals with plenty of room for development such as Khalilou Fadiga, Geremi, Michael Chretien and Seydou Keita.

The summer business leaves the squad like this. 

We have had a decent start in the league and are hopeful of making the play-offs this year. However, there is a long way to go yet.

[Jogo Bonito]

@karanhsingh OMG. A season complete and I didn't even get closer to picking a team 

Winning the league at less than two points per game is unusual, but I imagine Diafra Sakho was pretty useful at that level. Good luck in the second tier 

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Jogo Bonito said:

@karanhsingh OMG. A season complete and I didn't even get closer to picking a team 

Winning the league at less than two points per game is unusual, but I imagine Diafra Sakho was pretty useful at that level. Good luck in the second tier 

Lol thanks. Yes I often find it the same at League one level and indeed the Championship as well, around 2 ppg is usually enough to win the league as anyone can beat anyone down there. 

Which teams are you considering? 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

9 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Metz are a great club for you to start with. They were one on my candidates list, but I forgive you as I'm nowhere near starting up in France just yet 

You certainly have added a few affiliates, mostly good random choices you made 

Asante Kotoko are a good link to include. Despite being far from my base in East Africa, they used to do regular adverts on TV during those years and I remember them fondly for that. I'm pleased to see you didn't link up with my preferred Ivory Coast side too

Did you change your squad in that mode, or just used it to create the affiliates? Did you find the club creation frustrating? I do when I've done it as there is always some really minor detail I forget/screw up, often making me cancel and start again 

Yeah it is funny you say that @Jogo Bonito as I will need to start it again due to the fact that I didn't put my name in the manager profile and also need to change the Metz logo. I was hoping it would let me name them FC Metz but it wouldn't let me so I called them Metz FC.

Can you think of a better name for them then Metz FC that will sound French as well.

I kept the original squad as I wanted to keep it close to that. I am only going to sign players from my affiliates and use my youth academy.

8 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

@Ronaldo Beckham : I was hoping you would go for ASSE, but Good luck with METZ.

I often end up spending sometime at ASSE in my journeyman saves. Usually after the Regens have taken over...but they usually have good facilities and youth recruitment.

I am not quite ready to give up my current save (in which ASSE was my last job before joining Hertha in 2035)

Also might start unemployed in France for a change. Otherwise Clermont will probably be my choice for an "advanced" start.

Yeah ASSE were tempting but when I realised the type of players Metz has produced I had to go with them. Good luck in your unemployed French league save.

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Hey guys, good to see this thread up and running! 

I have finally taken the plunge and started a challenge I had been thinking about a long time:

Red Star FC - L'Etoile Rouge

Red Star is the lowest placed of the 3 Parisian clubs at the beginning of the game. Strangely they have Paris FC listed as rivals but not PSG, event though PSG have Red Star down as in-game rivals! In any case, our aim is simple. Dislodge PSG, knock them off their perch as Fergie would say! It will definitely take a long time but time is what I have now 

The club starts off in the National league (third division) after having just been relegated. We have a small 6.5k seater stadium which the club currently rents out, that will need to be addressed at the appropriate time. We have a small but passionate fan-base, and something of a left-wing reputation which is a nice little detail. Basically an anti-thesis of everything that PSG is. We also have below average training and basic youth facilities only, again something which will need to be tackled when we have the funds to do so. Talking of funds, there is basically zero money, and we continue to lose on a monthly basis. As you may know, money is very hard to come by in the French lower leagues, so we will have to rely on loans & free signings for a while yet. 

I have actually already played through a season and a bit so a quick update to bring everyone up to speed. We won the league on the last day of the season, and truth be told we didn't have to be very good to do it as you can see from the final points tallies. Our only transfer of note in season 1 was Diafra Sakho on a free for some added quality up top.

Season 2 transfers below as we prepared for life in Ligue 2:

I was finally very happy with the business done in the summer. Isaac Lihadji didn't sign a new deal at Marseille and we were happy to sign him up, he seems to be a promising young talent. He will definitely get plenty of game time with us. Thierry Ambrose steps in to be the main striker at the club and again is a good young player. Mamadou Thiam will add some more quality to midfield, as will Maxime Etiun. Finally we were looking for a defensive reinforcement which arrived in the shape of Mohamed Simakan on a two year loan deal. Roger & Matos are two newgen signings from Tours FC (who always seemed to produce quality talent), they are both strikers who I have high hopes for. 

I also forgot to mention that I will be trying to limit signings only to French & African players and no other nationality to add some extra realism and a unique element to the save. African players also from the Francophone nations will be prioritized.

The same philosophy is being followed for the staff as well, wherein we have brought in some experienced internationals with plenty of room for development such as Khalilou Fadiga, Geremi, Michael Chretien and Seydou Keita.

The summer business leaves the squad like this. 

We have had a decent start in the league and are hopeful of making the play-offs this year. However, there is a long way to go yet.

Well done @karanhsingh in getting promoted Red Star. I was looking at Red Star when looking at teams to manage. Some good signings as well, especially Lihadji.

[Jogo Bonito]

@karanhsingh This was the last list of candidates I mentioned on the RC Lens thread of @smp20 but probably can't do Metz now 

If I was starting in Ligue 1 now it would probably be somebody like Lille, Rennes or Metz. But more likely I would head lower down the pyramid. In Ligue 2, it would be RC Lens (stadium size, great kits, fine history), Le Havre (awesome stadium design, history of producing great youth talent in the past), Grenoble Foot (stadium size and location), Le Mans (stadium), Lorient (kit colour) or AC Ajaccio (fond memories of Corsica). National clubs would be Laval (kit colours, stadium size), Gazelec Ajaccio (Corsica link, one of the few pro sides) or most likely Quevilly-Rouen (pro side, decent kits, little great history and reasonable stadium to build a modest club up). Last night I also loaded up an extended French database as there are so many choices lower down, but SC Bastia would probably be the pick for me (stadium size, fallen giant, Corsica link).

@Ronaldo Beckham I think you can get the FC Metz but you have to trick your way to it by clicking and back-clicking spaces, deleting text, changing the order you complete the page etc. It takes ages of not knowing how to do it, but you can eventually - I just can't explain how. The logo, you can do by saving an image of the actual one and importing it. Make sure the image has a white background and I would suggest using from Wikipideia (otherwise you usually get a box around it when added to the game). Annoyingly the logo lines up one space different to original logos in the league table when in game, but I couldn't find a solution to that yet.

[karanhsingh]

@Jogo Bonito I do love that Lorient kit as well! Of those I would recommend Le Havre, in addition to the points you made also the oldest professional club in France (followed by Red Star).

[Ronaldo Beckham]

4 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@karanhsingh This was the last list of candidates I mentioned on the RC Lens thread of @smp20 but probably can't do Metz now 

If I was starting in Ligue 1 now it would probably be somebody like Lille, Rennes or Metz. But more likely I would head lower down the pyramid. In Ligue 2, it would be RC Lens (stadium size, great kits, fine history), Le Havre (awesome stadium design, history of producing great youth talent in the past), Grenoble Foot (stadium size and location), Le Mans (stadium), Lorient (kit colour) or AC Ajaccio (fond memories of Corsica). National clubs would be Laval (kit colours, stadium size), Gazelec Ajaccio (Corsica link, one of the few pro sides) or most likely Quevilly-Rouen (pro side, decent kits, little great history and reasonable stadium to build a modest club up). Last night I also loaded up an extended French database as there are so many choices lower down, but SC Bastia would probably be the pick for me (stadium size, fallen giant, Corsica link).

@Ronaldo Beckham I think you can get the FC Metz but you have to trick your way to it by clicking and back-clicking spaces, deleting text, changing the order you complete the page etc. It takes ages of not knowing how to do it, but you can eventually - I just can't explain how. The logo, you can do by saving an image of the actual one and importing it. Make sure the image has a white background and I would suggest using from Wikipideia (otherwise you usually get a box around it when added to the game). Annoyingly the logo lines up one space different to original logos in the league table when in game, but I couldn't find a solution to that yet.

Yeah that sounds so annoying to do that lol. I wish I knew how to use the editor properly as I would just do it by using the editor. I might have a go at using the editor later and see how I get on. I am in no rush to start my save as I want to get the set up right.

I am sorry I picked FC Metz if you wanted to be them, If you want I can find a different team to be or we can both do a Metz save as mine will be different to yours as I will have all of them Affiliates where you might play it as normal so will be harder for you at the start.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, karanhsingh said:

@Jogo Bonito I do love that Lorient kit as well! Of those I would recommend Le Havre, in addition to the points you made also the oldest professional club in France (followed by Red Star).

Orange kits have an aura about them! Good point on Le Havre, and I really do love their stadium and history (I wish I could do all from my list). France is calling, but I need to do more with Dulwich Hamlet and Derby too.

Also, the return of German football is making me want to try a side there again (did two seasons at Leverkusen in FM19). I have set up a game in Germany a few days ago, which is a real 'return to glory' project once my mission at Dulwich is completed.

6 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah that sounds so annoying to do that lol. I wish I knew how to use the editor properly as I would just do it by using the editor. I might have a go at using the editor later and see how I get on. I am in no rush to start my save as I want to get the set up right.

I am sorry I picked FC Metz if you wanted to be them, If you want I can find a different team to be or we can both do a Metz save as mine will be different to yours as I will have all of them Affiliates where you might play it as normal so will be harder for you at the start.

Don't be sorry. Go with the club you chose, Metz it's a great pick. I was going to joke with you about the team name and suggest you called them AS Monaco or something 

I don't know anything about the editor, is it free and can any idiot like me use it?

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Orange kits have an aura about them! Good point on Le Havre, and I really do love their stadium and history (I wish I could do all from my list). France is calling, but I need to do more with Dulwich Hamlet and Derby too.

Also, the return of German football is making me want to try a side there again (did two seasons at Leverkusen in FM19). I have set up a game in Germany a few days ago, which is a real 'return to glory' project once my mission at Dulwich is completed.

Don't be sorry. Go with the club you chose, Metz it's a great pick. I was going to joke with you about the team name and suggest you called them AS Monaco or something 

I don't know anything about the editor, is it free and can any idiot like me use it?

I aint got a clue as I have barely used it before.

I will let you know how I get on with it.

I might call them Jogo Metz lol.

[karanhsingh]

10 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Orange kits have an aura about them! Good point on Le Havre, and I really do love their stadium and history (I wish I could do all from my list). France is calling, but I need to do more with Dulwich Hamlet and Derby too.

Also, the return of German football is making me want to try a side there again (did two seasons at Leverkusen in FM19). I have set up a game in Germany a few days ago, which is a real 'return to glory' project once my mission at Dulwich is completed.

Sounds like it may be a while before we see you in France then  keep us posted!

[Jogo Bonito]

5 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Sounds like it may be a while before we see you in France then  keep us posted!

This week, for sure. I often have a couple (few?) on the go 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I can't wait to finish work today and start playing my FC Metz save. Roll on 5pm UK time.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

FC Metz Update

I finally set it up properly. 

I even added a few famous former players to favoured personal like Miralem Pjanic, Saido Mane, Papiss Cisse, Franck Ribery, Rigbert Song etc.

This is my squad at the start of the game.

My star player is someone I aint heard of before, his name is Geronimo Poblete, an Argentinian defensive midfielder who will probably be my enforcer on the team. 

As I am focusing on French and African players Poblete will go if a decent offer comes in for him.

My next best player is someone I am really excited about, his name is Habib Diallo, an Senegalese 23 year old striker with lots of potential.

The next player I am showcasing here is a an 26 year old Algerian attacking midfielder/winger called Farid Boulaya, he has decent overal attributes and potential to get better.

My top prospect with 4-5 star potential is a 21 year old Malian central defender called Mamadou Fofana who will hopefully be my new Kalidou Koulibaly.

There are quite a few good young players at Metz and hopefully I will get the scouting system done right and I can unearth some more African hidden gems.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

My first signing for FC Metz and he isn't French or African but I had to sign him as he is one for the future.

Ricardo Campos who I signed on a free and has the potential to be a superstar. I will send him out on loan to get game time though for this season.

[Jogo Bonito]

You're right in saying they have a good core group to start with. Diallo is a player I really like, and Campos should be a good asset.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

12 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

You're right in saying they have a good core group to start with. Diallo is a player I really like, and Campos should be a good asset.

Yeah 2 really good strikers for the future, I will try play them as much as possible but I think Campos will go on loan first.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Next Transfer Signings

My next signings have been a bit more experience and hopefully will make some good tutors.

First signing is Florian Makhedjouf who is a Algerian 28 year old winger I signed on a free. He is also a long throw specialist with 17 in long throws.

My next signing is a short term signing in the great man that is Yaya Toure who I bought a birthday cake for just to be on the safe side lol.

He is good at penalties, I wont lie and I was inspired to sign him after seeing @smp20's career with RC Lens. I managed to sign him on a 2 year deal but he will probably retire after 1 of it. 

My aim is to use him a mentor for the young players, get the odd goal when relied to play and also long term become a member of staff at the club as I am trying to hire as many Africans as staff members but there aint many good ones at the moment. 

[quee]

2 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

The next player I am showcasing here is a an 26 year old Algerian attacking midfielder/winger called Farid Boulaya, he has decent overal attributes and potential to get better.

His image is of a 2nd-Diallo.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, quee said:

His image is of a 2nd-Diallo.

Cheers for letting me know mate. I will edit it now.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

FC Metz Transfer Business

So I basically scouted every single African national team and their youth teams as well.

I managed to pick up some very good potential African players on free transfers or very cheap.

I did spend £1.4m on this guy though and he looks like a good future prospect.

He is a Guinean left back and only 25 years old. 

Issiaga Sylla

Next future prospect I signed was a 19 year old South African central defender for £300k

Luke Fleurs

Next one is a 19 year old central midfielder from Burkina Faso.

Bagbema Barro

Next signing was a 19 year old defensive midfielder from Gambia. 

Bubacarr Kebbeh

Finally the last one I will post today is a 19 year winger from Burkina Faso

Vital Ouedraogo

I aint had the best starts to the season, it started bright by beating Dijon 2-0 with goals from Diallo & Ricardo Kishna who I signed on loan from Lazio and is doing well so far.

I then had a thrilling 4-4 draw against OGC Nice, Diallo scored a hattrick and Pobelete got the other one.

I then lost 2-1 to Lille but I was winning 1-0 at half time and then got a player sent off and then lost after conceeding two late goals.

Finally my last match played was a 5-1 loss to PSG but I was expecting that.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Hootieleece]

Hello everyone! If you haven't seen it yet I have started my CLERMONT FOOT 63 save.

Here is the link to the Career Update:

After this I will just add my chapter replies to this thread after updating my main thread.

Good luck everyone!

[BadAss88]

I've just started a new save at SC Toulon. 

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck @Hootieleece and @BadAss88 with Clermont Foot and SC Toulon. Great to see the majority of new French managers going in at the lower levels 

[Hootieleece]

22 minutes ago, BadAss88 said:

I've just started a new save at SC Toulon. 

SC Toulon was a possible starting place for me as well. The French Mediterranean Fleet needs a team to support!

But alas I returned to Clermont the first team I ever won promotion with on FM15.

 

 

 

@Jogo BonitoThis even though I am an ASSE fan if were talking French teams IRL.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

8 hours ago, BadAss88 said:

I've just started a new save at SC Toulon. 

They were one of the teams I was looking at solely cos I liked their kit lol.

7 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Good luck @Hootieleece and @BadAss88 with Clermont Foot and SC Toulon. Great to see the majority of new French managers going in at the lower levels 

I echo Jogo's good luck wishes, I will be doing a few French league saves so at some point I will be doing a lower league French league save. I just liked the backstory of Metz.

I also want to say thank you to everyone contributing so far.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ronaldo Beckham

I'm thinking I need to do two different level French games too. I've got lists of players floating around in my head, some for free that would be perfect for National 1 or lower, others that could go to Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 sides. All the magic and excitement is in the preparation stage for me, so whenever I take over a club I should know exactly what I want to do and with what players.

Probably a good choice not to go with SC Toulon. Nice kits, great Azure coast club, but I hear they may struggle in a league season as they're only good in tournaments 

P.S. I was wrong when I commented before that only the two sides relegated to National 1 (third tier) clubs were professional. There are a few more than that (about five or six) for those who want to go lower than second tier but retain professional status. Sorry for the bad steer.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Ronaldo Beckham

I'm thinking I need to do two different level French games too. I've got lists of players floating around in my head, some for free that would be perfect for National 1 or lower, others that could go to Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 sides. All the magic and excitement is in the preparation stage for me, so whenever I take over a club I should know exactly what I want to do and with what players.

Probably a good choice not to go with SC Toulon. Nice kits, great Azure coast club, but I hear they may struggle in a league season as they're only good in tournaments 

P.S. I was wrong when I commented before that only the two sides relegated to National 1 (third tier) clubs were professional. There are a few more than that (about five or six) for those who want to go lower than second tier but retain professional status. Sorry for the bad steer.

We will let you off @Jogo Bonito as you are very knowledgeable.

I look forward to seeing what team you pick.

By the way Diallo has been amazing for me so far.