A French Journey - Le Havre AC

[leckuno]

Club Information

Year Founded: 1872
Nickname: Les Ciel et Marine
Stadium: Stade Océane
Capacity: 25,181
Rivals: FC Rouen and SM Caen

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Honours

Old Ligue 1: 1900
Ligue 2: 1938,1959,1985,1991,2008
Coupe de France: 1959

History

Le Havre AC are the oldest team in France but have never established themselves in Ligue 1 in over 100 years. They have produced some amount of talent over the years though through their academy in the north of France. Notable players are Benjamin Mendy, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Lassana Diarra, Riyad Mahrez, Steve Mandanda, Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet. The club has been letting its top youths get poached by bigger clubs for too long which has cost them in their hunt for promotion. Now is the time for that to stop. Can we nurture the talent coming through and use them to get the club onto the bigger stage in France never mind Europe.


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[leckuno]

Staff Changes

As usual with any new start we needed to evaluate the current staff at the club and some of them just didn't cut it so I went out and had a lot of conversations with perspective new members off staff and offered a few of them contracts.

Transfers Out

Only two players have left the club and this was so we could free up some funds for bringing players in.

Transfers

WE bring in 3 players on permanent deals here with Ismael Diaz being the first in the door. The Panama international joins the club to be the starting LW

Next in is a promising young Italian winger from Atlanta and Amad Tarore who at 17 has a great future ahead of him and we managed to sign him as he was only on a youth contract at Atalanta so we were able to poach him.

Finally we managed to ****** another promising Italian on a youth contract and this tie it was Inter. Degnand Wilfried Gnonto could go onto great things and will be out back up striker this season.

Preseason

We have a big preseason and I'm not sure how we managed it but we managed a big win over PSG. I don't care if it was a friendly but I'll take it.

Expectations

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[leckuno]

August

We have a bit of a ropy month in the league as we only win 2 out of 5 games in the league this month but at least we have had a productive month in the cup with negotiating past 2 of our league counterparts to make it to the 3rd round which beats our expectations set out by the board.

The loss away to FC Lorient wasn't unexpected as they are expected to finish 2nd in the league so happy to lose to a team expected to finish a lot higher. It was even better though to bounce back with a very big win against Valenciennes where Kadewere got an excellent hat-trick with 2 of the goals coming in injury time at the end of the 2nd half.

League

We are sitting 6th in the league after the first month so we've still got all to play for

September

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[leckuno]

September

A nice short month for us thanks to the International games and we got 2 big wins before we had our first taste of the Normad Derby against SM Caen who were relegated at the end of last season.

In the match against US Orleans Gnonto came on as a sub with 10 minutes to go and he scored in the 2nd minute of injury time to become the youngest ever scorer in Le Havre and Ligue 2 history.

In the Derby though we knew it was going to be a tough game as Caen still had Ligue 1 capable players in their squad. It was our young Italian though who managed to make the breakthrough though with a startling run off the right wing and firing home from just inside the box to get us the 3 points.

League

The win against Caen sent us to the top of the table. The question is though how long will we last there?

October

Producers of French National Team Footballers

This shows just how important our academy is to French football and the future of it.

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[Crayth]

Good luck mate ?

Liking the layout and that your taking control of a team that you don't often see a story about.

 

[leckuno]

October

Another nice short month for us thanks to the international break. We get off to a great start with a win against Le Mans with Traore and Kadewere on the score sheet. Next we had to come from behind twice to ****** a draw all thanks to a brace from Kadewere who is far too good to be playing in Ligue 2. We then bounce back against Nancy with Kadewere with another brace and Traore netting the third.

The big game this month though was the game against Clermont Foot in the cup.

We were really made to made to work here after our defence decided to sleep through the opening 9 minutes which caused us to be 2-0 down. Luckily Kadewere got us back in the game briefly before we conceded again to be 3-1 down at half time. I went off on one at half time in the hope of inspiring the team and it worked as Ismael Diaz has the best 45 minutes of his life as he single handily won us the game from the LW. His goal in the final minute sums it all up with a thumper of a shot from 30 yards out finding the top corner

League

November

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[leckuno]

November

It's certainly not the best start to the month with a defeat to Ea Guingamp as we just never got going followed by a draw against Clermont Foot which we came back against them again to ****** a point.

We finally bounced back with a great win against AJ Auxerre. We had 4 separate scorers in this match which is always good and the fact we were 4-0 up at half time shows what we can do. The second half wasn't great though as we conceded twice. The next match was a lot tougher as we had to rely on extra time and penalties to see us through to the next round of the cup. We finish the month with a draw so we finish the month with 5 points out of 12 so we need to get better if we want to get promoted.

League

December

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[leckuno]

December

Another drab start to a month as well drop points away from home in a boring 0-0 draw but at lest we get a commanding win in the Coupe de France to see us progress to help meeting club expectations. We then face both teams from Paris in a week. First up is Paris FC where we grind out another dull 0-0 draw which was probably a fair result. Next up was our first real test coming up against PSG who put out a bit of a weaker team against us and they still played us off the park and were very generous at only leaving it at 3-0.

Luckily we finish the month off strongly with a big win away to Chamois Niortais and if we can play like this every week there is no reason why we can't continue to challenge for promotion at the end of this season.

Its a mixed month with 5 points picked up in the league and win in the Coupe de France to see us meet us Sable Football club which should be an easy win and see us meet expectations for the cup.

League

January

Youth

A respectble youth intake as it looks like we might have a couple of promising players coming through that might make it to the first team one day.

Tnsfers In

I was having a look around to see who was still without a club and came across Aleksandar Pantic and with us only having two permanent CB's then we snapped him up and if all else fails we'll cash in on him in the summer.

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[Crayth]

Well done on the last few months, right up there in automatic promotion contention. Its so tight at the top! If someone can string a really good month together, they can pull away at the top. Decent centre half you've signed in there mate, are your backroom staff good mate? Might be worth seeing if you can improve the triaining style and it should get those free agents back up to standards and improving rather than dropping stats!

Good luck mate! Loving it so far, hopefully you'll get promotion this year!

 

[leckuno]

Well done on the last few months, right up there in automatic promotion contention. Its so tight at the top! If someone can string a really good month together, they can pull away at the top. Decent centre half you've signed in there mate, are your backroom staff good mate? Might be worth seeing if you can improve the triaining style and it should get those free agents back up to standards and improving rather than dropping stats!

Good luck mate! Loving it so far, hopefully you'll get promotion this year!

cheers, glad your enjoying it. Fingers crossed we can stay at the top of the table and get promotion this year.

 

[leckuno]

January

Its yet another up and down month as we have a nice confidence builder in the Coupe De France as we run out 6-1 winners with a rotated squad which see's us face PSG again in the next round. What were the odds of being drawn against them in both cups. In the league we get a very hard fought three points as we fell behind in the 9th minute and had to wait until the 81st minute before Kadwewre got the equaliser and we finally got the breakthrough in in the 90th though Abdelli.

Against PSG we pretty much lay down in the 1st half as the walked right over us with taking the lead after 3 minutes. We were 3-0 down at half time so at least the second half was a positive. With our heads down after the PSG result Ajaccio were the far better team and deserved their 2-0 victory. Finally with the finally game we got a bit more of a positive result as we managed a tough draw against FC Lorient which we were probably lucky to get a point out of it.

League

February

Transfers Out

We let people go who were unhappy with game time as they were never going to get near the starting XI so thought we may as well cash in.

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[leckuno]

February

We finally have a month that we can be proud of as we go unbeaten for the month which can only hope in our promotion challenge. Its a tough start though as Valenciennes FC really make us work for it here Traore gets the only goal of the game in the 19th minute. The win against Troyes is a lot more comfortable. Against US Orleans we fall behind in the 45th minute thanks to an own goal from our keeper fumbling into the goal but Gnonto rescues a point in the 73nd minute.

We bounce back with a tricky win again Chambly-Thelle with a goal in the 79th minute from Lekhal. Finally we play the 2nd Normand Derby of the season and its young Gnonto who gets the opening goal of the game in the 52nd minute but sadly Anthony Weber gabs the equaliser in the 67th minute for the game to finish 1-1 and with all things considered its probably a fair result.

League

March

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[leckuno]

March

We get off to an excellent start this month against Lens as our big Turkish CB Ersoy scores a brace from two well worked corners before Kadewere and Diaz get in on the fun as well. Diaz and Kadewere then continue their goal scoring against Rodez Aveyron to get us another good 3 points. Against AS Nancy we get off to a very quick start as Droehnle scores from a corner in just the 2nd minute before Abdelli then gets the 2nd in the 14th minute. Barka grabs one back right on the blow of the half time whistle. The second half Droehnle gets sent off for a terrible challenge in the 52nd minute. We took a risk and played the rest of the match defensively and it paid off as we kept AS Nancy out again. EA Guingamp are our final match of the month as we just can't get going at all and Gomis makes us pay in the 2nd half with a well placed finish to give Guingamp the 3 points.

League

April

Youth

We have a good youth intake and there are two standout players who will hopefully feature in the first team one day and not be sold before they get the chance.

First up is a promising Inverted Winger who looks like he has everything to make it to the top one day.

Next is a promising False Nine that we will be looking to retrain as an Advanced Forward but at only 15 and with his acceleration at 16 already he looks he could be a pacey striker for us.

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[leckuno]

April

We have to finish strong over the course of the season as if we slip up at all there are a few teams underneath us that are looking to jump up the table and take over. We struggle to a 1-0 win over Clermont Foot thanks to Fontaine. We get off to a quick start against Auxerre through Gnonto in the 2nd minute but Bihan cancels it out 2 minutes later. We then got our 2nd goal in the 80th minute and through we had won the game but we gave away a penalty which Ngando slotted home in the 95th minute.

We then beat Sochaux-Montbeliard thanks to goals from Pantic and Fontaine. Up against Grenoble Fontaine topens the scoring with his 3rd goal of the month before Diaz gets the second. Fianlly we round the month off with a trip to Paris where we had a great win with goals from Gnonto, Fontaine and Meddah. Fontaine has played out his skin this month which has been great for us as he has contributed so much to us this month as Lorient are still hot on our heals going into the final 3 games.

League

May

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[Hampus Silverholt]

The only thing letting down that striker in the youth intake is the finishing, are you tempted to retrain him in a different position as he could make a decent advanced playmaker?

 

[leckuno]

The only thing letting down that striker in the youth intake is the finishing, are you tempted to retrain him in a different position as he could make a decent advanced playmaker?

Its already in process of him being retrained as AP

 

[leckuno]

May

We go into this month knowing that the title and promotion are ours to lose and we will do our best to not let it slip through our fingers. We start the month off against the team in 3rd spot and it just doesn't go to plan as we lose 1-0 top make it a proper 3 way race for the title with 2 games to go. Our only solace was that Lorient also dropped points by drawing with AS Nancy.

Next up was thankfully a much easier game and a win would see us guaranteed promotion and the boys deliver. Traore opens the scoring after only 7 minutes and then it took until the 64th where Gnonto got the 2nd and then only 2 minutes later Diaz added a third. Abdelli then rounds the game off with the final goal in the 84th minute. This game just shows how important the signings have become as 3 of them get on the score sheet getting us promoted to Ligue 1.

In the final game we only needed to make sure that we didn't lose and hope that Lorient didn't make up the goal difference somehow. Things weren't going to plan though as we gave away a penalty just seconds into the game we gave away a penalty which Jimmy Briand scored with a minute on the clock. It looked like we were going to let it slip but Gnonto came to the rescue in the 81st minute with a well placed finish.

We are going up as Champions!!

The hard work starts now.

League

Season Awards

Season Review

Budgets

Its not a lot of money to get the squad ready for staying up but we will do out best with what we have.

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[leckuno]

Transfers Out

We get rid of a lot of dead wood over the course of the transfer window to free up the wages and give us more money to spend. The big two transfers to go though were Lekhal and Meras for a combined total of £6.8 million. They weren't transfers we really wanted to do but we needed to sell a couple of people to be able to strengthen the team to make us ready for Ligue 1.

Transfers In

We sign 9 players over the course of the window and each one of them was a targeted player to improve the squad. The player I'm looking forward to seeing growing at the club is Willem Geubbels who has the ability to go on and become a future French international. With only one experienced played coming in we will be looking at Bertolacci to help the core of young players in the squad.

Preseason

We play a lot of friendlies and we go unbeaten so it will be a confidence booster going into the start of the season.

Season Tickets

Its good to see a big uptake in season tickets all the money we can bring in is going to help.

Expectations

We should hopefully meet these but its going to be a big ask to stay up this season.

August

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[leckuno]

August

We finally get underway with our life in Ligue 1 and its a joy to watch as we get off to a winning start as Alex Blanco comes off the bench to get a debut goal. Next up against Nice we went in at half time at 1-1 but Nice showed how much of a gap there is between us and the top 10 teams as they blew us away in the 2nd half.

We needed a reaction after the Nice result and they team delivered againt Stade Reims. These are the games we need to be picking up results and Fontaine opened the scoring after 26 minutes before Gnonto gets his first Ligue 1 goal in the 67th minute to round off a great team performance. We round the month off against Bordeaux who were in the relegation play off at the end of last season and Diaz gets the opening goal in the 21st minute before Pantic gets a very rare goal in the 76th minute which propells us up the table.

League

I would bite your hand off to have this position at the end of the season.

September

Biggest Spenders

This not only shows how far behind the league is in spending power behind Europe's elite but also how far behind PSG we are as they spend £200 million compared to our £8.25 million.

Leading French Footballer Producers

This shows just how good our academy is as even though we've not spent a lot of time in Ligue one over the years we've managed to produce 17 players playing across the top leagues of the world.

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[leckuno]

September

Well the first game of the month went pretty much as expected as PSG came out and just showed that they meant business and totally destroyed us. The only positive out of the game came in our last minute goal which say Geubbels open his account for the club. They game against Lyon was a lot better and Meddah opened the scoring for us in the 18th minute and we looked really good value for the win going into the 90th minute but Lyon just went up a gear and Benedetti scored in the 91st minute before Elmas scored with the final kick of the ball to see Lyon grab the win from under our nose.

Against Dijon and Stade Rennais we manage to get a bit of confidence back into the squad with 2 good draws to see us at least get 2 points out of the 12 on offer this month.

League

October

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