FCSM a French Revolution

[leckuno]

Club History


FCSM from the northern French town of Montbéliard was founded in 1928 by Jean-Pierre Peugeot with the aim of offering the factory car manufacturers a chance to relax. The club was a great champion of professionalizing football and eventually became one of the first professional clubs in France.


The biggest triumphs in the French competition did not follow long after the founding, because in the 1930s the two only national titles were won by Sochaux. During this period, the French Cup was also seized once, making this the decade the most successful period of club history.

The war didn't do FC Sochaux any good. The club didn't win any major prizes in the following decades and even had to settle a few times for playing one or two seasons at the second French level. Whats important though is the establishment of the famous youth academy of the club in 1974.


The success story of FCSM only continues from 2004 when the Coupe de la Ligue was won and then Coupe de France was won for the second time in the clubs history in 2007. However, the club could not hold onto this and Sochaux were relegated in 2014 when they have been since.

Finances

The club has a healthy pot of money. A balance of just under £6,000,000 means that the club hopefully won't struggle without a cup run or promotion but this will limit our chances of further upgrading our facilities and being able to spend in the transfer windows.

Stadium

Sochaux plays its home matches at the Stade Auguste Bonal in Montbéliard. The stadium was constructed in 1931 and opened on 11 November of that same year. The facility was previously known as Stade de la Forge. In July 1945, the club changed the stadium's name to its current version. It is named after Auguste Bonal, the former sports director of the club, who after refusing to co-operate with the Germans during World War II, was murdered.


The Stade Auguste Bonal has undergone renovations twice: in 1973 and 1997. In 1997, the majority of the stadium was completely overhauled, and practically a new stadium was built. The stadium still hosted matches during the renovation period, but with a limited capacity. The renovation cost ₣114 million, and took nearly three years to complete. The Nouveau Bonal was officially inaugurated on 22 July 2000 in a Trophée des champions match between FC Nantes and AS Monaco. The stadium's current capacity is 20,005.
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[leckuno]

Squad Overview

The squad is actually quite complete and quite versatile for this level. There are full-fledged basic players in every position and also some good reserves. The only position that is hardly occupied within the selection is that of an attacking midfielder but I plan on playing 2 up front for the time being. We have 5 players in on loan just now who are good enough to do a job but we will have to fill the gaps come the end of the season.

In my opinion we have 2 stand out players at the club which will be the first two players on the team sheet

Anderson Emanuel

Emanuel has just joined the club this season but I plan on him being a key player down the left wing this season. We have Mollo there as well who he can rotate with when we need a bit more experiance.

Jeandu Fuchs

Fuchs could have the potential to stay at the club for years and become a legend here but his contract expires at the end of the season and is currently not wanting to sign a new deal due to interest from Monaco so leaves me with the tough choice of do I risk losing him for free at the end of the season or cash in on him just now?


Personally I won't be looking to strengthen the squad unless there is somebody who I can't say no to on the transfer list for cheap as I don't want to risk losing money. The only other way I will spend cash is if Fuchs leaves and we have to replace him.

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[Klippybo]

Good luck!!!

 

[leckuno]

Preseason & Transfers

Transfers Out

We only have one player leave the club as I just couldn't run the risk of losing him for nothing come January when he could talk to other clubs. Jeandu Fuchs moves to Monaco for a total of £3,000,000 and we even manage to throw in a 10% of any future sale as well.

Transfers In

We dive straight into the transfer market to replace Fuchs as we needed somebody else in midfield to help out and we invest all the money we received from Fuchs in Nacho Mendez from Sporting Gijon where we will pay £2,000,000 up front with a further £1,000,000 over the next 3 seasons.

I fully expect him to turn out better than Fuchs and just hope we can hold onto him as we aim to build the team around him over the next few seasons.

Staff

So with every new manager comes staff sackings and I let go most of the staff at the club apart from the physio's as they are great and I certainly wouldn't be able to improve them but everywhere else there were large cuts. With those I was able to bring in a strong team of coaches and scouts to help with my plans of promotion to the top flight.

Preseason Results

We play 12 friendlies in total which might seem like a lot but taking control of a team I no nothing about it gave me the opportunity to fully evaluate our players and find our best formation and I have settled on an attacking 4-4-2. We have an extremly good preseason with only losing 1 game to Basel which was expected but I arranged that friendly along with Young Boys to ensure we had 2 games against much stronger teams. The win against Young Boys was certainly unexpected but was a massive confidence boost to the squad.

Tactic

As mentioned above I have decided to go for an attacking 4-4-2 and hopefully it will see us through the season as it really suits this squad best.

Media Expectations

The media doesn't have high expectations for us this season as we're predicted to finish all the way down in 15th spot 3 places above the relegation spots.

Board Expectations

It turns out the board is even less expecting of us than the media with us just expected to avoid relegation which I feel should be more than easy to do and I fully expect us to finish within the top half of the table.

I'm unsure if we'll manage to make the cup expectations as it will largely be down to luck with who we manage to draw in them but fingers crossed we can get a cup run on the go and get some cash from it.

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[leckuno]

August

Grenoble v FCSM

What a start to our season as we show that we aren't going to be pushovers and go out and show our attacking intent as our large preseason pays off.

FCSM v VAFC

We get a great goal just before half time to give us a confidence boost but things then get nervy when they pull one back with 15 minutes to go. We are able to take full advantage of the extra man though as we get two quick goals to win the game.

AC Ajaccio v FCSM

We go out again with our attacking intent as we go in at half time 3-0 up. We then get another two quick goals in the second half for the third time in 2 games so hopefully that starts to become a bit of a trademark.

Coupe de la Ligue BKT 1st Round
Grenoble v FCSM

I thought this game was dead and buried after us going 3-0 up after 21 minutes but Grenoble made sure they were't going to make it easy for us and came out from half time a totally different team. We progress to the next round where we will face Paris FC.

FCSM v Brest

Mendez showing how important he is going to be to us this season with getting his second goal in 2 games so hopefully he stays fit and continues at this level.

Clermont v FCSM

Our toughest match so far as Clermont were a lot more defensively sound but Daham gets the break through with a great strike from 20 yards out.

Coupe de la Ligue BKT 2nd Round
Paris FV v FCSM

We manage to grab another 2 quick goals here that see's us go in at half time with a commanding lead and the much better team but Paris make it a nervy final half hour but we hold out and progress to the third round. The draw will be made on the 19th September

FCSM v A.S Beziers

We finish the month as we started it by scoring 4 goals and this was even more impressive as we played nearly 70 minutes with only 10 men. Daham was the stand out player though in this game and was given the penalty in the final minute to give him the chance for his hat trick, this could of been sealed earlier had he not had a goal chopped off for being offside.

League

September

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[001PDG]

Flying start!

 

[leckuno]

September

RC Lens v FCSM

Our first dropped points of the season as we concede right at then end due to a defensive error leading to the goal. We had looked good value up until that point but just couldn't put the game to bed with finding that second goal.

FCSM v US Orleans

A much better performance here even if it was against weaker opposition. Mendez seems to be making the penalty taker role his own as he slots home from the spot again.

Nancy v FCSM

Nancy really made us work for this one but our never stop trying attitude paid off as we score with just a couple of minutes left to leave with the 3 points.

Coupe de la Ligue BKT

The draw for the 3rd round of the cup has taken place and we have got lucky with managing to avoid all the ligue 1 clubs that have come into the competition and been drawn away to AJ Auxerre.

League

October

 

[leckuno]

October

FCSM v FC Metz

We get off to a very start as we are given a penalty early on and Mendez slots home again and then goes on to get a second before half time. Metz were the better team in the second half though but luckily they only get their goal in the 90th minute as a consolation.

Troyes v FCSM

We play out a boring first half where neither team had any real chances but we show our fighting spirit in the second half and get two quick goals again to get the 3 points. Was a bit disappointed though to concede with the last kick of the ball.

FCSM v Niort

A tough match here which we were made to work against a team sitting second bottom of the table but Mollo comes on with 20 minutes to go and makes an instant impact with getting the goal.

Coupe de la Ligue BKT 3rd Round
AJ Auxerre v FCSM

A great game for the neutrals here as we went ahead twice before getting pulled back. I honestly though we were going out after going behind but thankfully Daham pulled it back a minute later. Thankfully we win on penalties and will be going through to the 4th round with the draw taking place in November.

League

November

 

[Rubickon]

October

FCSM v FC Metz

We get off to a very start as we are given a penalty early on and Mendez slots home again and then goes on to get a second before half time. Metz were the better team in the second half though but luckily they only get their goal in the 90th minute as a consolation.

Troyes v FCSM

We play out a boring first half where neither team had any real chances but we show our fighting spirit in the second half and get two quick goals again to get the 3 points. Was a bit disappointed though to concede with the last kick of the ball.

FCSM v Niort

A tough match here which we were made to work against a team sitting second bottom of the table but Mollo comes on with 20 minutes to go and makes an instant impact with getting the goal.

Coupe de la Ligue BKT 3rd Round
AJ Auxerre v FCSM

A great game for the neutrals here as we went ahead twice before getting pulled back. I honestly though we were going out after going behind but thankfully Daham pulled it back a minute later. Thankfully we win on penalties and will be going through to the 4th round with the draw taking place in November.

League

November

nice! WIn Metz...