gary the football manager
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hello bro loved your story......ps when does the journey continue been waiting for it since the last post
Paris FC - Coming Out From PSG's Shadow
- Thread starter FM_TNSSO
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FM_TNSSO
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Thanks mate. Sorry been away for a couple of weeks. Work has been manic!
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 45: Worst Run Of Form Under My Management
Despite the high we are living this year in the Champions League, we are brought back down to earth by Manchester United who put us firmly in our place as the rank outsiders of the tournament!
In the league, things were all good though as we rack up a win against Nantes, before getting a credible point away at Monaco.
But back in the Champions League, it was another big defeat as we were simply outplayed in Holland. This Champions League **** is hard!
In the league, Lyon proved too strong and it was relatively easy to see why they are the front runners to topple the mighty PSG!
I needed a reaction from my players to keep us in touch with the leaders in the division and they duly delivered with an easy win over Nancy. Sasa Basic came off the bench to score his first senior goal for the club.
Going into our 4th group game in the Champions League, we desperately needed a win over a Feyenoord side that had played us off the park only 2 weeks before. And I don't think anyone could predict the result that came....we were in complete control for the entire 90 minutes as we record an incredible victory. Anthony Elanga was simply sensational!
With 2 games remaining, we have a chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds. Failing that though, we should almost definitely finish at least 3rd and go into the Europa League.
Back in Ligue 1, can anyone explain to me how we lost this game 3-0!!
The board have upped the current transfer budget to £6 million so I'll have a little bit to play with in the January window.
After such a poor performance against OGC Nice, we'll be needing every penny of that money to make improvements in January too!
So next up was a massive fixture against RB Leipzig. Despite them coming into the game bottom of the group, Nagelsmann is still claiming that we are 'easy' opponents! Cheeky b**tard!
Although it turns out he was right! A terrible showing from us!
And things didn't get any better back in domestic action either!
We've now lost 6 of our last 8 in all competitions and this is the worst run we've been on since I took over at the club!
Despite that, we do remain in 5th place in Ligue 1 though....although there is an ever growing gap to PSG at the top and we won't be mounting a title challange this season!
And in the Champions League, we could still qualify for the knockout stages as well. And we're in a good position as the final games see us play United and Feyenoord and Leipzig take each other on. No matter what happens we are guaranteed a 3rd place finish and will go into the Europa League as a worse case scenario!
Despite the high we are living this year in the Champions League, we are brought back down to earth by Manchester United who put us firmly in our place as the rank outsiders of the tournament!
In the league, things were all good though as we rack up a win against Nantes, before getting a credible point away at Monaco.
But back in the Champions League, it was another big defeat as we were simply outplayed in Holland. This Champions League **** is hard!
In the league, Lyon proved too strong and it was relatively easy to see why they are the front runners to topple the mighty PSG!
I needed a reaction from my players to keep us in touch with the leaders in the division and they duly delivered with an easy win over Nancy. Sasa Basic came off the bench to score his first senior goal for the club.
Going into our 4th group game in the Champions League, we desperately needed a win over a Feyenoord side that had played us off the park only 2 weeks before. And I don't think anyone could predict the result that came....we were in complete control for the entire 90 minutes as we record an incredible victory. Anthony Elanga was simply sensational!
With 2 games remaining, we have a chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds. Failing that though, we should almost definitely finish at least 3rd and go into the Europa League.
Back in Ligue 1, can anyone explain to me how we lost this game 3-0!!
The board have upped the current transfer budget to £6 million so I'll have a little bit to play with in the January window.
After such a poor performance against OGC Nice, we'll be needing every penny of that money to make improvements in January too!
So next up was a massive fixture against RB Leipzig. Despite them coming into the game bottom of the group, Nagelsmann is still claiming that we are 'easy' opponents! Cheeky b**tard!
Although it turns out he was right! A terrible showing from us!
And things didn't get any better back in domestic action either!
We've now lost 6 of our last 8 in all competitions and this is the worst run we've been on since I took over at the club!
Despite that, we do remain in 5th place in Ligue 1 though....although there is an ever growing gap to PSG at the top and we won't be mounting a title challange this season!
And in the Champions League, we could still qualify for the knockout stages as well. And we're in a good position as the final games see us play United and Feyenoord and Leipzig take each other on. No matter what happens we are guaranteed a 3rd place finish and will go into the Europa League as a worse case scenario!
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 46: A New Formation
With our recent bad run of form, I've noticed a few gaps in our performances, so it was time for a change up in formation. We've built a better squad over the past 5 seasons so it makes sense to utilize our stronger players in a different way to suit their strengths anyway.
First thing I have noticed is that my full backs are decent passers of the ball, but their ability to cross leaves a lot to be desired. I've noticed the quality of their crosses coming in has been sub standard, so decided to move away from getting them bombing on down the wing, and instead will use them to overload the midfield as inverted wing backs instead. This should play to their strengths as comfortable passers of the ball and have them make a more significant impact on our build up play.
With the inverted wing backs packing out the centre of the park more, I am able to play just one DM and 2 AM, as there will be more than enough cover for the more advanced players. The DM role is simply an anchorman...I don't need him performing any miracles....just sit in that gap and break up the opposition play. The front men have enough creativity, that he doesn't need to be a creative player himself.
The 2 wide midfielders are set up more like wingers as they are encouraged to bomb on down the wing, run wide with the ball and fire crosses into the box from the byline. However, with my old formation, I noticed that the lone front man was struggling to get on the end of the crosses as he was often the only person available in the box and heavily outnumbered. Now, with the 2 AMs, they will support him and also be in the box to get on the end of the crosses.
All in all, this is a much more attacking formation (granted, with more risk), but I firmly believe we have the players that can dominate games for us now and this formation will allow them to do it.
And the new setup immediately brings about a much needed win.
And we followed that up with another win as 3 goals in the opening 24 minutes quickly put RC Lens to the sword.
The promise of a golden generation increases the hype around this season's youth intake. A few tasty wingers to look out for apparently, which might sit very nicely with my new tactic.
Talking of youth, I'll use this opportunity to show off Steeven Ongenda. He has been my most successful product of the youth system so far, making 74 senior appearances for the club already despite being on 19 years of age. The young right back has become one of the most important players in the team and in his new role as an inverted wing back playing to his strengths, he could go on to become better still!
With our recent bad run of form, I've noticed a few gaps in our performances, so it was time for a change up in formation. We've built a better squad over the past 5 seasons so it makes sense to utilize our stronger players in a different way to suit their strengths anyway.
First thing I have noticed is that my full backs are decent passers of the ball, but their ability to cross leaves a lot to be desired. I've noticed the quality of their crosses coming in has been sub standard, so decided to move away from getting them bombing on down the wing, and instead will use them to overload the midfield as inverted wing backs instead. This should play to their strengths as comfortable passers of the ball and have them make a more significant impact on our build up play.
With the inverted wing backs packing out the centre of the park more, I am able to play just one DM and 2 AM, as there will be more than enough cover for the more advanced players. The DM role is simply an anchorman...I don't need him performing any miracles....just sit in that gap and break up the opposition play. The front men have enough creativity, that he doesn't need to be a creative player himself.
The 2 wide midfielders are set up more like wingers as they are encouraged to bomb on down the wing, run wide with the ball and fire crosses into the box from the byline. However, with my old formation, I noticed that the lone front man was struggling to get on the end of the crosses as he was often the only person available in the box and heavily outnumbered. Now, with the 2 AMs, they will support him and also be in the box to get on the end of the crosses.
All in all, this is a much more attacking formation (granted, with more risk), but I firmly believe we have the players that can dominate games for us now and this formation will allow them to do it.
And the new setup immediately brings about a much needed win.
And we followed that up with another win as 3 goals in the opening 24 minutes quickly put RC Lens to the sword.
The promise of a golden generation increases the hype around this season's youth intake. A few tasty wingers to look out for apparently, which might sit very nicely with my new tactic.
Talking of youth, I'll use this opportunity to show off Steeven Ongenda. He has been my most successful product of the youth system so far, making 74 senior appearances for the club already despite being on 19 years of age. The young right back has become one of the most important players in the team and in his new role as an inverted wing back playing to his strengths, he could go on to become better still!
Let's hope I can fight off interest from the likes of Lille for him. Although a reported fee of £41 million would be incredibly difficult to turn down!
Our final group stage game in the Champions League saw us earn a very credible draw at home to Manchester United, in a match that saw us give as good as we got and we could very easily have nicked the win on the day.
Unfortunately, in the other game, Leipzig gave Feyenoord a 4-1 thrashing which saw them just edge us out of the top 2 on goal difference and we will go into the Europa League from here.
And considering the quality of some of the teams left in that competition, I actually feel like we've been handed a very winnable tie.
Another bore draw back in the league...a disappointing one against Brestois to be honest in a game I'd expected us to win.
So since switching to the new formation, we are yet to concede a single goal with the new setup. Although we do have PSG in our final game before the 2 week Winter break so we knew that might be about to change.
And we were right as PSG managed to get 2 past us. But it wasn't a defeat as we managed to secure a very good point away from home against the champions!
However, that doesn't tell the whole story about how good a point this really was! We were ill disciplined in the match and actually managed it with just 9 men on the field for nearly the entire 2nd half!
8 points from our last 4 league games keeps us in 5th and in contention for European qualification at the mid way stage of the season.
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 47: A Massive Signing!!!
We make a massive signing as ex PSG striker, Mauro Icardi, joins the club! It is only a loan deal for the rest of the season from Tottenham, but still, he is the first world class player we've brought to the club and the signing is a massive statement of how far we've come in the last few years! Let's hope the man that PSG once paid £53 million for, can be a major success for the next 6 months!
We make a massive signing as ex PSG striker, Mauro Icardi, joins the club! It is only a loan deal for the rest of the season from Tottenham, but still, he is the first world class player we've brought to the club and the signing is a massive statement of how far we've come in the last few years! Let's hope the man that PSG once paid £53 million for, can be a major success for the next 6 months!
We used our first cup game of the season to introduce Icardi to the fans and in a first half that saw him bag a brace and get 2 assists on his debut, we were already 7-0 up by the break! As we stepped off the gas in the 2nd period, we only added another 2, but still the win is a ridiculous one at 9-0!
One player did leave the club as well. We picked up Omar Elabdellaoui on a free in the Summer, but he had been a disruptive influence in the dressing room, so when Stromsgodset came in with a bid of just over £150k, I took the opportunity to make a quick (if small) profit.
Icardi didn't manage to score on his return to Ligue 1 action, although we did still record a very comfortable victory at home to St Etienne.
Back in the cup, we record another easy win against lower league opposition. We scored 3...it honestly could have been another 9!
With Mauro Icardi coming in during this window, it gave me the opportunity to send promising striker Sasa Basic out on loan to get some regular first team football and continue his development. He'll be a first team regular for Kaiserslautern and we'll keep an eye on his progress in Germany over the coming months. I feel like this kid could be a big player for us!
Now this next signing could prove to be a bit of a risk. 16 year old German attacking midfielder Andre Fruhauf looks absolute quality already and I'm hoping will develop into a world class player one day. That's why I've forked out £5.5 million to bring him to Paris from PSV, despite him being completely unproven and so young!
Two more draws, both disappointing if I'm honest! We only get a point from the league game against Strasbourg and luckily scrape through on penalties in the cup against Lorient. We must do better, and Mauro Icardi needs to up his game to justify the £49k per week that we are contributing towards his wages!
And then an absolute belter of a game followed against Lille who sat just behind us in the league at kick off. A massive result for us!
A win over FC Lorient was followed up with a defeat to Montpellier. We definitely didn't deserve to lose that game though after we had 18 shots to their 3!!
That defeat was our first in 13 games since changing formations! A run that also saw us keep 9 clean sheets!
We've moved up to 4th in the league, but we're miles behind the top 3 and even with 14 games left, 4th might be the best we can hope for this season!
In other news, the board agreed to invest in the academy coaching taking it to an excellent level!
Hampus Silverholt
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A 4th place finish and a nice run in the Europa League would be a decent season!
FM_TNSSO
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I'd take that mate!
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 48: Bang Average In The League, Decent In The Cups
Five perfect penalties saw us through to the semi final of the cup after beating FC Metz. We really should have had this wrapped up in 90 minutes though, although you could say we were unlucky after hitting the woodwork 3 times!
The semi final draw pits us against Bordeaux. It's the best possible draw we could have asked for with PSG and Marseille up against one another as arguably the two best sides in the competition.
We really are missing way too many chances at the moment and it cost us again here as we dropped points away at 16th placed Le Havre.
Our first taste of the Europa League ends in victory. We had to come from behind, but will take a 1 goal lead to Switzerland in the 2nd leg!
Back in the league it was a case of more dropped points though!
Despite our indifferent form, in Europe we continue to do OK and a decent win in Switzerland sees us through to the next knockout stage of the Europa League.
And we'll take on Lazio in the next round. That will be a much more difficult tie for us!
Despite our opponents playing with 10 men for nearly an hour, we struggled to find a way through against Nantes in the league and had to rely on an own goal to scrape a 1-0 win!
As we prepared to take on Bordeaux in the semi final of the Coupe de France, things were definitely in our favour as far as past form goes, with 4 wins from 4 against them!
And we continued the trend as we beat them again here and progress to our first Coupe de France final!
Where we will take on Marseille after they overcame PSG on penalties in the other semi!
We seem to be doing OK in the cups for now, but in the league we are definitely only average. And Monaco made us look bang average as well on their way to a 1-0 win over us!
With 10 games of the league campaign remaining, we are definitely in a fight to finish in the top 6 and qualify for next year's European competitions, although the top 3 looks well out of reach at this stage!
The youth intake was a massive let down as well. We were promised a golden generation and this is nowhere near that with only one player looking like a half decent prospect.
Five perfect penalties saw us through to the semi final of the cup after beating FC Metz. We really should have had this wrapped up in 90 minutes though, although you could say we were unlucky after hitting the woodwork 3 times!
The semi final draw pits us against Bordeaux. It's the best possible draw we could have asked for with PSG and Marseille up against one another as arguably the two best sides in the competition.
We really are missing way too many chances at the moment and it cost us again here as we dropped points away at 16th placed Le Havre.
Our first taste of the Europa League ends in victory. We had to come from behind, but will take a 1 goal lead to Switzerland in the 2nd leg!
Back in the league it was a case of more dropped points though!
Despite our indifferent form, in Europe we continue to do OK and a decent win in Switzerland sees us through to the next knockout stage of the Europa League.
And we'll take on Lazio in the next round. That will be a much more difficult tie for us!
Despite our opponents playing with 10 men for nearly an hour, we struggled to find a way through against Nantes in the league and had to rely on an own goal to scrape a 1-0 win!
As we prepared to take on Bordeaux in the semi final of the Coupe de France, things were definitely in our favour as far as past form goes, with 4 wins from 4 against them!
And we continued the trend as we beat them again here and progress to our first Coupe de France final!
Where we will take on Marseille after they overcame PSG on penalties in the other semi!
We seem to be doing OK in the cups for now, but in the league we are definitely only average. And Monaco made us look bang average as well on their way to a 1-0 win over us!
With 10 games of the league campaign remaining, we are definitely in a fight to finish in the top 6 and qualify for next year's European competitions, although the top 3 looks well out of reach at this stage!
The youth intake was a massive let down as well. We were promised a golden generation and this is nowhere near that with only one player looking like a half decent prospect.
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 49: A Decent European Run
In the Europa League, we managed to build a huge advantage with a 2-0 home win against Lazio. Keeping a clean sheet at home and taking a 2 goal lead to Italy is massive and we have to be considered strong favourites from here to progress.
Back in the league, Mauro Icardi turned in exactly the type of performance I hoped he would when I brought him in. A hat trick helped us on our way to seeing off title challengers Lyon, despite their late attempt at a fightback.
Back out in Italy for the 2nd leg of our Europa League clash with Lazio, the nerves started tingling when they levelled up the scores at 2-2 inside 10 minutes! However, that away goal from Nils Mortimer was huge and settled us right down. After that, there's no doubt we were the better side and although we didn't manage to level things up on the night, we go through on aggregate!
And we'll now play Everton in the Quarter Final, who incredibly overcame Bayern Munich in their tie!
In Ligue 1, we were really bad against Nancy and found ourselves largely outplayed for long periods of this game and were eventually lucky to come away with a point!
A much improved performance against SM Caen puts us in good spirits before we take on Everton in Europe!
But despite that, we still got a good hiding over in England! We have it all to do in the return leg at home now!
But before we invite The Toffees back to Paris, we had the matter of OGC Nice to take care of back in our domestic competition. In all fairness, we made pretty light work of them!
As far as the second leg went with Everton, we gave it a go and created plenty of chances, but they were too good for us and we simply couldn't find a way through. Over the course of the two legs, the better side won, but I think we did ourselves proud in our first ever season in European competition.
Focus turned back to Ligue 1 and a big game against Stade Rennais would see 5th and 6th come up against each other as we both look to cement our place in the top 6.
But neither side was able to gain the upper hand.
We definitely weren't at our best against Sochaux either, but Marko Milenkovic's 5th goal of the season late on snatched all 3 points for us.
Milkenkovic has 9 assists to go with his 5 goals in all comps this year and looks to be developing into a very tasty player! He's only 20 still and is definitely an exciting prospect for us if we can keep hold of him!
With 4 league games to go, it looks like it is now going to be a fight between us and Monaco for that 4th place spot!
In the Europa League, we managed to build a huge advantage with a 2-0 home win against Lazio. Keeping a clean sheet at home and taking a 2 goal lead to Italy is massive and we have to be considered strong favourites from here to progress.
Back in the league, Mauro Icardi turned in exactly the type of performance I hoped he would when I brought him in. A hat trick helped us on our way to seeing off title challengers Lyon, despite their late attempt at a fightback.
Back out in Italy for the 2nd leg of our Europa League clash with Lazio, the nerves started tingling when they levelled up the scores at 2-2 inside 10 minutes! However, that away goal from Nils Mortimer was huge and settled us right down. After that, there's no doubt we were the better side and although we didn't manage to level things up on the night, we go through on aggregate!
And we'll now play Everton in the Quarter Final, who incredibly overcame Bayern Munich in their tie!
In Ligue 1, we were really bad against Nancy and found ourselves largely outplayed for long periods of this game and were eventually lucky to come away with a point!
A much improved performance against SM Caen puts us in good spirits before we take on Everton in Europe!
But despite that, we still got a good hiding over in England! We have it all to do in the return leg at home now!
But before we invite The Toffees back to Paris, we had the matter of OGC Nice to take care of back in our domestic competition. In all fairness, we made pretty light work of them!
As far as the second leg went with Everton, we gave it a go and created plenty of chances, but they were too good for us and we simply couldn't find a way through. Over the course of the two legs, the better side won, but I think we did ourselves proud in our first ever season in European competition.
Focus turned back to Ligue 1 and a big game against Stade Rennais would see 5th and 6th come up against each other as we both look to cement our place in the top 6.
But neither side was able to gain the upper hand.
We definitely weren't at our best against Sochaux either, but Marko Milenkovic's 5th goal of the season late on snatched all 3 points for us.
Milkenkovic has 9 assists to go with his 5 goals in all comps this year and looks to be developing into a very tasty player! He's only 20 still and is definitely an exciting prospect for us if we can keep hold of him!
With 4 league games to go, it looks like it is now going to be a fight between us and Monaco for that 4th place spot!
MidKnightDreary
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Turning into a proper cup team, aren't you?
FM_TNSSO
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FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 50: Cup Final Heartbreak
Next up for us was possibly the biggest game of my career so far. A chance to lift the Coupe de France for the first time in the club's history. Marseille are the favourites, but the bookies reckon it's likely to be a close game.
The lineups... Jean-Kevin Duverne was not at full fitness and couldnt start and with Chris Richards missing majority of the season so far through injury, I did have a concern at centre back for this one. Other than that, I was relatively happy going into this one!
At half time, we found ourselves 1-0 down to an early penalty. Encouraging that it was their only shot of the whole half and although we didn't exactly batter their goal, I felt we were in a position to get back on terms in the 2nd period at least.
It took us all the way up until the 84th minute....and then this happened!
However, the elation lasted all of 3 minutes...
And that was that! Absolutely gutted to lose, but reaching our first cup final gives us confidence and something to build on in the seasons ahead. We'll benefit from this experience in the long run I'm sure.
A routine win over bottom side Lens was quickly followed up with a shocker against Brestois.
That meant we would finish 5th no matter what happened in our last 2 games. Which is lucky as we got a good hiding in both!
Next up for us was possibly the biggest game of my career so far. A chance to lift the Coupe de France for the first time in the club's history. Marseille are the favourites, but the bookies reckon it's likely to be a close game.
The lineups... Jean-Kevin Duverne was not at full fitness and couldnt start and with Chris Richards missing majority of the season so far through injury, I did have a concern at centre back for this one. Other than that, I was relatively happy going into this one!
At half time, we found ourselves 1-0 down to an early penalty. Encouraging that it was their only shot of the whole half and although we didn't exactly batter their goal, I felt we were in a position to get back on terms in the 2nd period at least.
It took us all the way up until the 84th minute....and then this happened!
However, the elation lasted all of 3 minutes...
And that was that! Absolutely gutted to lose, but reaching our first cup final gives us confidence and something to build on in the seasons ahead. We'll benefit from this experience in the long run I'm sure.
A routine win over bottom side Lens was quickly followed up with a shocker against Brestois.
That meant we would finish 5th no matter what happened in our last 2 games. Which is lucky as we got a good hiding in both!
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 51: 2025/26 Season Review
Another decent season in the top tier as we finish 5th and qualify for next year's Europa League Group Stage. PSG again won the title although they were pushed right up to the penultimate game by Lyon. Other than Nantes finishing just above the relegation places, there weren't really any major shocks in the placings this year.
We received another nice boost to the club's finances for our final position, which now takes the bank balance to the highest it's ever been.
That was accompanied by a boost in revenue in all areas of the club again.
So it was no surprise to see I've been handed my biggest budget yet for the Summer. Just shy of £20 million for transfers and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with it.
In our first ever venture into the Champions League, we did ourselves proud, qualifying for the group stage, before finishing 3rd and just getting pipped by Leipzig on goal difference for that spot in the knockout rounds. Manchester City lifted the trophy after beating Liverpool on penalties in the final.
After dropping down into the Europa League, again we gave a good account of ourselves managing to overcome Young Boys and Lazio before Everton proved too much in the quarter final. The Toffees went on to lose to Tottenham in the final, whilst we were rated as the biggest overachievers in the competition.
And in the Coupe de France, we made the final for the very first time, but were just undone by Marseille on the day.
Couple of question marks over this season's best eleven, especially with Elabdellaoui in that right winger role after just 9 games for the club and even when he did play, he was at right back!
The players are sorted here by appearances. It was no surprise to see that Diomande and Duverne played more than anyone else this season as my first choice centre back pairing were the two best players of the year by far! The wide men did well on the assists and goals front and both strikes gave a solid contribution with Icardi being a decent acquisition in January on that loan deal. Not enough players scored over the 7.0 benchmark average for me this year though and I will definitely be looking to shift some players on this Summer and bring in better replacements. One final thing to note is that out of my two young Serbs, Cupac (who was the more promising when signed) was completely outshone by Milenkovic.
Fan's Player of the Season = Jean-Kevin Duverne
Young Player of the Season = Sofiane Paris
Signing of the Season = Sinaly Diomande
My Player of the Season = Jean-Kevin Duverne
My Young Player of the Season (U23) = Steeven Ongenda
Most Disappointing = Dragoslav Cupac
Top Goalscorer = Abdoul Karim Camara (21 in all comps)
Most Assists = Nils Mortimer (16 in all comps)
Exciting times ahead as we confirm that the plans for our new stadium will go ahead!
Another decent season in the top tier as we finish 5th and qualify for next year's Europa League Group Stage. PSG again won the title although they were pushed right up to the penultimate game by Lyon. Other than Nantes finishing just above the relegation places, there weren't really any major shocks in the placings this year.
We received another nice boost to the club's finances for our final position, which now takes the bank balance to the highest it's ever been.
That was accompanied by a boost in revenue in all areas of the club again.
So it was no surprise to see I've been handed my biggest budget yet for the Summer. Just shy of £20 million for transfers and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with it.
In our first ever venture into the Champions League, we did ourselves proud, qualifying for the group stage, before finishing 3rd and just getting pipped by Leipzig on goal difference for that spot in the knockout rounds. Manchester City lifted the trophy after beating Liverpool on penalties in the final.
After dropping down into the Europa League, again we gave a good account of ourselves managing to overcome Young Boys and Lazio before Everton proved too much in the quarter final. The Toffees went on to lose to Tottenham in the final, whilst we were rated as the biggest overachievers in the competition.
And in the Coupe de France, we made the final for the very first time, but were just undone by Marseille on the day.
Couple of question marks over this season's best eleven, especially with Elabdellaoui in that right winger role after just 9 games for the club and even when he did play, he was at right back!
The players are sorted here by appearances. It was no surprise to see that Diomande and Duverne played more than anyone else this season as my first choice centre back pairing were the two best players of the year by far! The wide men did well on the assists and goals front and both strikes gave a solid contribution with Icardi being a decent acquisition in January on that loan deal. Not enough players scored over the 7.0 benchmark average for me this year though and I will definitely be looking to shift some players on this Summer and bring in better replacements. One final thing to note is that out of my two young Serbs, Cupac (who was the more promising when signed) was completely outshone by Milenkovic.
Fan's Player of the Season = Jean-Kevin Duverne
Young Player of the Season = Sofiane Paris
Signing of the Season = Sinaly Diomande
My Player of the Season = Jean-Kevin Duverne
My Young Player of the Season (U23) = Steeven Ongenda
Most Disappointing = Dragoslav Cupac
Top Goalscorer = Abdoul Karim Camara (21 in all comps)
Most Assists = Nils Mortimer (16 in all comps)
Exciting times ahead as we confirm that the plans for our new stadium will go ahead!
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 52: A Load Of Transfer Business
Players Out
First of all, I had one player worth noting that was released. Stefano Gori was a brilliant signing for me and made 141 appearances under me between the sticks. He played second fiddle for most of last season though which had ruffled his feathers a bit and wanted to leave for first team football. I wasn't going to stand in his way after being such an important part of my team over the past few years and I wish him all the best.
Players Out
First of all, I had one player worth noting that was released. Stefano Gori was a brilliant signing for me and made 141 appearances under me between the sticks. He played second fiddle for most of last season though which had ruffled his feathers a bit and wanted to leave for first team football. I wasn't going to stand in his way after being such an important part of my team over the past few years and I wish him all the best.
Axel Bamba has been a big part of my team since I arrived and made 151 of his 177 club appearances under my management. However, I feel it's time to move the centre back on as I feel we have better options and can bring in better backups than him. He moves to QPR for £1.4 million.
The next one was my big sale of the Summer. Steeven Ongenda came through the club's youth intake in my very first season and he developed into a first team starter, making 86 appearances for the club at right back. Sheffield United came in with a bid of £18 million and I immediately upped it to £30 million thinking they wouldn't pay it, but they accepted my negotiation. I'm not exactly pleased to see the youngster leave the club, but £30 million was too good to turn down. Especially as it also involves £5.5 million in add ons as well as a 30% of sell on profit clause.
There was a lot of hype around Ousmane Camara when he first came through the youth system and although he made over 50 appearances for me, he never really made it for me. So I allowed him to leave on a free to join Girona.
Players In
What an absolute steal this is for my first signing of the Summer. 20 year old wonderkid, Allan Deknuydt made 82 appearances for RC Lens senior side and was a first team regular in Ligue 1 for them last season. The defensive midfielder was unhappy after their relegation this season and I've managed to snap him up for a fee of just £1.4 million, which is amazing considering he is immediately valued at £5.75 million upon joining us!
After Steeven Ongenda left the club, I needed to apese the fans by bringing in another talented youngster to replace him. I've managed to grab another bargain in the form of another wonderkid in the form of Jose Alberto Gil. The 19 year old right back has joined from Cruz Azul for just £2.5 million and rejected offers from Porto, Wolves and West Ham to come here!
I still needed a second right back and Clement Michelin will provide the competition for that position. He joins from Brentford for £4.6 million.
Next up is a loan signing from Manchester City. Damian Carli is a 21 year old Argentinian winger/forward who has pace and determination in abundance. With some decent dribbling skills, a good pass and great technique, he could be a solid creator for us this year.
Trezeguet adds a good amount of experience to my very young side and the ex Aston Villa player can still do a job for us at our level. He'll be a decent squad player I'm sure. We paid £3 million which was dirt cheap considering his ability.
With Stefano Gori being allowed to leave this Summer, I had to bring in another keeper. The man I went for was Stole Dimitrievski and he cost me just £1.4 million from Espanyol, where he has been their number 1 for the last 2 seasons in La Liga.
Now this next one is one I've known about for a while but kept quiet. In January, I agreed a deal to bring Riqui Puig in on a free transfer when his contract expired at the end of the season with Stade Rennais. What a piece of business as the Spanish midfielder is immediately worth £19 million. I've literally robbed them!
Boosting the midfield with another French player was something I wanted to do and I'm delighted to add box to box midfielder, Matteo Guendouzi, to the squad for a fee of £5.5 million from Gladbach. The ex Arsenal centre mid has struggled for game time in Germany over the past couple of seasons and can revive his career with us back in his home country.
I then invested a shed load of the Ongenda transfer money into smashing the club's record transfer fee! Welcome Denis Dragus to the club. The Romanian striker joins the club from Standard Liege where he averaged more than a goal every 2 games, for a fee of £15.5 million. He has a very good goalscoring record over the past 5 seasons in Belgium and I'm hoping he can replicate it for us in France and prove to be well worth the investment.
Oh, and there'll be another improvement to the training facilities further pushes the club towards competing with the best in the country!
FM_TNSSO
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Cheers bud! Have to say that I'm pretty excited about the upcoming season with the transfer business we've done. I think Trezeguet could be the dark horse ya know!
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 53: A Good Start And A Winnable Europa League Group
Stevie McPake never really found his feet in France and after just a season with us, he returns to Scotland. We made £1.7 million from the sale to Celtic which isn't too shabby as we picked him up on a free.
Another player that hasn't quite come on as much as I'd have liked is Guo Yuze, so when Koln came in with a bid of £5.5 million rising to £8 million with add ons, I snapped their hand off.
I continue to seek out these absolute bargains and here's another. Andres Garcia was miserable as sin at Atletico Madrid, playing in their B team. Now I know it's only the B team, but he has 75 goals in 117 games, so was well worth the £2.7 million I paid for him...even if he flops, I'll get a lot more than that back if I need to sell him!
Then it was time for another player to leave. Chris Richards joined the club last Summer on a free transfer and only managed 9 games as he was ravaged with injuries. I didn't think he was all that good if I'm honest, so when West Ham were willing to stump up £11.5 million for him, I was happy to accept and let him leave.
So my transfer budget was back up to £13.5 million again, but I desperately needed to bring a centre back in after allowing Bamba and Richards to leave this Summer. My first signing to cover the central defence role is former Portugal under 21, Jorge Silva. He joins from Mallorca where he had a blinding season last year, for £4.5 million.
Stevie McPake never really found his feet in France and after just a season with us, he returns to Scotland. We made £1.7 million from the sale to Celtic which isn't too shabby as we picked him up on a free.
Another player that hasn't quite come on as much as I'd have liked is Guo Yuze, so when Koln came in with a bid of £5.5 million rising to £8 million with add ons, I snapped their hand off.
I continue to seek out these absolute bargains and here's another. Andres Garcia was miserable as sin at Atletico Madrid, playing in their B team. Now I know it's only the B team, but he has 75 goals in 117 games, so was well worth the £2.7 million I paid for him...even if he flops, I'll get a lot more than that back if I need to sell him!
Then it was time for another player to leave. Chris Richards joined the club last Summer on a free transfer and only managed 9 games as he was ravaged with injuries. I didn't think he was all that good if I'm honest, so when West Ham were willing to stump up £11.5 million for him, I was happy to accept and let him leave.
So my transfer budget was back up to £13.5 million again, but I desperately needed to bring a centre back in after allowing Bamba and Richards to leave this Summer. My first signing to cover the central defence role is former Portugal under 21, Jorge Silva. He joins from Mallorca where he had a blinding season last year, for £4.5 million.
Investment in the future is something I've always focused on and this signing is further proof. We raid Bordeaux for their French U18s centre back Youssef Tagnaouti, who joins us for a fee of £1.7 million. Hopefully he'll fulfill his potential and become a key player for us in years to come.
Pre season started off slowly with a couple of draws, but got better and better and I feel suitably prepared that my squad is ready for the competitive games to start.
With Ligue 1 just about to commence, we have a look at the season preview as always. Our stature in the country continues to grow, as does our respect from the bookies. They have us finishing in the top 6 this year and we are starting to establish ourselves as one of the top sides in France.
As we lined up for our first game of the season against Sochaux, there was no less than 7 debutants present in the starting lineup! The question was how long would it take all the newbies to gel and settle in at the club...
Ligue 1; Well for our first competitive game with the overhauled squad, we didn't do too badly. A solid 1-0 win away from home will do.
Continuing the trend of brining youngsters into the club, I sign another. Lasse Uhlig joins from Schalke for a fee of £2.8 million. With him being 18 years old, I may look to send him out on loan for this season and see how he gets on...I reckon he's good enough to play at Ligue 2 level already.
Ligue 1; We were well on top for majority of the game against Nantes, so it would have been unjustified to lose this game. I was pleased when we got the late equalizer, but it feels like 2 points lost after how much we dominated.
Ligue 1; We were straight back to winning ways against Amiens though. An easy game for us where we were in control from the first minute to the last.
We will come up against Lazio again in the group stage of this year's Europa League after knocking them out of the competition last year. I've got to fancy that it will be us two that qualify from this group unless there is a major upset.
Ligue 1; Stade Rennais have been tricky opponents for us in the past, so I'm really pleased with this win away from home.
Still early days, but a solid start from us and only PSG sit above us after 4 games.
FM_TNSSO
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FM_TNSSO
Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2018
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- 2,947
- Reaction score
- 3,884
- Points
- 113
Chapter 54: League Form Gone To ****!
On transfer deadline day, I managed to offload one more player. Roberto Lopez has been unhappy with the lack of starts he's made for the club and with the new arrivals that have come in, I didn't envisage him making my starting 11 much this season either. So I allowed him to join Villa for £6.5 million.
There was no surprise to see PSG making the 3 highest transfers of the window and forking out nearly £200 million again this Summer. Seems to be pretty standard for them every year!
Arjen Van Der Horst is a Belgian regen who has become one of the world's greatest players by the time he'***** 21 years of age!
Ligue 1: Bordeaux were promoted back to the top tier again last season and we gave them a nice little welcome back.
Not good news as we lose first choice centre back, Jean-Kevin Duverne, for over a month.
Europa League Group Stage: We weren't at our best in the first half against the Swiss side here, but the 2nd period was much better after I gave the lads a kick up the jacksy at half time.
Ligue 1: Our first loss of the season came at the hands of Lille. It was a crushing defeat and we were simply humiliated by them on our own turf and it was time for me to dish out my first b0ll0cking of the season!
Ligue 1: We followed that up with another defeat away at Montpellier, and just like that we are 8 points behind PSG!
Europa League Group Stage: We got back to winning ways with a comfortable victory over Hibs in the Europa League though. Hopefully, this can be a catalyst to get back to winning in the league as well.
Not all the Scottish sides were struggling in Europe though, as Celtic were busy winning 10-0 against Ukrainian side, Kolos Kovalivka.
If we were going to get back to winning ways in domestic competition, then this was the best opportunity to do it as we played a Nice side at the bottom of the division without a win so far this season!
Ligue 1: So it wasn't surprising when we got the win to get back on track. What probably was more surprising was that the winning goals came from my right back!
Ligue 1: A calamitous error at the back between keeper and centre back (virtually tackling each other) allowed Le Havre to score the only goal of the game and steal a win over us here. I used the word steal as just look at those stats....oh and we missed a penalty!
There's no denying our domestic form has gone completely off the rails and it has seen us drop to 6th in the table and well off the pace of the leaders.
On transfer deadline day, I managed to offload one more player. Roberto Lopez has been unhappy with the lack of starts he's made for the club and with the new arrivals that have come in, I didn't envisage him making my starting 11 much this season either. So I allowed him to join Villa for £6.5 million.
There was no surprise to see PSG making the 3 highest transfers of the window and forking out nearly £200 million again this Summer. Seems to be pretty standard for them every year!
Arjen Van Der Horst is a Belgian regen who has become one of the world's greatest players by the time he'***** 21 years of age!
Ligue 1: Bordeaux were promoted back to the top tier again last season and we gave them a nice little welcome back.
Not good news as we lose first choice centre back, Jean-Kevin Duverne, for over a month.
Europa League Group Stage: We weren't at our best in the first half against the Swiss side here, but the 2nd period was much better after I gave the lads a kick up the jacksy at half time.
Ligue 1: Our first loss of the season came at the hands of Lille. It was a crushing defeat and we were simply humiliated by them on our own turf and it was time for me to dish out my first b0ll0cking of the season!
Ligue 1: We followed that up with another defeat away at Montpellier, and just like that we are 8 points behind PSG!
Europa League Group Stage: We got back to winning ways with a comfortable victory over Hibs in the Europa League though. Hopefully, this can be a catalyst to get back to winning in the league as well.
Not all the Scottish sides were struggling in Europe though, as Celtic were busy winning 10-0 against Ukrainian side, Kolos Kovalivka.
If we were going to get back to winning ways in domestic competition, then this was the best opportunity to do it as we played a Nice side at the bottom of the division without a win so far this season!
Ligue 1: So it wasn't surprising when we got the win to get back on track. What probably was more surprising was that the winning goals came from my right back!
Ligue 1: A calamitous error at the back between keeper and centre back (virtually tackling each other) allowed Le Havre to score the only goal of the game and steal a win over us here. I used the word steal as just look at those stats....oh and we missed a penalty!
There's no denying our domestic form has gone completely off the rails and it has seen us drop to 6th in the table and well off the pace of the leaders.
FM_TNSSO
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Chapter 55: Disaster!
Our league form has been dreadful and unforutnately, things went from bad to worse over the next couple of months. We dropped all the way down to 16th in the league after a terrible run of results that included back to back 5-1 defeats against Caen and Valenciennes.
It was the final straw for the board and on 14th December 2026 I was relieved from my position as manager of Paris FC!
During my time with the club, I was handed 3 Manager of the Year awards, won a Ligue 2 title and guided Paris FC to Champions League football.
With a win percentage of 55% from my 281 games in charge, it's fair to say it was a successful and enjoyable time for me with the club, even if I didn't fulfil my long term ambition of becoming bigger than PSG.
With the aim of this save being to overtake PSG with the smaller Paris club, I will not be continuing with this one and instead will embark on a new Football Manager journey. Please comment on the options below to let me know what you'd like to see. I didn't start the day expecting to begin a new save on FM, so not sure what to do...
Option 1: Pick a mid table Czech side and try to guide them to domestic and European glory by only signing Czech players.
Option 2: A journeyman save starting with no experience and no qualifications and seeing where it takes me.
Option 3: Pick a mid table side from the National League South/North and try to take them to the top of English football.
Option 4: Start as an ex professional footballer with top coaching badges and top level experience. Start unemployed and see what happens (basically a journeyman but with a head start on the coaching badges and playing experience side of things).
Option 5: Be the team I support...Gillingham.
Let me know in the comments below what you reckon I should go for guys.
Our league form has been dreadful and unforutnately, things went from bad to worse over the next couple of months. We dropped all the way down to 16th in the league after a terrible run of results that included back to back 5-1 defeats against Caen and Valenciennes.
It was the final straw for the board and on 14th December 2026 I was relieved from my position as manager of Paris FC!
During my time with the club, I was handed 3 Manager of the Year awards, won a Ligue 2 title and guided Paris FC to Champions League football.
With a win percentage of 55% from my 281 games in charge, it's fair to say it was a successful and enjoyable time for me with the club, even if I didn't fulfil my long term ambition of becoming bigger than PSG.
With the aim of this save being to overtake PSG with the smaller Paris club, I will not be continuing with this one and instead will embark on a new Football Manager journey. Please comment on the options below to let me know what you'd like to see. I didn't start the day expecting to begin a new save on FM, so not sure what to do...
Option 1: Pick a mid table Czech side and try to guide them to domestic and European glory by only signing Czech players.
Option 2: A journeyman save starting with no experience and no qualifications and seeing where it takes me.
Option 3: Pick a mid table side from the National League South/North and try to take them to the top of English football.
Option 4: Start as an ex professional footballer with top coaching badges and top level experience. Start unemployed and see what happens (basically a journeyman but with a head start on the coaching badges and playing experience side of things).
Option 5: Be the team I support...Gillingham.
Let me know in the comments below what you reckon I should go for guys.