Redemption: The Story of the nearly men

[jt8604]

Hey so i guess i am a newbie around here, so let me tell you about my debut story on this forums. I without doubt stole this idea for a save from another user from another forum so i can not claim credit for it one bit, but it should provide one **** of a save should it work.

So what do i mean by redemption? Well in the history of the European Cup / Champions League there have been 17 teams that have made the final of the greatest club tournament in the world and failed to get the job done. That is 17 teams that have almost had the famous trophy in their hands, to fail at the last minute. Well my job is to change all of that and bring redemption back to as many of these clubs as i physically can. So what clubs need redeeming?

Atletico Madrid (1974. 2014, 2016)
Reims (1956. 1959)
Valencia (2000, 2001)
Fiorentina (1957)
Eintracht Frankfurt (1960)
Partizan (1966)
Panathinaikos (1971)
Leeds United (1975)
Saint Etienne (1976)
Borussia Monchengladbach (1977)
Club Brugge (1978)
Malmo (1979)
Roma (1984)
Sampdoria (1992)
Bayer Leverkusen (2002)
Monaco (2004)
Arsenal (2006)​

So the rules of the save are to take over any one of these 17 clubs, take them to Champions League glory and than move on to one of the other eligible clubs. As the seasons go on, the AI might win the Champions League with any of these teams meaning they are than ineligible from the challenge. Equally if the AI takes a team to the final and they lose than they become a future option.

I guess the first question is going to be where do i start?

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims takeover​

Where better to start than the first team to ever lose a European Cup final. In fact they have been the nearly men twice before. Perhaps i can make it 3rd time lucky!

History

Stade de Reims are a French club based in Reims. Originally formed in 1910 and known as Société Sportive du Parc Pommery, the club changed its name to the much more catchy Stade de Reims in 1931.

Reims are one of the most successful clubs in French football history having won six Ligue 1 titles, two Coupe de France trophies, one coupe de Ligue and five Trophée des champions titles as well as two apperances in the European Cup Finals of 1956 and 1959. In both finals they were beaten by Real Madrid who as many of you will know won the first 5 European Cups between 1956 and 1960.

So on paper, this is a big club but their last league title came in 1962 and the last real trophy of note being the Coupe de Ligue in 1991. This is compounded by the fact the club have really struggled since the 1980's with the club spending over 30 years yo-yo ing between Ligue 2 and the Championnat National. The club were last promoted to Ligue 1 in 2012 but were eventually relegated in 2016.

So as you have guessed it, i find the club in Ligue 2 at the start of the save. With Reims largely responsible for the first Golden Generation of French football with the likes of Roger Marche, Raymond Kopa, Just Fontaine, Jean Vincent, Robert Jonquet, Armand Penverne, Dominique Colonna, and Roger Piantoni, it will be my job to bring the glory days back to this side.

General Takeover

So what do i find? The club is in Ligue 2 but we are the 2nd favourites for the title with the board expecting us to get promoted back to the top tier. So far so good (In real life Reims have just won Ligue 2... so no pressure there). To achieve this, i have a small budget of £600k to spend on transfers but we are over the wage budget by £5k per week. So i am going to need to do things on the cheap.

Facility Wise the club is in half decent shape with good youth and great training facilities already in place. A 26k seater stadium isn't bad for this level meaning we will need to do a little bit to be able to compete with the top boys but we have the right foundations to get us to mid table Ligue 1 without too much fuss. The team report below equally gave me a lot of hope with a lot more positives than negatives.

Squad wise, you will get to the know the team further as the season progresses but from first impressions there were two players that looked a little better than the rest. Marvin Martin might be a familiar name with you, having played 15 times for the National team and he should dominate Ligue 2 football. The Brazilian Diego has been around for quite awhile in France too and looks to be a pretty good winger.

All in all it is a pretty decent side. We perhaps need another experienced centre half with our two back ups being just 18 years of age and maybe a little more quality in the centre of the park but with a limited budget it might be tough to get both.

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims summer window​

Thanks for all of the feedback so far. From a writing style point of view i am going to break the season up into two month windows. So the schedule will look like

Summer Window and August
September & October
November & December
January & Winter Window
February & March
April & May​

There will also be a few Champions League updates as i let you know what is happening and in particular if there are any newly eligible teams or teams that become ineligible.

Transfer Window

Outs
It was pretty tough to get rid of players and to be honest all i could do was loan out youngsters who were still on sizeable wages to give them some game time and free up the wages. Two youngsters that were never going to make it were shifted on for free but all in all nothing much to report on this front.

Ins
What that meant was we were much more limited in what we could do to bring people in. I ended up having to shift half the transfer budget to the wage budget to allow me to compete on contracts for new signings. The squad we have here is actually pretty young with just one player in their 30's and they are only just 30. With two young centre halves as our only back up in the position, i wanted someone with a lot of experience to be able to tutor them. The amusingly named Rod Fanni was just the man. At 35 he is old but he brings a wealth of experience and leadership qualities that we severely lack. A perfect tutor and he was at Marseille just last year and available on a free so financially it makes sense and he could help develop the future. Right now he looks good in terms of physicals and as long as he doesn't decline too much he should be ok as a backup for next year.

The one other signing was a loan move as Toulouse allowed me to loan French U21 midfielder Yann Bodiger. He has cost £31k per month in loan fees but he instantly gives me options in the midfield that was lacking. His stats are solid and certainly good enough for this level but the next could be one step too far for me.

Transfers

​

On the pitch

Pre-season was a decent affair as we lost to Stuttgart 2-0 but beat some lower league French and Dutch sides with relative ease. Our 4-2-3-1 formation with one central midfielder in a DM ball winning position with the CM set to a Mezzala proving to work.

We started the season against Nimes and got off to a good start with a Julian Jeanvier header from a corner giving us the lead and striker Siebatcheu adding a 2nd straight after half time. 2-0 in my debut game and things are looking good. Another 2-0 victory was followed up against US Orleans with our subs combining well to keep our 100% record.

The coupe de Ligue saw me rotate the squad in a match against Chamois Niortais and it backfired as we went out 2-1. I didn't mind too much as we won the next two league games to keep our 100% record going and we were at the top of the table. The final game saw us away to Lorient who are the favourites to win the league and on paper it will be our toughest game. We didn't get things right though and our first league defeat was inflicted on us.

Results | Squad​

A decent opening few months for us and we have been functioning pretty well whilst we still find our feet. So far i have been rotating around the team as i try and settle on a team that is in form. Goals and assists are being spread around at the moment which is nice to see but i think we are going to need a few players to have stand out seasons to keep competing which on paper is going to be a competitive league (Lorient, Auxerre, Lens, Le Havre)

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims September & October 2017​

We have been motoring along this season with games coming thick and fast as we look to move to the top of the table

On the pitch

Our fighting spirit has come to the fore over this period as by the end of October we had won 15 points from losing positions. If we concede we seem to be able to dust ourselves off and get on with it. Its quite amazing at times. 7 Wins and 1 draw from 8 games is the form of a team that can go up as we don't smash teams off the park but grind out the victories that matter.

We are scoring from set pieces with centre half Julian Jeanvier benefitting the most hitting 3 goals in 8 games. Goals from the bench has also been a key factor to our success as was evident in the final two games in October where N'Gamukol and Kyei scored late to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Lens into a 2-1 win. Whilst Remi Oudin scored the winner against Nancy with an 86th minute winner.

Results | Squad​

All in all it is looking pretty **** good at the moment with a 5 point lead over Lorient and a team that is on fire.

Secret to the success

With the form looking at 11 wins in 13 leagues we are almost at the half way stage and on course for at least a promotion spot. So i thought i would share a few things that seem to be working at the moment. Let's start with the formation

It is a pretty simple formation if i am honest. Nothing that out there i admit. We aim to run at the defence and put in floating crosses as all of our strikers are over 6"2 and can cause havoc. The other key part of the formation is to put get stuck in on tackles. We have a naturally aggressive squad and it has led to some disciplinary problems admittedly but even though we are fouling and picking up cards we are also winning the ball and you can't lose football matches if the opposition don't have the ball.

The other key element is the team dynamics. I personally haven't seen anything like this

The amount of players set to influential is so high with barely anyone seen as an other player and this table is moving further and further into the field of highly influential and upwards. We seem to have a great teamwork mentality and maybe finally i have cracked the success criteria for a team on FM18

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims November & December 2017​

Ok Ok i admit, i might have a few updates stored up so sorry about the barage of updates as i try and catch you up with the save.

On the pitch

A word of warning, this two month period wasn't quite as good. We lost a match for one as we failed to turn up against Le Havre and went down 1-0. The rest of the month was split between the League and the Coupe de France but we did start to see a struggle as although we were picking up wins, it wasn't pretty.

This can be evidenced by our two cup games. We should have beaten ASF Andrezieux by more than 1-0 but we could only breach their defence once. In the 8th Round it took extra time to take out some lower league opposition. However, we have still progressed which is the main thing.

A couple of draws hit during the league campaign too but it is all about the table.

Results | Squad​

We still have our 5 point lead over Lorient but the point difference over 3rd is now 8 points as we look to have a stranglehold on a promotion place at the half way stage of the season. Going past that a 12 point lead over 6th means we really shouldn't end the season without a shot of going up.

When you start going through the stats you can see we top the league on goals scored whilst also having the best defence in the league.
Xavier Chavalerin problem

When you look through the squad stats, there is one man at the top of the average ratings and that is Xavier Chavalerin. What you will also notice is the large injured symbol next to his name. Yup, he as has done his cruciate which rules him out for the rest of the season.

It leaves a problem, we don't have a ready made replacement for him and we have no money as we enter the January window and yet he has been our best player on form. In fact, if it wasn't for him, the last two months could have seen us on level terms with Lorient rather than holding onto a 5 point lead.

Still halfway through the season and things are not looking too bad

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Sounds like a great challenge mate, good luck!

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims Winter window​

With Injuries and suspensions starting to rack up. Could we continue our run?

Transfer Window

Outs
Again, nothing to really shout about as we sold 5 youth prospects who were not going to be good enough to compete. One even went for a little bit of money as he moved to Belgium. Interestingly one of the players moved to Chelsea, maybe i made a mistake but i wasn't convinced he was going to make it myself.

Ins
Our transfer budget was completely wiped and we were already overspending on wages thanks to some contract renewals that needed to be done. It meant anyone coming in had to cost me nothing. What i failed to mention as part of my takeover is that i did add to my scouting team including adding a chief scout. Now that chief scout might be familiar to some of you... it is Tony Henry. Yes that is right, the guy that got fired from West Ham for saying some not very nice things about African players. In my defence though he is good at his job and his West Ham connections kicked in as he recommended Declan Rice to myself. Available on loan and with West Ham asking for no money or wage contribution, it was a no brainer as the Irishman comes into provide cover in defence and in the DM slot.

Transfers​

On the pitch

A quiet window as i didnt want to disrupt the squad with it flying in the league. Our first game in 2018 was the Coupe de France and we had Ligue 1 opposition for the first time. Strasbourg were last year's Ligue 2 champions and were doing ok in the league above but we were the inform team and when you are in form, upsets can happen. It was a dominant performance as we went on to win 4-2 to set us up for the 10th round.

That 10th Round match was the final game of January and it was against Paris. Luckily Paris FC and not the mighty PSG, and with the Parisians bottom of Ligue 2 i was confident we could go on. We did go behind early but once again our grit and determination was on show and we reversed the tie into our favour and won the match 3-1. The board are happy with our little run and we will take on Caen at home. They are mid table in Ligue 1 and if we continue our form we could be on for another upset.

Inbetween the cup games we had some league action with 4 ties. The first three saw us carry on our form with 3 victories (4-2, 3-0, 1-0). The performances were a little mixed, In the first game against US Orleans we struggled again and went behind again before Siebatcheu hit a 7 minute hat trick before adding a 4th to put the game to bed. The 3-0 win over Bourg-Peronnas was dominant as the scoreline suggests and the 1-0 victory over Tours was tough with a rare goal from Cafaro sealing the deal.

However, it wasn't all positive as we lost to promotion rivals Lorient 1-0 in the final league game of the month. That is two victories over us now and they are our toughest rivals for the title. It also kept the title intersting as if we had won that game we would have been 11 points clear at the top. Which leads me to the table

Results | Squad​

So far so good and it is looking more and more likely we are going to have at least a play-off spot from the season with the 16 point gap over Ajaccio, and i am pretty confident of an automatic spot with a 10 point gap over Le Havre but i just can't quite shake off Lorient at the moment so nothing is certain at this point.

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims February & March 2018​

Could we keep our stranglehold on the title?

On the pitch

We lost two league games in these two months. That alone makes it the worst update of this fledgling save already. However, we did manage to win the 6 league games inbetween the two losses as well as the Cup tie. So not that shabby.

The month of February stated with Stade Brestois away from home and for some reason we were not at the races. Was it fatigue? or a rare off day, i don't really know as they went into a two goal lead before we got a late consolation. We then went into the next game against Promotion hopefuls Sochaux with a similar problem, We started sluggish and went behind and really struggled to get into the game. Mid way through the 2nd half i made a couple of changes putting young Kyei upfront and giving Declan Rice his debut. Needless to say it worked as both men scored in the final 10 minutes to swing the tie around and give us a 2-1 victory. Once again, never count us out when we are behind!

From that moment, on things were comfortable. A 2-1 and 2-0 victory in the league followed in what were pretty standard affairs where we were the better side from start to finish which set us up nicely for our cup tie against Ligue 1 side Caen. An upset was always on the cards and it happened again as Julian Jeanvier scored from an unmarked header after a nice free kick in the box before a comical own goal gave us the 2-0 victory. Into the Quarter finals we go.... where we will get knocked out having been drawn against PSG. My first experience of this powerhouse.

A trio of 3-1 victories againt Clermont, Chatearoux and Lens followed where Jordan Siebatcheu hit some form particularly from the penalty spot before we stopped in our tracks against Nancy losing 1-0. To be honest in the Nancy game i had one eye on PSG and the upcoming game against Le Havre and rested a few players.

Results | Fixtures to go​

I have never really had a season like this but we are running away with it. In fact if we beat Le Havre in the next league game we have all but assured the league title let alone promotion. At the end of the season, ill do a review of why we have been so dominant but for now i can say being strong and aggressive is allowing us to punish teams.

Youth Intake

These months also provide us the first youth intake of the save. Having not managed in France for about 7 years i had forgotten that the youth intake over here is much younger and having 14 and 15 year olds is a bit more normal.

A decent youth intake with some nice personalities coming through particularly from the first two on the list. The two 5* players are the standouts for sure. Frederick Jerome is a quick left winger with decent dribbling and first touch. We like to run with the ball so he fits the mould perfectly and with some good mentals to start with, he could develop into a nice player for us. Sebastien Ravenne is the other, At 5"7 he is a very different striker than what we have been playing with which might hamper him until i come up with a formation and style that fits him in. He has some finishing and physicals though that mean he could just make it.

Outside of the two star players, i see something in Tom Fallempin and Florent Baal who both have the determination to succeed and develop into squad players here.

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims April & May2018​

Would we bottle it?

On the pitch

Before we get to the league campaign we had the small task of the Coupe de France Quarter final against a little team called PSG. I played our strongest side and made just one little change to the formation with the team moving from Control to Counter with the slimmest hope that we might catch them by surprise.

In terms of PSG they had a relatively strong side but were missing a few players such as Cavani and Mbappe but Neymar was there. Over 90 minutes we had 0 highlights in our favour but we did restrict them to just 6 and 4 of them were long range strikes from Neymar. None of them really threatened and we got to full time at 0-0! So straight to extra time and in the 1st half Meunier probably should have scored a header but in the 2nd half we were straight through with Siebatcheu just having Trapp to beat and he ..... missed

So the game went to penalties which was the last thing i expected. Siebatcheu who had been on fire from the spot all season stepped up first and smashed it over the bar. PSG did miss one themselves but our right back Metainre missed the crucial 5th penalty and we went out 4-3 on penalties. No shame there at all

So with that distraction done, we had the league to wrap up. We tried our hardest not to wrap it up as we drew the next two league games having to score late on to get the draw in both games before two poor defeats. Morale was awful and it looked like the pressure had got to us. A team talk went disasterously wrong and i genuinely believed we could throw this away. Our saving grace was both Le Havre and Lorient were struggling to make the most of our slip ups.

We than took on Chamois-Niortas at home. A draw would be enough to clinch promotion and if results went the right way, a win would be enough to take the title. We went 2-0 down within 12 minutes and i just didn't know what to do. I moved us to keep possession just so we could get our way back into the game by having the ball and Diego managed to score on the 40th minute. The 2nd half was better, yet going into injury time we still didn't have an equaliser and we looked like we were going to lose again. That was until Diego scored not one but two goals in 50 seconds to win us the game and it led to this.

We had finally limped over the line and the trophy was ours. That win seemed to do the trick as we won the final two league games to win the league at a canter.

Results | Squad​

Back to the top flight and now the real battle happens. Early budget conversations with the board give us £2.4m in transfer fees with an extra £70k per week for wages. It isn't a lot and ill need to form some transfer plans. Any suggestions on cheap players that might do the trick than let me know!

End of season review

Equipe Team of the season | Equipe des Etoiles team of the season​

I can't really argue with that summary of the season. Fanni was by far the best signing and was a great addition in the defence and made one of the team seasons. Jordan Siebatcheu was easily our best player this season with 23 goals and 11 assists in just 36 starts. His form as good enough to make the USA world cup squad and he was the leagues top scorer. Pablo Chavarria and Danilson da Cruz deserve a mention as well for consistently putting the performances in week in week out.

A great 1st season and probably my most enjoyable on FM18 to date. Going through the end of the season stats you can see we dominated a lot of the physical stats. Most tackles, Most headers, Most Yellow Card, Most Red Card (7), Most Crosses Completed, Most Goals, Most Chances Created, Best hitting the target ratio. Our physicality is something we need to keep for next season as it will be tough. But if we can become one of them physical, horrible to play teams like the Pulis teams of old we should have enough to survive.

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims 18/19 summer window​

Back in the top flight at the first time of asking, the real hard work begins as we try and survive and than build into a team that can compete with the likes of PSG, Monaco and Lyon domestically.

Predicted to come 18th out of 20 teams, the media think we are going to be in a relegation dogfight and end up in an end of season play-off. Lets get to the magic 40 point mark quickly and try and get ourselves around 14th. With £2.4m for transfers and an additional 50k per week for wages we are going to need to wheel and deal.

Transfer Window

Outs
It was a busy window hence the slight delay in getting this update out there. In totla 7 players left the club permanently whilst 6 went out on loan to get some game time and hopefully some much needed development. In terms of the outs, two were youth players who were not going to make it, Kamara was out on loan last season and moves to Gazalec Ajaccio on a free.

Hendricks Cakin, Mathieu Cafaro, Gregory Berthier and Anatol N'Gamukol were all back ups last year and were mainly the subs that came on. All were shifted on, two for money to help free up further wages / transfer budget.

Ins
Nine new faces joined over the summer. 5 on loan and with 4 permanent signings, i am going to have some job getting this lot gelling. When it came to looking at where i needed to strengthen, the answer was pretty much everywhere. Our league title was pretty much made up of 1 or 2 players having good seasons and the rest being generally ok. That was not going to cut it at this level.

Starting with the loans, i wanted to add some young players that given the chance could become possible stars in the league. To add competition for Jordan Siebatcheu upfront i went to Paris and bought in Odsonne Edouard for the season. Celtic fans would have seen him last season and i am hoping he can make it big here. Lyon have loaned me Spanish midfielder Pape Cheikh who looks to be a solid allrounder and i think can be the Mezzala this season with Chavalarin struggling after his long injury layoff. From Italy i bought in two young wingers/strikers in the form of Moise Kean and Leandrinho. Both offer different options uptop if the big man tactic doesnt work in the big leagues as well as trickier and maybe more attacking options on the left flank. My final loan signing saw me go to England to get Phil Foden from Man City. Young and versatile, i see him either as a MC if the Mezzala doesnt work out or another alternative as the AMC slot.

In terms of permanent transfers, i started close at home as i bought in left back Yousseff Kone for £1.2m from Lille. He was on loan here last year and with all of the new faces, it was good to bring in someone who knew the club. Ukrainian Eugene Tkachuk was the only other player coming in for money signing for £200k from some Ukrainin club. He is tall and has great determination meaning he should make a decent tutor whilst being only 27 at the same time. The free transfer market saw me bring in German Tobias Levels to compete at right back and Kevin Monnet-Paquet to compete for the wing slots. Both are on par with our current options meaning we have a lot better squad depth this time around.

Transfers​

On the pitch

A short pre-season as we played just 4 friendlies, 3 of which were in England and the other in Belgium. All four were won with relative ease but our fitness levels were still a little short going into the season.

Two matches were played in August and our first match in Ligue 1 was at home to Monaco. Not an easy tie by any means but much like the PSG cup game last year we fought to the bitter end but were unfortunately beaten 1-0 when Naby Keita scored mid way through the 2nd half. We did though bounce back with an away day victory over Stade Rennais with loanee Pape Cheikh hitting the only goal of the game.

So far not too bad.

Results​

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims September & October 2018​

Survival is the name of the game but is that the game we are playing?

On the pitch

I am just going to need to leave the table up here for a bit

Results | Squad​

Yup, we are above PSG after 10 games and we are in a Chammpions League spot. I am literally flabbergasted as to how this is possible but it is the case. So let's look at how.

It didn't start well as i got FM'd against Amiens. We had 19 shots to their 0 and we were completely in control but in their two shots on goal they go and score. After that we went to Saint Etienne and we didn't start well going 2-0 down in the 1st half. A right telling off seems to have been the catalyst for our season as we fought back to draw 2-2. Again we went behind against Nice but we still came out 3-2 winners and the best comeback was saved for Bordeaux as we were 2-0 down at half time but won the game 3-2 with a 93rd minute winner.

Three more victories in a more straightforward manner ended the month on a high and has helped us into our lofty position. A Coupe de Ligue defeat to Angers was disappointing but if we have a good league campaign i don't really care about the cups.

Special praise must go to new signings Kevin Monnet-Paquet and Odsonne Edouard who between them have been dragging us up the table. Long let it continue!

Comeback Kings!

What might be apparent is our ability to come back from the brink of defeat to win points and more often than not games. Already this season we have picked up 7 points from losing positions and that is the fight you need to show if you are going to survive and we are doing more than that. 40 points is the magical number and we have 22 already at just over the 1/4 of the way through a season.

But it hasn't just been this season, last season we showed the same drive and determination and we picked up 33 points alone from losing positions. We can not be counted out and that is what makes the team so dangerous. The words drive and determination i think are key in helping explain us as we have very high determination stats across the team and our personalities are predominantly fairly determined or even driven and that also means we have a lot of influential and above players meaning we have enough game changers to take the game and put it back in our favour

Can we keep this up? Only time will tell

 

[LiamCFC88]

Good read so far, keep it up

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims November & December 2018​

Would our surprise form keep going until the new year?

On the pitch

Quite simply.... yeah pretty much

Results | Squad​

I have no idea what is going on but we are still somehow doing it and picking up the points. To have 37 at the half way stage is just unbelievable when i was trying to target 40 for the whole season. It is probably safe to say we are staying in the league and i have to be looking at a top half finish as a worst case scenario. If we do get that top half finish i am probably 2 seasons ahead of where i thought i would be which is great for the save. If we do get Europa this could be something very special.

As you look through the results, there were a few more draws but all of them came from losing positions including the PSG game. In fact we were 3-0 down with 13 minutes to go and managed to pull it back to 3-3 showing some incredible resolve..

Is it a resolve that is going to run out? I think so yes as results have been tougher to get in the last few months and on a few times we were a little lucky and eventually we will get found out. Also the likes of Lyon, Marseille and Nice can't carry on having poor years and they will overtake me before long. When you look at the table with Media Predictions you have to believe this fairytale will be tough to carry on.

However, whilst i am on this high i have managed to negotiate a new contract for myself as well as increasing our junior coaching budget so i can keep building on this high. Money is a little too tight to get an improved training or youth facility but if we do get European football, that will be one of the first things i will ask for.

On a side note, there was some pleasant news for Jordan Siebatcheu who was 2nd in the CONCACAF player of the year.

Discipline dilemma

Now it wouldn't be an update without a little dilemma. No doubt about it my 18 months in charge have been successful but i have to keep striving for better and if there is one negative (potentially) is that our discipline is about as good as Joey Barton's. We are top of the yellow card table with 54 meaning we average 2.84 a match which is quite a lot. It has certainly meant we are having to rotate players as the others are suspended from action. It isn't just yellow cards, we have 3 Red cards as well. Now we are committing the 2nd most fouls but also winning the most tackles.

So what do i do? We are a robust team and we are winning the ball but sometimes we go a little far. Our squad is still thin in places (particularly the places where we pick up the most yellow cards) and the question is do i ease off on the tackles to protect ourselves from suspensions or do i try and find some extra players to come in to try and keep us going in the table.

Equally our robustness i believe is a big reason for the fairytale start but eventually it could be our downfall if we cant play our best team or we don't finish with 11 men. Something to ponder as we go into the winter window.

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims 18/19 summer window​

Transfer Window
Outs
Only one more outgoing as we loaned out young centre half Axel Disasi on loan to get more game time. With Rod Fanni retiring at the end of the season, Disasi could be called up to be the 4th choice centre half next season.

Ins
I tried and i really tried to add a new player in particular a defensive midfielder as our only real option is Danilson da Silva or Pape Cheikh and Cheikh is mainly used as a standard MC in my tactic. I was looking at either an old head to come in for a short term or to find a younger player who could eventually take over from da Silva.

We came close to two players. Anthony Annan was available on a free transfer and would have been a great back up for the rest of the season but after sitting on an offer for a few weeks he eventually moved to China for more money. The Second option was Anders Konradsen from Rosenborg. I had a transfer fee agreed which i might not have got through anyway but his wage demands were ridiculous as he was asking for £20k per week despite just earning £4k in Norway. To be my highest paid player was asking for too much.

So with nothing coming in i am going to have to look at how we improve discipline without losing our strengths so i can avoid the inevitable suspension problem.

Transfers​

On the pitch

Just 4 games played in January as we easily progressed in the Coupe de France beating Red Star 5-1 before picking up 4 points in the league from 3 games. A mixed bag as we once again fought from behind against Stade Rennais before conceding a late goal to only draw 2-2, comfortably beating Amiens but losing to bottom of the table against Caen where we looked tired and not ready for a fight.

Results​

 

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Stade de Reims February & March 2019

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The Slump might be on!

On the pitch

Our luck might be running out as we look to be losing steam in our hunt for the Champions League. Sitting in 5th at the end of the March we have been leapfrogged by Bordeaux and Lyon and our run of form is looking shaky

Results​

With no victory in the last 4 league games we could find ourselves in the mid table spots quickly if we don't get our act together. Legs look tired, we are picking up more and more injuries and the suspensions are coming thick and fast. It didn't help that against PSG we had two players away on International duty either which meant we played that game without 8 first teamers.

The youngsters have been given a shot and two (Jerome and Navet) even scored on their debuts as we try and keep the wheels on.

Things are at least looking better in the Cup as we got past Nantes and Angers to put us into the quarter finals where we will take on Amiens in a very winnable tie. We might even sneak European football through the cup if this league business does fall through.

The Curse of the Cruciate

I mentioned Injuries are causing a problem but getting two players suffering from ACL ruptures really hurts. Moise Kean was the first and he was quickly followed by Marvin Martin and that is two big first teamers to miss for the rest of the season. It goes without saying when they got injured we started not winning.

Youth Intake

Youth Intake number 2 and there were some pretty decent gems to be found. The two that instantly stand out are Claude Engels and Feyzullah Munier who both could make the first team in a few years given the right development

 

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Stade de Reims 18/19 End of Season​

Could we hold on?

On the pitch

Squad​

Looking at the results, there are a probably a few things that stand out. The first one being that we have made it to the Coupe de France final having beaten struggling Amiens and Guingamp. More on the final later on. The 2nd being that our league form has been up and down going into the end of the season with 4 wins and 3 defeats from the final 7 games.

The defeat against Troyes was particularly hard as we were 3-2 up going into the 90th minute and we then managed to concede 3 to lose the match 5-3. I can put my hands up in saying that the Monaco and Marseille games saw us out played completely. Was it enough for a european spot?

No. Both Bordeaux and Toulouse overtook us and we eventually fell into 6th place. At one point we were looking at a lower finish with Marseille and Dijon breathing down our necks. If someone had told me we would get 6th in my first season in the top flight i would have bitten their hands off but i cant help but feel a little upset as at one stage we were looking good for Champions League football. 6th though doesn't get us European football with Troyes winning the League cup it means only 4th is guaranteed European football adding extra importance on the cup final.

Cup Final

So onto the Cup final and it is Lyon that stand in our way of another piece of silverware in this short but so far successful save. With no Monaco and PSG, this was a real opportunity to pick up some silverware.The only real problem was that both our strikers Siebatcheu and Edouard were struggling with knocks so goals could be hard to come by.

But once again, the boys did what they needed to do. The Penalty for them was pretty stonewall and we really struggled in the first half. The second half was better and we left it late but we got the job done with two subs coming on and scoring the equaliser and the winner and put us in the Europa League for next season

It was a perfect way to end this season and we are back in Europe probably two to three seasons ahead of schedule. I can't imagine our coefficient being that good so we are probably going to get a horrible draw but we will concentrate on that next season.

Season Wrap up

That is what the fans think and again i think they have the right three players but maybe not in that order. Siebatcheu stepped up from last season again and his 18 goals made him top scorer at the club for two seasons on the bounce. Phil Foden in my opinion was the player of the season and he really looked classy at times. He even made two teams of the season (team 1 and team 2). The key will be to try and retain him for next season.

With the team playing so well it probably should come as no shock that we broke our own average attendance record and pretty much played to sell out crowds all season. We might even need to expand the stadium further if that continues and our over achievement was even acknowledged in the end of season wrap up.

So with a European run next season the budgets are in and its £10.5m for transfers and an extra £150k per week on wages. That is some serious dough and we are targeting another top half finish.

 

[jt8604]

2018/19 Review​

The 2nd season saw a new winner

That is right, Tottenham are champions of Europe and now become completely ineligible for this challenge. As an Arsenal fan it hurts to write this but it was an incredibly strong performance by the English sides with 3 teams getting to the semi-finals. Other than that it was pretty much standard fare with no surprise teams making the knockouts

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims 19/20 summer window​

Could we build on last year and really establish ourselves as a top half side. With the added games of the Europa League we are going to need a bigger better squad. Transfers will form a big part of that but we will also need to develop our own team so the board agreed to improve the youth recruitment

Transfer Window
Outs

Some big names did leave but all of my choosing which is a nice position to be in. Diego was starting to whinge about not getting game time and he was the wrong side of 30. £5m was decent money and he gets to go to Spain for the end of his career. Kyei was loaned out last year and stat wise he was no where close to Edouard and Siebatcheu so taking £1m for a reserve player was good business and Chavarria was going to be in a similar position to Diego. Over 30 and not likely to start week in week out, the Argentine was also moved on to Spanish football. The only other permanent players to leave of note were Rod Fanni and Romain Metanaire. Fanni retired from football whilst i let Metanaire's contract expire.

Ins
So with the exits confirmed, i had to look at what i needed. Well the first thing was to try and keep the four players who were on loan here last season for another year. All four were vital to our success last year and keeping them would allow me to carry on building. In the end, three of the four (Edouard, Foden, Leandrinho) extended their loans with Lyon wanting to play Pape Cheikh this season. Foden is even labelled a wonderkid nowadays as well which is quite exciting.

With these guys nailed on, i really needed to add a right back, a centre half, at least two central midfielders and a winger. With that shopping list, i went and got the below

Seven new faces is a lot of new faces for a pre-season but the squad we have now is more rounded and with more ability than before. Sherif Saber is an Egyptian regen that i have been following for a few years. At £450k he is cheap and has the speed you want from a winger and he has the added bonus of being a set piece master which might come in handy this year.

Marko Grujic was the most expensive new signing with the young Serb finally having enough of not playing in Liverpool. With Pape Cheikh not coming back on loan i needed a really good option to play the Mezzala role that is crucial to our play. I think Grujic can be that man. If he doesn't work out than Yohann Cabaye could be. He is getting on a bit but he still has the legs to get around the pitch and workmanship is one of our top traits as a team.

Nacho Vidal was transfer listed by Valencia and at £500k he should be a minimum risk option at right back. Is he the finished article? No he isn't but for now he should be good enough and there is a good chance i can sell him on in a year or two for a bit of profit. Soualiho Meite was another player transfer listed and i hope Reims can be that place where he rebuilds his career having been stuck in the Monaco reserves last season. Danilson da Cruz and Meite will compete for the ball winner position and with the number of cards we pick up it is definitely worth while having two options there.

It probably goes without saying that loan deals have worked for me and a fourth player joins on loan as i bring in Frenchman Jeff Reine-Adelaide from Arsenal for the season. He is versatile, quick and speaks the language and i have had him on previous FM's where he has done really well for me. So i am hoping i can recreate that. Finally, the last signing was Maxime Le Marchand, who apart from having the most French name possible should be a decent left footed centre back to give us four solid options for the season.

So i am breaking more and more records but all in all it is just a net spend of £750k. Is it enough? Only results will tell.

On the pitch

Pre-season was a mixed bag as we lost to Man Utd and QPR but victories over Bristol City and Sambenedettese were promising. Our first competitive match was against PSG in the Trophee des Champions (French Community Shield). A daunting prospect as we have lost all three games against them previously but runs are there to be broken

It is a 3rd trophy in 3 seasons and another come back. Neymar scored early on but Edouard equalised with a goal against his parent club. Ukrainian Tkachuk looked to had scored the winner with his first goal for the club before PSG equalised with Leon Bailey scoring on his debut. It looked to be going to extra time before Cabaye hit a 20 yarder for a debut goal and another trophy.

Moving on to the league we once again lost the opening game of the season losing to Troyes 2-0 but we have bounced back with victories over Toulouse (4-2) and Saint Etienne (2-0) leaving an early table looking like this

Europa League

We enter the Europa League at the group stages and as i expected we were the 4th seeds having not played in Europe for some time. Our group will consist of Villareal, Rapid Vienna and Young Boys which in my opinion is a group we can qualify from.

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims September & October 2019​

Could we build on last season? Or would we have third season syndrome?

On the pitch

Right now the answer is kind of neither. We are hugely inconsistent with some sterling performances mixed in with some collapses mixed in with some no shows.

The Lyon game saw us blow a 2-0 lead, Nice were down to 10 men for at least half the match yet we lost and the Le Havre game was just pure poor. Montpellier was another 2 goal lead lost whilst we didnt show up against high flying Rennais and bottom of the table Lorient.

There has been some good performances notably in the Europa League where we made easy work of Vienna and Young Boys whilst giving Villarreal a tough time despite being down to 10 men. So where does that leave us

Squad​

League wise its mid table which in any normal game would be good but i can't help looking back at last season thinking we were so much better. The team does still need to gel and we are suffering with injuries with players like Cabaye and Gruljic both being on the sidelines and lots of knocks to other key players. If we can get our form back we should be able to get back into that 5th to 6th area which would be a good season for us.

In Europe, things are going pretty well as the group looks to be a two horse race between ourselves and Villarreal and we probably need just one more victory to put ourselves in contention for the knock out stages. That would be a great return to European football

 

[jt8604]

Stade de Reims November & December 2019​

Moving towards the half way stage, would we still be impressing?

On the pitch

Squad | Results​

I think the answer is yeah we are still doing pretty good as we sit pretty comfortably in the top half of the table but we are a little way off the leading pack. When you compare it to last season we are 7 points worse off but we massively overachieved last season. Talking of over achievers Stade Rennais are flying right now and are giving Monaco and PSG a real run for their money in the league title hunt. Really my best hope i to try and catch the likes of Lyon and get into the Europa League again via the league.

Talking about the Europa League, we continued our good form easily qualifying from the group phases as requested picking up 7 points from the final 3 games to finish the group in 2nd

In the knockouts we have got Fiorentina in what is essentially a battle of the redemption teams and one of the teams i hope to take over once my job here at Reims is done. I think it might be a little too much but we do still have hope and where there is hope there is a way.

We also progressed in the Coupe de Ligue after a very long penalty shoot out against Ligue 2 side QRM so we are into the quarter finals there. QRM are also our opponents in my defence of the Coupe de France. Meanwhile i got this little award which i guess means i was the best team in Ligue 1 over 2019