Reviving sleeping giants: AS Saint-Étienne

dporter8999 said:
Enjoying the read so far, I used to like doing Lorient back in the days of Lauren Koscielny
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Cheers mate, glad you're enjoying it :) yeah I have to say it feels good and rewarding doing a save in France considering PSG's dominance and even Monaco in-game as well, really actually feels like a challenge!
 
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October 2018: a tight title race?

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Just as Lukaku gets injured he goes on and wins the player of the month award! That just makes it even more annoying that he's out still. He seems really happy to be playing here though, and he's playing very well so who knows, if we get Champions League football again next season he might want to stick around!

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Our first game of the month was a very, very tough one against Besiktas but our home record continues to help us out as we get a 1-0 win against the Turkish side for our first 3 points in the Champions League! The fans clearly have a huge effect on us when we play at home and it's a really good result for us tonight, especially considering the trashing we got against Leipzig. Our next game however is against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and whilst the players and I are so happy to be able to play in one of the best stadiums in the world, it could get very ugly for us.

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This tweaked 4-2-3-1 is really working wonders! Ajaccio have been one of the better teams this season in Ligue 1 but we cruised past them with a 2-0 win, not conceding yet again and Malcom performing yet again as well. It's a great result which now puts up 1st as PSG have a game in hand, and we continue our amazing form! I tell you what, if we keep playing this well, we could mount a title challenge already! Hey, let me dream a little.

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Sad news for our club captain Loïc Perrin who gets injured for about 2 weeks. It's not a huge blow as he's only played 6 games this season in all competitions and has been put out of the starting 11 by Mandi, but he's still an important player and it's just sad to see him unable to play in probably one of his last few seasons before retirement.

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We get yet another clean sheet and win but at what price? Malcom gets injured and is out for a month now. It'll mean he'll miss the Champions League games but regardless he's not been able to play in them since when we signed him, the registration for the Champions League had expired for some time. It'll be difficult to play without him in Ligue 1 though, and we'll definitely miss him. Pléa continues his great goalscoring form though and has actually taken Beric's place in the starting 11 now because of his great performances. We stay in 2nd in Ligue 1, level on points with Monaco as Marseille keep languishing in the lower half of the table. Oh and unlike last year, they don't have the excuse of great European performances anymore, because they sit at the bottom of their Champions League group, just like us.

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Around the same time last season, I convinced the board to improve the club's youth facilities in order to bring in better players from the academy and as the the plans for that just finished, I asked them for another upgrade to really make sure we'd have a great academy to bring some fantastic players through and they accepted! It'll take another year to finish but at least our facilities are getting better and better which is great.

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Well, there's the game that we dreaded all month long now finished. We got smashed up, understandably, by one of the best teams in Europe right now. Coutinho was fantastic and Suárez was as well, just unstoppable. I believe that now puts Barcelona at the top of our group, although I don't know how Leipzig did against Besiktas so the German side might be top. We didn't expect anything other than a loss like that against Barcelona but I hope we can do better at home in the return leg.

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And yet another win in the league! We stay in 2nd and despite conceding some goals, get another 3 points on the board! Pereira is slowly but surely adapting and getting better and it showed today. This new 4-2-3-1 system has honestly worked wonders as we continue our great run of form and are really giving PSG a run for their money now. Hamouma, who doesn't play that often anymore and is getting a little older now, is still performing as well when he needs to which is great to see.

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We're doing incredibly well in Ligue 1, sitting in 2nd and having the 3rd best defence in the league and the 2nd best attack as well, really showcasing our progress since last year. In the Champions League however, we're clearly struggling. Since the standings are changed based on head-to-head as well, there's seemingly no chance for us to qualify for the next round anymore, despite being 3 points behind the leaders Besiktas, and our best hope for more European football now is going to be the Europa League, and we'll have to beat Leipzig to that. We face both Barcelona and Leipzig at home next month, so those 2 games will be the deciders of whether we're out of Europe or at least get Europa League football. Our Ligue 1 games aren't too bad with games against Caen in 7th, Guingamp in 9th and Nantes in 16th. These are all games we should win and I fully expect that from the players.
 
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November 2018: Champions League magic?

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Our amazing league form continues with 2 goals from Hamouma and a clean sheet as well! We definitely dominated the game and deserved the 3 points and it's nice to see us still performing and playing well with this new system.

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Our return game against Barcelona was a lot better than the first one but we lost out narrowly in that one as well. It was a really good performance from the lads to be honest, but Coutinho killed us once again. We have a crucial game at home against Leipzig next which could give us a chance for the last match day of the group stages to go through to the first knockout round, but it'll be a very tough task.

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And another clean sheet! And another win! We're just performing so well this season and all of our new signings are contributing to our success as well which is amazing. We stay in 2nd in the league close behind PSG and very closely ahead of Monaco as well. Our next match is against Nantes and then we've got that huge game against Leipzig to deal with as well...

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A disappointing result away from home, especially considering we dominated the match and had so many shots. Regardless, we still stay in 2nd place so I'm not too bothered, and we have to focus on the Leipzig game anyway so let's take care of that instead of sulking about one bad result in the league. This draw does end our run of 8 wins in a row with the new 4-2-3-1 system which is sad but oh well, we'll build up a great run again soon I'm sure!

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The draw came in for the Coupe de la Ligue, which the board expects us to the quarter-finals of this year, so Angers wasn't the best team to come up against since they're a very good side but not been doing so well in the league this season, so we could rely on that and hope for a good result.

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What a result! Pereira coming up big with Malcom out of the team and we win 3-1 at home against Leipzig! Besiktas lost their game against Barcelona 3-0 as well which means Leipzig, Besiktas and us are all on 3 points and are all in contention for a place in the first knockout round or the Europa League! What a last match it's going to be, away from home in Turkey. We're going to have to come out all guns blazing fighting for a result and hope that Leipzig lose against Barcelona if we want a chance in the next round of the Champions League.

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As you can see, PSG continue their domination and are starting to pull ahead in the league. We sit just ahead of Monaco who are pressuring us ahead of our game against the leaders in Saint-Étienne which is going to be a huge game. What a couple of games we're going to have to play in December. First PSG at home in the league then a deciding match against Besiktas in the CL, it'll be very tough and stressful... Marseille continue their season like they started it last season, all the way down just above the relegation zone which is surprising considering they won the Europa League last season and Lille are doing a lot better. December will be tough but at least after Christmas we'll get a small break until mid-January 2019.
 
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December 2018: another formation change?

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Well, once again it was an expected result to be honest. Losing 4-1 at home is definitely humiliating and disappointing but again, I didn't really expect less. This means that we'll be dropping down to 3rd as Monaco won their game but that's fine by me! We're way ahead of Lyon and still in the Champions League places for next season, which is more than I could ever ask for!

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So that's it then, the Champions League dream for this season is over... We got a crucial 1-0 win against Besiktas away from home but Leipzig impressed and won 2-0 at home against Barcelona so they'll be going through, fair play to them, and we'll be going to the Europa League which I'm definitely happy with, at least we're still in Europe! We drew Kyiv in the First Knockout round of the Europa League who were also knocked out of the Champions League, so they're definitely good enough to beat us and we'll have to play very well to go and get a victory against them.

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M'Vila really let us down today but thankfully we went and got another clean sheet and a good win, but something needs to change. We play well against the weaker teams with this formation, but we just can't compete with the bigger teams and that's not good enough. We're changing from the 4-2-3-1 to a 3-2-2-3 with wing backs and 2 central midfielders and 3 strikers up front, should fix our scoring issue against these bigger teams!

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Our first game when we come back from our Christmas and New Year's celebrations will be against Ajaccio, who we've managed to beat in the league already this season. Could be a difficult game away from home, but I'm confident we'll get a good result against them.

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Well, the new system clearly worked! Granted, Toulouse aren't exactly considered a good team but it's still a fantastic victory which gets us closer to Monaco and further from Lyon who keep getting bad results! Beric is finally getting back into form as well, as Pléa is also scoring a lot of goals which definitely makes me happy to see, to have a couple of really good goalscorers up front together is perfect for bigger teams and in the long-run.

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This new system really is working well! Possession wise, we're not keeping the ball nearly as much but we're doing very well and we're now through to the quarter-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue which is great news since it's what the board wanted us to achieve. We'll be playing Reims in the next round in January, who are now in Ligue 1 but haven't done the best so we should be able to get a good result.

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I wanted to switch back to the 4-2-3-1 against Montpellier to see if there really is a difference with the newer system we're using and yes there clearly is! Defensively, we're better with the 4-2-3-1 it seems but offensively there's a huge difference and I think I prefer the 3-2-2-3 system to be honest! Our last game of 2018, against Reims in the league!

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And another won. Great win 5-1 against Reims as Beric and Pléa continue to score and are now the two top goalscorers in the league, ahead of Cavani and Mbappé as well which is amazing. We're now going away for about 3 weeks for our break, which is well deserved, and we'll have to come back roaring to continue this great season and end on a high later on in 2019!

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Our first 2 games of the year will be cup games and then we'll have games that should be much easier with two games against two teams below 15th and 2 games against teams in the top half of the table but clearly not anywhere near us in the league. We have a game in hand over Monaco as well and a win in that game would see us go past them in the league so that would be amazing. Anyways, this has been a great half of the season so far and I can't wait for the next couple months, so see you next year!
 
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January 2019: silverware needed!

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First news of the update is from last year, when Carneiro got a new contract at the end of December. He's been playing very well and I'm so happy to have signed him considering it was on a free! He's one of the top earners at the club currently but it's definitely deserved and I hope he scores a lot more goals later down the years.

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Thought you'd be interested in seeing the Team of the Year and who won the FIFA Ballon D'Or and I guess the Messi Ronaldo domination is finally over! Neymar featured in a lot of different awards, deservedly so, and wins his first Ballon D'Or of his career. Szczesny was a surprise nomination for Goalkeeper of the Year and he even featured in the Team of the Year, so I guess Juventus are settled on a goalkeeper after Buffon's retirement! Meunier, now playing for Tottenham, is also a very interesting choice for right back and overall there are a lot of surprise players, like Laporte on the bench as well, but there it is I guess!

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M'Bengue, who's been at the club since 2016, actually took a pay cut when he extended his contract and it's great to see, as he's been a great servant to this club and has been really impressive and despite not playing as much this season due to Lukaku's amazing performances, I'm still really happy to see him want to stay at the club.

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Something I realised in the first half of the season is we had way too many players wanting playing time and Fuchs was one of them, but he's just not developed enough to play in the first team yet. For those of you who don't remember, he's the young midfielder we signed last season who went back on loan to Sochaux and came back earlier this season of course. Wolves are a good team for him to go to and I hope he grows as a player there.

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Subotic, one of the best performers at the club this season and last season, has also extended his contract which is once again very nice to see. As much as I don't want to keep players over 30 years old around for SO long, it's definitely good to keep Neven around because of his European experience and I'm very happy to see him stay at the club for another couple of years.

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One of our best signings this season and one of the most important players for us this season is now out for almost 2 months. It's very tough to take because he's been so good and Théophile-Catherine and Mandi are the only backups we have. As much as I want to believe in them, they definitely wouldn't be as good as Rick has been and we'll need to really be good defensively and not let things get out of hand now.

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I expected a good victory against Ajaccio and got just that, and it's a perfect way to start off 2019 right! We've been drawn against Le Havre for the next round, which again should be an easy game for us as Le Havre are in Ligue 2 but you never know in football.

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We smash Reims just like we did in the league, 5-1 away from home and go through to the Coupe de la Ligue semi-finals for the second year in a row! Malcom has been immense since he's come back from injury and I'm SO excited for him to be registered for our Europa League games! The one negative from today though is the fact that, just like last year, we've been drawn against PSG... Last year we lost 2-1 at home and got knocked out which took us out of the running for some silverware, so we'll definitely be looking for revenge now, especially after PSG beat us 4-1 at home in the league this year.

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First league game of 2019 and a 5-1 win again! Absolutely fantastic victory and what a performance from Dioussé and Lukaku and Malcom! Just incredible. That result now sees us jump over Monaco in 2nd place since we had a game in hand and it's up to us to stay there now! As amazing as it was to clinch 2nd in the last 20 minutes of the 2017/18 season, I'd prefer it to be a little less stressful this season!

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This really is incredible stuff. 9 goals scored in 2 games! We get a clean sheet today as well and Ben Arfa, Dioussé and Pléa are playing really well and continuing their great 2019 form, which once again is just really good to see. We absolutely destroyed Amiens and definitely deserved these 3 points, let's just hope that form continues until the PSG game and we carry that form into the PSG game as well! Bad news about Pléa's injury for a month though... We've been really unlucky with injuries overall and always seem to get injuries to key players at key moments, but that's football for you I guess. At least we've got Beric who'll be raring to go and looking to impress me and stay in the starting 11 now.

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A frustrating result as our last league game of the month... We should've definitely won this game, especially because we had 10 more shots than them... Not the best way to get ready for the PSG game for sure and I definitely hope we can do better when we face them, but fair play to Bordeaux for fighting and getting a good result. We stay in 2nd which is obviously good for us and again, I hope we'll stay there for as long as possible!

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A couple of clubs came in for Llorente and wanted to go and buy him during this transfer window including Sevilla, but he seemed happy enough to stay here and will be staying with us until 2023, well at least his contract says so! Great news for us considering how good he's been and let's hope more key players decide to stick around.

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Hugely disappointing result, we managed to go all the way to penalties against the by far best team in the country and lost narrowly on penalties. I'm still really proud of the players and how well we played against them but it denies us another opportunity at silverware for them to go and get it and it's just very sad and feels like we'll never reach their level really.

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With a game in hand over Monaco, we're sitting in 3rd just 2 points behind them. We could be level with PSG if they lose their game in hand and that would be pretty incredible to be honest, but we've got a huge month ahead of us. The game against Monaco will be probably the toughest one, although Marseille will be hard too considering how much they've come back yet again! Angers, Metz, and Ajaccio as our other league games shouldn't be too hard because I think the toughest games this month by far will be the Europa League games. The board expects us to at least reach the next round in that competition and it's definitely doable and starting away from home will make our task easier (or harder) for the second leg. Man, European football is exhausting!
 
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February 2019: European drama

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Jonathan Bamba hasn't gotten the opportunity to play much with Malcom and Andreas Pereira playing so well so we've sent him out on loan to Wolves, same as Fuchs so it'll be good to for the two of them to be able to play together and he'll get some playing time as well. The optional fee is a little worrying but if we can get that much for him if he decides to stay at Wolves, then I'll take it!

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Dioussé had a fantastic month and deservedly gets the player of the month award for January. Lukaku has been playing really well too and I'm incredibly happy with the way the team has been performing so far.

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This was a crucial game for us that we needed to win to make sure we'd stay in the running for second place but Monaco were just too good tonight. We had a better game but they were more clinical and that's all it takes to be honest. A disappointing defeat especially at home but we're still looking strong for a top 3 finish this season which would still be way above expectations.

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Ben Arfa gets rewarded for his great form so far this season with an almost tripled wage and this new contract will keep him around until at least 2021, although I feel like he'll probably leave earlier than that, who knows.

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Jordan Lukaku with yet another cracking performance and a fantastic 3-1 win to go along with it! Another great result for us which sees us match the board's expectations and go into the next round with every chance to go on and win the whole competition to be honest. Le Havre did their best but definitely wouldn't have been able to handle us considering the season we're having. We're playing Angers next in the league and we're playing against them as well in the 11th round of the Coupe de France so that'll be interesting.

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A disappointing result for us against Angers, but that means it'll be a very open game in the cup as well which should make for an interesting match. Pereira continues his amazing performances yet again and despite drawing and also conceding 2 goals, we're still doing well in the league and I don't think the last 2 league games will hurt our chances of top 3 too much.

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Finally back to winning ways! Malcom, as mentioned earlier in the update, continues his great form as well, I mean I don't even know what to say anymore it's the same thing every time! This player continues his great form we keep winning and not conceding bla bla bla. You get the picture by now I think hahaha! Regardless, this allows us to keep putting pressure on Monaco and edge away from Lyon so hopefully we'll keep this up.

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Bad news for us with Beric out for the Kyiv tie in the Europa League and potentially a little bit longer. Thankfully, Carneiro and Pléa are both very good replacements and will definitely do a job.

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Dioussé, the player of the month last month, did so well today and it's a very easy and routine win against newly-promoted Ajaccio as we now need to look ahead to the Kyiv game in Ukraine. Domestically we're doing well, but it's all about Europe now!

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An incredibly disappointing result away. A 1-0 loss would have been okay to take home with us because one goal is pretty easy to score but we couldn't even do that today, so let's just hope now that the boys wake up for the return leg, otherwise it's goodbye Champions League earlier this season and goodbye Europa League in the next few days!

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We had the game against Marseille to try to recover the defeat in Ukraine and managed to do just that. We absolutely destroyed them and 100% deserved the win in this match and continue our great form in the league. Pereira definitely turned up today and let's just hope now that all the players decide to wake up next Thursday for our return leg against Kyiv!

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We've only gone and done it! European football really is full of drama! And to think it's our left-back on loan from Lazio Lukaku who got 2 goals to put us through to the next round of the Europa League! Absolutely incredible stuff from the lads who turned around a very bad 2-0 deficit in the first leg. In all our excitement, we also kind of missed the fact that we're facing Milan in the next round. The board wanted me and the boys to get to the Second Knockout round and to be honest, we might very well not go past that having to play against a team as good as Milan. They finished in 5th last season which to be honest, is still very good in the Serie A considering the quality of the teams in the league so it'll be a very, very tough match but what a way to end the month, just wow!

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Pereira gets a player of the month award for his performances against Monaco, Marseille, Angers, Metz and Ajaccio. A very good month from the Brazilian indeed and it'll be sad to see him go back to Manchester at the end of the season. Dioussé also continues his fantastic run of form and comes in 3rd just behind Mbappé. What a month it's been for us despite a loss and a draw. This is going to be an incredible end to the season.

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If we win against Troyes, who are in 16th place, in our game in hand, we'll be just a point behind Monaco in 2nd and 16 points clear of Lyon. It's fair to say we should finish in Champions League spots this season, but whether that's 2nd or 3rd is up to us! Games against the over performing Dijon, Caen all the way down in 17th, Guingamp down in 15th and Nantes up in 7th means we have a nice distribution of games against teams near the relegation zone and teams in the top half of the table. That excludes the 2 games against Milan though and our cup game against Angers to finish the month off, which is very important to me because at this point the Coupe de France is our best chance of silverware this season.
 
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March 2019: the end of this story?!

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I can tell you one thing right now, it's that this month was one **** of a month. Pléa came up clutch to start us off against Dijon as we got a 2-0 win and keep putting more and more pressure on Monaco fighting for that second place which we got last season, as Dijon stay in the top half of the table despite losing to us.

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Huge blow as our main goalkeeper Ruffier gets injured for 2 weeks! This means he'll not only miss a couple of league games, but he'll miss the first leg of our Europa League tie against Milan. Definitely the worst time for him to get an injury and despite having a somewhat decent backup goalkeeper in Moulin, we definitely need to invest in some new goalkeepers come summer time I think.

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Well, Moulin had one job for his first game this season and boy did he do it well! He got a clean sheet and even saved a penalty, which makes this 3-0 win even sweeter. I wasn't expecting too many problems against Troyes but you never know in Ligue 1 and I was glad to see us get the 3 points away from home.

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What a victory! Lo Celso has been performing really well since his arrival on loan last summer but today was definitely his best game for the club. He scored a hat-trick and helped us to an amazing 5-1 win victory against Caen to keep our goal difference growing and growing and the pressure we're putting on Monaco increasing and increasing as well.

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Jesus that was close... I have to say, I would've taken a 1-0 loss as well but what a result, all thanks to Dioussé who's really decided to show up this season and it's incredible. A 93rd minute equaliser gets us that crucial away goal as well as a draw against one of the better teams in Italy, amazing stuff.

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No Saint-Étienne player getting the man of the match today, but that win puts us in 2nd place temporarily and it's a great feeling. Winning away from home always feels really good and this match was no different.

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We've actually done it! We're through to the Europa League quarter-finals! What a second leg game against Milan, they fought all the way until the end and it was such a close game, even down to the goals scored! We scored the first goal of the game after 29 minutes and they equalised in the 31st and it went all the way through extra-time and down to penalties and Ben Arfa, Carneiro, Pléa, Llorente and Beric all kept their cool and scored all 5 of our penalties to put us through! What an incredible result and what a way to get to the end of the season. Valencia finished 5th in La Liga last season and actually played in the same group as fellow French side Angers (beat them 3-0 at home and drew 3-3 away from home) so this will be interesting! It's important to notice though that we're starting at home this time instead of away, so let's hope that doesn't have too much of an impact.

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After some incredible performances from Dioussé since 2019 started, the young midfielder gets a new contract as a reward. I have to say, I really didn't expect him to grow as much as he has so far and this new contract is utterly deserved. Now, it's all about justifying that new wage for him.

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Our race for 2nd place in Ligue 1 gets halted by Nantes and they really shouldn't have to be honest. We completely dominated in terms of shots and should have absolutely gone and won this game but there's not much we can do now and we'll have to move on and hope for better now.

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So we're in two cup quarter-finals now! Obviously, one of them is a lot more important than the other but it's still really good for the club to be doing so well in all competitions. We'll face Rennes in the Coupe de France, who are currently in 4th in Ligue 2 so it should really be a win for us but Rennes are a very good side for us who were unlucky to get relegated last season and it'll be a tough match. Théophile-Catherine, who's been a really good backup to Karsdorp this season, is going to be injured for a while which is a big blow for us but at least he's not our starting-right back and we have Mandi who can also play there, so it's not the end of the world.

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Looking at the league table right now, we should easily get Champions League football for next season which is great news. Second place looks a little out of reach now, especially with a game against PSG for our first game of April in the league. We'll need to stay strong and focus on the Rennes quarter-final game now and then 2 huge matches against Valencia where we'll hope to be able to go through to the Europa League semi-finals. Imagine that, Saint-Étienne in the Europa League semi-finals. What a sight that would be! Also, the reason this update is called "The end of this story?!" is because it's now April 2019 and my contract expires in June and despite rejecting interviews and interest from Dortmund, Villareal, Sociedad, Brighton, Bournemouth and a bunch of other clubs, the board doesn't seem to want to ask me to sign a new contract so, let's hope they do otherwise this could be the end of the story already!
 
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April 2019: last chance at silverware?

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Last month, I told you I was worried about my current contract and whether or not the board would offer me a new one and I mean, I feel like it was bound to happen and it has! Wage wise, we're nowhere near the likes of Guardiola at City and Mourinho at United for example but hey, I don't need a high wage to be successful and this new contract will keep me at the club until 2022, which is great.

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Despite losing one game during March, we apparently were so good that 3 of our players were in the running for player of the month! Lo Celso, who's the one player in that list we don't own, ended up winning the award. Fair play to him, he's been incredible in the last few games and definitely deserves some recognition. It's great to see our star signing Malcom grow more and more and if he keeps going, I'm worried some big European clubs might come in for him but hopefully that doesn't happen soon!

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This really isn't the time to be getting injuries and M'Vila, who was one of our best players last season and has been pretty good this season as well, is now out injured for the whole month. We have a lot of depth in the midfield so it's not that much of a worry but if we get suspensions or more injuries, it could definitely become a bigger problem.

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I predicted an easy win against Rennes and that's what happened. We absolutely smashed them and this should boost our confidence ahead of our next match in the league, against the beast that is PSG. We'll face Marseille in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, which is annoying because they're a great team and the Coupe de France is one of our best chances at silverware this season, so we'll definitely need to take this game seriously.

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Oh my God what a win! This victory against PSG not only gets us into 2nd place in Ligue 1 past Monaco but also qualifies us for next season's Champions League officially! And would you look at that, we finally have a transfer budget in the double digits! Absolutely incredible stuff from the board who clearly are investing money into this club and it's amazing to see. PSG have been dominating everything in France for so long now and it's just always amazing when we get a good result against them. What a win against the mighty PSG and what an important win in our race for 2nd place as well.

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I sent some of my scouts down in the second division, Ligue 2, to try and see if they could spot any big talents and this 16-year old was recommended by every single one of my scouts every time I had a scouting meeting. Auxerre wanted quite a decent amount for him but to be able to have him straight away for just €3.5 million and have to spend €6 million in the next 2 years, absolutely isn't a problem for me if he turns out to be as good as my scouts say he is. He'll join the club in June of this year and will be a decent backup to have for Pléa and Carneiro, since Beric has told me he wants to leave when his contract expires this season. It's a shame about the Slovenian who was so crucial for us last season and scored 52 goals in his 89 games with the club in the last 4 years, but he just didn't do it for me anymore and that's why we won't be renewing his contract and put our faith in a young French striker instead.

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Woah woah woah! We not only get to qualify for next season's Champions League but in the space of a week also get a 4-1 win at home against Valencia in the Europa League quarter-finals?! What a result this is! The away goal is definitely annoying to give away but we have 4 home goals! An absolutely incredible result and dare I say we definitely have a foot in the semi-finals now!

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Whilst the first team is crushing it in the Europa League, a heavily rotated side did the job in the league as well against 17th-place Troyes. We stay in 2nd place after a good result and keep putting pressure on PSG as well, who I believe are just 6 points clear at the top of the table now!

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Well, just when I thought our only options for silverware this season were in the Coupe de France and Europa League, it looks like we could potentially go for the Ligue 1 title as well! A huge clash between Monaco and PSG on the 19th of May could be the title decider, although our last game of the season against Lyon could also be a huge one, we'll have to wait and see.

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Jesus Christ that was close! We thought a 4-1 lead away from home was enough but proceeded to then give away a 3rd goal in the 89th minute and get 2 men sent off in 15 minutes with almost half an hour to go! We definitely made it difficult for ourselves in this game but regardless, we've made it through! I can't believe it. After getting knocked out of the Champions League and coming down to the Europa League, I thought we'd get to the quarter-finals at best, maybe even lower in the Second Knockout round but look at us in the semi-finals now! It'll be an all French affair as we'll face Monaco in early May, which will definitely be a huge tie for both of us. We're both closing in on PSG for the league title and both have a shot in the Europa League, so it could be a huge, huge game. This all French tie also means there'll guaranteed be a French side in the final so French football is at it once again and a French team could potentially win the Europa League for the second season in a row, which is great to see.

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After the Europa League semi-final draw, we needed to show Monaco and the rest of Ligue 1 who's boss and we definitely did that against 10th place Lille. They played well but we played better and go the 3 points to keep us ahead of Monaco and closer and closer to PSG. Imagine the scenes if we went on and won the Ligue 1 title, that would be absolutely crazy!

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It's fair to say these 100 games went by really quickly and it doesn't feel like it's been that long yet, but I've been so happy managing this team that it's probably why. Ahead of our Marseille game for the Coupe de France, I definitely don't want the occasion to get the better of me or the players so we'll just quickly move on.

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Well that's it then. I don't know if it's the "100 games in management" thing or just the fact that we've been so exhausted from the Europa League and our title race but we just couldn't deal with Marseille tonight. Fair play to them, they played really well and can go on in the final feeling really confident. It's a trophy we could've won though and one less chance at silverware this season. This now makes Ligue 1 and the Europa League even more important and stressful, so let's hope we can deal with that now!

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PSG drew 0-0 with Montpellier in their last game as we won 2-0 which means we're now just 4 points behind the Ligue 1 holders, with Monaco breathing down our neck on goal difference. This is going to be an extremely, extremely stressful end to the season I can tell you that much! And to think a couple of months ago I said I wanted it to be a little bit less stressful than last season! Toulouse have really decided to wake up recently and find themselves in 9th whilst Montpellier are in 7th and just drew 0-0 with PSG, so both teams will be on form when we play against them. Reims need results to potentially survive and avoid a relegation playoff and Lyon have to fight off Marseille to hold on to their 4th place finish, so let's just say these last 4 league games will be some of the toughest ones we've had all season. As for the Europa League, we start off at home against Monaco which definitely didn't help us in the last round, since we played so well at home and then almost gave it all away in the second leg. Man I can't wait for this!
 
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May 2019: a sad end to our title 'race'

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As we headed into May, a very crucial month for us, I decided to pull the trigger and sign a player who was never really given a proper chance at a very high level to perform consistently. He's been on loan at Marseille this season and has been decent for sure, but Munir is a hugely promising player who could be very useful to us. One of our strikers hasn't overly impressed me this season so he'll be leaving the club at the end of the season for a really decent fee, and we're bringing in a fantastic, still pretty young, striker who can definitely do some damage for us in the league and Champions League I think.

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The title race is still on! Lo Celso and Malcom, two of our best players this season and some of the best players I've ever seen play, give us a fantastic 4-3 victory at home against Toulouse who were very impressive today but at the end of the day, we come out on top and continue our late run of form hoping to potentially go on and claim the club's 11th league title in their history.

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I mentioned above that one of our strikers hadn't been overly convincing this season and was going to go. He's also 23 years old and has potential but Munir just seems like the better fit for us, especially considering he's coming in on a free and we'll be getting €12 million (just €8.5 million added to the budget though) for Carneiro's departure to Bordeaux at the end of the season. Selling to another big club in Ligue 1 is probably not the best idea and might come back to haunt me but I think he'll get playing time there and he'll be happy there. With Pléa playing so well, Carneiro has 'only' managed to play 41 games, starting 26 and coming off the bench 15 times. Whilst he obviously played a lot, he only scored 13 goals and made 11 assists in those 41 games, which isn't the most impressive record and I think our 16-year old youngster, once he gets older, will be able to do better and so will Munir. Hopefully I'm not wrong!

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Our first game after Carneiro's announced departure was the Europa League semi-final and would you look at that! We've stolen 2nd place in Ligue 1 from Monaco and now we might just steal them a spot in the Europa League final! How incredible is that?! Giving up an away goal isn't the best thing but we scored 3, although we scored 4 against Valencia and that almost wasn't enough so we'll have to work incredibly hard to go on and win the tie overall as well! In the other semi-final, Ajax was playing Galatasaray, with the Dutch side playing at home first and they won 2-0 so it seems that if we go through, we could be facing one of the most successful European teams ever. Yikes.

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PSG won all of their last few games and I thought we could be the only ones to press them after Monaco lost 1-0 to Guingamp but I guess it wasn't to be. The Parisians win the league title once again, making it their 8th in their club history, just 2 away from us! If we want to stay the most successful club in French football history, we're going to have to get even closer and really challenge them next year. Despite having 2 games left, it seems like we'll finish 2nd once again in Ligue 1 which I'm over the moon about. When I first came to Saint-Étienne, I knew we had the players to go and challenge for maybe 5th place in the league, something like that, but to go and make it to 2nd in my first season and now the next season as well? It's a great feeling and I hope we'll only get better now and one day knock PSG off their throne!

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Despite our frustrations at not being able to keep challenging for the Ligue 1 title this season, we played our hearts out in Monaco to earn a 0-0 draw and go through to the Europa League final! Ajax lost 1-0 in Turkey which was enough for them to go through to the final as well, making it their third Europa League final in the last 3 years, when they lost against Manchester United in 2016/17 and Marseille last season. As the saying goes, third time's the charm and I hope to God that it doesn't come true because we've worked incredibly hard to get all the way to the final and it would be really, really sad to lose it. This is the club's first ever Europa League final and only their second ever European final, after the Champions League final against Bayern back in 1975/76. It's a historic final for the club and for me as well and I know Ajax will want it, but we'll have to want it more.

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Our second to last game in the league this season was against Reims and we made their season go from bad to worse as we smash them 4-0, leaving them stuck in 18th place for a relegation playoff. This win does mean that we'll officially finish 2nd in the league though which is awesome. Pereira kept quiet during most of the season, played his football and performed well and scored another 2 goals today to take his tally to 10 this season, 9 in the league. He's definitely kind of gone under the radar to be honest but with his contract with Manchester United running out at the end of the season, maybe we'll try and make a move for him, who knows!

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So we end our season with a fantastic 3-0 win at home in the Rhône derby, leaving Lyon in 5th place behind Marseille. It's a great way to finish off our amazing Ligue 1 season for sure but the big problem is M'Vila's injury. Lo Celso got sent off in the Europa League semi-final so wouldn't be able to play in the final even if he didn't get injured, but M'Vila would've been his replacement in midfield and now he's injured too, which could be a problem. Earlier on in the season, I switched to a 4-1-2-2-1 formation with 2 central midfielders and one defensive midfielders and both Lo Celso and M'Vila fit in there perfectly, so this could be a big problem for us in the final in a couple of days.

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So there it is, the 2018/19 Ligue 1 season for you! Jordan Lukaku was a revelation this season, it has to be said, and Pléa ended up playing incredibly well too, which was just great to see. He started the season off pretty slowly but ended up finishing really strong and he ends up as the 2nd top goalscorer in the league, just above Cavani (who's nowhere near his 39-goal count from last season!). PSG dominated the league and will probably dominate the awards too, as 2018 Ballon D'Or winner Neymar finished with the most man of the matches, highest average rating and most assists. Mbappé was really impressive as well overall, but I guess that was expected. The full awards from this season will of course come later this month or in early June, as Reims will have to play the team who finished 3rd in Ligue 2 in the relegation playoffs soon to officially end the season. That doesn't concern us though; one thing does: the 2018/19 Europa League final at the Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan.
 
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29th of May 2019, Baku (Azerbaijan): Europa League final

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Good evening everyone and welcome to BT Sport, glad to have you with us tonight as we'll be watching the 2018/19 Europa League final here in Baku, Azerbaijan. It's a packed stadium here tonight with fans travelling a very long way from both teams in the final tonight, but we can definitely see a lot more of Ajax fans tonight who probably want to finally see their side lift the Europa League after reaching the final for 3 season in a row.

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As we said we're almost full here tonight with 65,572 fans present out of a capacity of 68,700 and it's a familiar venue for Ajax who actually played Qarabag in the Europa League group stages this season here already and managed to win 2-0 away from home to qualify from their group so it'll be interesting for them to be coming back here but also interesting for them to come back here and face a very, very strong Saint-Étienne side who have been defying all expectations since their new manager's arrival back in the summer of 2017.

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Well as you can see, Ajax's route to the final was definitely a long and painful one as they had to go through two sets of qualifying rounds before making it to the group stages where they faced French side Dijon for two games and won both times and every single round after that they were in danger of being knocked out! They lost 3-1 to Leverkusen in their first leg but then turned it around at home and won on away goals, won on penalties against Zenit, then on away goals against Celta, and by just 1 goal against Galatasaray so it's been a long and painful road to their 3rd Europa League final in a row for the Dutch side and it'll be interesting to see what they can do here tonight.

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Saint-Étienne also had a little trouble getting all the way to the final. They were eliminated from their Champions League group with Besiktas, Barcelona and Leipzig and had to face Kyiv, against whom they actually lost the first game away from home 2-0 and it looked all set and done but they turned it around and came back and won 4-1 in the second leg which saw them through. They then cut it very close against Gattuso's AC Milan when they won on penalties after earning an away goal at the San Siro and when they faced Valencia, things went very well in the first leg but not so much in the second, yet they held on once again. They also ended up winning comfortably 3-1 on aggregate against Monaco in the semi-finals so they definitely have the momentum and I would say just because of the calibre of teams they've knocked out, are probably favourites for this game.

It's important to note that if Ajax win here tonight, it would be their first European trophy victory since 1995 when they won the Champions League, whereas for Saint-Étienne it would be the club's first ever European trophy and is their second ever European final after losing in the 1975/76 Champions League final to Bayern. It's clearly a very historic final for both sides here tonight and we can't wait for the game to get started now, see you all after the break for the kick-off!
The blood was rushing through my veins. Last season's last Ligue 1 game was incredibly stressful and we managed to handle the pressure and qualify for the Champions League and it was a huge achievement but tonight, tonight is different. We've come all the way from the Champions League group stages to get here and the fans have been incredible for us since I arrived last summer. I just saw on TV the BT Sport presenters talk about the different teams and it's definitely going to be a hard game for us. I wish I could tell you I've got it all figured out and have a formation and plan to go out and counter everything Ajax do but it's my first ever European final as a manager and I've never had to manage in an environment as intense as this one, so we're going out with the same formation and team that got us all the way here, hoping it'll be enough. As I say my final words to the players, we all head out to the tunnel and wait patiently for the Europa League anthem to come on and walk out on the pitch in front of over 60,000 people, ready to watch one of the best ever Europa League finals.

So there we are then, the players have come out onto the pitch, we saw the Ajax and Saint-Étienne managers shake hands and exchange a few words already as the players are now shaking hands themselves and greeting the referee as well. It's going to be an epic game it seems like and we can definitely expect both teams to come out wanting to score as many goals as possible to go on and secure a historic victory for their clubs; let's see what both teams are rocking with in terms of starting lineups and formations then:

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So there we go we can see Ajax lining up with a 3-2-3-2 formation with 2 wingbacks of course and the 2 strikers up front, a system we've seen the Dutch side use quite often so far this season. Hassane Bandé will be the danger man for Ajax with 21 goals in all competitions this season but Huntelaar has scored 8 goals in 13 European games this season so he'll probably be the man to watch up front for the Saint-Étienne defenders. Justin Kluivert, David Neres and more could also be great super subs for Ajax later on in the match if they need to make any substitutions.

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Saint-Étienne on the other side will be playing with a 4-1-2-2-1 which we've been seeing for the last couple months from them now and it got them all the way to the final and beat the likes of PSG in the league as well, so something clearly must be working. Lukaku has been the surprise of the season by far for Les Verts with the most assists this season; 16 in 53 games to be exact; whilst Pléa is the top goalscorer of the club this season with 24 goals in 43 games. Clearly not ridiculous goal tallies on either side tonight so it'll definitely be a tight match as we also see Ben Arfa starting down on the right and Pereira in the centre of midfield due to Lo Celso's suspension and M'Vila's injury. We go over now to the Macedonian official who will be refereeing this game, Mr. Aleksandar Stavrev, who will kick the game off!

KICK OFF!
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0' We can see the Saint-Étienne manager already pacing up and down the touchline trying to make sure all his players are ready and focused as the whistle goes and Ajax kick the ball towards their half! And it's live!

5' We're just about 4 and a half minutes in as Saint-Étienne get a free kick on the right side of the pitch with Pereira standing over it. He's going to try and send it in but it's cleared by the Ajax defence and comes out to Assane Dioussé who's going to hit it from outside the area and it's deflected and Onana is gone the wrong way and it's going to go in the back of the net! What a start for the French side who go 1-0 up inside the first 5 minutes! And what a way for the French manager to get his side to start off his first ever European final! Incredible!

AS Saint-Étienne [1] - 0 Ajax
Assane Dioussé
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10' We're just over 10 minutes in now and it's been an incredibly even game to say the least but Les Verts are still ahead and creating chances whilst Ajax try to just keep possession instead of taking it forward. Definitely a better start to the match by the French side but just one goal from Ajax could change it all, let's not rule them out just yet!

13' The ball comes from the left side this time after some quick passes between the Saint-Étienne midfielders and Karsdorp the right back ends up with the ball at the edge of the area and has a GO! But it goes JUST wide and that was incredibly close, another chance for Saint-Étienne who could have gone 2-0 up inside the first 15 minutes of the Europa League final! Imagine that!

16' Ajax get a free kick in Saint-Étienne's half and Schöne whips it in and it's headed by Tagliafico towards Ruffier's goal but the French goalkeeper takes care of it and distributes it quickly to Subotic as the French side gets the ball away but one of their passes is deflected and goes all the way back to Ajax's side of the pitch, with Hegazi running to get it to pass it back to the goalkeeper Onana who seems like he's actually taken a knock which could be a big problem for the Dutch side.

17' Onana tries to clear the ball from his goal but took a bit too long to kick it and Llorente was right on that in the middle of the pitch as he passes it to Pléa who turns superbly and runs away from his marker; he crosses it in towards the middle of the box, Dioussé's there! But he misses it and it's Malcom instead who gets to IT AND TAPS IT HOME FOR SAINT-ÉTIENNE! WHAT A FINAL! It's 2-0 for the French side who are clearly favourites now! What a game! The little Brazilian goes and continues his tremendous season scoring his 17th goal of the season!

AS Saint-Étienne [2] - 0 Ajax
Malcom
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20' Just under 20 minutes in now and Ajax are slowly starting to look like they're going to try to come back in this game as they get a throw in which goes on the edge of Saint-Étienne's box on the right side of the pitch but Llorente intercepts and loses it straight away and Bandé takes it all the way and taps it past Ruffier and OH IT'S 2-1! THAT WAS INCREDIBLY SURPRISING AS HE JUST TAPPED IT AND IT NEVER LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GOING IN BUT SOMEHOW MADE ITS WAY INTO THE BACK OF THE NET! Ajax are back in it! Oh football!

AS Saint-Étienne 2 - [1] Ajax
Hassane Bandé
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31' Ever since Ajax's goal, it's definitely been going the Dutch's side way and Saint-Étienne are way too easily getting dragged out of position and just being outplayed completely as Les Verts actually get a corner here which will be hit by Pereira. The Brazilian youngster tries to find Llorente in the box but Darmian clears and the little magician Malcom is at the edge of the box waiting for it; he takes it around two Ajax defenders and goes to the left and crosses it back post AND THERE'S BEN ARFA WAITING RIGHT THERE TO JUST TAP IT IN AND IT'S IN! 3-1 OFF THE CROSSBAR AND SAINT-ÉTIENNE GET THEIR 2-GOAL LEAD BACK! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE GAME!

AS Saint-Étienne [3] - 1 Ajax
Hatem Ben Arfa
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HALF-TIME​

45+2' There we go, the nightmare is over (for now) for Ajax who go into the half two goals down despite playing quite well, and I think the one thing that's gone wrong for them is just desire. There's clearly quality in both sides but Saint-Étienne have just showed a lot more desire to win this game, I mean as soon as they conceded that Ajax goal they tried to defend better and eventually even got a 3rd goal so clearly they want to win this game, I don't know about Ajax though. After losing 2 finals in a row, you'd think they'd be going for it but not at all! They had a good spell right after their goal but after that nothing.

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I mean as you can see from the statistics so far, it's clearly a very, very even game and Saint-Étienne have just been more clinical, they had one more shot on target than Ajax and they scored 3 of them, so clearly there's something going on mentally that's going Saint-Étienne's way. Anyways we're be leaving for a short break now and coming back right here in Baku for the second half of this incredible Europa League final so far! We'll definitely hope for some more goals then, whether they go Saint-Étienne or Ajax's way, we'll have to find out!

KICK OFF!

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45' So there we go then for the second half of this Europa League final as Saint-Étienne lead 3-1 with goals from Ben Arfa, Malcom and Dioussé and Ajax's goal coming from Bandé. The French side is the one starting us off and we'll see now whether or not both managers' team talks have had any effect on their players!

54' We can see some movement down the Saint-Étienne bench now, it looks like the French manager is going to make some changes for his side but just before that the ball needs to go out of play of course as Lukaku throws the ball in down the left hand side and gives it to Llorente who manages to find Pléa and the French striker runs down the wing and crosses it in BACK POST AND ONCE AGAIN IT'S HATEM BEN ARFA WHO'S THERE TO FINISH IT, IT GOES IN OFF THE POST FROM AN EXTREMELY TIGHT ANGLE AND IT'S 4-1! SURELY GAME OVER NOW?

AS Saint-Étienne [4] - 1 Ajax
Hatem Ben Arfa
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55' Well there we go, Saint-Étienne making their changes now right after their 4th goal with Mandi coming off for the club captain Loïc Perrin, Karsdorp for Théophile-Catherine and Pléa, who had a really decent game, coming off for Beric who might be playing his last game for the club after he's decided to leave at the end of the season when his contract runs out. Of course, Beric was a hugely important player for Saint-Étienne last season when they finished 2nd as he scored 31 goals to get them Champions League football after God knows how many years so it could be an emotional goodbye from him but also an opportunity to score some goals if it keeps going like this!

59' Ajax are starting to wake up slowly now, it always seem to be when they're a couple of goals down that they decide they need to wake up as Schöne passes a free kick short to Bandé at the edge of the box who HITS ONE AND SCORES! WHAT A STRIKE THAT IS FROM THE BURKINABE STRIKER WHO MIGHT JUST BE GETTING HIS SIDE RIGHT BACK IN IT! THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY CRAZY GAME!

AS Saint-Étienne 4 - [2] Ajax
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64' Big blow there for Ajax as it looks like their star left-back Matteo Darmian is going to have to come off injured for the final 30 minutes of this thrilling Europa League final and the Dutch side will have to make a change! Saint-Étienne of course, made all their changes in the 55th minutes so are now stuck with the players on the pitch to hold on to the lead and win the trophy!

69' Saint-Étienne play around with the ball a little too much and lose it as Bandé, who's on a hat-trick now, is put through one on one against Ruffier but the 20-year old can't keep his cool and smashes it over! The Ajax manager takes the opportunity to bring on the pacey David Neres to replace Huntelaar, who's been incredibly below-par tonight.

75' We're getting closer and closer to a dramatic end to the Europa League as Ruffier has to smash the ball upfield to clear his lines and Ajax keep pushing, looking to decrease the deficit by 1 goal and be just a goal away from taking this to extra time! Rukavina came on for Darmian earlier in the match and he smashes the ball upfield himself now and somehow his ball finds Neres who's through one on one with Ruffier as well and he does the same thing as his team mate just a couple of minutes ago! It flies over the bar and the Saint-Étienne can count themselves lucky on that one as well! What a game!

89' There'll be 4 minutes added on as Ajax take their shots tally up to 15 now, having doubled the amount of shots they had in the first half! None of them other than Bandé's strike in the 59th minute have found the back of the net though and it's looking like Saint-Étienne might have this win in the bag!

90+4' It's all over! Saint-Étienne win their first Europa League and their first European competition in dramatic fashion and they can most definitely thank Malcom, who had the game of his life out there tonight and the French side win the Europa League to make it 2 French wins in a row, Marseille last season and Saint-Étienne this season and the curse continues for Ajax who just can't win a European trophy to save their lives! What a match this was, what a season it's been and just imagine now, what Saint-Étienne will be capable of next season. This has been your commentators on BT Sport for this Europa League final, what a game it was, thank you for being with us tonight and goodnight!

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Wow oh wow! Can I just retire now please?! We have just won the Europa League people, this is no joke! I thought finishing 2nd for two seasons in a row was an achievement but how about this for one! Our first season back in Europe and we go and win the whole thing! And as you can see, we were clear overachievers but that's a good thing, and it means next season teams will not underestimate us and give us a challenge. Boy am I excited for next season now for new signings and new matches against better European teams, it's going to be an incredible third season in charge of this amazing team and wow, what a game, thank God for Malcom and Ben Arfa who were just incredible tonight! Thank you for following season 2, the Ligue 1 awards will feature in the next mini-update before the introductory update for season 3!
 
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Awesome stuff. The presentation quality in this story is really top notch. Congrats on another great season!
 
Sammuthegreat said:
Awesome stuff. The presentation quality in this story is really top notch. Congrats on another great season!
Click to expand...
Cheers mate, really appreciate the kind words! It has been a pretty ridiculous season for sure hahaha, hopefully we'll do better next season in the Champions League now!
 
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So there we go then, the end to a historic season for the club and myself as we finished 2nd for the second year in a row and won the Europa League. Losing in the semi-finals of both cups definitely stung a bit but I mean, we won the Europa League so who even cares now! Our stadium was almost 80% full throughout the season which is amazing to see and I'm sure we'll see more and more people coming to see us play now. In terms of individual players, Pléa and Lukaku won signing of the season and young player of the signing respectively and they had the most goals for the club (24 goals) and assists (16 assists) respectively as well so, what a season for them. Honestly, what a year. Our best starting 11 looks great as well and it'll be sad to say goodbye to Pereira, Lo Celso and Lukaku who all made it in there but who knows? Maybe one day we'll have them with us again.

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In terms of the Ligue 1 awards, PSG dominated obviously but we got a few ourselves; well, we had players in the Team of the Year that is. It's honestly been such an incredible season and let's just say it'll be very, very tough to go and win the title next season but slowly but surely we're getting there, and it could be an amazing season ahead. Emery was the manager for PSG this whole time whilst Dijon's former manager Dall'Oglio was managing Monaco and with Emery now gone to Bayern, Dall'Oglio will move on to PSG. If this wasn't a story with Saint-Étienne, I would've probably easily gotten the job myself but oh well! One day, Saint-Étienne will be a better team than PSG! I'll be back for the next update with our pre-season tour and new signings!
 
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July 2019: a huge squad overhaul

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Hello everyone and welcome to season 3! Now, before we jump into the actual pre-season, we have a LOT of transfers to get through, it's pretty insane. Before we jump into those though, you can see our fixture list and our little Europe map of where we need to go for our pre-season tour. Games in Sion, Liège and Madrid means we're not travelling too far, with a game against Fulham at home as well in between. Our furthest destination will be Agrigento in Italy but it should be a nice trip down to Sicily. As you can see from the squad list, instead of ruining the new signings like I did last year, I've just put "new" and then the player position to show you where we've invested our money. I can tell you right now that our initial budget was about €25 million and after playing around with it, changing the different competition expectations and selling about €35 million worth of players, we had total of a little over €60 million to spend this summer.

The first player to leave the club this summer was Ruffier. At 32, he was definitely getting a little too old for my liking but to be completely honest with you, I didn't want him to leave! During the season, I promised him to use some youth players in the side in a couple of games and even though I definitely did, I guess it wasn't good enough for him and he wanted to leave. Surprisingly, no one came to me saying "how could you let him leave" even though he was a very influential player in the squad but after 8 seasons at the club, we say goodbye to one of our best players since I arrived and one of the club's most important players in the last decade.

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Now then, here is our very first signing of the window (excluding Munir who's come in on a free) and our first non-European transfer as well! After Lukaku's departure, we were left with just M'Bengué as the left-back and even though he's definitely a good player, I don't think he'll really be up to the standards of the Champions League. Brad Smith is 25 years old and still has a lot of potential and I think he'll develop very quickly into this side if we start him every game so it should be a great signing, especially for just over €500,000.

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Our second signing is an absolutely massive one in Benjamin Pavard. He's French which is great and incredibly promising too and I figured we needed a new centre-back in the side. Pavard can play right-back as well, which was my thinking behind this signing since Karsdorp requested to leave if a club like Arsenal or similar was coming in for him. He cost us €16.5 million up front and we'll have to pay another €28.5 million over the next 3 years, so he's definitely a very expensive signing but he's an incredible one and I can't wait to see him with a Saint-Étienne kit on soon.

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This was another one of our cheaper and better deals in the window. Scuffet, who was once thought to be the new Buffon is coming in technically to replace Moulin, our backup goalkeeper, as I've actually got a better keeper lined up for our starting 11 following Ruffier's departure. For just €500,000 and a great amount of quality, Scuffet will be a great keeper to have and he's agreed to be a rotation player as well, so he'll obviously be expecting to be the backup goalkeeper for us.

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Our 4th signing of the window is another huge one and once again I'm taking advantage of the instalments option to go and get one of the most promising players in Ligue 1, Thiago Maia. With Llorente performing so well alongside Pereira and Lo Celso, I wanted to be able to bring in a player for the long-term who could develop a partnership with Llorente and Maia will do just that. He's just 22 years old and is a defensive minded midfielder so that means we'll have a very physical and defensive midfield who can do a great job and it should help us concede less goals! We only paid €10 million up front as well, which means we've spent about €27 million so far of our €60 million budget!

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This was one of the reasons why we signed Maia, as M'Vila requested to leave and signed for Lazio for just €10 million. It's a decent amount to get for him and to replace him with a 22-year old with huge potential is definitely a positive.

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Bamba was on loan at Wolves for the second part of the season and didn't really impress me. At 23 years old, he needs first-team football to be able to truly develop and I didn't want to get in the way of that. He'll leave us for Toulouse who finished 10th last season, so aren't really huge rivals of ours. Good luck to him and M'Vila, who've left the club!

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I forgot to actually take the screenshot of the signing screen, but this our new number one goalkeeper! I sent my scouts out on an assignment last season for a month all over Europe to scout as many goalkeepers as they could, and he was recommended to me by almost all of them! We signed up for €7.5 million upfront, taking our spending to €34.5 million this summer, but the deal will potentially rise to just over €20 million. I know you might be thinking we're reducing our transfer budgets for the next few seasons but the way I see it, this allows us to get quality players right now to do better over the next few years and actually go on and win a lot of prize money and be able to spend every summer! Regardless, the board seems very happy to let me invest in the side so it's great to have 2 new goalkeepers and a new midfielder and defender. That's our 5th signing so far, 6th if you count Munir, which means there's just two more to get through now.

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Now this is is by far the biggest one of the window. We spent less than €10 million upfront for him and to get a 24-year old midfielder who's already a star Ligue 1 midfielder who has the potential to become world class, it was a no brainer. He's a French international as well, which is great for the club so that's 3 midfielders we have who are defensive midfielders, which means one or two of them will need to learn to score goals for sure! I'm really excited about this signing and despite his really high wages, I already know he'll be an incredibly important player for us down the years.

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Our final signing of the season is Bentancur. Considering how well every loan player has been doing for us, I figured it would be good to have some quality backup for Llorente, Bakayoko and Maia. Maybe not necessarily backup for injuries but also for suspensions as well, which means if our starting 3 midfielders got injured or suspended we could replace them with Bentancur, Dioussé and Fuchs, which is great. That's the last signing we made this summer and it takes our overall spending to about €40 million, which is just about our budget considering we had to wiggle some things around to make room for some high wages! We made some incredible signings and all those signings together mean we have 13 players with the French nationality out of 25, so we're still on track for the French nationality challenge! Now then, let's get into the pre-season results shall we?

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Well, not a great start to our pre-season is it! Sion played very well but we should have gone and won the game, so it's disappointing to lose like that. It's just pre-season though and the players will need time to get together so I'm not too bothered.

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Now that's more like it! Our little youngster Fuchs scores 2 goals which makes me very excited to see him play (when he can) this season. A 5-1 win is very satisfying to get even in pre-season and I'm really happy with the result and the way we played, so we can now go back to Le Chaudron, our home, to take on Fulham! Then, we'll have two more casual games against much weaker sides before we have to play, of course, in the UEFA Super Cup against Manchester United!

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Another victory for our first game with all our new signings together in the team, and it's looking very promising! The big test will be against Manchester United of course so we'll see how we do then!

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Another easy victory in a pre-season game, with our last game in Italy now which should be a great break. Munir is looking great in pre-season and the youngster Combe has been playing really well too so it'll be awesome to see how the first few games of the season go!

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Pléa's injury is a big blow but we have some good depth up front and we can replace him easily, but he's an important player so he'll be missed for sure... It's a great win though and we didn't even give away any shots. Every player got a chance to play during pre-season which is awesome and we now move on to our August games. You'll see the results, and of course the Champions League draw, in the next update!

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August 2019: a chance at redemption?

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The first news for this new official season aren't good ones: two injuries. The first one for Bagayoko is a big one and it's a shame because Boubacar is just 16 years old and he's showing a lot of promise coming through the academy as well. Munir on the other hand, is a big loss. I was going to start him for our first game of the season against Ajaccio since Pléa is injured as well but he won't be able to start which is a real shame.

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What a first game of the season! We've absolutely smashed them! And to think I wanted to start Pléa or Munir... Would you look at that! A hat-trick on his debut for Combe and it's a fantastic result which sees us immediately go top of the table. Could this be how we play for the rest of the season? That would be just incredible.

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Congratulations to José Mourinho and Manchester United, a deserved victory for them despite our hard work tonight. Kane was world class and justifies his €82 million price tag from last summer. I wasn't expecting us to win this trophy to be honest so it's not a big deal at all, but it would've definitely been nice to win it.

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An absolute shame to be honest, and I really thought we'd manage a good result away to PSG but it just wasn't to be. The French kings come away 4-1 winners and every season we keep playing better and better and it just never seems like we're getting any closer to them to be honest... Hopefully we manage to do better during the season and knock them off their throne but it'll be tough if we can't beat them.

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I thought we'd be better defensively now with Maia, Bakayoko and Llorente but clearly not. We concede another 2 goals to make it 6 in 3 games so far this season, but at least we get a win, thanks to a rare brace from Llorente. Next up we have the Champions League, which could be a huge chance at redemption for us to be honest considering our horrible performance last year, so let's hope for an easier group this season!

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Well, let's just say I'm very happy with that! Manchester City are a great side of course but Sporting and Copenhaguen are two teams we can absolutely beat and I can definitely see us going through the group stages this season! We start off at home against Sporting for the first CL game of the season so it should be a great way for us to get off to a good start in the group stages.

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A 3rd minute goal from Pavard, his first for the club, clinches another win for us in the league, taking us into 2nd now temporarily. Other than the PSG defeat, it's been an incredible start to the season and I think if we keep playing this way, we genuinely do have a chance at the title this season!

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As you can see here, PSG are not off to a good start at all and despite huge games against Monaco and Lyon next month, if we get good results in both of those plus the Dijon and Troyes games, we could be on for a fantastic season! The Sporting game comes right after the Lyon home game as well so it should an amazing couple of games now and hopefully the fans get behind us and push the team to get some good results, because if PSG keep messing up this really could be our season!
 
Big overhaul in the summer, hopefully the squad gels quickly seems to be doing so
 
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September 2019: not an ideal start

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We got off to a great start this month with some great news as Pléa wanted to extend his contract and despite the higher wage, I'll definitely take that! He hasn't really played yet because Combe has been in such great form but he'll definitely get back in the starting 11 soon.

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Now THAT, is not what I wanted to hear from the medical team. Pavard collided with a reserve player during training and now he's out for over a month and a half, maybe even close to 2 months. Great. One of our most expensive and better signings this summer is already out and we've not even faced Manchester City yet. Let's just hope when he comes back he can go right back into the team and perform again. We're really unlucky with injuries seriously!

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Well would you look at that! We not only go top of the league with that result, but it's a great result against our arch rivals Lyon who have been really good so far this season! A fantastic game, Llorente coming up with the goals now that he's the more attacking our 3-man midfield and it's just a great result for us.

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We absolutely dominated them but got punished in the 36th minute. What a shame... We had a chance to get off to a great start for the Champions League and just completely bottled it and it's former PSG man Rúben Vezo who gets the man of the match as well, just to rub salt in the wound... Our next game is at the Etihad against Manchester City, and something tells me we're not going to do very well there... Wonder why...

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Well, if the Champions League isn't working, at least we've got Ligue 1 going well for us! Smith scored his first 2 goals for the club and in just one game! Come did really well once again today and Munir is starting to pick up some form as we win against Dijon 4-1. Good scoreline, great result, let's keep going!

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We knew the Monaco game would be a tough one and I'm glad we got a draw. It's not 3 points, but it's definitely better than a defeat and I believe we're still 1st after that result, still ahead of PSG so there's that! Another one of our centre-backs gets injured though, Mandi, and it's not good at all because he's one of our best defenders so we're definitely going to be struggling now...

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Wow Bakayoko has really been a terrific signing hasn't he! A 3-2 win against Troyes and we played a lot worse than we could've but we get the win which is what matters and stay top of the league! However, as if we weren't unlucky enough with injuries already, we go and get another one! Munir, who was already out for the first two weeks of the season, gets injured again this time for a month! Thank God we didn't sign him for money, otherwise what a waste that would feel like... Hopefully he comes back sooner than a month and starts performing though.

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We start off the month against Manchester City and then Marseille... Well that should be fun! We need to do better in the Champions League and hopefully the Manchester City game will be a wake up call and we can start performing from then. Personally, I'd see us as favourites behind City to qualify from the group but after the Sporting defeat, we've definitely made life harder for ourselves...
 
Doing really well so far, impressed with how quickly you are updating, are you ahead in the game or just have plenty of time to update? Im always lucky to post an update once every 2 days, KIU
 
coolmcool said:
Doing really well so far, impressed with how quickly you are updating, are you ahead in the game or just have plenty of time to update? Im always lucky to post an update once every 2 days, KIU
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Haha cheers mate, really appreciate the support :) to be honest, I just constantly have the game open and just find time to write posts quickly yeah! I update whenever I finish up with a certain month and to be honest one of the reasons I update so quickly is because I wanna keep the story going! I basically go through the whole month then post an update as soon as I can when I'm done with it :)
 
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