Taking Stade de Reims back to the top after 50 years

[CorvetteC3]

I've decided to do my first story here on FM-Base. First I have already finished the first two seasons and the success I've had is the main reason why I'm doing this story, especially as the toughest part is only beginning. I'll give you reports of the first two seasons later once I've taken some screenshots but first a bit about the team I have selected.
Stade de Reims. Reims were the team to beat in France in the fifties and early sixties, clocking up six Ligue 1 titles and won the Coupe de France twice in that era. They also appeared twice in the final of the European Champions Cup, though losing both times against Real Madrid. Following the departure of the clubs biggest stars including Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine in the early sixties the club started to move up and down the French divisions and faced serious financial troubles. This lasted until 1991 when the club won their last major trophy, the Coupe de la Ligue. In October the same year all the clubs assets were liquidated to pay off debts of more than 50M franks. The club was allowed to continue playing in a lower division under the name of Stade de Reims Champagne FC, but they couldn't finish the season as under a court ruling all their remaining assets, including all the trophies were auctioned off. The club is reborn from its ashes in July 1992 as the "Stade de Reims Champagne". They make it to the Championnat national in 1999 and establish themselves in Ligue 2 in 2004 but in 08/09 season they fall back to the french third division and this is the time when I arrive at the club.


More to come soon.

 

[CorvetteC3]

Now let's get tho the business. In the first season the board expected me to gain promotion to Ligue 2 and I was given a transfer budget of 500 000£ and a wage budget of 15 000£. I realized that with the 500k budget i won't be buying any great players so I relocated all the transfer funds into the wage budget and went for free agents.

Players in: Hamed Namouchi AMRL
Cesar la Paglia AMC
Cristian Mora GK
Glauber DC
Wescley DC
and a Cristopher Glombard on loan from my parent club Girondins de Bordeaux.

I started using the Stev's Barca Style tactic which worked well for me on my previous game. I don't think there is much point in bringing out some specific matches from the season as I totally dominated the division going unbeaten for the entire season. I also made to the quarter finals of the Coupe de France which I'm quite happy about because I wasn't aiming very high in that competition and it gave some extra funds. The season ended with me in top spot and looking forward to Ligue 2. It was a good season with my capten scoring 48 league goals. The only downside was that none of the other players didn't even reach ten goals.

 

[Paul LUFC Custus]

best luck

 

[CorvetteC3]

Thanks Paul

And now the 2010/2011 season review.

The first sign that things are going well was the signing of the Chelsea youngster Gael Kakuta on a free. The manager was extremely happy with this signing and said that this signing shows that players have faith in this club and want to take it to the highest level possible. Stade de Reims also managed to sign ex-Inter centre-back Nelson Rivas on a free. In pre-season I was presented with a transfer budget of 1.5m and was expected to achieve a top-half finish. In July some veterans who's contracts had expired left the club, most notable being CB Brahim Thiam who's experience had been very helpful. The manager also decided to cash in Midfielders Vincent Gragnic, Thomas Gamiette and defender Wescley, receiving 7.4M for the players. A large amount of it was invested in other areas of the club but the manager was still able to bring in highly rated italian midfielder Marco Verratti for 625k, Brazilian forward Nikao for 40k and USA goalkeeper Josh Lambo for 650k. As the manager felt that five players still isn't enough to compete in Ligue 2 he decided to offer contracts to Espanyol midfielder Jonatas and a former Reims player, veteran winger Robert Pires. The fans kept praising the manager for these signings and he decided to finish building the team for the season with season-long loans of United winger Gabriel Obertan, Everton youngster Jack Rodwell and Arsenal defender Havard Nordtveit.
The start of the season wen't well with the team moving into the top half of the table but then the team started to struggle and quickly fell to relegation places only a big change in tactics and the signing of 39year old spanish striker Moises helped the team back on track. Meanwhile the fans couldn't stop laughing at their managers inability to count to three as he was forced to leave striker Nikao out of the team for the season because Ligue 2 clubs can only have 2 non-EU players in their squads. The lack of a quality striker caused troubles for the entire season. In January the club signed another striker, Igor, for 375k and loaned Liverpool left-back Emiliano Insua and Bordeaux winger Henri Saivet. Another major change in tactics helped the club to 20-match unbeaten run and before the last game of the season Stade de Reims were in second. But at the time only Le Mans had secured promotion but not the title. The other two promtion places were up for grabs between four clubs. A 3-0 victory in the final secured a spot in the top division for the first time since 1978.

 

[CorvetteC3]

2011/2012 Preview

My first year in Ligue 1. I'm looking to achieve a mid table finish this season. It is still very early in the summer but I have already been very active in the transfer market. Probably the biggest signing is brazilian wonderkid Giuliano for 6M. Also Reims have managed to buy one of last seasons loanee's, Havard Nordtveit from Arsenal for 3.5M. Stade de Reims also paid 3.5M for PAOK keeper Silviu Lung jr, whom they had failed to sign the previous season. Now when there were three excellent keepers in the team manager M R decided that someone has to go. That someone was Ecuador international Cristian Mora who joined Dinamo for 7.5M. This has left Stade de Reims 8M available to spend. So a deal for young brazilian right-back Tales was agreed. Thee club will pay 1.2m for the player who will join the club next season. The club snatched up 20 year old left winger Wahbi Khazri on a free transfer. With money still in the bank the manager is looking for left-back, a right-back, and a striker and has made offers for Yannis Tafer, Francois Clerc and Kiko Femenia.

I would like some opinions on whether to sign Clerc (older but better atm and french) or Femenia(younger should get better than Clerc) as I have that brazilian joining me next season. They are both transfer listed and available for 2.8M. And some ideas for left-back and striker.

 

[CorvetteC3]

Pre-season is now underway and five games have been played so far.

SC CAMBUUR 2-5 STADE DE REIMS (Nordtveit, Deaux2x, Namouchi, Faure)
A good game to start the season. The new guys didn't play a major role.
AFC AJAX 5-0 STADE DE REIMS
A humiliating defeat although I was still going through hard physical training.
KAYSERISPOR 1-2 STADE DE REIMS(Nordveit, Moises pen)
The match was played the next day and most of the players fitness was horrible, around 60%. But I could see improved performances and the new guys starting to contribute too.
SPORTING TOULON VAR 0-3 STADE DE REIMS (Nikao, Pires, Nordtveit)
The easiest match so far but the players were still unfit. Nordtveit scores again from a corner.
STADE DE REIMS 0-4 GIRONDINS DE BORDEAUX
I took a very bold and attacking approach to this match and it didn't pay off. Gourcuff scored a hatrick.
Two more games are coming.

Also Reims have found a solution to the rightback position by signing spanish youngster Kiko Femenia from Sevilla for 2.8M and are currently waiting to finish offloading previous rightback Mickael Tacalfred for 3.1M.

Stade de Reims are making inquiries for two young strikers, brazilian Pedrinho(release clause of 6.2M) and belgian Eric Sabbadini( my scouts says 1.5M should be enough). And they are also keeping an eye on Daniel Aquino.

I want to hear your opinons on the strikers (screenshots added) and ideas for left-back, someone similar to Insua or better.

 

[CorvetteC3]

As pre-season training continues Stade de Reims announce another big-money signing. Palmeiras forward Pedrinho has joined the red-whites for 6.25M. At the players unveiling the manager also said that Reims defender Mickael Tacalfred has joined Toulouse for 3.5M and former club captain and record goalscorer Cedric Faure is in contract negotiations with several Premier league clubs.

Pre-season results:
BRAUNSCHWEIG EINTRACHT 0-4 REIMS (Igor, Nordtveit, Moises, N'Zigou)
A good match young left winger Khazri is settling in very well creating three goals in 60 minutes.

STADE BORDELAIS 1-0 REIMS
Excellent defending from the opposition, they intercepted 33 out of 34 crosses.

REIMS 1-0 CFR CLUJ (Igor pen)
Experimented with a more conservative approach but Cluj did the same. In the end it was a dubious penalty in extra time what brought the victory.

REIMS 2-2 AJ AUXERRE (Kakuta, Nikao)
Another wonderful performance from Khazri. He fought hard for every ball and ran the entire length of the pitch to create the second goal. Unfortunately his effort was cancelled out by an idiotic own-goal from substitutes Glauber and Garcia Fernandes.

REIMS 10-0 AS CROISY-LE-ROY (Kakuta, Pedrinho x2, Nordtveit x2, Giuliano, Deaux, Nikao x2, Pires)
This was an easy match to guarantee a positive emotion to end the pre-season and the result speaks for itself.

I think I'm done with transfers for now although I'm still looking for that Left-back.

I will be doing monthly updates from now on. If you have any ideas for left-back or a screenshot of Nikao, Kiko Femenia, Nordtveit or Giuliano around 2015-2018 please post it below.

 

[Ronan]

keep up the good work

 

[CorvetteC3]

Now ,my first Ligue 1 season finally got underway. The media expects me to finish 14th, I'm hoping a little higher. The first matches in August weren't going to be the toughest so I was hoping get a good start.

VALENCIENNES FC 0-3 STADE DE REIMS (Glauber, Nordtveit, Nikao)
An excellent start to the season with this away win. Six players made their debuts for the club, Glauber and Nordtveit headed us 2-0 up in the first half before sub Nikao finished the game off with the third from a tight angle.

After the match it was revealed that club legend Cedric Faure had joined Birmingham for 1.8M.

STADE DE REIMS 2-2 TOULOUSE FC (Opare og, Verratti)
First home game and it was filled with extreme unluck. The game started well with Havard Nordtveit scoring another header, officially it was marked as an own goal though. Right after half-time Toulouse equalized with a free kick that took a deflection off Julian Ielsch, another own-goal. Young midfielder Marco Verratti instantly replied by sending us ahead again with 30-yard screamer. Unfortunately it wasn't the end of the day as rightback Kiko Femenia was brought off with an hamstring injury. It was later revealed that player will be out for up to 3 months. And in the end Toulouse managed to equalize again with only ten men and in extra time. The only upside was a first ever capacity crowd during my stay at Reims.

LE MANS UC 72 2-1 STADE DE REIMS (Giuliano)
Things din't start off well in this match with Le Mans scoring a free kick in the third minute. Winger Giuliano managed to equalize with his first ever goal for Reims just before half time. But in the end Giroud scored his second of the game and it meant a first defeat of the season for us.

STADE DE REIMS 2-1 GRENOBLE FOOT 38 (Pedrinho, Deaux)
With the team wanting to bounce back immediately we went out aiming to win this match. In the first half we made several defensive errors but didn't concede luckily. After the break Grenoble went ahead but 18 year old forward Pedrinho showed some class by scoring five minutes later. Things didn't improve much with both teams making mistakes and shooting wide. With the manager and players already expecting another draw Lucas Deaux managed to hammer in the winning goal from close range in the 93rd minute.

At the end of the month I was sitting 6th in the table with seven points from four matches. A bit disappointing considering who we played and how some matches ended.

Also I'm finished with transfers for the summer. I still haven't got that left-back and I also didn't find anybody to cover Truchet while Femenia is out with injury. I have got 5.5M left but I also have to 280k per month for the next four years for the transfers of Nordtveit, Giuliano, Pedrinho and Lung jr.

September is going to be a tougher month with matches against Bordeaux and Lyon coming up.

 

[CorvetteC3]

September review:
It was always going to be a tough month but just as the transfer window closed key player Nelson Rivas announced his intentions to leave the club and to be put on the transfer list. I told him to stick it as he can't go anywhere before January and in the same time instructed my scouts to start looking for a replacement. Soon they came up with a possible solution, young Argentinian Sebastian Vera

Boca want around 12 million for him. Is he worth it? Opinions please. I can sell Rivas for about 15M.

Matches:
GIRONDINS DE BORDEAUX 2-1 STADE DE REIMS (Verratti)
Took an defensive approach to this match but still conceded two in the first half. With nothing to lose I went on the attack in the second and Verratti scored a truly beautiful freekick from the left cirner of the area. Didn't get the equalizer though.

STADE DE REIMS 2-0 USBCO (Verratti pen, Deaux)
A good home game expected to win it and did it in style.

STADE DE REIMS 0-1 FC NANTES (Coupe de la Ligue)
Sent out my B-team in this match and lost it in the end. This competition wasn't in my plans this year so thats about it. Unfortunately my second right-back ,Johan Truchet, picked up an injury in this match and will be sidelined for a month. Now I quickly needed a right-back and offered a nine-month contract to Ireland defender Steve Finnan.

LYON 1-0 STADE DE REIMS
Again I went out to defend, Finnan was still thinking so I had to play midfielder Lucas Deaux at right back. The team played well with Silviu Lung jr picking up the Man of the Match award and Pedrinho showing excellent ball control in the other end of the pitch. Unfortunately he lacked pace to get rid of the defenders, who knows what might jave happened if he had gotten through. I decided to put him on a special training regime to help him improve his physical form.

After the match Steve Finnan agreed to sign the contract. I finished the month 8th and realistically thinking I took the maximum out of these matches.

 

[CorvetteC3]

October: started this month hoping to pick up some points in every match but instead got a lot of stupid mistakes defending and extremely poor refereeing. On the upside I did start to score myself and the board announced the completion of the expansion of the training facilities.

STADE DE REIMS 2-3 LOSC LILLE METROPOLE (Pedrinho x2)
We struggled to clear the ball out of the area and in the end conceded two offside goals. The referee was a blind mf. But we were improving on the attack. Pedrinho showed extremely cool and confident finishing with his two goals and it could have been more but he seriously lacks pace. Several times he had a five yard lead at the middle of the pitch but the opposition defenders easily caught up with him before he reached the edge of the area.

STADE DE REIMS 3-3 OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE (Pedrinho, Jonatas x2)
The same as the previous match, unable to clear the ball and intercept crosses and in the extra time conceded another offside goal. I experimented with the stopper/cover phylosophy, the stopper was excellent but the covering player player left to much space which Ben Arfa easily used to score two.

OGC NICE 2-2 STADE DE REIMS (Giuliano, Jonatas)
This was my 100th match in charge. It didn't start well though. Nordtveit who had just gotten over an injury was forced to come off just after three minutes and was sidelined for a further 2 weeks. The match was pretty dull until the 86th minute when Nice scored another offside goal against me. Nice were looking to win the match but in the 89th minute scored his first for Reims and equalized. but even this wasn't enough, in the first minute of extra time Nice exploited my defensive weaknesses and went ahead again. We still didn't give up and with the match almost over Jonatas scored a wonderful 40 yard strike to bring us back level. His goal was later selected worthy of the Ligue 1 Goal of the Month award.

STADE DE REIMS 1-1 AJ AUXERRE (Pedrinho)
Still the same problems persist although this time we conceded only one.

STADE DE REIMS 1-0 AS NANCY LORRAINE (Kakuta)
First win in six games to end the month. Our performance still wasn't anything noteworthy.

The month ended with some good news as Kiko Femenia returned to full training. I ended the month ninth which is actually very disappointing as all the matches were winnable, including the OM game. I have decided to get rid of Rivas as he is unhappy and playing poorly, I'm following Sebastian Vera and he seems to be getting unsettled at Boca and they are probably willing to drop the price. I have also been presented with the chance to buy Sidney Govou for 750k. Take look at the screenshot and tell me is he still worth it.

 

[Mahmoud ElHamawy]

good luck mate and if u get govou jst play him one season most i wudnt sign him tho... good luck with the ligue cause i knw french league is hard top 3-4 teams have amazing players and goalkeepers..

 

[CorvetteC3]

Thanks. And I think i will get him because his french and also Namouchi is getting a bit unsettled being a backup player. I could use him to tutor one of my younger wingers too. But my real problem is my back-line. I'm only happy with Nordtveit. Rivas is good but determined to leave and Glauber isn't quite up to standard, plus the brazilian teams have been making quite good offers for him. I just had a 5M bid accepted for that Vera kid, I hope to get him to replace Rivas and find some older european cb for backup. Having a back four with an average age under 20 might not be very reliable always.

 

[Mahmoud ElHamawy]

true you need experience at the back line but unfortunatly all good defenders wud need a big offer to get altho try going for gallas or materazzi..

 

[david h]

keep up the good work.. thats a tough challenge, goin for champions league in mine as well.. steaua bucharest. .. we both used to be good teams! lol

---------- Post added at 06:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:03 PM ----------

buy jano ananidze bought him in my steaua game, only 20 and arsenal offering 11 million for him

 

[CorvetteC3]

November: an easy month with only three matches to be played. I tried tweaking my defensive strategy but didn't have much luck with it.

FC NANTES 2-3 STADE DE REIMS (Nikao, Kakuta, Jonatas)
Wanted a result against them as they knocked me out of the league cup. Defensively we were still very poor. Offensively we continued improving. It was the best match so far for Giuliano, he created two goals out of three. In the end of the match I brought on Kiko Femenia who had returned to fitness again. But he didn't spend even then minutes on the pitch as he was forced into committing a professional foul and bringing down their striker as the last defender. He received a red card for it but also probably denied Nantes their third goal.

Few days after the match I received bad news as three players had injured themselves in training. Giuliano was out for a month, Josh Lambo for two weeks and young left-back Garcia Fernandes for three weeks.

STADE DE REIMS 2-1 PARIS ST GERMAIN (Glauber, Khazri)
I wasn't hoping to get any points from this match but PSG looked quite horrible and seemed to lack motivation. Wahbi Khazri was the man of the match, providing a perfect assist to Glauber's equalizer and later scored the winner himself with a placed shot.

STADE DE RENNAIS 2-2 STADE DE REIMS (Pedrinho, Pires)
I was aiming for a draw in this match and I got it too. Another classy performance from Pedrinho, scoring one and assisting the other goal. He is just so confident on the ball but his lack of pace just doesn't allow him to get close enough to the goal. What he could only do if he had pace like Walcott or Odonkor....

In general it was a good month, my minimum aim was 4 points I got seven. Still ninth in the rankings though. I've offered a contract to Sebastian Vera and am looking for an experienced defender and a left-back. Charles N'Zogbia came to mind for some reason..

 

[CorvetteC3]

true you need experience at the back line but unfortunatly all good defenders wud need a big offer to get altho try going for gallas or materazzi..

I looked at Gallas, he was at Juventus I thought that maybe his contract is expiring and I could sign him, don't know how much they want for him but I'll find out. And I'll take a look at Materazzi too. I tried to sign Jankulovski in the summer, his contract was about to expire, he was interested in joining me but I could only offer him 16,500£ per week but he wanted 25,000. So he retired instead.

---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 PM ----------

keep up the good work.. thats a tough challenge, goin for champions league in mine as well.. steaua bucharest. .. we both used to be good teams! lol

---------- Post added at 06:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:03 PM ----------

buy jano ananidze bought him in my steaua game, only 20 and arsenal offering 11 million for him

I took a look at him in the previous season but they wanted more than I could offer for him and went for Verratti instead, a bargain for 625k.

 

[CorvetteC3]

December: only three games played before the Christmas break and I was hoping to get six points from all the matches.

AJ SAINT ETIENNE 0-0 STADE DE REIMS
Didn't expect to get any kind of result against the in-form, third placed, Etienne side. So I went out to park the bus pretty much. We worked hard and denied Etienne any space in our half and were a threat on the attack to. Pedrinho earned a penalty but Kakuta shot it straight into the arms of the keeper. Julien Ielsch was voted man of the match despite being sent off in the 84th minute after receiving his second yellow card.

After the match I received bad news as another two players were injured in training. The new facilities don't seem to suit them. Both Lucas Deaux and Silviu Lung jr were sidelined for a month.

STADE DE REIMS 2-2 RC LENS (Rivas; Pedrinho)
I went into this match with half of the normal first eleven injured or suspended and only three players played in their normal positions. I was forced into playing Jonatas at centerback. On the upside Giuliano returned to action. Things didn't start well as Truchet was sent off after just 5 minutes. But the worked really hard hard and showed great spirit as we dominated most of the game even with ten men. Lack of match practice for Josh Lambo probably cost us the victory.

FC LORIENT 1-1 STADE DE REIMS (Rivas)
Really wanted to win this match and Rivas headed us ahead early in the game but Lorient got lucky with an questionable goal. Jonatas also picked up an injury and was sidelined for three weeks.

So, halfway though the season, sitting in ninth place. I'm on a ten match unbeaten run but I've only won three of those matches. Pedrinho is my top scorer with seven goals and two assists in 14 matches. The assists table is topped by Gael Kakuta with 6 assists. He scored two goals himself too.

With no competitive matches to be played in almost a month I have organized three friendlies against Aston Villa, Feyenoord and Charlton. Tough matches but if necessary I'll organize an easy fixture before the start of the second half of the season.

Sebastian Vera has signed a contract with us and is waiting for the transfer window to open to join the team. Boca will receive 5M for him and I've also offered a contract to Russia international Roman Shirokov who's contract at Zenit St. Petersburg has expired.

 

[Mahmoud ElHamawy]

i hope you get some experienced defenders... and great work mate atleast u havent got humiliated in the league... and hats up for signing verratti he becomes class...

 

[CorvetteC3]

Well I'll do the january update tomorrow but first I would like to ask for opinions concerning some player transfers before the start of the transfer window. First Roman Shirokov accepted my offer so I'm ready to cash in Rivas. AZ Alkmaar have made 10M+ offer.

This is what Gallas looks like now. At Juventus but not registered for first team. About 600-800k

Materazzi is retiring

Next up Patrick Viera. He's on big-money deal at Inter but I'm thinking of hiring him as my *** man next season.

But a player I'm really tempted to sign is this one Ivica Olic. Not very expensive but has got loads of pace and that's the a thing my team currently lacks. His possible wage demands are the only thing I'm worried about.

Now I have been looking for LB for a long time and I've come across Charles N'zogbia. If I'll get him it will probably be in the summer. But how good is he at left-back.

The following two youngsters are available quite cheap according to my scouts reports. But I just don't need them right now. I don't have a DM in my team and I'm thinking of trying to get one of the numerous Diarra's/Sissoko's in the summer.

IF someone has a screenshot of these players around 2015-2018 please post it or link to it.

The four other players I'm wondering about are Cicinho, Jaja(a Brazilian Nenad Milijas), Vazquez and Borisov. They are all quite good looking players but I either have their position covered already or they don't have a EU passport and I can't probably play them unless I get rid of someone else.
So. Opinions please.