FM - Rise of Slovakia - Nitra's Power - COMPLETE?

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Match #17 – Away vs Ajaccio – I begin defensively. Lerager is back. I start Besnard.

Goals

HALF
Besnard to De Preville, goal, 88th minute
Gomes to Besnard, goal, 92nd minute


We win 2-0. MOM is Besnard

One of our former tranfees has 50 appearances and we get 1.7 mill from them

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Match #18 – Home vs Nice – I begin controlling. Natcho and De Preville are starting for my cards. They are currently manager less after he left for another gig.

Goals

Rob Holding to Besnard, goal, IFK, 5th minute
Besnard grabs the ball in the corner, crosses to Slimani, and he scores in the 11th minute.
De Preville to Gomes, goal, 36th
HALF


We hold and win 3-0!

Wanna see?

OK!



As you can see we were near them statistically with shots. MOM was Besnard. Another shut out!

[Abe Sargent]

Coupe de la Ligue 4th Round – Home vs Auxerre – I begin controlling. My carded folks are back. I leave in Besnard.

Goals

Besnard to Slimani on a counter in the 31st
They score on an IFK in the 36th
Gomes to Slimani in the 43rd
HALF
Besnard to Slimani, goal, 49th – that’s his hattrick.
Besnard to Mehmedi two minutes later


We win 4-1. MOM is Slimani.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Match #19 – Away vs Havre – I begin defensively. This is Lerager’s 125th appearance for us.


Goals

Mehmedi grabs an intercepted pass and long shots it past the keeper. 43rd minute
HALF
They score in the 58th
Solanke to Besnard on a counter, 85th minute.


We win 2-1! MOM is Mehmedi.

[Abe Sargent]

Wanna see the table after the half way point?



Done deal! As you can see a lot of folks have 18 games around us and some have 20 so the table is inconsistent. But there you are!

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Match #20 – Home vs PSG – Are you ready for woodshed part two? We lost to them 2-0 on the road. Can I steal points form them at home like I did with OM? Let’s find out!

Goals

HALF
Them in the 61st minute
Otavio is sent off in the 65th

We lose 0-1.

I issue Otavio a warning

My team needs better card control

[Abe Sargent]

Dec 29th is here

What I need to compete against the heavies in the Ligue are 11 of my GKs Moreira. He is he best player on my team and isn’t even close to anyone save …. Nielsen. If I had that then I could have a shot. DC Nielsen has gotten to the place he’s now a 4.5 star rating and getting better. I need Nielsens and Moreiras. Gomes and Holding are good rocks as well. Besnard is good as well. But anyone else is subject to replacement as I need to improve my talent to a Moreira/Nielsen level of quality.

Are there any players looking for a new home in six months time that are one or the other?

Not at that level. I scout some others

I take a look elsewhere. I purchased Nielsen for 3.5 mill from Brondby. Can I find another for the Winter window? I send out scouts.

I offer Kamenik for loan. He needs more first team starts and he has been outplayed by the locals here and was my worst playing addition. I overpromoted him.

What about Kotora?

Nope. Bruno is it and he’s worth way too much.

I have won the Slovakian Head Coach of the Year!

I accept an offer for a fullback on our B Squad.

I am losing Natcho, Cristian and Sankhare among other backups I loaned out.

I find a DC from Portugal who blows away Isimit-Mirin and make an offer rafter his contract expires. I make an offer Joao Luis for 3 years and 25k/week


I make an offer to a 16 year old Belgium potential but raw wonderkid DC Tobe Peeters from Lierse.

I make an enquiry for 20 year old Tomas Machacek over at Nottingham Forest who may be a bit of a grower as well as a decent shower.

A player on our reserves who plays for Reunion won African Young Footballer of the Year! His name is Nicholas Niobe. I send him congrats!


I have my board inject more cash into our transfer kitty and I make a 7.5 mill offer for Machacek.

We agree to a 1.8 mill deal for Tobe Peeters.

[Abe Sargent]

January

2nd – Cup vs Stade Montois
12th – Home vs Guingamp, Qf Coupe de la Ligue
15th – Away vs Angers
19th – Home vs AS Monaco
22nd – Home vs Montpelier
29th – Away vs AS Saint-Etienne

Good training – Guillet, Dupuy, Nielsen

The transfer window opens

Neymar won Ligue Player of the Year

I make a 5 year first team offer for Machacek.


Who is free that I may wanna bring in?

Nope!


French Cup 9th round, Away vs Stade Montois – I begin countering.

Goals

Gomes feeds Besnard for goal in the 20th
HALF
Besnard crosses to Slimani for goal in the 66th

We win 2-0. MOM is Besnard.

I swap Solanke for Slimani and give him a deep forward role. Let’s see if Solanke and Besnard will play well together for a few starts.

[Abe Sargent]

Wanna see the Fortuna after 19 games?



I though you might! Nitra is in first over the big bad by 8 points.

We have signed Tobe Peeters!



Here he is! He’s is awesomely powerful and my scouts love him a lot. He’s a great future DC

Luis Joao will be joining us next year!

That’s one

We beat out four teams for Machacek! He’ll join us in 6 months.

That’s two

[Abe Sargent]

QF Coupe de la Ligue – Home vs Guingamp = I begin controlling. Will my changes to my Strikers result in damage? Otavio is back from his card.

Goals

Solanke to Jankovic, 3rd minute. Let’s kick this thang off!
Jankovic to Gomes, goal in the 7th minute. Let’s REALLY kick this thang off!
HALF
Them in the 47th off a counter
Weah crosses to Besnard in the 53rd minute
De Preville to Solanke, goal, in the 66th minute

We hold and win 4-1. MOM is on their team

Great win!

We draw PSG in the next round. Ah well!

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #21 – Away vs Angers -I begin countering. Our foe has 3-6-1 and is outnumbering our midfield!

Goals


HALF


0-0 Draw. MOM is Rob Holding

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #22 – Home vs Monaco – I begin countering. We gotta get through Courtois…

Goals

Them 27th minute
HALF
Solanke feeds Besnard in the 53rd. We scored too soon here they come!


We hold and tie 1-1!!!



Good job! Our defense held them to one score. MOM is Otavio!

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #23 – Home vs Montpelier – I begin controlling.

Goals

HALF
In the 50th minute off a corner kick by Besnard DC Nielsen finds goal.

We win 1-0. Not as dominating as I’d like but I’ll take any win. MOM is Nielsen


Isimit Mirin will be out the next match due to cards. Axel Tuanzebe will start for him.

[Abe Sargent]

Couple de Ligue Semis – Away vs PSG. I begin defending….


Goals

Them in the 28th minute
HALF
Them in the 66th

We lose 0-2. MOM is Neymar

We get 1.21 mill for making it this far!

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #24 – Away vs Saint-Etienne. Isimit-Mirin is back at DC. I begin countering.

Goals

Jankovic to Gomes, long shot, in the 13th
Them in the 43rd
HALF
Jankovic to Besnard, goal, 48th minute

We hold and win 2-1. MOM is Jankovic

The last transfer day is here!

Villareal offered 8 mill for Axel Tuanzebe…

No thanks! If you offered Joe Lacroix, yes

We offer a new contract to him still rotation but increasing his pay 6k week

I loan Kamenik to Rennes

The deadline passes

[Abe Sargent]

February

2nd – Cup Away vs Lorient
5th – Home vs RC Lens
8th – Away vs Lorient
12th – Home vs Rennes
19th – Away vs Lille
26th – Home vs Toulouse

Good training – Besnard, Solanke, Dupuy

10th Round Cup, Away vs Lorient – I begin countering.

Goals

HALF
Gomes crosses to Besnard, goal, 56th
Jankovic to Solanke, goal, 71st.
Them in the 80th off a DFK
Them in the 86th
Natcho to Solanke, goal, extra time


We hold and win 3-2. Wanna see?

[Abe Sargent]

Axel Tuanzebe signs his new deal.

Ligue Game #25 – Home vs RC Lens. I begin controlling. They are #16 which means we’ll struggle against them rather than rain goals…

Goals!

HALF
In the 70th Natcho scores from a Gomes assist.

And that’s it! MOM is Holding. Like I said, we’d struggle. We play up to the good teams and down the to the not-good ones.

I hand out rests

The Bordeaux record for shuts out is 14, which our new GK has tied!

I accept a 3.8 mill off from Lokomotiva Moscow for Lacroix. He would be my 6th DC next year and I would be looking to move him anyway. Might as well do it a month or three early.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #26 – Away vs Lorient – We begin countering.

Goals!!!

Besnard to Solanke on a counter in the 6th minute
HALF

We hold and win 1-0. Again. MOM is Solanke

Our GK has broken our record for shut outs!

We get 2 mill from an old transfer sell on fee

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #27 – Home vs Rennes – They are 17th so I begin controlling. We’ll struggle again.

Goals

HALF
They get a red card in the 48th
Holding to Mehmedi in the 60th on a counter for goal
Natcho to Nielsen off a corner in the 73rd for goal

We win 2-0. MOM is Mehmedi.

Solanke is injured for two weeks and Slimani will start

Lerager is back from his injury and will replace Natcho

Another shut out!

We have sold Lacroix

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #28 – Away vs LOSC – We begin countering against the #13 team.

Goals

Them off an IFK in the 17th minute
HALF
They have a PK in the 48th but we block it
Them in the 77th

We lose 1-2

Mehmedi has too many cards…

That loss drops us to 4th.

Solanke is back from his injury.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #29 – Home vs Toulouse – This is our rival and are 19th in the league. They beat us away when we gave up a PK and red card early. We have to keep our 11 here today. I begin controlling


Goals

HALF
They give us an OG in the 78th off a Weah cross.


We win 1-0. Another shut out!

[Abe Sargent]

March

1st, Cup vs Martigues
6th Away vs OM
12th – Home vs Caen
18th – Away vs Nantes

Good training – Nielsen, Antwi, Dupuy

French Cup, 11th Round – Away vs Martigues – I begin countering. Mehmedi is back from his card.

Goals

Besnard, 18th, called offsides
Otavio to Mehmedi, long shot, 28th minute – I already have 14 shots to their 1
Besnard leaps onto a rebound and scores in the 41st
HALF
Solanke another solo score in the 53rd
Jankovic PK in the 64th


We win 4-0. MOM is Jankovic. Wanna see what’s likely my most dominant win thus far?




Here you are. Another shut out!

We made it to the quarter finals!

[Abe Sargent]

Our youth have arrived! I take a look and sign some great players, including DC Mickeal Chauvin with a great top end.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #30 – Away vs OM – Ready for woodshed time? I begin defensively. We defeated them at home. Can we steal points away? Let’s find out!

Goals

They score in the 13th minute called offsides.
HALF
They score in the 87th
They score extra time at the 92nd

We lose 2-0.

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s the table!


As you can see we are in 4th right now but ten points above 5th with 8 games to go! That would give us the EURO that we need.

Otavio reached the yellow card limit.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #31 – Home vs Caen – I begin controlling. Natcho is playing for Otavio.

Goals

Besnard drives and crosses to Solanke in the 7th minute
Them in the 33rd
HALF
Jankovic to Solanke on a counter, goal in the 48th
Gomes to Besnard, 90th minute

We hold and win 3-1. MOM is Besnard.


Otavio is back from cardage.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #32 – Away vs Nantes. I begin defensively today. They are sitting at 7th and I respect them too much to run countering out there.

Goals

Them in the 8th
HALF
Own Goal by Holding in the 53rd

Game. We lose 0-2.

The international break begins – we have 19 called away

[Abe Sargent]

April

5th Home vs LOSC, QF Cup
10th – Home vs Guingamp
15t – Away vs OL
23rd – Home vs Ajaccio
30th – Away vs Nice

Good training – Pires, Gauthier, Dupuy

PSG Defeated Monaco 3-1 to win the Coupe de la Ligue

Quarter Final LOSC Cup – I begin standard.

Goals

Mehmedi feeds Besnard for goal in the 16th minute
Gomes feeds a ball through two defenders to Besnard in the 24th minute for goal
Jankovic crosses to Solanke for goal in the 29th
HALF


We win 3-0. MOM is Besnard.

We are through to the semis!

We get some cool cash!

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #33 – Home vs Guingamp – I begin standard for this one as well. I start Axel for a carded Isimit-Mirin.

Goals

Besnard is fed by Mehmedi in the 27th
HALF
Nacho kicks a PK in the 78th
Jankovic to Asano in the 85th. That’s his first goal of the season

MOM is Besnard

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #34 – Away vs OL – I begin defensively. Woodshed time? Isimat-Mirin is back.

Goals

Solanke to Besnard on a counter, 44th minute.
HALF
Them in the 93rd minute.

We tie 1-1. I’ll take it! We had 9 shots to their 28

We draw PSG in the Semis, again. Away again.




Here’s Nitra after 28 games. They are very much in the driver’s seat of the Fortuna.


PSG have won the Ligue 1 before we play the 35th match.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #35 – Home vs Ajaccio – I begin standard.

Goals

HALF

0-0 tie! That was actually exciting there was a lot of back and forth.

We gotta stop dropping points to folks like that!

[Abe Sargent]

French Cup Semi Final Away vs PSG – Woodshed time! I begin defensively.

Goals


Them in the 18th
HALF – We have the same number of shots as they do, we just need to sink them
We score off a IFK in the 55th minute. Isimit-Mirin to Solanke.
Them in the 67th

We lose 1-2. Close!

Our GK is in the running for GK of the Year voting.

[Abe Sargent]

Ligue Game #36 – Away vs Nice - I begin countering.

Goals

Besnard feeds Mehmedi on an IFK for goal in the 20th minute
HALF
Jankovic to Solanke, long shot, in the 55th
Besnard sinks a DFK in the 67th and that is his 2nd DFK on target today


We hold and win 3-0. Another shutout. MOM is Besnard.

We have qualified for the EURO!

[Abe Sargent]

May

8th – Away vs AS Monaco
14th – Home vs Strasbourg

Good training – Gros, Zouaghi, Boumsong

We won Goal of the Month!

Toulouse is relegated

With two games left we are locked into at least 4th, but we are three points behind OL at 3rd although they have a game in hand. We’d need at least 4 point from Monaco and Strasbourg and three losses by OL to go over them.


The extra game is on the 4th with PSG, a likely loss. PSG win 3-1. There goes their extra game, now just three points.



OL are playing PSG again this week. Another possible loss.

Ligue Game #37 – Away vs AS Monaco – We played them well at home. Can we get at least a tie today? I begin defensively obviously. Can we break through Courtois again? Besnard has a nasty shot on goal at the 1:06 mark turned away easily by the big bad.

Goals

HALF

We tie them 0-0! That was boring. Another shut out! Now did OL lose?





Yes they did, so now we have 2 points between us heading into the final week and a win by us over Strasbourg and a loss by them against away against Montpelier will give us a #3 spot and a Champions slot!

OL have been bad form over the last few games with only one win against Saint-Étienne in the last 8 games so this is feasible.

[Abe Sargent]

I have calls up for the World Cup

Asano is injured

Ligue Game #38 – Home vs #7 Strasbourg. I begin standard. I don’t wanna make any mistakes, I just wanna win. This is Holding’s 100th game for the club.


Goals

Them in the 29th
Us in the 31st off an OG. I’ll take it!
HALF – We have 10 shots to their 5

We tie 1-1. MOM is on their team.

[Abe Sargent]

The table



As you can see we finished 4th and OL won. This is a rise of four spots from 8th last year when I took over and gets a qualification to the EURO. We did well all season and had good form and we finished with 9 losses on the year.

Overall we played up to OL, AS Monaco and OM but only average against PSG not getting blown out but not getting a point against them in four tries.

We played down to teams like Toulouse, and Ajaccio among others.

We were the Cardiac Kings

[Abe Sargent]

My Goals –

My Goals for Bordeaux

1. Get them back to EURO this year in year one. COMPLETED Year One
2. Do some damage in the EURO.
3. Get them high enough to qualify for the Champion’s League.
4. Win Ligue 1
5. Win a Cup

[Abe Sargent]

Stats

We scored 48 goals which was 8th most, and allowed 27 which was 3rd best. AS Monaco led with 24 goals allowed.

MOM – Besnard was 4th with 9 MOM. Solanke was next on our team with 4.

Distance Covered – Gomes was 2nd, Mehmedi was 11th

Average Rating – Besnard was 14th with 7.18

Headers Won – Holding was 6th with 238

Goals – Besnard was 13th with 11 and he tied Solanke.

Avg Minutes Per Goal – Besnard was 9th

Shots – Besnard was 7th

Shots on Target – Besnard was 6th, Solanke was 8th

On Target % - Solanke was 7th

Pass Completion -Otavio was 5th

Cross Completion Ratio – Slimani was 4th, Gomes was 5th

Dribbles/Game – Besnard was 7th

Tackles/Game – Otavio was 14th

Mistakes – Mehmedi, 2nd, with 83

Key Headers – Isimit-Mirin 3rd with 69; Holding 12th

Picks – Holding 9th

Headers Won % - Holding 2nd, Nielsen 4th

Shots blocked – Holding 1st!

Goals Allowed – Moreira was 2nd with 27

Shutouts – Moreira was 3rd with 19

Saves held – Moreira was 2nd with 79

Saves Parried – Moreira was 1st with 45

[Abe Sargent]

Roster for next year

GK Moreira – 4 on a scale of 3. Cannot be more locked in than this guy! He was great across the board! He had more saves than Courtois in either category. By most metrics, only Courtois out played him.

DC Holding - 2. He played well and I am going to make him my captain but he’s also the weakest of my starters next year. But I like where his stats are at and I am happy to run him out there next year. He’s my Milanovic- the worst by look and the best by play.

DC Nielsen – 3. Wonderkid locked in. He can be inconsistent at times, and thus only a 3.

DC Itimit-Mirin 0 – Already replaced

DMC Otavio – 1 – Looking for replacement actively but won’t force it

MC Lerager – 0 – Same as Itimit-Mirin I have already replaced him. I put him on rotation as well as the DC.

ML Mehmedi – 1- Played out of position and cannot run Winger like I want. Too many mistakes.

MR Jankovic – 0 – Played out of position and never attacked the flank but played more like an inside winger, which I don’t want. Actively looking for replacement.

AMC Andre Gomes – 2. Locked in for now.

ST Solanke – 2 – Didn’t play as well as I wanted to with Slimani but had a solid relationship with my wonderkid ST. If I could find a stud target man like Djuric that can feed Besnard then I’d be happy but it’s not a priority.

ST Besnard – 4. Out of 3.

I offer a first team contract to Besnard for twice as much money and another year. He’s grown into my best player.



As you can see…


Compare that to last year when I signed him!

I need more of Besnard and Moreira please!

[Abe Sargent]

Nitra won the Fortuna and that’s their third victory in a row!

Besnard is called up for the France senior squad for their World Cup games, as is Moreira, and Nielsen.


Wanna see my new Czech Wonderkid now?

Okay!



Here’s Machacek! I will start him at MC and he can grow into his role like Nielsen and Besnard did



Awesome my budget and transfer kitty have risen!

Besnard signs his new deal!

[Abe Sargent]

My scouts have, again, found Ross Ferguson

One of our coaches announces his retirement

[Abe Sargent]

Here are our season awards! Besnard was obviously their favorite everything.

I hold a team meeting – EURO again!

I get better training facilities from our leader

PSG defeat Nantes 3-1 to win the French Cup

Besnard and Moreira set team records for most MOM and most shuts out.

We made a profit of 14.95 mill this year

Asano is back from his injury

Nielsen won Ligue Most Promising Player and I congratulate him.

June arrives

[Abe Sargent]

Otavio has gained French citizenship! Lerager too!

I get a big big big offer for Moreira. 25 mill from Tottenham. Nope!

Here’s a 10.5 mill offer for Holding

I look to see if any others are coming free that may wanna swing my way?

Not yet

What about transfer listed?

Huh I may have found another French wonderkid this one playing the AMC spot. 19 years old and plays for Brest. I make an offer.

We agree to 4.5 mill.

We are past the June 10th window for internal moves so he’ll arrive now

I am considering an 8 mill offer from OL for Axel Tuanzebe as he’ll be my 5th DC. I accept I can find another DC his level. I can use the money for transferring.



Here he is! Donovan Marchi! Expect me to run him as a rotation option for MC and AMC at first, and then give him Andre Gomes’s starts near the end of the year or next year.

[Abe Sargent]

I need a new backup GK and I make an enquiry to a Brazilian project. I make an offer. Watford are too high and I reject it.

I make an enquiry for a nice young French DC I can grow as my new 5th player but I am rejected by Havre, hard. They wanna start with 107 Mill and work down. He was likely a wonderkid…

We have moved up 4 places to the 58th club in Europe.

Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro have joined the EU!

My coach retires. I make a offer to a Belgian one to replace him

Our coach arrives!

I sell Tuanzebe and get 4 mill back in the kitty.

Have I found my new DMC. He’s Austrian and clearly a wonderkid. He plays for Stuttgart. We negotiate him for 11 mill….that’s all but 4 mill of my budget…

Do I wanna make the deal?

I scout him up. Name of Stefan Bell.

I offer a hot prospect deal to an Austrian.

Relegated – Toulouse, Caen, Angers

I agree to the deal with my Austrian

I accept a 3 mill offer for Otavio

I name Holding my captain and Moreira my Vice.

Otavio heads out and we get 1.5 mill back so we have 5.5 mill in the kitty.

Our squad is back. Let’s get EURO again!

I given Nielsen as week off as he is dead tired.

[Abe Sargent]

June 30th is here.

We lose 19 players.



Who is leaving this next year? Gomes and Holding are good. The rest? I’m fine with them heading out.

I still need an ML and MR.

I scout to see if anyone came free I wanna grab.

I need a rotational guy who can play a lot of spaces so I make an offer to Jens Toornstra.

I search up some wingers on both sides.

I make a 2.5 mill offer for Ramiro Cano who’s raw (for this level) wonderkid.

[Abe Sargent]

July

9th – Friendly vs Slavia Prague
15th – Home vs Plzen
23rd – Home vs Dukla Prague

July 1st

Luis Joao is here!



Take a look at this stud and that great jump/head and other stats. He is great technically, mentally, and physically. Welcome to the club! We signed him from Chaves in Portugal. He’s another 4 star rating dude! He is with Portugal now in the World Cup as a starter for them at DC.

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s my other major acquisition Stefan Bell! I’ll be running him out there at DMC which is one of my best roles out there. Enjoy him! He’s technically, mentally, and physically gifted.

[Abe Sargent]

On the 2nd I sign my rotation offer from the 30th



This is Jens! I have the 33 year old Dutch player for two years on a rotation deal. I adore that he can play pretty much any middle role from MR to ML to AMC to MC to DMC.

[Abe Sargent]

I confirm my expectations for the year.

I accept a 7.5 mill offer for Asano

I sell him and get 3 mill back in my transfer kitty.

I have to increase my offer to 4.5 mill for my guy but he signs on the 8th.

Ramiro Cano



Here he is! We signed him from Villareal and he’s on the cheaper side of life. He needs development but some starts and subs should help him out. I’ll start him on the MR side of things for Jankovic and see what happens. He’s lethal in passing

I am unable to find another winger I can bring in.

[Abe Sargent]

Now it’s time to look for my 5th DC

My goal is to find someone with a hot prospect role who won’t demand play or starts.

No one free who is willing to come to us is good enough to be my 5th one. Can I sign someone?

Hmm…

What about Kotora?

Benfica want a starting negotiation of 72 mill.

I scout some

In the mean time I promote my top reserve DC Aurélien Tchouameni to my main squad. He;s more of a DMC but he’ll be okay in an emergency.

I loan Weah

Friendly vs Slavia Prague – We win 2-1

My Portuguese players are back from the World Cup


Friendly vs Plzen – We win 2-0.