***The Official Football Manager Thread***

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Year four at Amiens in the books. European football showed me that my depth was suspect. After finishing third last season, we slipped to sixth place and missed out on Europe after bowing out of both the League Cup (1-2 loss to Rennes in the quarterfinals) and the French Cup (0-3 loss to eventual champ Guingamp in the 11th round). As for Europa, we made it to the knockout stages, defeating Zenit 3-2. In the second round, we drew PSG. Of course, we did. We lost 1-3 over the two legs.

Striker Mohammad Sylla ended up getting sold to Burnley after a contract spat. After scoring 18 goals midway through the season, he demanded a new contract. His demands were WAY more than what I was wanting to spend, and he ended up putting in a transfer demand. He still had 18 months remaining on his deal. Burnley came in with an offer that was worth up to $10M in futures. Not bad considering I bought him for $2.6M from Ligue 2 side Auxerre. The funny thing in all this is that Sylla left for an improved contract. He ended up taking a pay cut to go to Burnley...and he's in the Championship. Oops.

That money was put to good use....investing in five players. More for next year to try and gear up for a run back to Europe.

Major Departures
MC Arijan Ademi - made 62 league appearances and scored six goals in his two seasons. Did not renew.
MC Azzeddine Toufiqui - made 15 league appearances in three seasons. Spent last season on loan with Red Star. Did not renew.
DR Tanguy Ndombele - made 192 league appearances and scored eight goals in 12 seasons. Did not renew.
MC Albert Rafetraniaina - made 61 league appearances and scored five goals in three seasons. Did not renew.
GK Callum Rodriguez - made 39 league appearances in four seasons. Did not renew.
AMC Jacques Scherrer - made 37 league appearances and scored five goals in seven seasons. Did not renew.
ST Corentin Chauvin - made 72 league appearances and scored 41 goals in two seasons. Sold to Bordeaux for $4.9M ($6.5M)


First Team
GK: Loic Badiashile (3.5/3.5 stars/28 years old/$3.8M) - Signed during the January period from Brest for $1.6M. Made six starts last season, allowing 1.5 goals per game with an average rating of 6.92.

DL: Gary Forrest (3.0/3.5 stars/22 years old/$2.3M) - Signed during the January period from Hearts for $525k. Made four starts last season with an average rating of 6.5.

DC: Tom Troost (3.0/4.5 stars/20 years old/$3.1M) - Signed on a loan deal during the summer period from Ajax. Made 32 starts last season with an average rating of 7.05 while on loan for Sassuolo.

DC: Dan-Axel Zagadou (3.5/3.5 stars/27 years old/$3.5M) - Joined last season from Metz for $1M. Made 51 starts last season, registering two assists with an average rating of 7.15.

DR: Ivan Rodriguez (3.0/3.0 stars/30 years old/$1.5M) - Signed during the January period from Levante for $925k. Made 11 starts (1 sub), scoring two goals, registering five assists, two POTM awards, and an average rating of 7.65.

MC: Camille Le Floch (2.5/3.5 stars/23 yeard old/$2M) - Signed during the January period from Montpellier for $2.6M. Made one start with a match rating of 6.40.

MC: Lee Dong-Young (3.5/3.5 stars/25 years old/$6M) - Signed this summer from Jeonbuk for $325k. Made 19 starts, scoring one goal and registering four assists with a match rating of 7.78.

MC: Pranjay Kumar (3.5/5.0 stars/20 years old/$6.75M) - Joined in 2024 from Atlanta United Academy on a free. Last season, made 23 starts (9 subs), scoring six goals and registering five assists with a match rating of 7.25.

AMC: Steve Martial (3.0/4.0 stars/24 years old/$6M) - Joined in 2023 from PSG on a free. Last season, made 35 starts (3 subs), scoring 4 goals and registering 10 assists with a match rating of 7.02.

ST: Vandinho (3.5/4.5 stars/20 years old/$2.3M) - On loan from Sao Paulo for a second season. Last season, made 39 starts (13 subs), scoring 12 goals and registering nine assists with a match rating of 6.91.

ST: Oliveira (3.5/5.0 stars/20 years old/$10.75M) Signed this summer from Atletico Mineiro for $6.75M. Last season, made six starts (3 subs), scoring two goals and registering one assist with a match rating of 6.95.

Going to be curious what my Brazilian duo will be able to do up top.

[Zac]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I'm going to try the Youth Academy Challenge with Paris FC.

Good luck my friend. I tried that challenge twice this year and failed miserably both times. Got fired the first season in the one, and in the second in the other.

[Kobalt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Good luck my friend. I tried that challenge twice this year and failed miserably both times. Got fired the first season in the one, and in the second in the other.

Yeah, I'm playing with a tactic that I'm not familiar with because of lack of depth at certain positions.

[gopher_guy]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Just finished my 4th season at AFC Tubize in Belgium.




The year started off horribly. For the first time in this save, I actually spent some money in the transfer market, rather than relying on free transfers, and it did NOT go well. I brought in a couple midfielders and a defender. The midfielders were straight up flops; one was awful, and one was just mediocre. The CB I brought in was very good though, and actually ended up winning the award for the Player of the Season in the league.




I went into a slight panic mode because I had asked the board for more money, and they raised my expectations to "Around the top of the league". We eventually started playing better. We couldn't score worth a damn, but we were excellent in defense.

Since I've been at this job, we've finished 12th, 11th, 10th, and now 8th. So I am happy that we're making progress.

I have started getting more and more interviews from more reputable leagues. I've turned them all down, because I want to try and get Tubize into Europe, but then an interview offer came in from Lazio in Serie A. I couldn't turn that down. I interviewed, but did not end up getting the job. It was still cool to be considered by such a large club!


This offseason, I went with a little different scouting strategy. I spent my summer in Central and Western Africa, looking for players under 23 with at least 1 national team cap. Found quite a bit of players from countries like Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, etc. I actually found some really intriguing players with pretty high potentials. Some were even still playing in the domestic leagues of their native country, so they were relatively easy to lure away. I have bought 3 players, one who I think will slot right into my lineup.

I also somewhat lucked into a 24 year old CAM from Brazil who was available on a free. It looks like he may be one of the best players on my squad this year. However, this presented a problem. The formation I used at Granit and brought with me to Tubize (4-1-2-3) did not utilize a CAM. I decided to go a little crazy and switch it up. For the first time in my career I'm going to play with 3 at the back. Technically a 5 defender formation, using wing backs. 5-2-1-2, I'm calling it.

Hopefully I don't crash and burn, and get fired!

[Bruins]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Do you guys apply for new jobs at bigger clubs, or do you tend to prefer waiting for the offers to come in?

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Do you guys apply for new jobs at bigger clubs, or do you tend to prefer waiting for the offers to come in?

Personally, I wait for offers to roll in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zac]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Depends on the save really. If its a journeyman type save, I'll apply for better jobs early in the save. But then after that only if its a job I really want or would like to have. Other than that I don't really apply for other jobs, and wait for them to be offered. The only other time I would apply while still in a job is if I'm no longer enjoying the save and feel its run its course. Then I'll jump ship to try and keep the save going in place of starting a new one.

[Kobalt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Do you guys apply for new jobs at bigger clubs, or do you tend to prefer waiting for the offers to come in?

When I did my journeyman for like couple weeks, I applied to places.



1st thought: ****

2nd thought: Oh wait, getting that $$$$

Edit: only lost 1-0 on a FK by Neymar

[gopher_guy]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

That feeling when you're down a man, and take a lead late in the 2nd half.

[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***



Trying to figure out how I'd cope with this IRL.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Just got done with the January transfer period at Amiens. After a lot of changes, injuries, and just bad luck, we got off to a very slow start. We couldn't find the net. We were near the top of the league in shot on target percentage, but near the bottom of the league in scoring. Our defense was top five, so we had that going for us, but we found ourselves languishing in 12th after a 0-3 demolishing by PSG on Match Day 10. Vandinho missed two months due to a torn hamstring, Oliveira got off a very slow start as he was getting acclimated to France, and we just flat sucked.

Our fortunes have turned though. We got healthy, we grew together as a team, and since that humbling by PSG, we've only lost two matches. We are the hottest team in France at the moment, and we are sitting one point behind Metz (recently promoted and surprising everybody) in fourth place, five points ahead of Lyon in fifth place. In the league cup, we have made it to the final, where we will play Marseille. Our road to the final involved penalty shootout victories over Nice and Guingamp, a 5-1 victory over Sochaux, and a 3-1 victory over Monaco in the semis.

As for transfer market activity....

Out
DM Morgan Dubois - Inter - $1.3M ($2.1M) - youngster I inherited who doesn't really fit into the style I'm going for here. Was waiting for a big club to come in with an offer for the 18-year-old.

DR Ivan Rodriguez - Lugo - $1.1M ($1.6M) - Just brought him in from Spain last season, but Ivan wanted to go back to Spain. Did make a slight profit on him.

CB Dan-Axel Zagadou - Marseille - $3M ($4.4M) - Wanted to play in continental competition, and Marseille could offer that to him right away. Made a cool $2M profit on his sale.

In
CB Igor Smiljkovic - AEK - $2.2M ($3M) - Needed a replacement for Zagadou, and got it in Igor. He's not quite having the season that Zagadou had for us last season, but he's younger and out-performing him this season at Marseille.

MC Matthias Hackethal - RB Leipzig - Loan - With Lee Dong-Young out for an extended time playing for South Korea in the AFC Asian Cup (who are getting ready to meet Japan in the final), I wanted to bolster my midfield. Speedy midfielder who plays best as an advanced playmaker.

MC Ander Arrieta - Troyes - $2.9M ($3.9M) - With Pranjay Kumar getting lots of interest, it was in my best interest to perhaps find his replacement now while bolstering my depth for the rest of this season. Ander's first touch and technical prowess will take him far.

[Kobalt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

After 4 years, my squad looks like this.



Not quite fully homegrown team, but getting there.

[Kobalt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Had a big lead in the league and then we went on this skid



Still got promoted though but disappointed

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

2026-27 Amiens SC Season Overview

Ligue 1: 5th
French Cup: Semi Final
League Cup: Winner
Top League Goal Scorer: Oliveira (15)
Top Overall Goal Scorer: Oliveira and Vandinho (16)
Highest Attendance: 29,359 vs Troyes (Ligue I)
Lowest Attendance: 21,581 vs Guingamp (Ligue I)
Average Attendance: 28,134

After our hot form in the middle of the season that saw us contending for the final Champions League spot, we cooled off considerably down the stretch and ended up finishing fifth. The final Champions League (PSG and Monaco obviously finished 1-2) went to Metz, who replicated what we did two years ago by qualifying for the Champions League in their first season back in the top flight.

Fortunately for us, our cup form remained very good, and we were able to add the second trophy into the trophy case. That's right, we won the League Cup with a 4-1 thrashing of Marseille in the final. So it's on to Europa next season. Hopefully, we make a deep run, as we need some cash. Paying for a stadium expansion really hurt the bottom line this season, especially with no European football to prop it up.

Our reserve squad entered into the fourth tier of the French football pyramid and finished 12th. PSG Reserves, of course, won the league....again.

And hey, our youth squad won the French Under 19 Group 3, breaking PSG's ten-year stranglehold on the group. We'll just gloss over the fact that PSG got moved to Group 4.

Fans Player of the Season

DR Arnaud Bonnet - 39 (3) appearances, five goals, two assists, three POM awards, 7.31 average, 34% of fan vote

MC Camille Le Floch - 40 (2) appearances, seven goals, six assists, three POM awards, 7.29 average, 28% of fan vote, voted Young Player of the Season

AMC Steve Martial - 32 (9) appearances, nine goals, 17 assists, three POM awards, 7.24 average, 23% of fan vote

Signing of the Season

MC Ander Arrieta ($3.22M from Troyes in January period) - 13 (5) appearances, one goal, one assist, 7.00 average

Top Five in Jersey Sales

1. MC Lee Dong-Young - 31 (3) appearances, one goal, three assists, one POM award, 6.98 rating

2. MC Pranjay Kumar - 32 (3) appearances, five goals, three assists, two POM awards, 7.16 rating

3. ST Vandinho - 35 appearances, 16 goals, nine assists, five POM awards, 7.08 rating

4. AMC Steve Martial

5. ST Oliveira - 45 (3) appearances, 16 goals, four assists, three POM awards, 6.88 rating

[liarajames]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

I'm a big fan of football gaming. Can't really wait for it