Tempelman

Yeah, still it is a surprising loss though, Villarreal are so far the surprise of this CL

And Lukaku missed a huge opportunity LOL

Chelsea seems to be doing well 🤪

I had two offers, of Lazio and Porto. I have rejected both because I'm building a team here, and proud of the achievements made. There's no reason at the moment for me to move on. Besides, I see no benefit in moving to clubs who are similar in stature. I'm also active on the transfer market, thus far: - Romain Perraud (DL) moved to Crystal Palace for a fee of 17M. Owen Wijndal is his replacement, coming over from Bayern for a fee of 9M (They spent 35M on him previously, so a big loss for them). Also signed Bernardo on a free from RB Salzburg as a backup, since Centelles is not improving at all, he is currently loaned out. - Victor Chust (DC) has also been sold for 1,8M, surplus to requirements. - Raoul Bellanova (DR) wasn't interested in renewing his contract, thus sold for 8,25M, which is a very nice fee. As a replacement I'm looking at Tibo Persyn as backup for a fee of 4,3M. - Arthur Gomes wanted a new contract, which considering his bad form all year was totally uncalled for, he has been offered out to clubs with the highest offer being a 7,5M of Monterrey. - Javairo Dilrosun extended his contract, with a more acceptable wage than he asked before. Phakmani Mahlambi also extended his contract. Tehobo Mokoena also agreed to an extended deal. - Londono has been immediately loaned out to Atl. Nacional.

Time for another update... At this point in the game we were tied with RC Lens, away against Montpellier we deservedly took the points home, 3-0. RC Lens lost their game so we were 3 points ahead now! Easy wins against Rennes and OL followed before we faced off with RC Lens at home. We beat them 2-0 and now we were 6 points ahead, a very important win indeed in this title challenge. After this exciting game we had a frustrating draw against St. Etienne, but still 4 points ahead. Next we won 1-0 at home against Lille, before drawing again against Nice. PSG took over 2nd place from Lens (Yes, they're back, about time though). Next was Clermont Foot at home, and I wanted to exact revenge for our embarrasing (and only) loss earlier this season. We trashed them winning 6-1. At this point we have secured at least third place, and thus a Champions League spot! Up next was the final against OM, in the league we did not have much problems with them, but let's just say we had an offday, players seemed nervous for the game, and although the game was pretty even, we unfortunately lost the final 2-0. It would mean my second prize after the Ligue 2 title, but unfortunately we were on the losing side. Still a great run and above expectations, we can and should be proud of this! Next is the game of the season, away against second placed PSG, a draw would mean we would win the title... We were totally outplayed. Everywhere, all over the pitch. 4-1. Moving on. Next is Monaco at home... A nerve wrecking game for me, but the players seemed really motivated to slot this one home as Mahlambi opened the score quickly and show Monaco who's the boss. Farias extended the lead further with a scorcher from distance. In the second half we extended the lead even further and Cifuentes made the third goal. We were totally outplaying the opposition, had a few more chances to score, and Monaco had their first actual chance in the 90th minute, and scored the 3-1. And that's it! We won the title for the first time since 08/09! It has been a fantastic run and the title was in my opinion totally, utterly deserved! Final results: Final standings: For the new season the expectations of the board are the same, finish in the top half, which should be easy with this squad. However, I told the players I want to finish at least top 5, which is a realistic target. I have been given a 8,5M transfer budget and 525K wage budget (Current bill is at 470K) for next season. I'll obviously be looking for reinforcements, but I do want to see what players are going to leave, I'm going to be patient with it. I am looking to move Maja, Pejino, Thomas, and maybe Juanpi and Arthur Gomes. Next year we also going to play CL but I hope we can finish in third place in whatever group we will end up with. Also, we currently have no team leader, but maybe that will change when I make (for example) Nastasic captain or something. I have again forgotten a future transfer, it is another newgen, again a promising player who cost me 1,5M. Brayan Londono profile: What an awesome season with a title, it's a shame we lost the final of the Coupe de France, but the title was more important for me anyway, and we did just that. Let's see what next year will bring! The GK of the year is obviously fixed, Dani Martin should have won this but Donnarumma won. Dani Martin had 17 clean sheets and a better average, and was in the team of the year. What the hell FM? Edit: Pochettino has (quite obviously) been fired when losing out on the title and not winning any prize with PSG.

I'd like to think there's a good first XI but a strong bench as well, though I'm not fond of Maja lately, in the beginning he scored quite a lot, he has trouble finding the net lately... Burnley is interested, hoping to move him on and buy a killing machine for a striker... First XI: It's either Bettella or Antov in the defence, both are similar players... Arthur Gomes and Mokoena are the only players not performing really well, hopefully that will change. I only bought Mokoena and Mahlambi because I know they're always good for profit. Dani Martin is killing it in the goal, he makes so many crucial saves it's insane 🤣 Player values: Player values have gone up, especially Guevara and Mahlambi values have skyrocketed up. Ignore the value of Cifuentes, I don't get why his is so insanely high compared to other new arrivals..

I almost had it right for both games..!! Lol

Schedule and results: League standings: The league is going down to a wire! We are still doing very well in the title challenge, with just a very frustrating draw against Nantes. We easily beat the rest of our opponents, though we have some trouble scoring lately, missing a good chunk of decent chances. Lens are still keeping up with us, or are we keeping up with them? I don't know, it is a surprising league table nonetheless... I think Pochettino is only still manager of PSG because they do well in the Champions League.. And we are in the final of the Coupe de France, we were just lucky with the draws as we consistently drew easy opponents. Only Reims provided some opposition and we beat them narrowly on penalties. Against Toulouse we had an easy match, they were nowhere to be seen, until they scored the equalizer out of nowhere in the 85th minute. Sigh, is it going to be a game like this again? In the 93rd minute we set the record straight and scored the winner. The final will be against OM, against them we had two good games so we should be able to win. PSG were eliminated surprisingly in the quarter finals.

Told you it is going to be 4-1 😉

Meanwhile City has very much difficulty against Atleti...

and 2 0 already!

I was also chasing Fausto Vera, but he demanded too much wage (over 70K p/w), so that was unfortunately a no for me. He would be really cheap at around 4M...

Here only City is broadcast on open TV, I'll be looking for updates on the other game too, I'm obviousy playing FM as well, so... 🤣

I think City 1 0, Atleti is going to be a tough game... Liverpool should just win this, 4 1.

Benfica right? Liverpool doesn't stand a chance 🤪

🤯 ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!?!?! I would NEVER have rejected an offer from world famous club Vitesse!!!!!!! Anyway, great job so far!!

Schedule and results: League standings: We have had a good spell of results, no real problems, and currently lie in second place with only (perhaps surprisingly) RC Lens above us. In the Coupe de France we beat Angers and current league leaders RC Lens, both games were not much of a problem, although we defended bad against Lens (We were 3-0 up in 18 minutes). With the winter transfer window coming, and we suddenly challenging for the title, I decided to look around for players that are -23, cheap and to sell with profit, and better than the players we already have. There was sufficient interest in some of my players, and I wanted to move these on if the price was going to be right. Transfers: We had Alberth Elis (AMR/L ST) leave for 7M, I hoped to get more for him, but 7M is okay by me. I had already signed his replacement (Cifuentes) anyway. The second player to leave was rightback Enock Kwateng 10,5M for Leeds, his replacement is Gabriele Zappa for a mere 475K. Stefan Radu had signed a pre-contract with CSKA Moscow, and I had an eye on Lejeune as his replacement, but the deal did not go through, so instead I focused on Matija Nastasic of Fiorentina. His salary at Fiorentina was 50K p/w and I did not think he would sign for us, he however agreed to a much lower deal at 18,5K p/w. Since we now had many defenders in the central position, I decided to loan out Bettella, but CSKA agreed to a 100K fee for Radu, so he was recalled without playing a single game for Gijon. Great signing, and a leader for years to come! Facundo Farias has been my biggest signing so far, and he will be a replacement for Juanpi in the AMC position. I wanted to sell Ryan Thomas since he is now surplus to requirements, received a bid of 3,8M for him, but the deal collapsed and subsequently I only got two 950K bids for him, which is way too low. Ivan Jaime was brought in for the central midfield as backup. Fairly happy with the transfer period, although I also think I might have overspent a little. Plus, Maja is the only decent striker in the squad now, I should have looked for a replacement or backup for him. But I extremely happy with the transfer of Guevara in the beginning of the season, he is now worth 18M! Mahlambi is around the same value. Both should bring in some cash if there is interest... Onto the next games and see how the rest of the season unfolds.

Schedule and results: League standings: 15 games unbeaten... Until we lost against newly prmoted Clermont Foot, who destroyed us, we did not have any say in this match whatsoever and the scoreline should have been a lot higher. Against OM (who were league leaders at the time), we had the better of the match but forgot to win, same counts for the next match against Nantes, who scored in the dying seconds of the match. Against Valenciennes we took revenge for these missed oppertunities and my poor former club lost 5-0 at home against us. We always have difficult games against Montpellier, and this is the first time we won, at least since the game started. Away against Rennes we again gave the game away whilst being the better team, giving away a simple 2-0 lead. Lyon and Lens were also frustrating games where we struggled to find our former form. Against Etienne we won, but do not ask me how.. Away to Lille we decimated them completely, and the scoreline should have been higher. Lille is somehow in 18th position, which is weird, considering the quality of players they have. We had no problem with Nice after that as well, before the aformentioned Clermont Foot finally beat us. Oh, I only just noticed the league has been brought back from 20 clubs, to 18 clubs. 🤣 It was then the game of the season, Paris SG, who are also struggling in the league, having lost 4 games already. At that point I thought we had a chance to maybe win or get a draw out of this game. Paris dominated the first 25 minutes of the game and deservedly scored out of corner, Kimpembe scored with a nice header. After that the game went back and forth with us getting two chances to equalize, before Mahlambi scored with an amazing dropkick, after a beautiful assist of Perraud. In the second half we went on the hunt for another goal and Maja found the net with a great cannonball of a header, with the assist coming from Mahlambi. The game went back to Paris who were desperate to score, but we had our fair chances too. Our defence seemed to be already dreaming of victory, because they let Neymar score an easy goal in the 82nd minute, although I suspected this to be offside. Again I thought we were giving a win away, but Juanpi thought differently, with a scorcher from distance just outside of the penalty area he scored a minute later. The match was over after this. Ecstatic! In all honesty the game could have gone either way. In other news, Alberth Elis asked for a new contract. He still has a contract for three years so at first I rejected it. He hasn't been playing much either so there was no reason for me to offer a contract anyway, but to avoid him being uphappy I gave in and offered a new contract. Before the negotiations started he wanted a big pay rise (Currently 13K p/w), and asked for 47K p/w. No way in hell mate. Bye. I broke negotiations off, and as a result he wanted to leave. Sure thing, goodbye. Worth 9M and I don't expect much less, with the finances being secure now. 5,75M was the highest offer I got, I rejected it. Hoping to get a better offer when the transfer window starts. It doesn't matter much to me anyway, because this new Colombian gem can easily replace him... Profile David Rojas Cifuentes: With us playing so well of late, obviously interest in the players grows. A lot. I am hoping for Yan Couto of Man City to replace Kwateng, should he leave, and Florian Lejeune as a replacement for Radu, when his contract expires. Both contracts of these two are expiring so I am hoping to attract them both on a free.

Wow, nice start there! That is a better start then I had, and I thought my start was good 😁

Oh! I forgot to mention a future transfer! I had made an offer for a Colombian winger newgen who seems to be extremely promising, he will cost the club 1,8M. At 17 years old, he should be able to slot into the first team. Edit: Valenciennes managed to sign Kelvin Yeboah (The striker I loaned from Genoa) for 7,25M. Where the hell did they get 7M from? Looking at their transfers they didn't have any major transfers out. Definitely a major coup!

And continueing in the new season, unfortunately I have some bad news here, and you can probably guess it. Transfers: That is right, and this was to expect, Barcelona came in for Ahmedhodzic and I was relatively powerless in keeping him in. Somehow his value was cut in half since the last season and he is now only worth 13M to 15M. They first made an offer of 12M, which I obviously rejected, a laughable offer. Then Ahmedhodzic became unhappy, and wanted to force a move. The entire squad was happy with my treatment because they also didn't want to lose him, off course. I eventually ended up getting 25M in total for him, which is (I think) a steal considering he has a pretty high potential. After he was sold the whole squad became unhappy and the dressing room atmosphere dropped to abysmal. Promising I would immediately bring in a new face worked and that new face is a familiar player for me, I brought in Valentin Antov as his replacement, with a much lower salary. Though not as good as Ahmedhodzic, he will grow into a strong defender, more than good enough for this level. The club atmosphere luckily went back to normal after this, else I definitely would have lost the confidence of the entire squad. There were also two offers on two of my talents, Sekou Mara (21) had an offer of 12,75M from Southampton, and Crystal Palace made the same offer for Dilane Bakwa (also 21). I accepted both of these offers because they were just really good offers, considering their current abilities. Both transfers failed on work permits, and they are now on loan to gain more experience. Dilrosun is also no longer unhappy with his contract situation and dropped the issue a week later. Of the contracts expiring next year there are only two. Stefan Radu and Pejino. Of Radu I'm sure he will not get a new contract because of his age, Pejino I'm not sure about as he is a good and useful player in multiple positions. Current XI: I am happy with the squad as it is. All good players for this level, and there is some decent talent in it. Stefan Radu is still at the club and at age 36 very experienced, the rest of the squad is quite young. I am worried about the form of Arthur Gomes, he will probably be dropped in favour of Dilrosun, though the two players are both equally good. The other new signings are playing quite well, and getting used to the tactical approach I am taking. Club vision: The vision of the club has reverted to what it should be, finishing in the top half is reasonable. I had also been asked to repair the club's financial mess in two years, and before I sold Ahmedhodzic that goal was already achieved. Finances: Off course we are back in the black now, I managed to cut the wages from around 650K p/w to 420K p/w in around 8 months, without losing much quality in the first team. Actually, the team as a whole is (I think) improved! Essentially this means I am saving the club 1M p/m. The highest earner earned 40,5K p/w (Guilavogui), the highest earner now earns 23K p/w (Dilrosun). Plus the players brought in should definitely bring up more than they were bought for. Schedule and results: League table: We started the new season with a difficult game against Monaco. Despite controlling the game and trailing 1-0 behind it took a penalty to level the game, a game which should have been won. The home game against Lorient was a frustrating one as we played a very bad game and were lucky to get a draw out of it. Against Toulouse the machine finally started and we were quickly in front, they got a red card and the subsequent penalty was missed, but rivals Toulouse crashed and burned after that red card and we ran out easy 4-0 winners. It was time for revenge against Troyes, and despite the scoreline, we were totally in control the entire game. A very good start of the season sees us at 3rd place.

And, to top it off, at the moment we are 4M in the black! Both Perraud and Dilrosun asked me for a new contract, which I am currently unwilling to give given the financial situation, I mean, I want to stay in the black. Perraud backed down, and accepted it, but Dilrosun said "there must be something you can do!". He is on a 23K p/w contract, but also important, so okay, let's see what you want. I immediately walked away when he wanted 59K p/w.. 🤑 Obviously unhappy now.

At the moment of writing I am in the last game of the season, and we are currently in 7th place, 3 points behind Lyon. The chance of getting European football is possible, but we have to beat Marseille away, and Lyon has to lose... Schedule and results: League table: ... Which unfortunately did not happen, Lyon lost their game, and so did we. We had an awesome final run though! Including a memorable win against Lille. On to the next season!

Okay, I am so happy at the moment that I want to write another update... League table: Schedule and results: After the last update we were in a pretty bad run of form, with a surprising home loss against Reims and a not so surprising loss against Paris SG, we were totally overrun here and although we opened the score, ultimately lost. After narrowly beating Rennes we had a bad run of 5 games without a win, though we were most of the time the better team (Also against Lyon). Against former team Valenciennes we finally got the win again (Although narrowly), and against Monaco we played a great game and won 3-2, and deservedly so, the score should have been higher. We have already exceeded expectations by avoiding relegation, although in theory that could still happen. 9th in the league, who knows, maybe we can rise even further up the table... Oh, two more players are going to join us next season, Ander Guevara for 500K, and a 14,5K salary, and Arthur Gomes, for the same fee, and a 12,5K salary.

Yes, probably, but I hope there will be no interest, although I'm 95% sure there will be. The wage bill for next season will be around 450K p/w, which is 200K lower than when I took over. Maybe I will take over Ander Guevara (who is on loan), he will cost me only 500K in fees (in 3 games I will have to anyway), but I have no idea what his wage demands are going to be. I take anything below 20K p/w at the moment. He should be a decent replacement for Fransergio. The debt is around 13M, this number should be significantly lower when the new season starts. And, the vision of the club is to stay in the Ligue 1, for the next couple of years, not much of a vision...