FM14 Mr. Manager Dynasty (Ivory Coast/Stade Rennais)

[Travis7401]

Game 13 : Marseilles (H) : Loss 3-0 : Valbuena dirty dog dicking

This rape really isn't even worth talking about. It was just dirty from the opening whistle, with Valbuena scoring 2 goals and getting an assist to that gigantic mong Gignac. I couldn't do jack shit against their defense either. In retrospect I should have put Toivonen at striker and crossed into him more, because they actually gave me room on the wings with their formation.

Valbuena was the most beastly player I've encountered yet. From his wing spot he could cut back in and score from range or run up the line and put in perfect crosses. Even with tactical adjustments to have one of my CDMs help man mark him with a double team it didn't help. LAWD.

 

[kella]

Valbuena is a twink magician. Gignac is amazing, too.

 

[OU11]

I made a ton of FUT coins that i never used by trading valbuena

 

[Travis7401]

Making a big push this weekend, my Ninjas. Mr. Manager is encountering his first crisis of confidence. There will be glory, there will be shame, there will be storming out of press conferences.

The twat reporter asked Mr. Manager a dumbass question after the Marseilles slaughter. "How did it feel to lose in such embarrassing fashion at home, Mr. Manager?"

Mr. Manager answered that absurd question by kicking the podium over and strutting out the door

 

[Travis7401]

Game 14 : SC Bastia (A) : Win 3-2

Coming off the horrifying home loss, Mr. Manager approached the team with a fire and brimstone sermon of epic proportions. Stade Rennais has blown ass in away games all year, but that shit must end now. Time for a brand new unbeaten streak to start. If Mr. Manager doesn't take kindly to draws, imagine how much losing pisses him off?

Bastia played a very compact formation. Mr. Manager opted to "exploit the flanks" and put in early crosses. That strategy paid off quickly as Stade Rennais jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Bastia started crawling back into the game with a goal, but Mr. Manager kept the heat on trying for that 2 goal lead. In the middle of the second half, SR scored again to make it 3-1 and Mr. Manager switched to a more conservative 4-2-3-1 formation in order to cope with Bastia's numbers in the midfield. The "prevent defense" strategy almost prevented the team from winning, as Bastia scored a second goal and then threatened to tie the game several times in the last few minutes. Despite the win, Mr. Manager was furious in the locker room after the game, and unleashed a torrent of profanity the likes of which France has never seen before. Privately, Mr. Manager was pleased to be back on the winning side.

 

[Travis7401]

Turmoil at the club! My first unhappy player is demanding a transfer. Due to the fact that Mr. Manager is terrible with names, he thought this was his star left back, Cheik M'Bengue, so Mr. Manager tried really hard to convince him to stay. After the discussion was already over, Mr. Manager realized it was Cheikh N'Dyiah, the shitty old backup GK who wanted a transfer. Well I wanted to sell him in the winter transfer window, so this just makes things easier!

 

[Travis7401]

Game 15 : Bordeaux (H) : Draw 2-2

This was a frustrating Game for Mr. Manager. This is the type of home game against mid table teams that we absolutely must win in order to make a push for the Euro spots (and to guarantee that we finish top half of the league).

Again I got out to an early lead, but I could not hold off the second half onslaught as Maurice Belay managed to put a perfect cross and then another goal was scored from a corner (Struggling with set pieces lately HMMMMMM). This really was a very even game, so the draw wasn't surprising, I just wish the home field advantage luck that shined so well in the beginning of the season could have held for this game. Stade Rennais is heading into a brutal stretch over the next month, with 3 top teams in 4 games, so picking up a win here would have been great. The only good news was that Oliviera seems to have found his form again and scored a goal and an assist.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 16 : Monaco (A) : Loss 2-1

This was the most brutally frustrating game of my FM career so far. Monaco, despite their amazing roster, has been under performing a bit this season, so I thought I might be able to steal a game here. I adjusted the 4-1-3-2 formation by moving Feret a little further back to the CM spot (still advanced playmaker role) in hopes of trying to link up more between the CDMs and the attack. Also of note is the fact that Tiny Danze picked up an injury last game and Lassine Gassama has been out for a month or more. That leaves the RB position to the "jack of all trades but master of none" Baird. It sucks that I have to play him in this role, but I'm glad I signed him for depth because I literally have no one else on the team who can even play RB. During the game, Biyik was also injured, leaving the defense in shambles.

The ASS-Corch suggested that I tell the players to go out there and have fun, or some such soccer nonsense. Nah, b, when you know a team has more talent that just means you have to put in even MORE hard work work. Mr. Manager came out with a balls to the wall team talk and super aggressive approach, going right to the overload tactic from the starting whistle, hoping to catch Monaco complacent and lethargic. It actually worked pretty well as the onslaught from SR cause Monaco an absolute ton of problems. Unfortunately, the set piece defending again was a let down as we gave up the first goal on a corner kick. Still there was hope and chances aplenty as SR managed to tie the game back up when in-form Oliveiera smashed a cross from Alessiandrini into the net. SWEET. Mr. Manager kept pouring on the pressure, but it was all undone when Falcao worked over the defense and scored a goal on what was Monaco's only real chance. FUUUUUUUUUu

What a heart break to come out hard and pissed in an away game to a team with more talent and just completely dominate the game, but still lose.

5 clear cut chances and I only score 1 goal? AHHHHHHHHHHH. Plummeting down the table

 

[Travis7401]

Monthly Awards

Not at all surprisingly, Valbuena won the player of the month award for Ligue 1. His ass raping of me was apparently only one of many great games he's played in the past month. On a positive note, Oliviera came in third for player of the month, and Pitropia was awarded with the Goal of the Month. It was a nice clean finish, but really wasn't all that spectacular, IMO. He had a nice ball played to him by The Ferret and he took a finesse shot from about 15 yards and tucked it into the top corner. Not sure how they choose these goals of the week because they've been pretty underwhelming compared to some of the ridiculous shit goals that I see.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 17 : St Etienne (H) : Draw 1-1

This game was an absolute must win, with the next 2 games being against the two top teams in the league. St Etienne have not had a great season and this was a home game, so it should have been a slam dunk, right? I decided to try playing in a way where I could just dominate this game by keeping possession, not giving up counters, playing nice short passes, etc.

The strategy worked pretty well and I got the early lead when Oliviera continued his hot streak with another goal off an alessandrini cross. I continued to milk the clock and had several more nice chances, but couldn't put the damn ball in the net. Mr. Manager was a little wary about unleashing the beast at halftime, because his players are all a bit timid/frustrated at this point in the season since they've been working hard and getting screwed by fate. Unfortunately, the game was once again undone by a goal from a corner. I've fucked around with the tactics all over the place on corners and I keep giving up way more goals than I score, so if someone has some tips for corner defending, please share. FUUUU.

A draw is not what I need here, down to 8th place.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 18 : FC Lorient (A) : Loss 2-1

At this point, Mr. Manager is starting to wonder if soccer is the sport for him. An away game against 2nd place FC Lorient, who are on a hot streak, followed by a home game against clear leaders PSG who have only lost one game all season... all with 3 key defenders on the injury list. What to do? Mr. Manager decided to resurrect the asymmetric 5-3-2 formation, but switch it around due to the lack of a player who can play RWB. The normal LB is now playing CB and a backup is playing the most crucial wingback position in this formation. Surely everything will turn out well.

Mr. Manager's side went down 1-0 on the first real attacking movement of the game, and things really weren't looking good at this point. then Lorient scored a second goal before half and it appeared that the route was on. SR just looked outclassed, out-coached, and overwhelmed by the circumstances. Baird played a tragically poor game from his RB spot, being a key factor in allowing both goals. Fortunately, the team came together near the end when Pitropia scored a nice goal, and Mr. Manager switched to overload/aggressive tactics that had Lorient on the ropes for the last 10 minutes of the game. Unfortunately it was too little too late, but Mr. Manager actually decided to show a little pity for the side today... going down 2 goals before half, they could have easily just folded with their make-shift defensive line, but they battled back and made a game out of it. In the end, the 2-1 loss felt like a fair result, and SR almost pulled out the draw. Hopefully they can build on that momentum next week and avoid embarrassment by PSG.

The plummet down the table continues as Stade Rennais find themselves in 10th place

 

[Travis7401]

Game 19 : PSG (H) : Win 1-0!!!!

Well the slide stopped in magnificent fashion! Mr. Manager was considering packing his bags before this game. Eventually he decided to just play like his beloved Greek national side. Cagey Defensive tactics were called for, and Mr. Manager was finally able to play his preferred version of the asymmetric formation, as 2 of his previously injured defenders regained their health this week. The real key is that Tiny Danze is back in his wingback role where he excelled so much early in the season.

The result was glorious, as SR frustrated normally high scoring (and previously only once beaten) PSG and held a shutout. The only goal for SR, fittingly, came off a corner. Set Pieces have been taking away so much this season that it was glorious to see one giveth. SR actually had the better chances outside of the corner as well, and were only prevented from winning by 2 goals by a fine save by Sirigu near the end of the game. Cavani hit the crossbar once on what was the only chance that made Mr. Manager very nervous.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 20 : Evian (A) : Loss 4-1 : Stade Rennais Eliminated from Coupe de la Ligue Cup Competition in Hungover Performance.

Mr. Manager was hoping that the amazing performance against PSG last week would spark another good run of games. Everyone was finally relatively healthy and happy again, Mr. Manager didn't even storm out of the press conference this week! Mr. Manager decided to start with similar, but more positive, team/tactics as he did in the PSG game. Mr. Manager has noticed his players seem to perform better playing at low tempo. Not the type of game Mr. Manager would like to play, but those changes will come in time. For now Mr. Manager just wants some solid wins!

This turned out to be just a very strange game. SR really dominated the match early and looked so much better that I wasn't worried. Then Evian scored on their first real attacking move and the score was 0-1 going into halftime. Then after the half, everything went pear shaped and Sougou scored agan and again. I really don't know what went wrong other than the fact that SR didn't score on any of their chances while Evian scored on EVERY one of theirs. To add insult to injury, Evian were gifted with a soft penalty to put Mr. Manager down 4. WTF? Even the newspaper thought the penalty was soft after the match. Mr. Manager had noted the ref was card happy before the match and had informed his players to stay on their feet! FUUUUU. Eventually SR pulled a goal back by scoring on a goal mouth bumble following a corner. Well at least set pieces are no longer killing us, we are just getting straight raped by some dude named Sougou (hat trick).

As you can see, the match stats actually seem to slightly favor SR, as Evian scored 4 goals with 4 shots on target. This game was just full of wonky breaks. I had one like this go my way in the first 10 games, so I guess I can't complain.

The fans were very unhappy after the game, and Mr. Manager yet again stormed out of the press conference when the first reporter asked "Defeat sees your side out of the competition today - just how disappointed are you." Mr. Manager attempted to show Baptiste Favier, from the French Soccer Informer, how disappointed he was. The security guards were able to intervene as Mr. Manager attempted to eat Favier's face.

The sting of defeat was softened a bit when almost $600k from this cup competition hit the bank account, and Mr. Manager drowned his sorrows in Lord Calvert (trying to get finances back in order).

 

[kella]

The christ is that ridiculous formation?

 

[Travis7401]

The christ is that ridiculous formation?

Mostly trying to give Pitropia room to run around like an asshole while getting my other good attacking players in the right spots as well. So far it hasn't been the success for Pitropia that I was hoping, lol.

 

[Travis7401]

Team Review after 20 games!

Where the first 10 games were an outstanding display of managerial excellence, the last 10 games have been truly a roller coaster for Mr. Manager and Stade Rennais. The team went 2-3-3 in Ligue 1 competition and saw themselves plummet from 3rd place to 10th. They won a glorious game against PSG and suffered a horrible defeat against Marseilles. Each of the draws could/should have been a win, and a couple of the loses probably should have been draws. It was just a tough run of games where the team wasn't doing quite enough to pull luck back on their side.

In cup competition, Stade Rennais played one of their most impressive games of the season, in a 3-0 dismantling of Valenciennes, and then exited the competition early in a proverbial train wreck of a match against Evian. Still have the french cup to play for, but Mr. Manager was hoping some good cup runs could boost the financial situation, which is now deteriorating rapidly under the bloated wage budget.

In Ligue 1, PSG are still in first place, though FC Lorient have definitely made up ground. Those two teams and Marseilles have pulled away from the rest of the pack as the clear 1-2-3 in the league at this time. Most of the league is really bunched up in the middle of the table between spots 4 and 15, with only 8 points separating spots 4 and 15 with. Some of the leading teams have also played 2 more games than some of the lower teams, so the table could really shake up in coming weeks! With 26 points, Stade Rennais are only 3 points behind the teams in 4th place (though Bordeuax have played one less game than SR).

For the first team, Biyik, Danze and Oliviera are your top 3 rated players, though both Biyik and Danze lost time due to injury in the last 10 games. Oliviera had a long slump of non goal scoring games end when he pulled 4 in the last 5 games to end this batch on a high note, giving him a total of 9 goals on the season. Toivonen and Pitropia are both still toiling along, not as productive as I'd like in the majority of games, then playing brilliantly in 1 or 2 games (usually at the same time). Toivonen is the second leading scorer with 5 goals (only 2 in the last 10) but that's a frustratingly low number considering the fact that he's started 16 games, mostly as striker, and come on as a substitute in 2 more. His goals/minute rate is actually lower than his backup Romero's. HMMMMM. Pitropia shows real flashes of brilliance, but he still misses more shots and open chances than anyone else on the team, and he kind of just sucks at crossing the ball. Only 2 assists in 19 appearances is NOT what I want from my wingers.

The disappointment of this second 10 games has been the fall of The FERRET. He was the clear MVP of the first 10 games as he was involved in 7 goals in 10 games.... but in the last 10 games he has 0 goals and only a single assist. I think I will start playing him on the wing more, as he regularly puts in good crosses when I play him there. On a positive note, Alessiandrini really improved over the last 10 games and is starting to link up well with Oliviera. I didn't realize how on fire he was until late in this 10 game cycle, so it should be noted that his 5 assists and 1 goal came in only 6 total appearances (5 starts). That's the type of performance that has me looking to sell Pitropia during the transfer window.

The same crew continued to run the show for the reserves. I looked into calling up my boy Annour El Guennouni, but his ratings really aren't great and his potential is low too. He's outkicking his coverage with the reserves, unfortunately.) The reserve superstars Boye and Great Osick continue their fine work for the reserve team while struggling to contribute as subs for the first team.

The U19 team is currently lead by Kevin Bercot, who will be called up to the first team as a substitute if I sell Toivonen without replacing him. He's already got pretty solid physical stats and he has 4 star potential as well, so I think he could make an impact with the first team as a sub even at this point. Another player worth noting is Ousmane Dembele, who has 4.5 star potential and great physical stats already at the Right wing position. I might bring him up to the first team if the Great Osick doesn't make the most of his chances as a sub or if I sell Pitropia. The only rating he's currently lacking as a winger is "decisions" so I have The Ferret tutoring him.

 

[Travis7401]

Moving forward, I'm not sure if I'll continue posting every game or just start doing check ins at key points in the season like Milo. When I really get rolling it is a bit distracting to do write ups for every game when I want to just trog out in front of the computer all day and play half a season or some shit. During the week when I'm only playing a game or two a night, the updates every game make sense... but when I'm binging I think I'll just provide commentary on interesting results and the 10 game reviews I've been doing.

Thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Yankee151]

It is cool to see every game, but I know it gets tiring and if only doing the every 10 game reviews plus any big games (like the win over PSG) is easier than I say go for it. I could never do a FM dynasty at all (other than a sperg live blog of world cup games) because I'd just play 4 seasons ahead of my updates.

 

[fignuts]

Moving forward, I'm not sure if I'll continue posting every game or just start doing check ins at key points in the season like Milo. When I really get rolling it is a bit distracting to do write ups for every game when I want to just trog out in front of the computer all day and play half a season or some shit. During the week when I'm only playing a game or two a night, the updates every game make sense... but when I'm binging I think I'll just provide commentary on interesting results and the 10 game reviews I've been doing.

Thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Travis7401]

Thanks for the input guys, if you like seeing every game, I think I'll keep posting the results of each game with some screenshots, including the writeups from the in game paper, but I'll probably save my commentary to more important or interesting matches. That seems like a good compromise between saving myself some time and still posting all the results. I have some big shakeups coming as the winter transfer window looms ahead and I've had roughly half the season to evaluate my squad (I purposefully held off adding/subtracting too much in the first transfer window in order to see how the team played out). I now have a more firm plan going forward!

 

[Travis7401]

Game 21 : FC Sochaux (A) : Win 4-2

With almost half the season gone, the scouting reports for each team are starting to become more and more relevant. Heading into this match, I noted that FC Sochaux really struggled to defend against the 4-2-3-1 formation. It was by far the worst formation they faced, as they had given up far more more goals than they'd scored even to "weaker" teams. I have a 4-2-3-1 formation available, so I decided to play it. This also gave me the opportunity to make some changes based on the performances I'd noted in my 20th game write up. I decided to drop Toivonen back the the CAM spot and move The Ferret out to the Right wing position and starting Alessiandrini on the other side. Ferret has struggled recently at the CAM spot and Toivonen has struggled all season as striker, so this just made sense. Currently on-fire Oliveira would be the lone striker and I would have Pitropia available on the bench to come in as a super sub.

This strategy really paid off as Feret and Toivonen really shined in their adjusted roles, each contributing with 2 assists. This is really the best my offensive movement has looked in quite some time. Alessiandrini did not contribute with an assist or goal, but he did have several key passes and ended up with a nice rating overall. Oliviera went from "on fire" to "inferno" as he was always in the right position and ended up with a hat trick. This result has me thinking that I'll move forward with the single striker formation and slip Toivonen back to the CAM spot so that I can move Feret out onto that wing full time (he puts in more completed crosses than anyone else on the team). This means I'll have plenty of depth everywhere even if I sell Pitropia!

Sochaux were unlucky to not have scored more in this game, because their super fast winger Faussier caused me a ton of problems. The ref was also really yellow card happy, so I was surprised there were no penalties given.

 

[Milo]

I'm stunned you haven't added nicknames. I personally would be so tempted to rename John Boye, "Goodnight John Boy(e)."

Obviously, it's early, but what are the European spots? It's tight but you could be in the mix.

 

[Karl Hungus]

I'm only on page 1, so someone may have already told you this- the "counter" mentality is borcked and doesn't work the way it should in reel life. I've found the combination of attacking mentality, defend deep/ hassle opponents/ direct passing to work better.

 

[Karl Hungus]

I forgot higher tempo, that one is pretty important.

 

[Travis7401]

What is borked about counter attacking, out of curiosity? I had that as one of my default setups and it wasn't working super well

 

[Travis7401]

So how do you actually go about selling players? lol

 

[Karl Hungus]

What is borked about counter attacking, out of curiosity? I had that as one of my default setups and it wasn't working super well

Basically the quick transition from defense never happens. If you go to a FM forum and poke around the tactics section, there is usually someone bitching about "counter" not working. Really, the defensive tactics in general don't work very well, and it seems the best defense is making the AI worry about your attack.

To me, a CB with good passing ratings playing as a BPD is important in being able to launch a good counter attack. Like this:

 

[Travis7401]

Game 22 : Evraux FC27 (H) : Win 3 - 0 (French Cup first round)

Pretty easy win in this one even though I started mostly backups because we were playing a lower league team. The first own goal they score against themselves is hilarious, so I uploaded the highlights. I think I would quit if my team ever scored on themselves like that. I was a little disappointed to not pick up a single goal from open play, but whatevs.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 23 : Nice (H) : Win 2 - 0 : YAY we have what we could call a "winning streak" for the first time.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 24 : Evian (H) : Win 2 - 1

The winning streak continues to 4 straight (3 in league) and we managed to serve up a nice dish of revenge against Evian. Oliviera continues to score goals like a true stud and Toivonen picked up another assist from his CAM spot. I'm a little frustrated he's not scoring still, but assist after assist is getting the job done! If I'm honest, Evian probably deserved at least a tie in this one, but fuck em.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 25 : Stade Lavallois (A) : Win 4-3 : French Cup Match Narrow Victory with injury time comeback.

I called up a couple of Wunderkinds for this cup match against a lower level side (since I have a league game in 3 days). I decided to start a few of my 1st team players in key spots but let the youth run the day, then I planned on subbing in more youth as the game went on. The plan didn't go very well as my young CB and young GK contributed directly to going down 1-3. The team battled back and equalized in the 91st minute when Pitropia (I subbed on when I was down 2) crossed the ball in to THE FERRET who headed it in to tie the game. We went into extra time and it always had to be SR winning the game at that point, and they did when Armand headed it in on a corner, BTT style. Set pieces are turning around for me now. On another note, Oliviera scored again before being subbed off at half, quite the streak he has going!

This one definitely wasn't pretty, but the win streak continues to 5 games!

 

[Travis7401]

Game 26 : LOSC Lille (A) : Win 2-1

A huge away victory for Mr. Manager and Stade Rennais extends the win streak to 6. Oliviera scored again, but Toivonen was the hero of the day, picking up the game winner in the 90th minute. LAAAAWD.

LOSC Lille definitely deserved at least a draw here, but I was really proud of the team for pulling out a victory after they already had a tough mid-week match in the cup. I had to use all 2 subs by shortly after halftime in order to replace key players (Feret, Armand) who played the full 90 in the cup game a few days ago. Getting both victories was huge. I might actually be able to make a Euro cup spot if the team's luck holds!

 

[Travis7401]

Winter Transfer Deadline News:

-There was zero interest in GK Cheick N'Dyia, and he was being a PITA and cost too much for what he provided, so Mr. Manager let him walk on a free.

-I chose not to sign John Boy to another contract, so another team is going to pick him up at the end of the season. This is okay because I still need the depth for the remainder of this season but have no long term plans for him.

-The Great Osick didn't draw much interest at all, but I managed to work a ham-fist offer of 2.5 million (he's "worth" 4 million) and a loan of 100% wages for the rest of the season (his wages are WAY higher than they should be for what he provides.

Nobody gave an offer at all for Toivonen and the best offer for Pitropia was 5 Million (his "value" is 10 million). Fuck off, I'll wait around until the summer transfer window. I feel like listing Pitropia actually might have decreased his "value." HMMM.

I got a full price offer for Makoun that I also denied because he's a pretty key part of my team at this point. He doesn't have a long future, but he's going to be a key player in both my cup and league runs, so I decided to keep him. Also, Diarra is injured like half the time at this point, so that made it essential to keep him.

 

[NML]

Where we at in da table?

The counter name is deceiving - one would assume it sets ur strategy to countering but it's really just the middle point between defensive and standard/balanced. You have to set the team instructions to make it a true counter attacking tactic.

And fyi travis - under "match preparation" you can make ur focus "defending set pieces."

 

[Travis7401]

Prior to this next game I was tied on points for 4th/5th with Lyon.... and playing Lyon

Game 27 : Lyon (H) : Draw 0-0

The 6 game winning streak came to an end, but the 7 game streak without a loss continues. Mr. Manager and SR were 5th place going into the game, tied on points with Lyon who were in 4th. The game was a 0-0 draw and the places remained the same. I switched to a 4-1-3-2 after seeing Lyon's stats against the 4-2-3-1 and remembering how they smashed me last time we played. Neither team really was able to get much going and there were extremely few highlights to even watch in this match.

Sitting in 5th place, but only 1 point out of 3rd and 4 points ahead of 6th. I'll include more updates when I hit game 30.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 28 - Ajaccio (A) - Win 1-0

An ugly win, but the unbeaten streak extends to 8 games. Mr. Manager is basking in glory. Unfortunately it is not all the smell of roses at SR, as a projected 3 month injury to Toivonen has them smelling smoke. Despite a rough start to the season, Toivonen exploded in the last 8 games and is now second in Ligue 1 in assists. More specific updates when I hit game 30.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 29 - Nice (A) - Win 1-0 (French Cup Match) - The unbeaten streak continues to 9 games, but Stade Rennais are still smelling smoke

Due to the Injury of Toivonen, Mr. Manager switched to a 4-3-3 (Called 451 in game). The formation still works well with several quality midfielders on the team. Unfortunately for Mr. Manager, the injury woes continued as both Diarra and Pitropia went down during the match. Stade Rennais played a first team lineup during this cup match and now they must play a league game in 3 days with a battered and bruised squad missing 3 of their very best players. That smell of smoke...

 

[Travis7401]

Game 30 - Montpellier (H) - Draw

I was pretty disappointed to draw this game, especially since we statistically dominated the whole thing and Montpellier scoredon one of only 2 shots in the entire game. Still, with mounting injuries and an exhausted team from the cup match, it is hard to be mad about pushing the unbeaten streak to 10 games!

 

[Travis7401]

30 Game Update!

What a ten game run for Mr. Manager and Stade Rennais. They went unbeaten, with a record of 8-2-0 in the last ten games. That excellent unbeaten streak pushed them far up the Ligue 1 table from their 10th place position at the last update and also saw them progress to the quarterfinals in the French cup! Luck definitely turned positive for Stade Rennais in the last 10 games, as they managed to snatch victory during extra time in 2 games. The set piece attacking/defending also leveled out and even made the difference in several of the victories.

In Ligue 1, Stade Rennais are currently in 5th place, but are tied on points with 4th place Lyon and are only 3 points behind 3rd place Marseilles. PSG continue to hold the #1 spot. The table is still fairly tight as the #10 team is only 6 points back from Stade Rennais. The goal for this season was to finish "top half" and with 25/38 league games played, it looks promising. Being able to stay in the top 5 spots would be nice, because it would allow SR to play in some form of continental competition next season, at least in a playoff spot. They can also qualify through the French cup where they are currently quarter finalists. Depending on how everything breaks with the cup winners, even the 6th place team in ligue 1 can qualify for a Euro cup qualifying round.

For first team players, Oliveira continues to impress and is currently the leading scorer in Ligue 1. He cooled off a bit in the last few games, but went on a truly amazing goal scoring run earlier. The re-alignment of formation and tactics really benefited Toivonen and The Ferret both, as Toivonen drove to become second in Ligue 1 in assists and Feret snapped out of his streak of poor play to pick up a couple of goals and 5 more assists in his last 10 games. Sylvan Armand also shined in the last 10 games, picking up several goals off set pieces. Tiny Danze continued his fine play at the wingback position, and Anders Konradsen joined the top of the list on the strength of several good performances in cup matches. He'll be getting more time with the starters now for sure. On the downside, Alessaindrini cooled off and really didn't do much at all in the last 10 games and was regularly replaced by Pitropia when I needed a spark. Pitropia made the best of his limited playing time as a substitute before getting injured. Since I was unable to sell him in the last transfer window, you can expect to see him start again more regularly. Diarra also had a disappointing run, missing several games with niggles before going down with a more serious injury. Moving Forward, Mr. Manager is pretty worried about his team, with 3 key players out for significant time with injuries (Pitropia, Toivonen, and Diarra). Toivonen's injury is the most frustrating, since he was just starting to dominate and played a key role in this unbeaten run. Now he's projected to be out for 3 months!

In reserve games, The Great Osick only played a few more before he was loaned off for the rest of the season. In his absence, Ntep shot up to the top of the charts, earning several MOTM awards and scoring goals and creating goals like a madman. He hasn't done too great in his sub duty with the first team, so I'm pleased to see him dominating with the reserves at least. The future is bright for him. Anouar El Guennouni continues to score goals, but he has terrible potential, so isn't really in the plans for the future at this point. Hopefully his fine goal scoring record will help me be able to sell him in the offseason.

On the U19 team, the top 4 players were all called up to the senior side to get some PT during some of the easier cup matches. None of them really lit the world on fire, but they continue to perform at the U19 level and have also been made available for the Reserves. I've taken more care to get them all set up with proper individual training and tutors for hard work work. Next time I get a loan report on my players who are out in the wide world, I'll post.

 

[Travis7401]

After 30 games, I'm going to change my individual game reports slightly and stop posting the player ratings and match stats breakdown, since they are both kind of hard to read and just take up a lot of real estate. I'll continue posting the Game article, the formation view, and the Game overview, which includes stats, the Ligue1 Table, MOTM, and other info. I think that one screenshot basically sums up the game pretty well. If anyone is actually interested in looking at more detailed stats let me know and I'll include whatever you'd like to see in the game reports.

Any suggestions/advice after 30 games? As you can see I've found a lot of the advice helpful. I loaned/sold some of the excess players who weren't in my plans, and locked down set piece play through the match prep options. Thanks to @NML for those suggestions. I also followed the advice on selling players and was able to move 1 of the guys I wanted to move. Just no interest in the other guys, but I'll chalk that up to the winter transfer window.

 

[Travis7401]

Game 31 - Nantes (A) - Win 1-0 BEDOYA LEFT RED-FACED AND PEAR SHAPED

Dealing with injuries, suspensions, and still a little worn from last week, Stade Rennais barely squeeked out a win because Bedoya sucks and scored an own goal on a corner. Trollolololol. 6.1 rating when he was subbed off after 61 minutes. Baird gave him the business all game long and Bedoya couldn't hang. The unbeaten streak marches on, against all odds, in the ugliest win for Stade Rennais yet this season. Mr. Manager was NOT pleased after the game because his team failed to score, so he ripped the chalkboard off the wall and smashed it over his own head. The players were shocked, as they figured keeping the streak alive would be good enough for a continued reprieve from Mr. Manager's tirades.

(This is my new game report style. Any comments?)

 

[kella]

For a second i imagined bedoya taking a corner and having it go all the way down the field into his own net

 

[Yankee151]

Best update yet

 

[NML]

2 points outta champions league woooooo

 

[Yankee151]

Best thing about the UCL is that once you get into the group stages consistently you're a safe bet to stay there, Grab dat 8-9mil every year plus increased sponsorships

 

[Travis7401]

Something that is worth noting... my finances are looking bleak as I'm now in the red. Not sure what to do really, as I'm 50k below wage budget. I don't really understand how to really control finances outside of transfers/wages, so I'm not sure how to remedy that. I'll probably end up with an ending balance in the 8-10million range. Do you get money for finishing a certain spot in leage/cups? I've only ever played FIFA and the finances in FIFA are just kind of ham-fisted. I have some players I can sell at the end of the year, but I just wasn't sure how everything works with me running monthly deficits.

 

[Travis7401]

2 points outta champions league woooooo

I'm a game ahead of everyone right now

 

[Milo]

Prize money should be listed on the league's rules screen. Just depends on the league. If it's not listed under Rules, you might not get any. Euro spots will provide match based incentives and extra games worth of attendance, though.

I prefer the new format. Ratings are nice, but I don't particularly care from game to game if a player is pulling a 6.4 or a 6.5. I'd rather just get the basic information and anything interesting about the game.

 

[NML]

Something that is worth noting... my finances are looking bleak as I'm now in the red. Not sure what to do really, as I'm 50k below wage budget. I don't really understand how to really control finances outside of transfers/wages, so I'm not sure how to remedy that. I'll probably end up with an ending balance in the 8-10million range. Do you get money for finishing a certain spot in leage/cups? I've only ever played FIFA and the finances in FIFA are just kind of ham-fisted. I have some players I can sell at the end of the year, but I just wasn't sure how everything works with me running monthly deficits.

Yeah the main way you can save money is wages/transfers. We already talked about ur reserves, but look at your coaching staff as well. Do you have eight scouts that you aren't utilizing? Too many reserve corches? See where you can cut some money. Just because ur given a high wage budget, doesn't mean using 100% will end profitably.

You should be getting a nice check every round of the cup, or you get one when you are finally eliminated (never managed in France). You'll get prize money for ur league play, my guess is it'll be around 10 million.

Going to the champions league is enormous financially. If you get to the knockout rounds, you could easily pocket 50 million total. Plus you will see a big increase in sponsorship money, you will sell out almost every game, and your club's reputation will increase - which further increases attendance, sponsorship, who is willing to play on ur team, etc.

Europa league will be nice too, but just not to that extent.

 

[NML]

One of the really, really cool things about FM is how dynamic every thing is. Games like FIFA have never figured that out.