Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise

Following the destruction of Newcastle in the 1st knockout round I was optimistic of enjoying a good run in Europa League, having avoided the likes of Bayern München, Arsenal, Porto, Dortmund and Zenit for the next round. And it all started so well in the first leg in snowy Moscow.



With 11 shots on target, 2 in the woodwork and 4 clear cut chances we clearly should have buried the tie completely, but travelling back to France with 1-0 on aggregate I was confident of us going through with ease. Boy, was I wrong about that. As FM sometimes is just... FM.

Did you go through on away goals?

I scored one goal in Russia they scored two goals in France and it ended 2-2 on aggregate. I obviously lost on away goals.

Ahhh Thought you went through as you got away goal in Russia. Shame you didn't finish the job off at home.

Thought I'd share this with you guys. Auxerre qualifying for the Coupe de France final against Ligue 1 side Guingamp!



Expect a new update on the story soon. Allez l'AJA!

Looking forward to it

And I'm back (by popular demand)! Right, it's time to pick up the pace a little. Last time out we suffered a well annoying defeat to Dinamo Moscow in the Europa League 2nd Knockout Rnd, but I have to say it was a relief to give up on that extremely tiring fixture list of ours.



Since then we have marched on in the league and this is how things stand with only two games left of the season!



Ever since that epic run of wins we have managed to keep PSG behind us. And guess what; it's all going down in a league final at Stade Abbé Deschamps 13 May in the 37th league game of the season. We then have St. Etienne away in the final round, while PSG have Lens at home.

10-1... WHAT?!

Check the previous page for more info. Got knocked out in the next round though, so it didn't mean much then.

David vs Goliat. A David which is steadily growing bigger. The undisputed kings of French football vs. the underdogs. An oil money backed plastic club vs. a good ol' self-sufficient hard working football club. Game of the season and all that. It all came down to this. Given our record against PSG at home ever since I took over the club (7-1-0 / 24-8 gd) I went into the game with high hopes of a achieving a good result. After all all we needed to stay top was (at least) a draw.
The two starting line-up's:


It all started so good...



...before Eric Mathoho decided to be an absolute idiot and got himself sent off. Marquinhos then sent PSG up in the lead on the following free-kick. Paul Georges Ntep could have saved the season day in stoppage time:

How that didn't go in i'll never know! Still one game to go though so its not quite over yet.

Haha, tell me about it! I had to film that shit with my phone even as it wouldn't upload through FM. We have St. Etienne away while PSG have Lens at home... I guess there have been bigger upsets in football history than us lifting the title but I doubt we'll get any help from Les Sang et Or.

We have qualified for both the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue final though, which gives us the opportunity of retaining our domestic cup double from last season.

As expected Lens didn't offer us any help on the last day of the season. Absolutely gutted to see PSG lift yet another Ligue 1 title especially as we were topping the league for so long. Fucking PSG and their money. That's their 5th league title in a row - they are on some Lyon 2000's shit now. Unless we manage to stop them that is. And I won't leave this club before I have managed to do exactly that. Knocked them off their perch.


This is then the final league table. Pay attention to the amount of points down to 3rd placed Lyon. Cray. It's been a two-horse race all season really.



In the domestic cup's however - PSG ain't got nothing on us seeing as we copied the domestic cup double from last year. All in all it's been another productive season really. Can't wait to play in the Champions League again next season!

Team summary

(Squad stats)







Arnaud Souquet has been absolutely terrific all season long. A former Lille reject who arrived at the club on free transfer while we were still a Ligue 2 outfit - bossing Ligue 1 completely two seasons later. Who would have thought? Still only 25 years old and his performances this season merits a France call up.

Awards













I'd say that's a good little collection of awards from a successful season.

Finances





PSG & Monaco - we are coming for ya!

Other

Right guys... the season is over and it's time to enter the transfer market again. My primarily target this time around will be to bring in an AMC - who can play in the shadow striker role. Vincent Gragnic isn't getting any younger, Youcef Belaïli has shown to be quite injury-prone and Hervin Ongenda hasn't got what it takes yet. I've set my eyes on three targets but I need your help to decide who I'm going to sign. I have hit a dead end really as I can't make up my mind.




Pros:
- Very consistent performer
- No real weaknesses
- Wage demands not very high
- Can play in a couple of positions
/
Cons:
- Already playing close to his full potential
- The most expensive player of the three. Though money ain't no real issue.
- The most injury-prone player of the three.



Pros:
- The most consistent performer of the three
- Best mental attributes
- Not often injured
- Can play in a couple of positions
/
Cons:
- Old
- Highest wage demands by far
- No international experience



Pros:
- Looks like the obvious choice
- Already plays at a very high level - can he get even better? As this FM we all know that some players reach their full potential in their early 20s
- The cheapest of the three in terms of transfer fee and wages
- Like Pratto, not prone to injuries
/
Cons:
- Inconsistent performer compared to the other two. I need someone who can perform week in, week out
- Fairly selfish player

Adaptabilty in terms of living another country shouldn't be a problem - at least it's not mentioned in either of the scout reports.

Vadalá for me, although if that transfer doesn't go through then i'd pick Correa over Pratto.

Pratto is more useful as a Complete Forward tbh, Correa is more useful as the number 10/on the flanks due to his pace. Depends on what you need for the team.

The voter turnout for this is a sad tale. Come on now!

Vadala looks really interesting, and if given your confidence he could become a real star. But perhaps Correa is a more reliable signing. Not really a fan of Pratto.

Pratto looks like a really consistent player, I think that he would be my choice despite I know his age might be a bit discouraging. But you already have plenty of young talented players, and an experienced teamworker is always useful when you play at that level.

After some long and hard thinking, which also included the input and opinions from you guys (thank you) I have decided on who I want to sign. Aaaand the winner is... Lucas David Pratto of Vélez Sarsfield! At first he seemed like the least likely option but there is something about the guy that I like. I still remember seeing him play in real life when he was on loan at Lyn in Norway of all places - never would I have thought that he would turn out to be this good later in his career. My word was he slow and heavy back then. To those of you that haven't seen him in action - him being a footballer isn't the first thing that comes to mind. I think there is a bit of originality over this signing too compared to the other two. And then you have the experience he adds to our young squad.

With the Pratto deal done and dusted we can finally move on. And whilst the first team squad's enjoying their well earned break, the manager of a football club never rests. Particularly not in this club. So when Vincent Gragnic is surrounded by some serious booty and is drinking his champagne on some yacht along the French riviera, this man is handling all the transfer dealings. To be fair that isn't done in one day.

As already mentioned on the previous page we have already arranged a couple of transfers for the summer: Alberto Cerri (St) from Parma, Foday Nabay (Mc) from Fulham and the two Ivorian youngsters Norbert Diaby (Amr) Sékou Karamoko (Dc) who'll arrive once their 18-years old from ASEC and Africa Sports respectively - all four for the combined fee of £250K. Since then we have managed to arrange two more pre-contract deals which I'm very pleased to announce. Technically three if you count in the loan deal with Newcastle's Haïdara that we made permanent for £1M.



The first one is a transfer I made a while ago actually but one that couldn't be completed until now because of the player's age. A good right back prospect for the future this one. I just hope the fact that he's been without a club ever since I signed him has hindered his chances of becoming real good.



Now this is a signing I'm really pleased with, and he has got the skills to create a lot of trouble for the right backs in Ligue 1 this upcoming season I imagine. Another left winger you might ask as we already got Paul-Georges Ntep and Sid Ahmed Aouedj. Well, there are some less good news in this update too I'm afraid.



After the season was over those sneaky bastards PSG started showing interest in Ntep and it didn't take long for him to express his desire in joining them. Seeing as we signed him for £6.5M only a year ago and him being both an Auxerre product and a French international, he wouldn't go cheaply for sure. Following some prolonging negotiations they eventually managed to get him from us by paying nearly £40 million. An offer we simply couldn't refuse I'm afraid. We would also cash in on another deal.



Auxerre is (at least for the time being) and has always been a 'selling club'. They develop young talents and sell them to bigger clubs. It's simply their place on the 'food chain' of the football world. So when Liverpool came asking and decided to splash the cash on our full-back Elseid Hysaj I once again felt it was a no-brainer not accepting it. Yes, we do lose a quality player I ideally would have want to stay but then again it's a huge offer and there are always replacements out there. It's the philosophy of this club that no-one's irreplaceable. It'll be interesting to see what kind of impact the amount of changes to our team will have on our title chances.



Oh, and Maxym Marusych (Mc), Serigne Diouck (St) and Kemokho Cissokho (Dc) have left the club as their contracts expired. Cissokho has been a fine servant to the club picking up 74 league apps during his time here and I'm sure he'll have no trouble in finding a new employer. I would have kept him as a backup had he been trained in nation.

Always good fun to extort the big Premier League clubs and the likes of PSG when they come asking for your players.

Oh, in-deed. Without them I would have struggled big time.

Transfers 2017/2018

In



Some of the transfers I have already presented in this thread. So let's get to know the other new faces.



Will act as cover on both flanks. Agreed future fee of £3M should I make the deal permanent.



A product of the Auxerre academy. Brought in as backup and because of the European cup competition ruling on home-grown players.



Could be our future left back. With him and Haïdara we're covered on that position.



Class signing to replace want-away countryman Facundo Cardozo.



French backup for Castelletto as right back.

Out



As Porto started showing interest in signing Cardozo he started to moan about how he wanted to move away to a bigger club. Valued to £4.5M and with only one year left of his deal I had no choice but to sell him when Hannover offered £10M for him. There's your 'bigger club' for ya haha! They finished 14th in the Bundesliga last season. Also released André Senghor on free as I didn't really see the need for him any longer with three better strikers fighting for one place in the starting X1. Getting £9M for Quansah wasn't a bad piece of business either. Another player who expressed his desire in moving clubs during last season.



Finally all the loan deals.

2017/2018 Season Preview



Paris Saint-Germain | 2015/16: Champions | Manager: Laurent Blanc
Captain: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Key players: Thiago Silva, Memphis Depay, Marek Hamsik, Asmir Begovic
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Paul-Georges Ntep (£32,5m from Auxerre), Ruben Neves (£41,5m from Lazio), Divock Origi (£17m from Liverpool)
OUT: Lazar Markovic (£7,5m to Chelsea), Kenneth Omeruo (£2,3m to Barcelona)



AS Monaco | 2015/16: 5th | Manager: André Villas-Boas
Captain: Jérémy Toulalan
Key players: João Moutinho, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Pione Sisto, Stefan de Vrij
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Alper Ademoglü (£14,25m from Anderlecht), Patrick Banggaard (£8.5m from Hannover), Bilal Basacikoglu (£7,25m from Feyenoord)
OUT: Shkodran Mustafi (£14,5m to Man City), Layvin Kurzawa (£6,5m to Atlético), Talisca (£2,2m to Rubin)



Olympique de Marseille | 2014/15: 4th | Manager: Quique Flores
Captain: Steve Mandanda
Key players: Luciano Acosta, Dória, Ramires, Gianneli Imbula
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Jetro Willems (£8,5m from PSV), Kasper Kusk (£7,75m from Twente), Nicolas Tagliafico (£2m from San Lorenzo)
OUT: Pablo Armero (£925k to Swansea)



Olympique Lyonnais | 2014/2015: 3rd | Manager: Paco Ayestarán
Captain: Maxime Gonalons
Key players: Sebastian Giovinco, Clément Grenier, Yoann Gourcuff, Kim Seung-Gyu
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Younousse Sankhare (£4m from Guingamp), Garry Mendes Rodrigues (£4m from Malaga), Gustav Engvall (£2m from Tottenham)
OUT: Samuel Umtiti (£15,5m to PSG)



LOSC Lille | 2015/16: 8th | Manager: Vahid Halilhodzic
Captain: Rio Mavuba
Key players: Vincent Enyeama, Sébastien Corchia, Simon Kjær, Daniel Amartey
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Wissam Ben Yedder (£5m from Toulouse), Marcelo Brozovic (£2m from Dinamo)
OUT: - Luc Castaignos (£8,5m to QPR), Michael Frëy (£6,5m to Anderlecht)



Saint-Étienne | 2015/16: 6th | Manager: Elie Baup
Captain: Moustapha Bayal
Key players: Stéphane Ruffier, Franck Tabanou, Romain Hamouma, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Mihailo Ristic (£2,5m from Crvena Zvezda), Pape Souaré (£1,1m from Lille)
OUT: -



OGC Nice | 2015/2016: 7th | Manager: José Antonio Camacho
Captain: Mikkel Diskerud
Key players: Valentin Eysseric, Jordan Amavi, Nampalys Mendy, Lukas Masopust
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Lukas Masopust (£1,1m from Jihavla)
OUT: Alexy Bosetti (£6,5m to Tottenham)



Stade Rennais | 2015/16: 16th | Manager: Franck Dumas
Captain: Romain Danzé
Key players: Benoît Costil, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Tomer Hemed, Benjamin André
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Tomer Hemed (£2m from Almeria), Michal Zyro (£1,9m from Legia)
OUT: -



Girondins Bordeaux | 2015/16: 14th | Manager: Willy Sangol
Captain: Lamine Sané
Key players: Cédric Carrasso, Miroslav Klose, Yonathan Cabral, Hadi Sacko
Major transfers in/out:
IN: Miroslav Klose (£125k from Lazio)
OUT: -

It's not over yet... still going strong! Haha, almost forgot about this as I started playing the save again.

Can't believe I haven't read this career-story until now... Very good reading, indeed. Good luck, Jonas! Looking forward to catching up on the next update!

PS: Mammana is a beast, I'm currently having a save with River Plate on FM14, he's just so good. For the AMC-role I'd definitely recommend Tomás Martinez of River or Manu Lanzini

Gracias! Glad you like it. I'll probably post an update later on.

I'll keep an eye out for them, though I don't think I'll need another AMC right away.

Just saw that you bought Lucas Pratto. Did I misread or were you buying him to play him in the AMC-position?