Les Lionceaux

I've been toying with starting a new game on FM17 for a while now, after having massive success on a long term save at Sheffield United. I tried a few different clubs; Chelsea where I won the treble in the first season, Juventus where my star players all decided they wanted to move to bigger clubs, and then Barcelona where I dominated the league in 2016/17, before becoming disillusioned with player wage demands and trying to find the next big thing.

This lead me to searching for clubs with a good youth system already in place, and outside of their nation's top league in able for me to focus on player development a lot more. With France producing some fantastic young footballers at the minute, the end destination was FC Sochaux.

The academy has produced several notable talents, such as Yannick Stopyra, El-Hadji Diouf, Jérémy Ménez, Bernard Genghini and Benoît Pedretti, among others, so I am really excited to see what sort of talent comes through during this save. I will be focussing on bringing players through the Academy as much as possible, and try to limit the number of first team signings I make each season to enable us to develop from within. The major worry will be keeping hold of the players we have at our disposal for as long as possible, and ensuring we make good money on those that we do sell. I am starting the game with first window budgets disabled, so at least we will have a good run until the January window to assess the squad and keep our players.

One concern off the bat is that we already have five loan players at the club, and that is now the limit for the season. I don't want us to focus on loanees, but without a doubt there will be a time where we need to bring someone in as cover, or to add a spark to the side. I had originally lined up Kasey Palmer (Chelsea) and Gedion Zelalem (Arsenal) as potential loan targets, but with the five already done and dusted, they will have to be shelved.

We have a 20,000 capacity stadium, and we are predicted to finish 10th by the bookies. However, overall feel from the board is to avoid relegation. If we can get anywhere near the top three this season, that would be fantastic, but it will be all about focussing on getting the players out on the pitch as much as possible and hopefully see them develop.

I'll be updating this thread at the end of each game month, so I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading.

August 2016



Paris FC 0 - 2 Sochaux
Domino's Ligue 2

An away trip in the captial saw us start the campaign with a fantastic two nil win. Paris was a potential destination for me as it would be a huge challenge to try and topple the mighty PSG with their city rivals, but for now I will stick with Sochaux.

Aksel Aktas and Florent Ogier gave us the perfect start to the season with a goal each.



Sochaux 2 - 0 La Berrichonne
Domino's Ligue 2

Our first home game of the season saw a repeat score line of our night in Paris, but this time an own goal and a goal mouth scramble saw Rafa Navarro open his account for the season. It wasn't a pretty match, but another clean sheet and another three points is welcome regardless of how we play.



Tours FC 0 - 2 Sochaux
Coupe de la Ligue 1st Round

If the last game was scrappy, this one was a delight. We could've been four up at half time, but with a rotated side to give some of the younger players a start, we couldn't find the net. Just after the break though, Jeando Fuchs broke the deadlock, and it was no more than we deserved. Fuchs looks like a very capable player at this level, and impressed against opposition from the same division. Madger Gomes, formerly of Liverpool and Leeds United, doubled our lead to send us into Round 2.



Valenciennes FC 0 - 0 Sochaux
Domino's Ligue 2

For a minute there, I thought I had broken FM and I was going to win every game of the season 2-0, but alas it wasn't to be and we travelled to valenciennes and played out a rather tepid scoreless draw. Games like these will happen, and with a young side, we might need to add a few experienced heads to try and grind out results.



Sochaux 1 - 1 Quevilly Rouen Metropole
Domino's Ligue 2

This was a game we really should've won, as Quevilly are a side who will struggle this season to stay afloat. However, an own goal was all we could muster, and instead of a comfortable home win, we instead come away with a difficult draw.



Sochaux 4 - 1 Stade Lavallois MFC
Coupe de la Ligue 2nd Round

Drawn at home against a lower league side was probably the tonic we needed after the previous performance, and we managed to find the net four times. Moussa Sao grabbed a hat-trick in the first 39 minutes, and Madger Gomes secured the rout just before half time. We let one slip in the second half, but a great win and morale boosting for the players.



Tours FC 0 - 2 Sochaux
Domino's Ligue 2

No I haven't copied this one twice by mistake, we managed to get another 2-0 win at Tours, this time in the league. Moussa Sao continued his excellent form, scoring both goals. It looked as though we wouldn't break them down, but in the 81st minute, Sao broke the deadlock and added his second in injury time.



Sochaux 2 - 1 Havre Athletic Club
Domino's Ligue 2

A win to round off an eventful first month, and one that has surprised me in the way we've strung together a decent run of form. Florent Oglier scored in the first game this month, and bookended it with a goal here. Emile Rzepecki, who looks like he could have an excellent future with us, managed to grab his first goal as well and we looked comfortable until the 70th minute when we conceded. Cue nervous finish, but we got over the line in the end!

League Table

Second in the league behind Stade Brestois 29 is more than we could've hoped for at this early stage of the season, but I am enjoying the save and bringing through some of the youth talent into the first team already. Whether we can maintain this pace remains to be seen, but it's a great start.

Financial Update

Finances are looking secure at the moment, although we did make a £437k loss this month which will need to be addressed. The major expenditure is on player wages, so we may need to trim the squad a little bit and replace from within.

Player of the Month

I've been really pleased with the performances of a number of our players, with Jeando Fuchs nailing down a place in our midfield, whilst Nicolas Senzemba has been superb at left wing back. However, Moussa Sao takes the plaudits here, with his five goals in six games.