We started our FM24 journey with Stade Rennes last time out as we explored our new club and prepared ourselves for the momentous task of winning them their first ever French Ligue 1 title. If you would like to catch up on that episode you can do that here.
August 2024
We are ready to go. All the preseason work has been done and we have reached the beginning of the season. Lets get a good start.
Well we had an awful start. Losing our debut game against Metz, we were poor and didn't deserve anything.
We revisited the tactics and made some tweaks but our injury hit squad just needed time to gel. A thumping of Lens and a nervy affair against Le Havre put much needed points on the board.
Young Turkish striker Bertug Yildirim, only playing due to the injuries to platers further up the pecking order than him grabs his opportunity with both hands to score 4 in two games including a hattrick at Lens!
The end of August saw the group stages for the Europa League drawn. Lets see who we will be grouped with.
Well, what a group that is. We are drawn with Premier League sensation Brighton, previous Europa Conference League winners Roma and Serbian minnows FK TSC.
Its going to take some big performances to qualify out of that group.
September 2024
After starting poorly we managed to bounce back straight away with a couple of quickfire wins. We needed to carry that momentum into September, especially with the opening round of the Europa League mixed in!
Its the epitome of a mixed bag of results. Two poor Draws and a difficult defeat at home to Lille alongside a very regulation win away at Montpellier. 5 points from a possible 12.
Straight into European action now and we welcomed Premier League surprise package Brighton to Brittany. This is going to be a tough test to start the campaign.
Its that man Yildirim again, his second hattrick in as many months. A huge result and a great start to the group stage!
October 2024
We roll into October with a lot to be positive about but there is definitely room for improvement especially at t he back as we have struggled to keep teams out so far this season. Just the small job of PSG at home to start the month off.
A string of draws sees us through the league fixtures during October. We are the first team to take points of of PSG this season which is a feat in itself. We struggle the rest of the month with what appears to be 4 points dropped.
The other positive from this run of fixtures is the return from injury of star player Martin Terrier.
Two games in Europe in October and after our opening game win against Brighton.
Back to back losses and a completely winless month in League and Europe. I can excuse the Roma defeat but the loss in Serbia is really really poor.
Lots of work to do if we are to qualify from this group.
November 2024
After a mediocre October in the league, we needed an upturn in form to keep the boards loft goals for European qualification in our grasps.
The draw with Nice meant we had drawn our last 5 league games across three months. Not the avalanche of points we need in this division. A tough fought loss to Lyon followed by our first win in 6!!
Two away games in the Europa League as well this month as we travel to Rome and Brighton. We need at least a result against Brighton for us to have a chance of staying in the competition going into the last game week.
Our Europa League form is keeping our heads above water currently. A creditable draw away in Rome followed by a late win on the south coast of England.
We do the double on Brighton to keep our chances of qualification alive. We welcome TSC whilst Brighton and Rome go head to head in Italy!
December 2024
December sees the Youth intake preview for the full Youth Intake in March.
Always an exciting time of year, especially when you have one of the best academies in the country!
Its looking a really strong intake! Hopefully a few coming through that can make an impact in the future.
December sees us have 3 away game in the league. The first 2 fixtures appear to be tough ones with Marseille and Monaco back to back. We will then see if we can secure safe passage to the next round of the Europa League.
Another couple of draws to add to the ever growing list. A decent win at home to Monaco gets us back on track before another draw and a really disappointing loss away to Clermont Foot.
Now for the Europa League.
Well we definitely exorcized some demons after losing to TSC in Serbia. We have done our part, but what happened in the crunch match in Rome.
Roma cruise to victory to leave them winners of the group and we leapfrog Brighton into second with our
win.
Some positivity for the first half of the season.
Halfway Tables
It really isn't great reading domestically as we are languishing in 10th place. Luckily there is only 3 points between us and 6th place with lots of football left to play.
January may be a very important month for us, on and off the field.
Thanks for reading and i hope you join us again soon.
Cheers
Panda
