FM 2015 Montpellier Guide

Why Montpellier?

Think about names such as Laurent Blanc, Eric Cantona, Roger Milla or Carlos Valderrama. All these players have played in Montpellier’s colours and by managing Montpellier you now have the chance to produce new stars for the future. Montpellier is also one of the few clubs to have played in the inaugural 1932–33 season and is still playing in the French first division. They have a long history, starting from the year of 1919 with the founding of the original club but 1974 perhaps represents the actual birth of the current club, following a merge with AS Paillade.

Club Information – The Initial Setup

• Reputation: National
• Estimated Value: €41.5M
• Stadium: Stade de La Mosson — Mondial 98, 32950 all-seater
• Affiliated Club(s): 14 clubs from lower French divisions
• Training Facilities: Good
• Youth Facilities: Great

Having enjoyed success as recently as 2012, Les Pailladins are a club with a growing history. Montpellier HSC won the French top division for the only time in 2012, won the French Cup in 1929 and 1990 and finished runners-up once, while finished runners-up in the Coupe de la Ligue in 2011.

Finances

• Balance: €14.6M
• Projected Balance: €16.8M
• Sponsors: 3 year main kit sponsorship deal at €2.09M per season (ends 2016)
• Loans Outstanding: —
• Total Player Wage Budget: €1.45M per month
• Current Player Wage Budget: €1.45M per month
• Transfer Budget: €5M (80% transfer revenue made available)

Board Expectations

The minimum expectations should be once again fair for your first season, with an adequate transfer budget which can be used mostly for wages, in fact I insist you make these adjustments since some of your key players will be at the end of their contracts. There are no other philosophies included.

Staff Members

• Mutual Termination: David Moulin (Goalkeeper Coach) / Bruno Carotti (Director of Football) / Antoine Di Fraya (Chief Scout) / Nicolas Jover (Scout).
• New Signings: Gilles Rouillon (Chief Scout) / Pierre Barrieu (Fitness Coach) / Nicolas Le Coroller (Physio) / Jean-Jacques Benoit, Robert Valette (Coach) / Laurent Chiechelski, Stephane Pauwels, Rachid Maatar, Henri Zambelli, Gerard Parentin (Scout).

The Squad – Key Players & Backups

Goalkeepers: Geoffrey Jourdren is a really good keeper, and should be your first choice 99% of the time. You can have Pionnier playing a couple of games in the cups, if you have easy games and you should start your search for a better backup from second season onwards.

Defenders: Siaka Tiene is your best wing back and unfortunately he’s 33 and at the end of his contract. You should actively seek to renew his deal for a season or two, while you should also keep scouting for a future replacement. Now on the right wing you will need a replacement, but Congre should be played in rotation. Your central area however is much concerning, Hilton is the best central defender aged 36 along with Abdel El Kaoutari who is a bit poor in the air, but you can also use Dabo and Gissi as pure backups.

Midfielders: Joris Marveaux seems to be the best choice on paper, but during my save Paul Lasne proved to be e better choice in most of the games, along with Jamel Saihi. On the wings you have quite a few options, both Ait Fana and Anthony Mounier are great choices and when you also have Souleymane Camara available, there’ nothing left then to use all of them in rotation. Djamel Bakar is also a good backup, just in case.

Strikers: Lucas Barrios might be a decent choice but there is better quality upfront on the transfer market. We’ll see that in a few moments.

The Youth Generation

• Average Junior Coaching
• Established Youth Recruitment
• Prospects: Morgan Sanson (19), AMR / Gianni Seraf (19), AMR / Morgan Poaty (16), ML.
• Youth Intake Rating (First Season): 7.5/10

FM 2015 Montpellier Tactics

The club obviously lacks a good offensive midfielder (AMC) and there aren’t enough options on the transfer market so I went for this 4-3-2-1 which proved to be a good setup that made the most out of our striker Elias, who scored over 30 goals during the season. Instructions such as play out of defense, retain possession, look for overlap and lower tempo are once again the wheels that makes things work properly, and the structure is still one to be easily adjusted when needed. [Download]

Club Transfers

Surprise surprise not a lot of changes for our first season, I have decided it’s best to wait until I know which key players will still be here next season. Instead I have patiently searched the free transfer market for options and found some real bargains with bags of potential (you must have a large database with current International players available!).

Players Out

10 players out, including anything below a 3-star potential as always and sold Jonathan Ligali, our 3rd keeper for 400K to Evian TG. You can also sell Kevin Berigaud and Sebastien Wuthrich, but it’s a bit unlikely to find interested clubs for these two players.

Players In

• Goalkeeper(s): none
• Defender(s): Gonzalo Piovi, Thomas Monconduit
  
• Midfielder(s): William Aho Abou
  
• Striker(s): Elias

Team Management

This one applies for each and every save possible. Always aim to encourage your players. Be careful to injuries, try the rotation system as it will help youngsters develop. Pay attention to finances, above all. Set general training to either Tactics or Fitness in pre-season, High and then lower intensity during the season. Main focus for match preparation can be set to Match Tactics initially then Teamwork. As for scouting, keep your scouts active through all season and make sure you’re prepared for any future transitions.

The Conclusion

Your first season might not be as good as this one. I managed to reach the 2nd place in the league, while we also played the French Cup final (won against Drancy — from CFA league!) and Coupe de la League final (defeated by Lille, on penalties) but the truth is, I was quite lucky. The fact that we edged some narrow wins in crucial times helped our morale and things went for the better. There will be some tough competitors for the podium including OM, Lille or Lyon and let’s not forget PSG — who had a surprisingly poor season here, but definitely has the potential to be much better than that. Thanks for following and good luck with Les Pailladins!

• Pros: secure finances, large stadium,  great wingers, good youth setup
• Cons: poor defenders, expiring contracts, competitive league
• Difficulty: 5/10