Montpellier - Hello France

Onwards

After the season opener against Toulouse I looked to push in the same direction. The media speculated that I was to make a few more signings and the people who gambled upon it were sorrily mistaken. I liked where the squad was at. Only a few things needed to change and that was on the transfers out side. Our next game was against FC Lorient and I first real test in the Ligue 1 was against Marseille right after. I wanted to have a good game against OM because that would prove that we will be up the top again this season. Showing we mean business. In other news the group draw for the Champions League started. We were drawn into group A with Manchester United, Basel and Valencia. Not an easy group but, not a hard one either. United would be the big challenge and we got them at home in the first fixture of the group.

This is how the fixtures went:
http://oi47.tinypic.com/1zgcprs.jpg

August Summary
The Lorient game and the Marseille game were both disappointing. In the Lorient game we had most of the possession yet we couldn't capitalize which led us to finish with a 1 all draw. The game reminisced the fixture between Echallens and us in the pre-season. Daniel Congre getting the only goal. Against Marseille we got battered Congre came off for an early bath after a vicious foul and at half time we were lucky to be level at 1-1 with Karim getting the goal in the dying minutes. I laid into the squad and they improved. They got a goal then we instantly replied. Then again they scored then we replied until the last minute Ayew slotted one in for OM. Shit. Scorers Fana, Belhanda, Charbonnier.

Player of the month: Karim Ait Fana
http://du8znpjowa92.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ait-fana.jpg

September and October Summary:
Champions League commenced as stated before out first game was against United at our home. We produced 1-0 up in the first half. All going well and the RVP happened. He slotted a through ball from Rooney into the back of the net. 1-1 FT. Anthony Mounier scoring the early goal. September seemed like the month of only just scraping the win. Never producing more than one girl per match. October proved to be much more promising opening with yet another game we looked to win but a lapse on concentration let the opposition equalize. 1-1 with Valencia (Away). Scorer Belhanda with a quality overlap and rocket in. I thought our 1 goal streak was going to continue until we played Basel a great game to watch but, we were definitely the better side. 3-2 FT. Scorers Santander, Belhanda and Cabella. We started the Coupe de La Ligue up nicely with a win at home against AS Nancy Lorraine. This game showed that we needed to work on our finishing bit of a drub match to be honest.

September player of the month: Anthony Mounier
http://u.goal.com/221800/221881hp2.jpg

October player of the month: Younes Belhanda
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lygp5iv1PA1qfxktpo1_500.jpg

Champions League Group A Table:
http://oi46.tinypic.com/3532fyc.jpg

Ligue 1 Table:
http://oi46.tinypic.com/2nur90i.jpg

Its Cold Outside

http://www.au-premier-poteau.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/montpellier-hsc-ligue1.jpg

As we moved on into November the training kicked up a notch and the cold came down. Games against Manchester United, P$G, Lyon, Basel and Valencia were on the books along with a few average games against Troyes and Valenciennes (who are overachieving).

Basel was perhaps to be the most important game in the UEFA Champions League. They were just behind us in the group table and a win against them would secure our spot to the next round. The last two games against Manchester and Valencia if played well could grab us the points to get ahead of the English monster club.

In the Ligue 1 our match against Lyon was a big one. Sitting on top with a game in hand. If we manage to beat them it would close the gap that they had made by 3 points. The P$G game wouldn't matter as much provided we got the points where we needed them.

Games

http://oi47.tinypic.com/2m5j5sj.jpg

Ligue 1 Table

http://oi47.tinypic.com/2nl9544.jpg

Champions League Group A Table

http://oi49.tinypic.com/34e25xh.jpg

Summary

An important win against Basel was the highlight for me especially when Santander managed to get all the goals. The P$G game was gutting as they only score in injury time. That game also had another major highlight, where Belhanda got injured. Belhanda was out for four weeks with a fractured arm. Other than the injury I told myself to not be too disappointed as we gave it our all. A draw against Valenciennes and a loss to Manchester and Dijon added to the fans disappointment. We quickly replied with a 2-0 win at Lyon. I was delighted.

November: player of the Month: Federico Santander

http://www.gibfootballshow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/federico-santander.jpg

1

Not the Best Christmas Present

http://u.goal.com/237600/237621hp2.jpg

Two matches down in December. A quality win again Lyon and an eventful draw with Valencia. (For got to save after Valencia save; had to re-do game). Only four matches in the League gave us a break. A break for family and other such necessities. The only real game I was worried about was the Lille fixture. Away from home and against a team that could produce a top 6 challenge anytime. At least the transfer window was coming, I need to get rid of some players and bringing in a midfielder and maybe a goalie if I am lucky.

Games
http://oi48.tinypic.com/rbxysw.jpg

Ligue 1 Table
http://oi46.tinypic.com/2cyhf6x.jpg

Summary
A nice win against Lille was my highlight of the month. Yet I still found it gutting to draw to AC Ajaccio and SC Bastia which should have been wins and an easy 3 points each. Which could have put us in an even better position to fight for the Champions League Spot next year. On the 21st of December we drew Manchester City in the Champions League first knockout round. Thats a very heavy draw to have. Especially with them sitting pretty 1st in the Premier League. Only 5 days after Christmas Belhanda asked to move to a bigger club. Understandable but we did try and entice him to stay offering him Champions League football. He didn't think we could do it. So it looks as if Belhanda will be on the way out in the January transfer window. We will be looking to find someone to replace him. Hopefully we can put the money we get from him to good use.

December player of the Month: Abdel El Kaoutari