Good moaning! and welcome back to Bayonne, where our Basque bunch have been holding their own in the French second division for the first half of the season. Can they keep the momentum going after such a good start?

Back to the start we go then, and it’s Louhans away. I literally have no idea where this result came from, they’re not even in the top half…

Moving swiftly on, I make another signing. Granted he’s not much to look at, but for £160k from Alaves, I feel he’s worthy of a punt…

Lethal Luke and Double D may sound more like a 90’s DJ duo than a strike partnership, but they’re proving to be a deadly combination…

Our last league game before the cup tie with Auxerre is a pathetic display at Lille. Peyrelade is a Basque Boy, just to rub salt in the wound…

Axier is out for a month, so Karmona makes his debut in the cup, where the gulf in class is all too evident, and we’re sent packing by future Liverpool legend, Bernard Diomede..

The injuries keep coming, and I won’t be calling Alejandro’s name any time soon…

“Chat GPT, create me an image of a wingback.” Another bargain at just £28k from Xerez…

After a recent quiet spell, Gurria is back on target in a Desmond away to league leaders, Nimes, but his two goals come at a price…

It’s never just a couple of days, is it? FFS!

We’re behind again at Niort, where a Double D brace isn’t quite enough to salvage a point, and that’s now four games without a win…

A happier return leg with Le Mans provides some temporary relief, and we’re looking set for a clean sheet until Ray stings us at the end..

Nice really are beginning to get on my tits, and even scoring four away goals isn’t enough to prevent them from doing the double over us…

The last transfer deadline day of the season arrives, and although there’s not much around that excites me, I feel it’s probably sensible to bring in a couple with injuries mounting. Welcome Ipiña and Calle, both for free…

Meanwhile, ACG gives us an early lead against Beauvais, which we obviously surrender. The visitors then blow their chance to take the lead from spot, and then Borja makes sure they Roux that penalty miss with a late winner…

The bouncing back continues at Gueugnon, where after a busy first six minutes, Double D waits half an hour to complete his hat trick…

There are more early goals at home to Caen, where after going behind twice, Double D strikes late to earn us a well-deserved point…

The Lizard is the unlikely hero as he gives us the lead against Sochaux, but we can’t hold on, and it’s another draw. That’s our first league game in two months with less than three goals.

Gurria and ACG restore order against Lorient. As usual there’s not a clean sheet in sight, but I couldn’t care less as long as we’re winning…

Valence restore the balance after we go 2-0 up, but we only have to wait seven minutes before Gurria strikes again to deliver the killer blow…

Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit when you’re beaten, and today, Everything’s definitely coming up Mulhouse…

We almost manage revenge over table-topping Nancy, but think the job is done at 3-1 up, and proceed to take our foot off the gas completely.

The front two are keeping our promotion push alive at the minute, and their latest goals are enough to sink Laval in their own back yard…

Toulon are on the end of a walloping, and the win leaves us a point outside of the three promotion spots with four games left to play…

And then it all goes horribly wrong at Amiens as we lose ACG early to injury, and having two goals disallowed certainly doesn’t help us…

Thankfully that last result is only a blip, and order is restored against Troyes. Results go our way and we climb to third with two to play…

Axier is crocked again. Maybe age is beginning to catch up with him, but it shouldn’t matter too much at this late stage of the season…

An important away win at St. Etienne takes us up to second, and means that we stay in the promotion fight until the final day at least…

Caen are the only ones who could pip us on goal difference if it comes to it, but hopefully we’ll just win and won’t need to worry…

Red Star are the only ones who can f*ck it all up now, and it’s a nervous first hour, but brilliant Borja finally breaks the deadlock, and Double D strikes late to seal it with his 34th goal of the season. What an incredible effort!

We finished second, but in my haste I forgot to take a snip of the final table, so you’ll have to make do with the promotion-winning screen…

I asked Dave what the prize money in France was like before I started this save, and he said he found more down the back of his couch. I can certainly see what he meant now…

It comes as no surprise that Double D wins the Ligue 2 golden boot, but in no way was I expecting that from a free transfer. Insane!

I would have been happy to avoid relegation in the first season, let alone get promoted, but I guess the baseline ability level of the Basque Boys in the database must be set reasonably high, not that I’m complaining.

So there we go, promoted at the first time of asking and ready to bring in a few additions over the summer to hopefully improve the squad and make it capable of at least staying in the top division. Join me next week to see what we can do with the remaining £3m of our bank balance. See you then. Au Revoir!