Gomis' playing career was finished after three seasons in Saudi Arabia where he starts off the game but after he retired it only took him a few short months before he moved into coaching with Nimes under 19s. After two years with Nimes he made a switch to Liverpool's under 19s squad in 2024 and after two years there he felt like he was ready to take his first steps into management.
Gomis' managerial debut
His first managerial role was with a Motherwell team who were newly promoted back to the SPL and he started the season well with the club in the top half of the table but it wasn't long before Troyes of Ligue 1 came calling after they'd had a terrible start to the season. By the end of the year he'd kept Troyes in the division and Motherwell had finished a safe seventh. Not a bad start for Gomis.
The 2027/28 season with Troyes started off really well and it wasn't long before again there was interest in the young manager. This time it was PL regulars Brighton that came calling after a terrible start to the PL season had left them in the relegation zone and looking all but relegated, Gomis' heroics at Troyes convinced them he could turn them around and he came in at the start of January. His Brighton side only lost four games after the end of January and they achieved what many had thought impossible and stayed up.
Brighton 2027/28 season
The next season, despite only really bringing in an ageing Dominic Solanke and James Justin, Gomis managed to transform Brighton completely and by the end of the year he had them up to a lofty 8th in the division. Gomis' stock had never been higher and he was being tipped with all sorts of different roles but after such success in his first full season with a club he decided he wanted to try and build. Over the next six years Gomis' Brighton side never finished in the top half again but he laid the groundworks for a team which would really start to establish themselves as a top half powerhouse in years to come.
Brighton record in and around the Gomis years
There had always been interest in Gomis but none of the really big clubs had been looking to take the plunge and it looked like he was really starting to carve out a legacy with Brighton. Then in the summer of 2034 he got that one offer that you can never turn down, the chance to manager your own national team. France were coming off the back of a disappointing WC Quarter Final defeat to eventual champions Italy after having won both the 2026 and 2030 tournaments previously. Gomis was given the responsibility of avenging the French at the 2036 Euros, a tournament that Italy currently held.
France got off to a great start by beating the Italians 4-2 in the opening game but the tournament went ended terribly, they were dumped out by Ireland in the 2nd round and Gomis was given the sack for the first time in his career to date.
A period of soul searching followed before he was offered the chance to manage Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga in January of 2037. The team were struggling badly but having regularly finished in the lower half but safe from relegation it was thought that a proven safe pair of hands like Gomis would be the perfect fit. It wasn't and after a nightmare start there even a late push wasn't enough to save them from relegation.
Fortuna Dusseldorf relegated
There was a strong sense in Germany that Gomis had simply bitten off more than he could chew and just hadn't had enough time to save the club from what was really almost inevitable. The team got off to a great start in the Bundesliga 2, so great in fact that he was soon offered the chance to return to the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig. This wasn't a Leipziz team like the side of old though and they were struggling in mid table. Gomis came in early in the season following the sacking of Robin Knoche and although the team were safely in mid table, Gomis was gone after 188 days with a 40% win record. The club would be relegated at the end of the season after next.
Despite the poor spell in Germany, the footballing world still remembered the work Gomis had done in England and France and he was offered a fantastic new opportunity in Barcelona. It wasn't at the Nou Camp however, but with an Espanyol team who had just finished eighth in La Liga. Gomis came in and got the team playing much more solid football and maintained the team's position of 8th for the 2038/39 season. The club were looking to build on their success and knew that in Gomis they had a man who would commit to the long term project after his spell with Brighton.
The 2039/40 season started well again for Espanyol and Gomis' influence was really starting to be felt but then in November the call came in from the Premier League again and this time it was Arsenal. Having just sacked club legend Thierry Henry for a third time following an awful start to the season (made a post about his career already btw but contains Gomis Arsenal spoilers) Arsenal looked to Thierry's compatriot Gomis to come in and get them firing again.
This was an Arsenal team who had just got back into the CL for the first time in seven years the previous season but by the time he came in in early November they were closer to the relegation zone. The club made a fantastic push for the top four but lost out by a single point in the end in a close battle for the Champions League places.
Premier League battle for CL 2039/40
There was a shining beacon of light that season in the FA Cup however, with Arsenal lifting the trophy for the first time in eight years when they were managed by the mighty Simone Inzaghi. This was made all the sweeter by the fact that they came from behind against the old enemy in Tottenham. It was a fantastic way for Gomis to win his first trophy and bought him a lot of time with the Arsenal faithful.
Gomis' first trophy
The next season there were no trophies but Gomis took Arsenal back into the top four comfortably and was slowly building the team more in his image with his counter attacking style. Gomis and his Arsenal team knew heading into the 2041/42 season they had the best chance in years to win the PL. Doncaster, who had just claimed their seventh consecutive league title, had seen a few retirements over the past few years and there was a sense that despite Man City and Tottenham being the traditional competitors, the momentum they had could take them all the way.
Doncaster started the season poorly but Tottenham set off like a house on fire and really looked liked they were going to be the team to clinch it. Arsenal and Gomis had other ideas and after a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on New Years Day they went the rest of the season unbeaten. Tottenham didn't collapse though and it went right down to the wire with Arsenal eventually clinching the league on goals scored(!) on the final day.
Premier League 2041/42 season
Gomis had just won Arsenal their first top flight title since 2004 when Wenger's Invincibles wrote themselves into the history books. He'd had his ups and downs but to topple the Doncaster team that had dominated not just England but Europe for most of the 30s was a fine achievement and there were teams right across Europe looking at the Frenchman with an admiring glance.
Gomis though, true to form, decided to stick with the Gunners and see if he could retain that title. Doncaster went out and spent £200m on Liverpool's star midfielder Tim Winstanley and Tottenham spent £175m on three or four players to try and take the title. Arsenal meanwhile stuck mostly with what they had as Gomis promised to target Europe as well as the domestic front.
Arsenal had an amazing season in a two horse race for the title which twisted back and forth all season and went right down to the wire. Despite winning seven or their final eight and managing to better their points tally from the previous season a 3-2 defeat to Watford at the start of May gifted the title back to Doncaster by a point.
Premier League 2042/43 season
To make matters worse, Arsenal lost at the Semi Final stage of the Champions League against Diego Simeone's legendary Bayern Munich side (current holders and eventual runners up), the same team they'd been dumped out by the previous season at the QF stage.
Gomis' CL record at Arsenal
At the end of the season, every club in Europe wanted Gomis. He'd taken Arsenal from a team who looked like the CL was too much for them into a team that could only be stopped by the two biggest teams in the world. Gomis loved his Arsenal team, they were truly a side in his image who were very hard to break down, but when the biggest team in world football comes in for you it's hard to turn them down. And that is exactly what happened - our man Gomis was off to Real Madrid!
Arriving in Madrid it had been ten long years since the famous old club had won the La Liga title and despite a Europa League win a year prior, the previous manager Gerardo Seoane, had been sacked after a second placed finish. The pressure was definitely on. Gomis was ready though and even though he again didn't go crazy in the transfer market, he was about to deliver.
La Liga 2043/44 season
Not only did he win Real Madrid their first league title in eleven years, he did it in style with nearly 100 points and 100 goals in the league. Madrid also won the Copa del Rey beating Osasuna in the final to complete the double.
The 2044/45 season saw them unable to retain their domestic crown but they won the one that the club exists to win, old big ears herself, the Champions League. They beat Man City 4-1 in the final with one of Gomis' few signings from that first summer, Manu, grabbing a brace in the final. They even overcame a first leg defeat against Gomis' old rivals Doncaster in the SF.
Gomis' first Champions League win
The next few years saw a return of the glory days to Madrid as the club won four of the next five La Liga titles and broke the hundred points barrier on three separate occasions. The club picked up three more Copa del Rey titles and the 2048 Champions League (with a win against Manchester United this time) as well and Gomis was considered one of the best managers in world football and the saviour of Real.
Real Madrid record under Gomis and the three seasons beforehand
By the summer of 2050 however, a now 65 year old Gomis knew that he wanted another challenge before retirement and Inter Milan manager (and managerial legend) Abdoulaye Doucoure had just made the move to Barcelona. Inter were utterly dominant in Serie A, having won 23 of the last 25 league titles in Italy (including the last four). One thing that Inter had really dropped off in though was the Champions League having not managed to lift the trophy since the legendary Rafa Benitez side of 2027/28 had won their second CL trophy in three years. Gomis, who had just rejuvenated Europe's biggest sleeping giant was surely the right manager to bring the big one back to Italy and Milan wasn't he?
Well, his first season was a remarkable one yet again, or at least in the league. Inter, easily the most dominant team in Europe at this point, set their all time points record with 102 but lost in the first round of the Coppa Italia to lowly Brescia and were dumped out of the CL in the first knockout round by PSG. No one was calling for his head, but despite the record points total some fans weren't sure enough progress had been made although many pointed to the acquisition of Gomis' fellow Frenchman Mamadou Yao as being a hugely positive sign.
Mamadou Yao (screenshot from 2056)
The next couple of seasons those fans were proven right as Inter retained the title again in 2051/52 and 2052/53 but this time they picked up two Italian Cups as well, a tournament they'd not won enough of when considering their domination in the league. In Europe there was some progress too with two SF defeats, the first against a Barcelona team after winning the first leg 3-1 and crumbling at the Nou Camp and the second where they lost both legs convincingly against another old foe in Doncaster.
After three years in Italy, the Inter faithful had warmed to Gomis and it felt like they were really on the verge of greatness. The next season it all came crashing down as Napoli closed the gap to claim their first title in eight years and to make matters worse Inter were dumped out in the group stages and even took a 6-0 hammering at the Bernabeau. The team couldn't win the Europa League either, a SF defeat against Real Betis meaning another of Gomis' former teams Arsenal lifted that trophy. The Coppa Italia was their only saving grace that season and Gomis' reputation and connection with the fans must have helped keep him in place.
The 2054/55 season really felt like make or break for Gomis with Inter's points tallies slowly dropping over the years and the previous season's European failures wiping out a fair bit of goodwill. The season was an absolute classic, similar to the title tussles that his Arsenal side used to have with Doncaster, but in the end Napoli managed to pip a much improved Inter side by a single point. Again, Inter won the Cup but it was Europe where Gomis really impressed, making up for last year's embarrassments by leading his side to victories in the knockout rounds by beating Monaco, Bayern and his old side Real Madrid. In the final, however, Doncaster were just too strong for them and they lost 2-0 to two second half goals. Gomis had been tipped to retire by many but even at 70 years of age and with nothing left to prove, he decided to give it one last go with Inter after having come so close.
Gomis and Inter's Champions League heartbreak
The 2055/56 season was the first time Inter went into a league season without having won either of the last two titles for over a quarter of a century and, although they wanted to get the title back of course, after the heartbreaking final in Ukraine the CL was their main priority. Gomis felt that strengthening the defence was the way to go so Inter spent all their budget on the £84m signing of Wolfsburg centre half Fernando Jose, very highly rated as he'd been inspirational in helping Wolfsburg win five straight Bundesliga titles and indeed, the trophy that Inter wanted more than any other, the CL.
Fernando Jose
Inter had an alright start to the season but when they went unbeaten from the end of October to the end of February they really announced themselves as title favourites. Napoli, the usual rival for the league, had really dropped off but age old rivals Juventus were pushing them all the way instead. After Inter knocked Bayern out of the CL in the first knockout round, the two clubs were drawn against each other for the QF and despite a second leg win for Juventus it wasn't enough to overturn Inter's 3-0 win at the San Siro. 3-1 wins home and away against PSG in the SF meant that Gomis had Inter back in the final for a second year running and with Doncaster having won the first leg of the other SF against Wolfsburg it was expected to be a rematch. Gomis had announced his intention to retire at the end of the season and when he saw Wolfsburg triumph on penalties against a nine man Doncaster he knew they'd never get a better chance.
Domestically, he won yet another Coppa Italia in a Milan derby and they held off the challenge of Juventus to claim the league title by a point on the final day. The CL final was a game Gomis made sure his team approached like many others in his long managerial career - cautiously, and making sure they did nothing they would regret. A late first half goal for Inter made it look like a great decision as the second half played out quite uneventfully but a last gasp equaliser sent the game to extra time. Just two minutes after the whistle Inter regained the lead and this time they never looked back. They'd won it and Gomis could retire a bonafide legend, having taken three European giants to heights they'd not experienced for long time before he arrived.
Champions League Final 2056 - Gomis' final game
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Here are some of his stats and stuff.
Attributes (they've dropped off a bit as he has aged tbh)
Career bio
Career stats
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