Jump to content
Sports Interactive Community

Sacre bleu! It's the Ligue Une 08/09 thread! featuring much Lyon dominance

Orzelek

By Orzelek,
in Football Thread Vault

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Victor_Renner

Victor_Renner

Posted
Posted

Papin has left Lens, to be replaced by Wallemme. Daniel Leclercq also comes in as "technical director".

The club parted company with Papin after just one year in charge following their relegation from Ligue 1.

They confirmed Wallemme, who began his career at the Stade Felix Bollaert, has been drafted in to help steer them back into the French top flight.

A statement on the club's website read: "Lens president Gervais Martel officially named Jean-Guy Wallemme as first-team coach, with assistants Christophe Delmotte and Michel Ettorre.

"In brief, a knowledgeable 'home-made' cocktail of youth and experience to lead les Sang et Or back towards the elite.

"Gervais Martel also announced, not without emotion, the departure of Jean-Pierre Papin, and confirmed Daniel Leclercq as technical director."

Wallemme spent the first 12 years of his playing career at Lens before returning for a final season in 2001.

The 40-year-old has been a coach since his retirement, but has only had a brief spell - in charge at St Etienne - where he led a team above the third division in France.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Orzelek

Orzelek

Posted
  • Author
Posted

[quoteGomis aims high with Les Verts

France striker Bafétimbi Gomis was delighted to clear up his future before UEFA EURO 2008™ after extending his contract at AS Saint-Etienne by a further season until June 2012.

Champions League aim

The 22-year-old fired Les Verts into the UEFA Cup by scoring 16 Ligue 1 goals last term, and then carried that form into the international arena last week when he became the first Frenchman since Zinédine Zidane to score twice on his debut for his country – twin strikes against Ecuador earning Gomis the final place in Raymond Domenech's 23-man squad for EURO. "It was very important for me to have this resolved before the finals," he said. "I still think I can reach the Champions League with St-Etienne."

If he continues like he played this season, then no way that St.Etienne can keep him so long

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
  • Administrators
Philip Rolfe

Philip Rolfe

Posted
  • Administrators
Posted

Right, let's do a little bit of a season preview here, with new signing information for people. 9 days until the start of the season.

Lyon have won 7 straight titles and are clear favourites for another. It doesn't seem possible or entirely fair, but they've actually gotten stronger. Out went Alain Perrin, and his replacement was France's best manager, Claude Puel. They've sold Gregory Coupet, Sebastien Squillaci, Loic Remy and Hatem Ben Arfa, but signed superb replacements in Hugo Lloris, John Mensah, Ederson and Miralem Pjanic. Added to that is Jean II Makoun, who joins an overloaded midfield with Bodmer, Toulalan and Kallstrom. Yesterday they added to their attacking depth with Frederic Piquionne.

Bordeaux came close to breaking Lyon's run last year but fell short on the last day. They've strengthened too, and have a very attractive team on paper, but it might not be enough to break Lyon's dominance. Laurent Blanc already has one of the most clinical strikers in France in Fernando Cavenaghi, and has bolstered the play behind him in the form of Yoan Gourcuff on loan from Milan, and Yoann Gouffran out wide from Caen. Diego Placente makes a return to Europe as well. Johan Micoud is their only major departure, released on a free.

As usual, Marseille has been a hub of activity as they seek to improve again. Hatem Ben Arfa is the marquee signing, and an absolute steal to be honest. He'll replace Samir Nasri, who has buggered off to Arsenal. On the other side of the attack they've signed the absolutely tiny but super-talented Baky Kone from Nice. Hilton has arrived at centre-half from relegated Lens, and Armine Erbati comes in from Raja Casablanca. With no other departures to speak of other than Nasri, they'll be up there again.

From these three, you've then got half the league able to compete for the next few spots. Nancy took it last year in remarkable fashion but may struggle this year. Centre-back Sebastien Puygrenier has gone to FC Zenit, whilst Mikael Chrétien is likely to be off too. Still, Pablo Correa is a brilliant manager and will have them up there. Le Mans have also made a habit of surprising people the last two seasons, only this summer have finally lost key players. Romaric has gone to Sevilla, Stephane Sessegnon to PSG, Daisuke Matsui to Saint Etienne, Yebda to Benfica, and Tulio De Melo to Palermo. They've signed Thorstein Helstad and Fredrik Stromstad to try and compensate.

Lorient had a nice year last time and have captured Strasbourg's young striker Kévin Gameiro. Valenciennes continue to surprise, but the loss of Steve Savidan will hit them very very hard. Luigi Pieroni will try to fill that void.

Saint Etienne have had a very good summer and will want to push for the CL spots. The best team in France in the 2008 calender year have signed Daisuke Matsui and Sebastian Grax with Paulo Machado on loan from Porto, and most importantly held onto Bafetimbi Gomis. Sochaux lost Grax but signed Francileudo dos Santos, bringing him back to the club he had most success at. Jacques Faty is also an arrival, with only Guirane N'Daw adding to the sales of note.

Two bigger teams who want to do much better are PSG and Monaco. PSG have set about their summer with a number of signings, most notably Claude Makelele from Chelsea. They've also signed Sessegnon, Guillaume Hoarau, and Ludovic Giuly. Didier Digard has gone to Middlesbrough, and Amara Diané to Al Rayyan. At Monaco, their squad looks worryingly weak, losing Berthod and Piquionne and only bringing in Bordeaux backup Alejandro Alonso and Benfica's Freddy Adu.

Auxerre have signed Adama Coulibaly and Dariusz Dudka whilst Caen have spent some of the Gouffran money on Valenciennes hitman Steve Savidan and young Dutch prospect Rajiv van la Parra. Lille have a new manager in Rudy Garcia but have lost Makoun and Stephane Lichtsteiner (Lazio). They have completed the permanent signing of Rio Mavuba from Villarreal and Florent Balmont from Nice to strengthen the middle of the park, whilst selling goalkeeper Tony Sylva to Trabzonspor and releasing Patrick Kluivert.

Nice have been raided this summer, losing key players in Lloris, Ederson, Kone, Balmont and Yahaya. Loic Remy will prove a wonderful signing from Lyon, but otherwise only Strasbourg's Eric Mouloungui stands out as a signing of note. Rennes lost John Mensah to Lyon but spent that money on Udinese's Gyan Asamoah. They've covered their defence with the free transfer of Carlos Bocanegra, whilst replacing goalkeeper Simon Pouplin (Freiburg) with Toulouse's Nicolas Douchez. Indeed, Toulouse have had a hard summer. In addition to Douchez departing, they've sold their two best players in Johan Elmander (Bolton) and Achille Emana (Betis). Soren Larsen comes in up front, and Cedric Carrasso in goal, with Daniel Braaten and Etienne Didot also joining.

And finally, the promoted teams. Nantes are back and have signed N'Daw from Sochaux as well as the impressive capture of Ivan Klasnic. Ibrahim Tall and Michael Gravgaard provide some solid options at centre-back.Grenoble have signed journeymen Laurent Battles and David Jemmali in what will be a tough year for them, and Le Havre lost Hoarau to PSG but have signed Stephane Noro from Troyes.

Allez Ligue Une.

Link to post
Share on other sites
PMLF

PMLF

Posted
Posted
Right, let's do a little bit of a season preview here, with new signing information for people. 9 days until the start of the season.

The supercup takes place this weekend, isn't it?

Link to post
Share on other sites
batch

batch

Posted
Posted

Anyone know ANYTHING about a young French striker called Joel Thomas ?

Previously played for Bordeaux and Kaiserslautern. Was released bu Kaiser... in December it seems. Had trials at Dundee in April.

He turned out for us last night against Southport in a reserve friendly and scored two, and by all accounts looked pretty impressive.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Administrators
Philip Rolfe

Philip Rolfe

Posted
  • Administrators
Posted

Setanta are still covering it as best I know - usually get at least one live game a weekend plus an hour long round-up show which is very good, even if there's odd co-commentators (Efan Ekoku :D ). The same round-up show features invariably on Channel 5, it was fairly regular at the start of last season then the US Sports seasons really kicked in and it wasn't easy to find. I believe it's supported by the quite good www.frenchleague.com

Link to post
Share on other sites
joeyt

joeyt

Posted
Posted

Have any of you Ligue 1 followers, seen Sebastien Bassong or Nadir Belhadj play last year?

I realise both Lens and Metz got relegated last yer, but was wondering if either of the above players were any good because we(Newcastle) have signed Bassong and are interested in the Algerian left back.

Link to post
Share on other sites
GrantR

GrantR

Posted
Posted

Ah! Good to see the Ligue Une thread back on page 1 :) Bordeaux won the Champions Trophy last night 5-4 on penalties against Lyon after a 0-0 draw. Grosso had a chance to win it in the shootout for OL, but blazed it over.

As for the league this season, it's virtually impossible to see past Lyon given the reinforcements they've added. Lloris was ridiculously good last night, which I suppose will come as no surprise to many. PSG have added some interesting personnel, but Monsieur Le Guen is probably capable of having them scrape around the bottom half again. Or have them leading the way from the kick-off.

The challenging teams need strong starts to keep up with OL this year undoubtedly.

Now I just need to complete my move to Paris and get following le PSG!

Link to post
Share on other sites
Lionel_Perez

Lionel_Perez

Posted
Posted

PSG back in the old groove already, losing 1-0 to Monaco. They haven't got a lot of quality up front at the moment so hopefully the Kezman transfer will finally happen soon, otherwise it's gonna be another long season.

Lyon so comfortable against Toulouse it's not even funny. 3-0 at the moment with 15ish left.

Link to post
Share on other sites
PMLF

PMLF

Posted
Posted

I wonder if Juninho will become a scout or coach or something there after he retires.

Éderson was a great signing, and now that he is playing at a big club, it's more likely he gets called up.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Orzelek

Orzelek

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Week 1 results:

Valencienes-St.Etienne 1-0
Danic (pen)

Auxerre-Nantes 2-1
Jelen    -De Freitas
Quercia

Sochaux-Grenoble 1-2
Erding-Akrour
        Moreira

Rennes-Marseille 4-4
Thomert (2)   -Kone
Mandala (OG)  Ben Arfa
Cheyrou         Niang
                   Grandin

Monaco-PSG 1-0
Nimani

Nancy-Lille 0-0

Le Mans-Lorient 0-1
Jallet (pen)

Le Havre-Nice 1-0
Lesage

Bordeaux-Caen 2-1
Gourcouff -Nivet
Cavenaghi 

Lyon-Toulouse 3-0
Makoun
Benzema (2)

Link to post
Share on other sites
GrantR

GrantR

Posted
Posted

Just caught some of the highlights on Setanta this morning. I can't make my mind up if Lyon were THAT good or Toulouse were just rank rotten.

I just can't see past OL though. Lloris and Makoun were great acquisitions. I dearly want PSG to do well, but they need some firepower.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Orzelek

Orzelek

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Nantes change puts Perrin in the frame

Promoted FC Nantes Atlantique have dismissed 44-year-old coach Michel Der Zakarian just three games into the new French season after a sluggish start.

One point

Les Canaris have taken just a single point from their first three league fixtures since their return to Ligue 1, having been relegated under Der Zarkarian in May 2007. The former Nantes central defender, who had been appointed that February, earning promotion back to the top division at the first attempt. However, results have not been good enough for the club, with chief executive Pascal Praud saying: "The president Waldemar Kita has decided to change something as the situation could not go on any longer." Praud added that France's bottom side were on the lookout for a coach with "strong Ligue 1 experience and a lot of silverware", and confirmed that they had been in contact with Alain Perrin, who led Olympique Lyonnais to their first double last season.

Sluggish start? WTF did they expect- challenging Lyon for the championship or what? :rolleyes::D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...