Winners & Losers 2008/2009: France

Continuing on from Part 1 of our 2008/2009 Winners and Losers series, we present to you Part 2, in which we assess the triumphant and troubled across the Channel in France. It was a season of change in the French Ligue Une this season, with new champions crowned for the first time in eight years. So come May, which clubs were celebrating and which were lamenting?

WINNERS

Girondins Bordeaux

A decade after Bordeaux’s last league title, 2008/2009 was the year in which Laurent Blanc’s men emerged as the team to finally end Lyon’s seven year grip on France’s Le Championnat. After a long, hard tussle at the top, with as many as five teams considered genuine title contenders at one point, it was the club from the Aquitaine region who showed the necessary quality and sheer staying power to end up as champions of France, pipping Olympique Marseille on the very last day of the season with a 1-0 victory at Caen, a ground at which Bordeaux had never previously won.

Known as le Président, Blanc has shown himself to be one of the brightest young managers in Europe during his two years in charge of Bordeaux. Repeatedly shunned by club bosses in his attempts to enter management after a highly successful playing career, it was put to Bordeaux chairman Jean-Louis Triaud to give Blanc a go after his predecessor, the ultra-defensive Ricardo, left les Girondins in 2007. “God, I never even thought of him,” Triaud exclaimed, before handing Blanc the job. Payback for taking a chance on the World Cup-winning former French captain has come within two years. And what’s more, Blanc’s team have achieved success with a panache and attacking flair that has thrilled France. Only Marseille scored more league goals.

Unbeaten at home in the league, Blanc has drawn marked improvements from almost all his players during his tenure, Souleymane Diawara and Liverpool flop Alou Diarra to name but two. In charging their way to a league and cup double, players like Marouane Chamakh, Fernando Cavenaghi and Wendel have excelled. But it was the signing of Yoann Gourcuff from AC Milan that provided the real catalyst for Bordeaux’s achievements. Clearly French football’s best player in 08/09, Gourcuff’s 12 league goals and inspired performances were key to Bordeaux winning their 6th league title.

Guingamp

Why does a mid-table second division club make it into a list of the season’s success stories? Simple really – because lowly Guingamp managed to defy all the odds and win the French Cup. Can you imagine a team in the Championship winning the FA Cup? Sure, Cardiff made it to the final last year, but that’s as far as they got. Chances of even that happening again any time in the near future remain slim. So for Victor Zvunka to guide his side, ostensibly an average, middle of the road club even by Ligue 2 standards, is an astonishing achievement.

In defeating Dinard, La Vitréenne, Saint-Omer, Brest, Le Mans, Sedan, Toulouse and then Rennes in the final, Guingamp became only the second ever French team to win the Coupe de France while playing outside the top division. Le Havre were the first, 50 years earlier. The 2-1 victory against Rennes at the Stade de France also represented the Brittany club’s first ever major trophy, usurping previous holders Lyon.

Brazilian striker Eduardo was the hero for Guingamp during their triumphant cup run. His seven tournament goals included both in the final as Guingamp came from 1-0 down to beat their Brittany neighbours. A place in the inaugural Europa League awaits. And for a club who finished only 3 points above relegation to the Championnat National (division three) that’s not bad going.

LOSERS

Olympique Lyonnais

The last time Olympique Lyonnais ended a domestic league season without becoming champions, September 11th was just an ordinary date in the calendar, the Patriot Act was a pipe dream, Paris Hilton meant accommodation in France and Richard Whiteley was hosting Countdown. A lot has changed in seven years, but in all that time one constant remained – Lyon would keep churning out title after title after title. Until now.

There was once a high-profile debate in France as to whether or not managing Lyon was basically the sweetest ticket in town for a coach. So easy was it to oversee the club, with it’s stranglehold on the league championship, stream of Champions League revenue and monopoly on France’s best talent, that one manager even went as far as to suggest that Lyon could put a ‘door-knob’ in charge and still win the league. Claude Puel must be feeling pretty down about himself right now then. To not win the title is an unthinkable disaster for Lyon. To finish third, 9 points behind the champions, worse still.

Lyon lost seven league games last season, including embarrassing defeats to the likes of Valenciennes, Rennes and Nantes. Puel’s tactics were considered too restrictive for his players, and rumour was that serious dressing room discontent stemmed from this shackling of players’ self-expression. The departure of influential captain and free-kick maestro Juninho Pernambucano also represents a huge blow heading into 2009/2010.

Saint-Etienne

In a funny sort of w
ay it ended up a pretty good season for Lyon’s cross-town rivals Saint-Etienne. On the final day of 2008/2009, Les Verts sat disconsolately in the bottom three and seemed destined for relegation until a 4-0 drubbing of Valenciennes in game 38, coupled with Caen’s loss at home to champions-elect Bordeaux meant it all turned out rosy.

However, in a less funny way, more in tune with reality, 2008/2009 was an absolute nightmare. For a club the size of Saint-Etienne, struggling in the relegation zone all year long is about as funny as toothache. Particularly on the back of the previous campaign in which Les Verts finished 5th, reached the UEFA Cup and seemed to be making real progress towards attaining the success of glory days past.

Defensively Saint-Etienne were a mess. Alain Perrin’s side conceded goals for fun and ended up with the second worst defensive record in the league. Meanwhile the stars of 2007/2008 failed to shine. A year ago Bafetimbis Gomis forced his way into France’s EURO 2008 squad by way of his exceptional performances for the club. Now he is drastically out of form.

The future for Saint-Etienne is also unclear given the likely departure of captain Blaise Matuidi, reportedly a target for Arsenal. But given a clean slate next season they shouldn’t be anywhere near relegation again in 2010. Either way, this year was one to forget.

Stay tuned to Just-Football for Part 3 – Germany.

Europe, France, French Ligue Une, Girondins Bordeaux, Guingamp, Olympique Lyonnais, Saint Etienne, Yoann Gourcuff