France Football

[ursus arctos]

As the Championnat thread is caduq.

Coupe de la Ligue final in progress, featuring two clubs in serious danger of relegation. PSG led 1-0 for most of the match, but Lens have equalised and now hit the post twice in the last five minutes.

20 minutes until extra time.

[ursus arctos]

France Football

And PSG get a borderline penalty in injury time.

[ursus arctos]

France Football

Which Mendy rolls in after the keeper commits.

PSG will be in Europe next season, but they may not be in Ligue 1.

[mirko bolesan]

France Football

ursus arctos wrote:

PSG will be in Europe next season, but they may not be in Ligue 1.

So France could be added alongside Wales as a country where their capital city isn't represented in top flight football next season?

[kugelrund]

France Football

"Borderline penalty" is being kind. Looked like daylight robbery to me.

PSG are in deep shit because of the banner their fans held up, though. 25 metres long, it read, in giant letters:

"Pedophiles, chomeurs, consanguins: bienvenue chez les ch'tis!"

There's talk of the possibility of a points deduction (I don't know how that would work, given that it wasn't a league game) or ground closure by way of a penalty. If they catch the perpetrators there's a maximum penalty of a year in prison for "provocation of hatred or violence".

PSG: Making friends wherever they go.

[Etienne]

France Football

"ch'tis"?

[ursus arctos]

France Football

I was trying to be generous; it was an incredibly soft penalty to give with 30 seconds left in a final.

For the benefit of our non-Francophone readers, the banner in question "welcomes" the Lensois (and Northeastern in general) "Pedophiles, Unemployed and In-breds".

The Ligue runs the competition, so I guess it isn't beyond the realm of possibility that they could order a points deduction.

Etienne, "ch'ti" is to residents of the Northeast (especially Lille and Lens) what "Scouser" is to residents of Merseyside. It has a linguistic origin, but I'm not sure what exactly that is.

[kugelrund]

France Football

Ch'ti is a shortening of ch'timi, which is in itself slang for someone from the north of France.

There's a film doing the rounds at the moment called Bienvenue chez les ch'tis - apparently very funny (and not pejorative), but that's why PSG fans used it as a reference.

Ah, here's something about the film.

[ursus arctos]

France Football

Bafflin, are you based in France?

The latest is that "pieces" of the banner have been turned over to the French authorities for "forensic analysis". And everyone and their sister are lining up to denounce the banner, including that well-known progressive, Nikolas Sarkozy (who was at the match, and has issued a statement claiming that he demanded that it be removed as soon as he saw it).

[garcia]

France Football

movie trailer

it looks pretty lame actually - guy gets sent by his work to northern france, where it rains and the people talk funny.

how is "ch'ti" pronounced?

[ursus arctos]

France Football

I always struggle at conveying this kind of thing, but:

"ch-tee", with the "ch" being soft (not "k") and aspirated a bit

[Felicity, I guess so]

France Football

Like 'she' with a 't' in it.

I spent my year abroad in Armentieres, 12k from Lille.

The kids/teachers I asked when I 1st got there, said that it came from the tendency to pronounce 'je' as 'ch/sh' and they had various rhymes/tongue-twisters to illustrate, which I've long forgotten.

[Guest]

France Football

I watched a little bit of this on Setanta yesterday. PSG looked appalling.

When this is all over Le Guen won't be able to get a job selling apples.

[VTTBoscombe]

France Football

As long as the scum are crap , mercredi soir when the not so mighty Strasbourg try and halt their own slide into the "zone" at t' parc.
PSG have been really poor at home this season - they actually look pretty useful away from home , they just fall apart at home.

Hoping their piss poor home form continues, and naturally enough, a points reduction for PSG is well supported by me - in fact they should get one each season for just being PSG.

[Guest]

France Football

In some Belgium/France border regions, people talk like that too. And even further north (erm, Brussels...), we share certain language tricks. When I went to see the movie two weeks ago, I discovered that...
It's a very good movie but I accept that it might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Kad Merad is especially good, but he always is.
The way it is attended in France, it's almost certain to break all records, including the most spectators currently held by "La Grande Vadrouille" in 1966.

[dances with sheep]

France Football

This is just political correctness gone fou.

[Guest]

France Football

"This is just political correctness gone fou."

Exactly.

[Kowalski]

France Football

La Grande Vadrouille

Terry-Thomas "Big Moustache", lovely stuff

[ursus arctos]

France Football

So, VTT's boys let the rest of the country down by losing to PSG in mid-week, and things looked bad for the badminders on Saturday when Strasbourg lost again at home to Monaco and fellow strugglers Toulouse could only draw at home to Lorient, but Nancy came to rescue yesterday, beating PSG 1-0 with a late goal.

Which leaves the bottom of the table comme ca with six matches left in the season:

Lens 35 (one game in hand)
Toulouse 35
PSG 35
Strasbourg 35
Metz 18

Two to go down with Metz, and everything to play for. Lens play their game in hand at St. Etienne Tuesday night.

[Etienne]

France Football

Yeah, exciting stuff. And OM beat OL, so Bordeaux still have a glimmer of a chance of overhauling Lyon at the top, 6 points back. Unfortunately, I think the loss to Valenciennes a couple fo weeks back probably left them too much to do.

[cackaforte]

France Football

I presume there will be widespread rejoicing if PSG go down. Are they universally loathed in France?

[ursus arctos]

France Football

PSG are the second most popular team in the country (behind OM and probably still ahead of OL), but it is pretty much a case of everyone who doesn't support them hating them.

Their long-time ownership by Canal Plus, over-egged media profile (not unrelated to the prior point), relative parvenu status (they didn't exist before the mid-70s) and the centuries of Paris-Provinces aggro in virtually every aspect of French life pretty much assure that that will always be the case.

When I lived in Paris, I went to Red Star and Racing, and would only go to the Parc to support the opposition. I'm also not alone on here in having done so (others have supported Paris FC and Creteil, IIRC).

[VTTBoscombe]

France Football

I trotted along on Saturday night, with a spring in my step after the mighty Boscombe had crawled back from the death at Swansea.

Now Racing it was your turn, to step up to the mark, forget Wednesday against the scum, here was a bunch of tax dodgers who had pretty much nothing to play for.

Christ on a velo eliptique, toothless doesn't even come close.

A very below average Monaco side soaked up what we laughingly called pressure.
Furlan sat in his dug out hardly coming out.

There will be a substitution soon, surely, none.
Monaco score their first - a bit lucky deflection; but surely now something.
Furlan stays on his arse, nothing, no shouting no geeing up at the edge of the technical area , and no replacements.
Second goal the same reaction.

Game finishes - no substitutes were used at all, no appearance from the trainer in the Technical Area at all in the second half, to do a bit of urging.
Crowd pretty upset, the Ultra Boys (titter , why do they call themselves such crap names?) even abandoned half of their tribune with designated tifo fences at protest at the teams apathy.

Trouble is none of the jokers sitting on the bench would have done much - but a change is a good as a rest to a blind bat.

Also I hate taking kids to footie matches,there I am trying to wallow in misery and I have to police them to make sure they're not poking flag poles up other peoples noses.
Don't blame them getting bored, though.

And bloody hell french football fans - another song without "Allez" being the main part would be most appreciated.

Nice Tifo at the start though.

[cackaforte]

France Football

For some reason I have never picked a French team to follow. Ideally it would be a similar club to Bolton i.e. glory days before colour TV, resurgence from 90's onwards but with bad times probably just around the corner. Origins in gritty post industrial region will be a bonus as as would low crowds and inept management/players.

Any suggestions? Although judging by VTT's match report Strasbourg seem a good fit at the moment.

[Etienne]

France Football

St Etienne are very close to that, except their glory days were in the 70s.