All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

[ingoldale]

Ligue 2 fixture list announced by the LFP today. Tough opener for Clermont who face big boys Sochaux.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/FootballResultat52243.html

Naturally, this fixtures may be subject to change should there be anymore financially sourced shenanigans enforced by the DNCG, as mentioned in last seasons thread.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

Excellent thread title, particularly given Red Star and Paris FC's promotion to Ligue 2 this year.

I see that Red Star open at home with a derby of sorts against the banlieusards of Creteil-Lusitanos.

[ingoldale]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

ursus arctos wrote: Excellent thread title, particularly given Red Star and Paris FC's promotion to Ligue 2 this year.

I see that Red Star open at home with a derby of sorts against the banlieusards of Creteil-Lusitanos.

Yeah, I thought that was a nice opening fixture for those two teams as well. Be interesting to see if all three clubs can increase their gates in PSG's shadow now they (Péfécé and Red Star) are at the next level.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

Red Star did decently in their promotion push, though the Bauer still has serious limitations.

I know much less about PFC, but Charlety is at least reasonably convenient.

PSG's transformation into a Gulf-financed mega-club should create demand for alternatives, even in a city as meh about football as Paris.

[ingoldale]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

ursus arctos wrote: Red Star did decently in their promotion push, though the Bauer still has serious limitations.

I know much less about PFC, but Charlety is at least reasonably convenient.

PSG's transformation into a Gulf-financed mega-club should create demand for alternatives, even in a city as meh about football as Paris.

Having been myself, whilst Charlety is relatively accessible, it's a bit rubbish for watching football in. Bauer (been there too) is decrepit and it's a shame they can't redevelop it.

[Southport Zeb]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

I saw Paris at Charlety a few years ago for a rather dull goalless draw against Frejus. The most competitive thing I saw came after the final whistle, as some spectators raced to the refreshment stand to buy discounted baguettes.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

I was a regular at Bauer when I lived in Paris, but agree that it is an acquired taste (and definitely not one for the prawn sandwich crowd).

[Borracho]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

Having said it out loud to myself a number of times now, I still don't get the thread title.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

You've been mispronouncing it.

paris is the word for "bets" in French (thus "parimutuel" in English)

[danielmak]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

I wasn't able to get to see PFC when I was in Paris last March and Red Star was on the road. I did get an HD file for that Red Star v. Saint-Etienne cup match, so that's all I saw from the Paris contingent other than PSG. Red Star held their own in that match. (Then again, I think Saint-Etienne had three straight rounds that went to ET, so holding their own is relative.)

I am a PSG fan, but winning the treble is not good for French football. The league was at lest competitive for a good portion of the season. I don't see OM repeating their success from last season, but Lyon has added to an already young and exciting side. The side that I will be curious to see is Lille. They started horribly and were dreadful in the Europa League, but they came on in the 2nd half. Perhaps they will carry that form into the new season.

I haven't been following many transfers (just heard a bit about Lyon). Any interesting news in Ligue 1?

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

France Football's summary page.

Early storylines are OM losing many of their stars, and Lille also weakening. There is general concern in France that the financial gap between its clubs (ex PSG) and the rest of Europe (esp. England) is widening to the point where Ligue 1 will essentially be a feeder league.

[ingoldale]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

ursus arctos wrote: France Football's summary page.

Early storylines are OM losing many of their stars, and Lille also weakening. There is general concern in France that the financial gap between its clubs (ex PSG) and the rest of Europe (esp. England) is widening to the point where Ligue 1 will essentially be a feeder league.

As a regular reader of France Football, So Foot and L'Équipe, the French appear to have this concern for the best part of ten years now. It always somewhat bemused me that they consider their league on a par with England, Spain, Italy and Germany. They talk of a 'big five' leagues whilst I found we tended to speak of a 'big four', excluding France, until Beckham and Zlatan popped up there. i.e we there perhaps already considered a sort of 'feeder league' outside their own country?

I feel we are closer than ever to a pan European league with teams like PSG, Bayern and Juve winning their respective leagues at a canter, relatively speaking, and lots of other clubs clearly pushing for such an eventuality.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

It's been going a subject of debate at least since Platini went to Juve, though I think what has really gotten their attention this window is the degree to which "small" Premier League clubs (Swansea, Stoke, etc.) can poach players from "big" Ligue 1 clubs (OM, OL, etc.)

[ingoldale]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

ursus arctos wrote: It's been going a subject of debate at least since Platini went to Juve, though I think what has really gotten their attention this window is the degree to which "small" Premier League clubs (Swansea, Stoke, etc.) can poach players from "big" Ligue 1 clubs (OM, OL, etc.)

Yeah, this even baffles me. I mean, Palace buying Cabaye for £12M yet a massive club like Villa can't spend that kind of money, nor can they dream of attracting a player of that calibre at the moment.

French football, in my opinion, isn't really tailored to allow a French equivalent of, say, Stoke to grow either. In English football 95% of clubs down to amateur level from the top level play on Saturday afternoon. This means to truly support one club is somewhat forced upon as it can be problematic following a League 1 team and top flight team, for example, as many of their matches might clash. In France, Ligue 1 play on Saturday evening (mainly) whilst Ligue 2 is on a Friday and National spread, bizarrely, across the weekend with CFA on a Saturday afternoon. This essentially gives you the option to follow a smaller club and a top flight team too. This is exactly what French people do as well. You very rarely met someone (unless it's Metz or Lens) who exclusively supports a Ligue 2 or National team. They always have a second team or a preferred club higher up. I think this makes it difficult for smaller teams to have a 'project' like Stoke did when they built the Britannia for example. They have to work harder to bring in the support. When Clermont were fighting for promotion to Ligue 1 under Der Zakarian, the coach bemoaned the fact that they could only get 3,000 through the gates. Yes, it's a rugby town and region but 3,000 for a team on the cusp of getting into the top flight is still poor.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

It's not dissimilar to Italy in that way, and I'm afraid that we may even see more movement in that direction, with supporters feeling that they have to at least have some affiliation to one of the handful of clubs that may actually win titles. Alternatively, we could see a split between PSG and everyone else.

As a general rule, lower league French clubs are much less rooted in their communities and more dependent on sponsor and municipality support than their English counterparts. Even Red Star, which is an exception in many ways, faces genuinely serious challenges in its ability to compete even in Ligue 2.

[ingoldale]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

I omitted the Ligue 1 fixtures: http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/FootballResultat52205.html

Lille v PSG is fairly tasty for the opening weekend.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

OM lose their opener at home to Caen and Bielsa resigns.

Loco gotta Loco.

[rick derris]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

I spent hours and hours on the Caen periphery road last week, lovely city and I think they are my number 2 french team as a result

[Borracho]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

ursus arctos wrote: OM lose their opener at home to Caen and Bielsa resigns.

Loco gotta Loco.

Expect at least one prominent football hack to spin this in such a way that it looks like yet another manifestation of Bielsa's god-like genius.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

Wilson's already been on it.

[Borracho]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

To be fair to the man, he does acknowledge that Bielsa runs out of juice after six months of every managerial post these days.

Bielsa's record this century is very thin for a supposed guru. Steers Argentina to their shittest World Cup showing since the non-qualification in 1970. Does okay with Chile, but no more than that – they were well beaten at the 2010 World Cup by the two good teams they met. Wins barely a third of his games at Athletic Bilbao and gets his arse kicked by Simeone in the Europa League final. Leads the French league at the halfway point and ends up finishing fourth.

Not a lot of real meat on the bone there.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

Evidently Bielsa's contract with Mexico is just about set.

[ursus arctos]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

Angers top of the table.

Could have gotten pretty good odds on that.

[ingoldale]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

ursus arctos wrote: Angers top of the table.

Could have gotten pretty good odds on that.

Although 'top of the table after one game' is barely worth the paper it is written on.

[danielmak]

All Paris are off - French Foot 2015/16

While eating lunch at home today, I was able to time things for the Ligue 2 bounce around on BeIN FR (my IPTV box is already paying off). I don't pay much attention to Ligue 2 and I know there was some talk about the Red Star and Paris FC joining Ligue 2 earlier in this thread. But what's the sense of these two clubs in terms of finances and quality of players. Do either (or both) have a realistic shot of going up to Ligue 1, are either/both destined to dwell in Ligue 2, or is this just a blip and both will be heading back down soon? It would be great to have another Parisian side in Ligue 1.

And other other Ligue 2 related question: What's the sense of Auxerre's chances for promotion? They've now been in Ligue 2 for a few seasons. Any chance they can make a push for promotion this season?