ChristopheVAFC

Southampton fans, I wish you a Merry Christmas from France. Enjoy this day with your family and friends. Take care of yourselves. ❤️🤍

So, to tell you the story behind this banner, it's from a Valenciennes supporter who's aiming to hit the ‘grand slam’ of away games for VA this season (friendly, league, French Cup). And so far, he hasn't missed a single match since the start of the season, and his banner is displayed on the gates of the visitors' stand at every match. The bus represents travel and therefore away matches. It looks more like the red London bus, haha.

Hello friends, once again we've been through all the emotions in the Coupe de France! We were leading 2-1 at 90 minutes +6, but Thionville equalised at 2-2 just before the final whistle at 90+7! A penalty was awarded and VA won 5-4. Around 80 Valenciennes supporters made the trip. There's a lot of work to be done, but we hope things will be better by 2025. Allez VA!

Thank you very much. Currently on my way to the match. I hope we can qualify for the next round!

PRESS: https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/1536535/article/2024-12-22/poigne-et-experience-il-va-les-booster-vincent-hognon-plait-bien-aux-supporters

Hello friends, I hope you're well this Sunday. Today is match day for Valenciennes, who travel to Thionville in Lorraine (about a 3-hour drive away) as part of the 1/32nd final of the French Football Cup. This is the last match of the year, but the first for our new manager, Vincent Hognon. I'm pretty confident about this match, because generally speaking, the arrival of a new manager motivates the players to put in a good performance. We also want to reassure ourselves before the festive season, so that we can get back on the right foot in January 2025. The match kicks off at 5.30pm French time and will be broadcast in France on Bein Sport 2. Allez VA! 🔴⚪

Welcome Ivan !

I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, but I obviously want you to stay in the Premier League this season.

I'm not mocking you, I know the challenges are going to be complicated, but I think it's still possible to change the situation, I really do.

My friends, I'm sorry for tonight's defeat. Now it's on to the championship, and I sincerely hope you can keep up! Take heart, friends of Southampton!

I'm reassured because he's an experienced coach and he's known in France as a successful manager. The most complicated thing for him will be to reassure our players and restore their confidence too. I wish him every success with us.

https://www.va-fc.com/articles/25758

My friends, I sincerely hope you find a new manager who will be capable of doing great things for the rest of the season.

It's never an easy decision. Russel has done some good things for you, but now it's time to make way for change. Good luck to you guys.

I still hope that things are moving internally haha!

It's all well and good to want the head of the sporting director (Ben Chorley), or the head coach (Ahmed Kantari and Stephane Mangione), but the players also have their share of responsibilities...

A statement from Stéphane Mangione (interim coach of Valenciennes) last night: ‘When you take 17 shots in a game, at some point you expose yourself to cracking. But we did the hard part by opening the scoring, a little against the run of play. We decided to change our system against a National 3 team in the French Cup and against PSG's Youth League team, but the opposition wasn't the same and tactically we didn't respond. With a lot of transparency, I think we're where we should be, I think the team is simply showing its limitations. I can be responsible for a lot of things, Ahmed Kantari too, but I can't be responsible for the players‘ feet and at a given moment, when we have to come out under pressure, with, we don't make 3 passes, when we open the score and we have 1 or 2 correct restarts and then, well, we give the ball back to the opponent and we put ourselves in danger, that's it, when you're a coach, you want to assume a lot of things but these facts are difficult. We are going through a difficult period, that's it, within the locker room, even if the locker room is exceptional and is doing well. But I made a speech (...) because during the talk, I asked them to be united, and if it had to bend, not to break. I found that they were exemplary in this register in the first half, or in particular, there was the slip of Jordan (Poha) who was caught by Sambou (Sissoko) and that's this kind of solidarity, these are beautiful values. So I asked them to stay calm, that the highlights of Le Mans would pass, that we could now have our own highlights and I think that's what happened during this first quarter of an hour in the second half. Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough, and it's a recurrence that we concede goals from crosses and there you go, we're not mean enough on the marking, we're not mean enough on the ball carrier, and when we're not able to manage the source or at least manage the arrival..."

My friend, it's been a complicated evening indeed, with this latest defeat pushing us further away from the top spots... I wouldn't like to be at Sport Republic right now with our problems on top of yours... From now until the end of January, it will be decisive for the rest of the season for Valenciennes and Southampton. When it comes to money, it's a bit complicated for SR to get out the purse... May the end of the year be good for us.

https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/1533267/article/2024-12-13/football-national-dix-sept-jours-plus-tard-valenciennes-un-entraineur-nomme

Hello friends, I hope you're well! Valenciennes return to action this evening when they travel to Le Mans FC. We still don't have a head coach, but Sport Républic are taking their time to find the right person. We still haven't won away from home and we're hoping for our first win tonight on Friday 13th haha. The match kicks off at 20:30 French time and can be followed live on Youtube via the link below: Just below, I'm sharing today's press coverage of the coaching change. Allez VA ! ❤️🤍

I'm not Rasmus, Ben or Dragan! What's stupid is dumping SR when they've ‘only’ been at the helm for 2 years! Who doesn't make communication errors? At any club for that matter! Like most of my compatriots at Valenciennes, I'm sad about the club's descent into N1 and the fact that ‘for the moment’ the project isn't working out that well, but is that a reason to shoot the owner when he's only been there a short time? Unlike Zdziech, who has had 10 years to prove his worth... That he's absolutely useless! I'm sorry for the friends of Southampton who read our exchange because I know that their situation is complicated at the moment and I'm here to give them my full support. I'm going to stop here with you because I can see that we're not going to agree about our current owner. When you understand that a project needs time to get off the ground, we'll be moving in the right direction!

Why constantly compare yourself to others? Every situation is different and every heritage is different too! I'm not sure that Dunkerque and Boulogne had the disastrous social and financial situation that Valenciennes had before the takeover by Sport Républic! As far as maintaining professional status is concerned, the rules have recently changed! Each club goes before a committee every two years with a dossier to defend and criteria to meet, knowing that with the move from National 1 to Ligue 3 decided by the FFF and the LFP, this will no longer be the case! Valenciennes' situation at the time of the takeover was more than catastrophic, on the verge of bankruptcy and relegation to National 3 or worse. Patience will be the best asset if the project is to take shape, and personally I have no doubts about that. Rome wasn't built in 1 day, was it? Being a supporter means being there through the good times and the bad!

With Eddy Zdziech: - No ambition beyond personal ambition - Conflict with sponsors, politicians and fans - No maintenance of club facilities - Non-payment of invoices with service providers - Does not put his own money into the club - Dismisses employees on Christmas Eve - Has always lost at the industrial tribunal - Sanctioned every year by the DNCG The club was left to its own devices! With Sport Républic: - Medium and long-term project to regain lost ambition - Return of Toyota / Partouche / the city and the agglomeration - Work on the training centre last summer (professional pitch) - Healthy finances - Recruitment of several employees - Development of club facilities that had been neglected for 10 years - Successful passage through the DNCG 2 years ago Apart from the sporting side, which always takes a lot longer to set up, Do you need any other arguments? As far as our friends at Southampton are concerned, just like our friends at Goztepe, whom I'm also watching, I'm keeping a close eye on their situation, so don't worry about that! Of course I'm sad for my friends at Saint's and I hope that solutions can be found for them as soon as possible.

I would never, ever want my club to go back into the hands of the dictator Eddy Zdziech! You'd have to be mad to want that!!!!!!!

In the same vein...