Valenciennes

[ChristopheVAFC]

Hello everyone.

Back in France after 3 days in your city.

I left with lots of memories, photos and good times.

You really do have a city steeped in history and I admire the fact that you've managed to keep your traditional identity.

I'll probably be back before the end of 2024.

Thank you to everyone I met!

[Saint_clark]

Shame the game wasn't a bit more entertaining for you Christophe. 

[ChristopheVAFC]

The French Cup came to an end for my team last night...

There were 1,200 of us Valenciennes supporters on the 20-hour round trip bus journey last night.

Facing Olympique Lyonnais, a Ligue 1 Uber Eat club, it wasn't easy...

We'll be back next year!

[Convict Colony]

Damn bro you get about a lot, great support for the team, dont fancy a 20hr bus trip though 

[spyinthesky]

Christophe,
What's with the Union Jacks and the cross of St George flags?

[ChristopheVAFC]

14 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Damn bro you get about a lot, great support for the team, dont fancy a 20hr bus trip though 

Thank you very much! I've loved my club for 20 years and I'm ready to do a lot for it! 

[ChristopheVAFC]

10 hours ago, spyinthesky said:

Christophe,
What's with the Union Jacks and the cross of St George flags?

The owner of this flag told me about its significance, but there's no link with Sport Republic on this flag.

Initially, he wanted to make a big red and white flag and he just thought it would be nice to put other things on it.

[ChristopheVAFC]

Hello everyone.

Match day for Valenciennes, who welcome Pau to the Stade du Hainaut this evening at 7pm French time.

If my team loses, we will be mathematically relegated to the 3rd division.

I wanted to share with you a video from an interview yesterday with Ben Chorley, the club's sporting director, who looks back over the season and takes stock, where you can understand how Sport Republic realised all the work that needed to be done here.

Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, folks. 

 

[Convict Colony]

1 hour ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello everyone.

Match day for Valenciennes, who welcome Pau to the Stade du Hainaut this evening at 7pm French time.

If my team loses, we will be mathematically relegated to the 3rd division.

I wanted to share with you a video from an interview yesterday with Ben Chorley, the club's sporting director, who looks back over the season and takes stock, where you can understand how Sport Republic realised all the work that needed to be done here.

Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, folks. 

 

Really interesting thanks christophe.

I get from that a few things:

- A lot of players who were there had spent most of the season looking to leave.

- No team spirit due to these players and them wanting others to fail if they play instead.

- Infrastructure and pitches at the training ground were bad - causing injuries etc - already re-doing the pitches now in April and improving gym etc and more.

- Focus on recruitment for next year is about "character" which he said about 100 times which shows you that this is the main issue currently with the team.

- Lots of good young players and experienced ones (surprised Anthony Knockert is there was a really good player)

- Praises the fans and the town for their support.

In my view next season will be awesome, you will be the PSG of the 3rd division, the glamour club and with the big improvement in your training ground players will want to join as players are always impressed with that.  Get rid of all the shit complaining players, blend young players with experienced ones, win next year and then carry that on into Ligue 2 again to win.

 

[ChristopheVAFC]

Hello folks,

It is with great sadness that I announce the official descent of my club VAFC to the 3rd division following yesterday's 4-1 defeat by Pau.

We've known about it for several weeks, but it's now official in sporting terms.

I wish us a speedy return to Ligue 2 with a scenario like yours or like our friends at Goztepe.

There are 6 games left before the end of the season and we're going to make the most of them.

May Sport Republic do their utmost to ensure that we go up again next year!

Allez VA!

[Convict Colony]

1 hour ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello folks,

It is with great sadness that I announce the official descent of my club VAFC to the 3rd division following yesterday's 4-1 defeat by Pau.

We've known about it for several weeks, but it's now official in sporting terms.

I wish us a speedy return to Ligue 2 with a scenario like yours or like our friends at Goztepe.

There are 6 games left before the end of the season and we're going to make the most of them.

May Sport Republic do their utmost to ensure that we go up again next year!

Allez VA!

Give the players who are staying the chance and with younger players for these last games.

As I said above, you will be the real madrid and psg of the 3rd division and will win most weekends and you will remember football is fun again 

Bon chance.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Things they wouldn't know until they got into the building. You'd sort of expect them to know the standard of the facilities. It might take time to resolve it, but they don't seem to have known at all. SR might have a multi club model, but it's taking a lot of harsh lessons for them to develop a multi club template to take over clubs with.

In his first week, he had 4 players looking to leave. He mentions it as disappointing, after what they've done at Southampton. Which was to get us relegated, which is exactly what's happened here. That raised a chuckle. What happened with us, isn't much of a selling point.

He did mention they'd made mistakes, and being honest. But we don't hear what those were. Perhaps it's the long list of things they've had to react to.

Inherited a disgruntled squad, that has been unsuccessful. Promptly implements the SR way, which isn't to improve the results, but to get them to finish even lower. It's a shame things can't be improved without breaking them and restarting with SR.

Admits recruitment didn't always work. Something we know all about. He mentions the striker they had the season before, wasn't their player. Perhaps they had as much success there, as they had with us.

Massive discipline issues and bottom of the league. Mentioned having shipped out 18 and brought in 18. In Jan bringing in another 2, and moving on another 6 or 7. So a massive overhaul there. But either, there were still a load of players left, or the ones brought in couldn't change the dressing room. Because there's a lot of having to build in discipline, of wanting to bring in players with character mentioned in the interview.

We ended up getting relegated with a bloated squad with cliques of want away players. Some bought because SR's focus was on sell on value, rather than what they would give in the building and on the pitch. With our previous constraints, some of those looked impressive, much like the list given in this interview. Our Jan window was an utter shambles. Some other key areas remain that way, 4 windows in. But they've not heeded what happened to us, and repeated a lot of it here.

Without knowing the contract lengths of character of who is left, there may be even more of a turnover in the next window. He mentions a number out of contract. They will be looking to move on those that haven't worked out. We've a small army of players out on loan, which was a financial and resource drain in getting us structured for this season. Hopefully, it's a smoother process here.

The mix of experience, players from much higher leagues and youth in improved facilities sound promising. Hopefully it won't get put into doubt by playing possession based football for the sake of it, in a league you should dominate. 🙂

Edited April 14 by Holmes_and_Watson

[AlexLaw76]

Sports Republic strike again...

Woeful owners

[ChristopheVAFC]

Communication by Sport Republic after official relegation:

https://www.va-fc.com/articles/communiqué-de-sport-republic-21783

 

Quote

SPORT REPUBLIC PRESS RELEASE

Saturday's 1-4 defeat by Pau means that VAFC have been relegated to the National League. Nineteen years on, the club is now relegated to the third tier of the national league. As majority shareholders in VAFC, we are particularly sad and frustrated by our first season at the helm of the club.

This situation, which is disappointing for everyone, must not undermine our unity. We would particularly like to thank our supporters and partners for their unwavering support during this difficult period.

Everyone at the club is already looking ahead to next season, with the ambition of climbing back into League 2 as quickly as possible. There are now six games left to defend the club's honour to the end.

Henrik Kraft, chairman of VAFC and co-chairman of Sport Republic: "On behalf of Sport Republic, I would like to reassure our supporters, partners and staff that we remain fully committed to the club's long-term success and will work tirelessly to return VAFC to the highest level.

 

[ChristopheVAFC]

On 14/04/2024 at 09:16, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Things they wouldn't know until they got into the building. You'd sort of expect them to know the standard of the facilities. It might take time to resolve it, but they don't seem to have known at all. SR might have a multi club model, but it's taking a lot of harsh lessons for them to develop a multi club template to take over clubs with.

In his first week, he had 4 players looking to leave. He mentions it as disappointing, after what they've done at Southampton. Which was to get us relegated, which is exactly what's happened here. That raised a chuckle. What happened with us, isn't much of a selling point.

He did mention they'd made mistakes, and being honest. But we don't hear what those were. Perhaps it's the long list of things they've had to react to.

Inherited a disgruntled squad, that has been unsuccessful. Promptly implements the SR way, which isn't to improve the results, but to get them to finish even lower. It's a shame things can't be improved without breaking them and restarting with SR.

Admits recruitment didn't always work. Something we know all about. He mentions the striker they had the season before, wasn't their player. Perhaps they had as much success there, as they had with us.

Massive discipline issues and bottom of the league. Mentioned having shipped out 18 and brought in 18. In Jan bringing in another 2, and moving on another 6 or 7. So a massive overhaul there. But either, there were still a load of players left, or the ones brought in couldn't change the dressing room. Because there's a lot of having to build in discipline, of wanting to bring in players with character mentioned in the interview.

We ended up getting relegated with a bloated squad with cliques of want away players. Some bought because SR's focus was on sell on value, rather than what they would give in the building and on the pitch. With our previous constraints, some of those looked impressive, much like the list given in this interview. Our Jan window was an utter shambles. Some other key areas remain that way, 4 windows in. But they've not heeded what happened to us, and repeated a lot of it here.

Without knowing the contract lengths of character of who is left, there may be even more of a turnover in the next window. He mentions a number out of contract. They will be looking to move on those that haven't worked out. We've a small army of players out on loan, which was a financial and resource drain in getting us structured for this season. Hopefully, it's a smoother process here.

The mix of experience, players from much higher leagues and youth in improved facilities sound promising. Hopefully it won't get put into doubt by playing possession based football for the sake of it, in a league you should dominate. 🙂

Where I am rather conciliatory towards Sport Republic is that before the takeover they did not have access to information about the club (number of employees / financial situation / state of the facilities), because the former management was rather opaque on these subjects, and we knew this, because knowing the behaviour of our former president, we knew that he was going to show malice and bad faith.

He promised Sport Républic a club with little work to do and ready to rediscover its ambition, but when SR took over the keys to the club, it was one problem after another, which didn't help SR to have a good season.

Now, following the relegation, SR has all the time in the world to continue its project of rebuilding our club and I am convinced that next year we will have a much better season because SR will have put the right people in their place.

I can't thank SR enough for buying my club, because with our previous directors, we were heading for bankruptcy and a descent into National 3 (5th division in France).

The project will take a little longer than expected, but we won't give up!

[Give it to Ron]

Rumour of pre-season games at SMS next season our 3 clubs

[ChristopheVAFC]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Rumour of pre-season games at SMS next season our 3 clubs

I can confirm this information, which I obtained myself from the CEO of Southampton, whom I met on my visit here at the beginning of April.

I would normally be there

[FarehamSaintJames]

SR really are selling themselves as a brand aren’t they. 😂

[ChristopheVAFC]

8 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

SR really are selling themselves as a brand aren’t they. 😂

I think this type of tournament is really interesting, as it gives you the chance to meet teams with a different style of play and different levels of ability.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

8 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Where I am rather conciliatory towards Sport Republic is that before the takeover they did not have access to information about the club (number of employees / financial situation / state of the facilities), because the former management was rather opaque on these subjects, and we knew this, because knowing the behaviour of our former president, we knew that he was going to show malice and bad faith.

He promised Sport Républic a club with little work to do and ready to rediscover its ambition, but when SR took over the keys to the club, it was one problem after another, which didn't help SR to have a good season.

Now, following the relegation, SR has all the time in the world to continue its project of rebuilding our club and I am convinced that next year we will have a much better season because SR will have put the right people in their place.

I can't thank SR enough for buying my club, because with our previous directors, we were heading for bankruptcy and a descent into National 3 (5th division in France).

The project will take a little longer than expected, but we won't give up!

If you're not able/willing or allowed to do sufficient due diligence, you're going to get taken to the cleaners.

Plenty on the video and statement, to give supporters some sense of security and progress. Even from your position, there will be bumps along the way, as they seem to have to refine all of their ideas when reality hits. But, hopefully we'll all get to where we want to be, with strong foundations put in place.

8 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

I think this type of tournament is really interesting, as it gives you the chance to meet teams with a different style of play and different levels of ability.

Definitely a massive plus in the multi club model, is to have this sort of tournament. Getting the squads and back room staff mix and learn will be good all round.

[Convict Colony]

On 14/04/2024 at 09:21, AlexLaw76 said:

Sports Republic strike again...

Woeful owners

Gao Jisheng thanks you for this post and is delighted to inform you that you will not be shot once the belt and road initiative is complete and they invade the uk, instead you can look forward to a happy life making iphones for 16hrs a day before you retire to your dog crate and have sexual interactions in the metaverse for a fee.

[Convict Colony]

9 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

I can confirm this information, which I obtained myself from the CEO of Southampton, whom I met on my visit here at the beginning of April.

I would normally be there

Wait you turn up to 1 game and already have better contacts that everyone on this forum 

Nice one christophe, a tournament would be nice for sure, hopefully we can be a "premier league" team and we will still hope we can beat division 3 valenciennes ;-)

[Convict Colony]

9 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Communication by Sport Republic after official relegation:

https://www.va-fc.com/articles/communiqué-de-sport-republic-21783

 

 

You've got to say Rasmus the football brains behind sport republic has damaged his credibility with Dragan I would guess - 2 out of the 3 teams bought have been relegated in their 1st season !

 

[Convict Colony]

9 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Where I am rather conciliatory towards Sport Republic is that before the takeover they did not have access to information about the club (number of employees / financial situation / state of the facilities), because the former management was rather opaque on these subjects, and we knew this, because knowing the behaviour of our former president, we knew that he was going to show malice and bad faith.

He promised Sport Républic a club with little work to do and ready to rediscover its ambition, but when SR took over the keys to the club, it was one problem after another, which didn't help SR to have a good season.

Now, following the relegation, SR has all the time in the world to continue its project of rebuilding our club and I am convinced that next year we will have a much better season because SR will have put the right people in their place.

I can't thank SR enough for buying my club, because with our previous directors, we were heading for bankruptcy and a descent into National 3 (5th division in France).

The project will take a little longer than expected, but we won't give up!

Christophe I really like your posts, always interesting so thanks for taking the time to post on here and I am definitely coming to valenciennes next season for a game as its only 3hrs.

[ChristopheVAFC]

3 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

If you're not able/willing or allowed to do sufficient due diligence, you're going to get taken to the cleaners.

Plenty on the video and statement, to give supporters some sense of security and progress. Even from your position, there will be bumps along the way, as they seem to have to refine all of their ideas when reality hits. But, hopefully we'll all get to where we want to be, with strong foundations put in place.

Definitely a massive plus in the multi club model, is to have this sort of tournament. Getting the squads and back room staff mix and learn will be good all round.

More and more people are saying that we're going to have a big clean-up this summer and that we'll be hiring more qualified people who are more interested in our club.

I'm waiting to see, but I know that now that relegation has been confirmed, SR is already starting to think about next season, so there's no excuse for falling behind like we did this year!

Wait and see, as they say!

[ChristopheVAFC]

2 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Wait you turn up to 1 game and already have better contacts that everyone on this forum 

Nice one christophe, a tournament would be nice for sure, hopefully we can be a "premier league" team and we will still hope we can beat division 3 valenciennes 😉

Coincidentally, I had just arrived in Southampton on Friday 29 March, and was going to buy some things in the club shop at the stadium, when my friend and I were approached by Phil Parsons, who offered to talk to us for a few minutes. It was very interesting, and he actually told me that there would be a tournament this summer with the 3 clubs.

It was a surprise for us, and a very nice one in any case

[ChristopheVAFC]

2 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

You've got to say Rasmus the football brains behind sport republic has damaged his credibility with Dragan I would guess - 2 out of the 3 teams bought have been relegated in their 1st season !

 

We're going to try and get the message across to him!

[ChristopheVAFC]

2 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Christophe I really like your posts, always interesting so thanks for taking the time to post on here and I am definitely coming to valenciennes next season for a game as its only 3hrs.

It's a real pleasure to chat with you in any case!

If it wasn't for SR, we'd never have been able to talk to each other, and I think that's great! It helps to create links between supporters.

No problem, you and all of you would be very welcome to join us at Valenciennes. A pleasure to welcome you!

[Pamplemousse]

I hope there is a future friendly game at Valenciennes. The 3 hour train from London (London to Lille and then Lille to Valenciennes) is shorter than some of the northern away days. Would be a great day out

[ChristopheVAFC]

10 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

I hope there is a future friendly game at Valenciennes. The 3 hour train from London (London to Lille and then Lille to Valenciennes) is shorter than some of the northern away days. Would be a great day out

The good thing is that we're not too far away and it's pretty easy to get here.

It's a real pleasure to be able to welcome you one day!

[Nolan]

On 14/04/2024 at 08:21, AlexLaw76 said:

Sports Republic strike again...

Woeful owners

Woeful reading of reality.

Looking at FACTS.

Göztepe got to the play off finals last season, and look odds on for the second promotion spot this season.

Southampton have a points tally which would have got them promoted in second place in over a quarter of Championship seasons, and still have FOUR games left to play.

 

@ChristopheVAFC When the writing is on the wall so early, there is more time to prepare for the coming season. 

[ChristopheVAFC]

1 hour ago, Nolan said:

Woeful reading of reality.

Looking at FACTS.

Göztepe got to the play off finals last season, and look odds on for the second promotion spot this season.

Southampton have a points tally which would have got them promoted in second place in over a quarter of Championship seasons, and still have FOUR games left to play.

 

@ChristopheVAFC When the writing is on the wall so early, there is more time to prepare for the coming season. 

When I look at what Goztepe and Southampton have achieved this year, I'm not worried about next season. 

What's more, we have plenty of time to prepare for next season. I hope we'll have a great season and play a leading role in the division.

I can't blame Sport Republic because I know that my club was sick before the takeover and that it takes time for everything to fall into place.

They're already doing a lot of things outside the sporting sphere and that's already been positive (links with supporters, organising round tables, partnerships with local elected representatives and businesses, etc.).

I'm convinced that things will go much better next year.

[ChristopheVAFC]

Hello friends!

Some news from my club since the official announcement of our descent into the 3rd division.

After losing to Pau 4-1 at home on 13 April and sealing our relegation, we travelled to Paris to take on Paris FC (not Paris SG haha), also losing 2-1.

This week, we had 2 home games, against Ajaccio (Corsica) and Grenoble: Result: 2 wins. Which is a first for our club since the start of the season.

Unfortunately, it's more than too late to wake up. It's more a question of honour if we're going to finish the league well.

As far as I know, the club really want to make amends with the fans following the descent and are already working on building a squad for next season.

We supporters have told the directors to be more vigilant about recruitment and to choose players who know the country and also the league and who also have experience.

A descent is never pleasant, but we hope to be back in Ligue 2 as soon as possible.

The supporters' groups have called a strike in the kop stand this week, to symbolically show that they are already on holiday haha, they will be back for the last home match on 10 May.

Allez VA!

[S-Clarke]

Good luck on recruitment, as SR have failed miserably here if we're honest.

But...we could give you Mara? I'd happily take a packet of Haribo in exchange and call it quits.

[Fan The Flames]

Good luck next season, rebondir.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

24 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Good luck on recruitment, as SR have failed miserably here if we're honest.

But...we could give you Mara? I'd happily take a packet of Haribo in exchange and call it quits.

Oh for... Don't ask for a whole packet! 🙂

[ChristopheVAFC]

9 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

Good luck on recruitment, as SR have failed miserably here if we're honest.

But...we could give you Mara? I'd happily take a packet of Haribo in exchange and call it quits.

SR hasn't missed everything with us this year, there have been positive changes internally and in the way the club operates, but unfortunately the sporting side of things has gone wrong and SR has promised us to do better next year and to be more vigilant about recruitment.

We'll wait and see

Sékou Mara, I take him from you every day, but I'm not sure he wants to play in the French 3rd division haha. 

[ChristopheVAFC]

9 hours ago, Fan The Flames said:

Good luck next season, rebondir.

Thank you very much, we hope SR has learned from his mistakes this year.

[sfc4prem]

34 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Thank you very much, we hope SR has learned from his mistakes this year.

You would say 'their' for a company or organisation, rather than 'his'.

 

Hth.

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, sfc4prem said:

You would say 'their' for a company or organisation, rather than 'his'.

 

Hth.

Please don’t.

[Tommy Mulgrew]

8 hours ago, sfc4prem said:

You would say 'their' for a company or organisation, rather than 'his'.

its 

[Nolan]

Three wins in a row....

[ChristopheVAFC]

49 minutes ago, Nolan said:

Three wins in a row....

The end of the season is drawing to a close, and with the club already condemned to relegation, the aim is to put on a good show before moving down to the lower division.

I also think that some of the players are giving it their all for next season, just to show off to future recruiters...

It's a shame, because with this rate of points, we could have done better this season...

[ChristopheVAFC]

Last match at the Stade du Hainaut last night.

Faced with a Quevilly Rouen team already relegated like us, we won 2-1.

But yesterday was also the night we said farewell to the club: our speakrine, whose name is Marie and who has been at the microphone for 25 years, will no longer be able to entertain at the stadium next year for professional reasons. 

Our captain, Joffrey Cuffaut, who played 159 games for Valenciennes, will not be staying on next year as his contract expires.

A large majority of Sport Républic's management team were present yesterday (including Rasmus and Henrik).

In the photo, circled in yellow, that's me, I'm always in that seat haha, very well placed (the standing room is free seating).

Edited May 11 by ChristopheVAFC

[Badger]

54 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Last match at the Stade du Hainaut last night.

Faced with a Quevilly Rouen team already relegated like us, we won 2-1.

But yesterday was also the night we said farewell to the club: our speakrine, whose name is Marie and who has been at the microphone for 25 years, will no longer be able to entertain at the stadium next year for professional reasons. 

Our captain, Joffrey Cuffaut, who played 159 games for Valenciennes, will not be staying on next year as his contract expires.

A large majority of Sport Républic's management team were present yesterday (including Rasmus and Henrik).

In the photo, circled in yellow, that's me, I'm always in that seat haha, very well placed (the standing room is free seating).

No difficulty in spotting your mate with the flag either...

[Badger]

55 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

 

A large majority of Sport Républic's management team were present yesterday (including Rasmus and Henrik).

 

 

They really must enjoy, or at least are getting used to, attending to see the last rites being administered.

Isn't this three clubs out of three now relegated after SR are involved ? 

[S-Clarke]

3 minutes ago, Badger said:

They really must enjoy, or at least are getting used to, attending to see the last rites being administered.

Isn't this three clubs out of three now relegated after SR are involved ? 

I think that's a 'little' harsh, they've taken over clubs on a downturn from the outset and were on the back foot from day 1 at Gotzepe and Valenciennes - so their relegations were somewhat expected, that's probably part of the reason why they acquired them - a troubled club, not as expensive as an established top flight club, but with potential to reshape them over time.

We were slightly different though, a middling PL club flirting with the trap door, they thought throwing millions at young kids would move us back up the table - but it killed us dead, they misread the situation with us wildly.

[ChristopheVAFC]

22 minutes ago, Badger said:

No difficulty in spotting your mate with the flag either...

It's true that he's often a few floors behind me haha

[ChristopheVAFC]

23 minutes ago, Badger said:

They really must enjoy, or at least are getting used to, attending to see the last rites being administered.

Isn't this three clubs out of three now relegated after SR are involved ? 

Before Sport Républic bought our club, we came close to going down several times, but unfortunately it happened this year and you can imagine what happened with the other two clubs...

It's almost unfortunate but I'm staying positive because I know that SR are going to do their utmost this summer to create a new dynamic.

They've already put in a lot of money and they're going to continue to do so, they're going to bring the training grounds up to standard and they're going to have plenty of time to set up their organisation.

No more excuses next year, they've got their work cut out for them!

[ChristopheVAFC]

18 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I think that's a 'little' harsh, they've taken over clubs on a downturn from the outset and were on the back foot from day 1 at Gotzepe and Valenciennes - so their relegations were somewhat expected, that's probably part of the reason why they acquired them - a troubled club, not as expensive as an established top flight club, but with potential to reshape them over time.

We were slightly different though, a middling PL club flirting with the trap door, they thought throwing millions at young kids would move us back up the table - but it killed us dead, they misread the situation with us wildly.

I'm really pleased that Sport Republic is coming in, even if going down is never a pleasure, but you know our previous managers were so incompetent and unambitious too, they left the club in a lamentable state.

Now it's time to continue the reconstruction and I hope we can get some good results quickly and get back up as soon as possible.

As for you, my friends, I wish you every success for the play-offs and I'll be watching the 2 games at Valenciennes with the greatest attention.