Valenciennes

[Convict Colony]

[ChristopheVAFC]

12 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Christophe can you turn around VA for us, it bad enough being a saints fan without having to watch a similar episode play out in the mighty valenciennes. 

 

I'm here, my friend!

I'm reading you, I'm watching you!

As it happens, today is match day for Valenciennes!

[ChristopheVAFC]

It's been a week since VA beat Bourg-en-Bresse 3-1 at the Stade du Hainaut, and here's the news from the week:

- Winter transfer window:

As announced, Souleymane BASSE, who has not played this season and was sidelined by the club, has signed with Pau FC in Ligue 2 on a permanent transfer.

Quentin Daubin, a midfielder who was recently in Turkey, not with our sister club Goztepe, but with Gaziantep, has joined the team.

Our coach wanted four new signings, and they have arrived:

Charles Abi (forward)

Erin Airhiavbere (full-back)

Bryan Passi (centre-back)

Quentin Daubin (midfielder)

Before 31 January 2026, departures are possible, especially for players who do not play or play very little, but I do not think there will be any arrivals.

- Relationship with supporters:

The atmosphere is still tense between the most fervent fans and the club. After the match against FC Sochaux, some supporters who were on the pitch and recognised on camera were banned from the stadium until further notice. In protest, fan groups have also announced that they will be on strike until further notice. Dialogue is complicated, but I hope, for everyone's sake, that a solution will be found quickly.

- My opinion on the rest of the season:

Last Friday's victory was good for morale and confidence, but we must not let up in our efforts. The season continues and there are still victories to be won. We must remain serious and focused, and acknowledge that the first part of the season was a failure.

The club has top-level facilities, a first-class training centre, a League 1 stadium, and everything is in place to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible.

I wish my club all the best, and hope that their efforts pay off on the pitch too. I also wish you, my fellow Southampton supporters, all the best, and hope that things will soon improve for you.

Our thoughts are also with our friends at Goztepe, to whom I wish all the best for the rest of the season.

[ChristopheVAFC]

Finally, before sending you the local press, here is some information about tonight's match:

We are travelling to Le Puy en Velay, who are 8th in the table with 23 points (we are 12th with 19 points).

On paper, it doesn't look like it will be an easy match, in a small stadium (4,800 seats), compared to the 25,172 seats at the Stade du Hainaut.

It will be a tricky match, and I think we will need to score quickly to win.

Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m. French time.

Find the link to the match below:

Allez VA !

[ChristopheVAFC]

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VAFC : « On ne m’a jamais rien donné », Rémy Boissier, le revanchard qui sait ce qu’il veut et où il va - La Voix du Nord

VAFC: "I was never given anything," says Rémy Boissier, the determined player who knows what he wants and where he's going.

Back from suspension, Rémy Boissier is expected this Friday in Le Puy-en-Velay to make his eleventh consecutive start in the National league. It's the story of a season, even a footballer's life: the Valenciennes midfielder had to fight to overcome initial skepticism.

Rémy Boissier was sidelined; now he's back on the deck, firmly attached to the bow of the Valenciennes ship, which has refloated itself without him, victorious against Bourg-en-Bresse (3-1) last week, as the midfielder was suspended. His return is expected this Friday in Le Puy-en-Velay, in the Valenciennes midfield where he has established himself by starting every match since the sixth game. "He was one of the few reliable players in the first half of the season because he always delivered," says his coach, Stéphane Moulin. If the rest of the season can be of the same caliber, especially given that Quentin Daubin's arrival will intensify the competition, "I would be delighted."

It wasn't a given, however, as the newly appointed coaching staff had initially planned to manage without him this summer. Rémy Boissier took the blow in stride, even when he was asked in August to train with the reserve team. The Montauban native had never started a season under such circumstances. “It’s not common, and it’s not easy either,” but he concedes: “It allows you to question yourself. It also refocuses you on your work methods, on what you really want, your objectives.” His own have been clearly defined from the start: “If I came here, it’s to bring the club back to where it wants to be. Whether we’ll succeed or not, I don’t know. But I want to try to contribute.”

“I told him: ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to cause any problems. I just want to work, and then we’ll take stock.’ And well, it went well…”

He had warned Stéphane Moulin that he wouldn’t make waves. “I told him: ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to cause any problems. I just want to work, and then we’ll take stock.’” And that's it, it all worked out… » Turning thirty-two next month, with 142 Ligue 2 and 98 National matches under his belt, Rémy Boissier understood very early on, when the doors of youth academies closed, that he would have to fight to make his mark in professional football: “It's in my nature to be determined, I was never given anything.”

A happy man in Valenciennes

It all comes down to finding the right “chemistry” with the coaching staff. “Careers aren't built on their own,” it's obvious in a team sport, “there's your work, but you need people around you to validate what you're doing.” Rémy Boissier is a happy man in Valenciennes, and he makes no secret of it: “I'm coming to the end of my contract here. If there's a way to extend it, (the management) know I'm open to the idea.” I'm attached to the club, to its values, I think that shows.

LE PUY (8th) – VALENCIENNES (12th), Friday, 7:30 p.m. Matchday 18 of the National league. Unavailable: Thomas, Coeff, A. Diomandé, Appuah (injured), Collet (returning from injury).

[ChristopheVAFC]

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Mercato du VAFC : quatre arrivées c’est bien, mais ça manque de partants - La Voix du Nord

Valenciennes Transfer Window: Four Arrivals Are Good, But Departures Are Needed

Barring any last-minute setbacks, Valenciennes will stick to the four signings it has completed since the beginning of the month: Abi, Airhiavbere, Passi, and Daubin, to rebalance its squad. One or two departures should follow to trim the roster.

Unless an unmissable opportunity arises, Valenciennes' winter transfer window is closed in terms of arrivals since the signing of Quentin Daubin on Monday, following those of Abi, Airhiavbere, and Passi. "The idea was to bring in four players; the positions were targeted," Stéphane Moulin reiterated this Thursday before embarking on the journey that will take him and his team to Le Puy-en-Velay for the seventeenth matchday of the National league. "It corresponds to what we wanted." “I hope we’ll stop there, otherwise it would mean something happened.” Like a last-minute injury.

“There’s nothing wrong with asking for playing time.”

As for the rest, the coach considers that only one player has left (Samy Baghdadi, loaned to Sochaux). The termination of Jordan Poha’s contract, who signed with Paris 13, and the transfer of Souleymane Basse to Pau in Ligue 2 don’t really count in his eyes, as he never relied on either of these players. “It’s not enough,” he believes. The squad deserves to be streamlined, if only to improve daily working conditions. “It would be good if everyone could find their place.” And this “everyone” obviously includes those whose playing time is very limited (Derrick Abu, Sambou Sissoko). “There’s nothing wrong with asking for him,” Stéphane Moulin reiterates. “When you can’t get him at your current club, you have to try and find him elsewhere.”

Quentin Daubin has been out of work since leaving Gaziantep, Turkey, at the beginning of September. He’ll need some time to get back into form, starting this weekend with a match with the reserve team. Stéphane Moulin knows what he can expect from him, in a style similar to Mabrouk Rouaï’s, but “with more experience, more maturity in his game.” A true warrior, “a complete midfielder” whom the coach had under his command at Caen: “He’s the kind of player you’re never disappointed in.”

[disconnect]

2 hours ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Finally, before sending you the local press, here is some information about tonight's match:

We are travelling to Le Puy en Velay, who are 8th in the table with 23 points (we are 12th with 19 points).

On paper, it doesn't look like it will be an easy match, in a small stadium (4,800 seats), compared to the 25,172 seats at the Stade du Hainaut.

It will be a tricky match, and I think we will need to score quickly to win.

Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m. French time.

Find the link to the match below:

Allez VA !

Good luck for tonight. That stadium looks worse than the Silverlake!

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Looks cold, with a heavy, bobbly pitch.

The home side are 1 up, just going into added time in the first half. A corner passed to outside the box, a shot affected by the bobbly pitch loops right across the box and goes in, off the post.

Not much else happened. Le Puy En Velay had a nice series of 1-2s in midfield on 24. They had a couple of early shots that went over. On 30 a shot went well over from outside the box, again from the home side. A couple of mins later Louchet saved in front of an attacker's feet.

For VA, a couple of attacks were passed outside the box, when the player was better off going alone. Courtet beat the offside on 41. His decent ball went right across the box, with no one on the end of it. Their best effort was early on with a run onto the keeper, who stopped them.

The home side have been the ones to put any kind of passing moves together. VA had moments, right before the goal, or looking a bit better.

But they are going to have to be a lot more cohesive to give themselves a chance to get back into this. They've underwhelmed so far.

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Holmes_and_Watson

[Convict Colony]

stupid question but are VA playing like us, slow possession, maybe 3 CBs or are they playing better football.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Nope. Just playing like a group of strangers, compared to the other teams.

[ChristopheVAFC]

15 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

stupid question but are VA playing like us, slow possession, maybe 3 CBs or are they playing better football.

On a difficult pitch, we're really struggling offensively, the opposing goalkeeper can take it easy at the refreshment stand!

[ChristopheVAFC]

10 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Nope. Just playing like a group of strangers, compared to the other teams.

It was said that we would have a difficult season and that we would have to fight until the last day of the championship...

[Doctoroncall]

3-0. Bad unnecessary tackle to give a penalty away for the third. 
 

 

[ChristopheVAFC]

The match has just ended and unfortunately there will be no second consecutive victory tonight.

On a pitch unworthy of the third division championship, we lost 3-0 tonight...

1st goal: 45+1' a cross shot hits the goalpost, it looks like it's going in, and the assistant referee validates the goal.

Second goal: 51', another goal that hits the post and goes in without any dispute...

Third goal: 87' Penalty for Le Puy, shot in the centre of the goal, Jean Louchet can do nothing about it.

VA weren't good, it has to be said, a match to forget tonight...

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Le Puy En Velay came out the much brighter of the two in the second half. There were a few little warnings. Then on 55 they had acres of space on their right. Adelaide got ahead of his marker to put in a nice curled cross.

The home side would have a few more good deliveries from that side in the half, only for pace or lack or a finisher preventing more goals.

They strengthened control of the midfield too, with some efforts coming centrally too. VA blocking one effort led to a clear penalty on 85, for the third.

It has to be said that VA offered practically nothing in that game. Apart from that early run in on goal, it was the 88th minute when a long range effort went a yard wide.

It wasn't a physical game. But when there were contests VA lost the vast majority. The lack of linked up play between familiar players was very evident. VA didn't put anything together from 10 minutes on.

Our Rento came on early, around 66. I don't remember him touching the ball. He replaced Abi, who didn't do or receive much, but at least offered a focal point. Not that anyone reached him, as the VA passing was poor.

Courtet was back to covering 6 positions in the absence of any other support. I did see Diomande look frustrated at a move breaking down with him, so that was a tiny something.

Pretty abject, robbing the little light from the last win. 

[ChristopheVAFC]

Press revieuw after the match:

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National : tombé au fond du Puy, Valenciennes n’en est pas ressorti - La Voix du Nord

National League: Valenciennes, having fallen to the bottom in Le Puy, never climbed out

Soundly beaten in Haute-Loire (3-0) this Friday, Valenciennes were not rewarded for a fairly good first half that should have allowed them to take the lead. Instead, they conceded another improbable goal. And everything fell apart.

There was no savior this time, no Rento Takaoka coming off the bench to score a brace, as in the first leg, and extricate VA from the mess they somewhat created for themselves this Friday evening in Le Puy-en-Velay. This echoes some unfortunate episodes from the past. Even with its new players (Airhiavbere, Passi, and Abi back in the starting lineup), even after last week's victory against Bourg-en-Bresse (3-1), Valenciennes is not cured of all its problems. The first away win of the season will have to wait.

A twist of fate in the 45th + 1 minute

If the game had to be decided, it would have been in the first half, when the best opportunities arose. Perfectly played through by Gaëtan Courtet, Ylan El Hadary undoubtedly had the best chance at his feet, but Le Puy goalkeeper Mathis Carvalho, rushing out to meet him, didn't falter (14th minute). "I think we were in the game for those first 45 minutes," said Stéphane Moulin.

"We conceded a goal right at the start of the second half, and from then on, it wasn't what we hoped for or expected." “
Stéphane Moulin, VAFC Coach

The bitterness stems from that bizarre goal conceded in the 45th + 1 minute, “a stroke of bad luck” caused by Le Puy captain Renald Xhemo, who clearly intended to cross but his shot went in off the post. “And then, we conceded a goal right at the start of the second half, and from then on, it wasn’t what we hoped for or expected.” Stunned, sunk, VA literally plummeted. “I didn’t understand why we changed our approach.”

Unable to create any danger, the “Red and Whites,” who were playing in black on Friday, flirted with the penalty area for a long time before Yann Diebold converted a penalty after Erin Airhiavbere fouled him in the box. "One, two, three-nil!" rejoiced the Haute-Loire crowd, whose team, now fifth in the National league, has its sights set on the top of the table after this victory. Valenciennes, on the other hand, is more concerned with its performance.

LE PUY - VALENCIENNES: 3-0 (1-0).

Stade Charles-Massot, Le Puy-en-Velay. 800 spectators.

Referee: Mr. Barenton.

Goals: Xhemo (45th + 1), Adelaïde (52nd), Diebold (87th, pen.) for Le Puy.

Yellow card for Le Puy: Adelaïde (6th).

Le Puy: Carvalho; Zogba, Mohamed, Soualhia (Ghalem, 90th); Xhemo (captain); Bouleghcha (Doumbia, 90th), Esmel (Gauthier, 83rd), Wade (Akkal, 71st), Faty; Adelaïde (Diebold, 83rd), Rodrigues. Coach: Stéphane Dief.

Valenciennes: Louchet; Airhiavbere, Landre, Passi, Koum (Wahib, 67th); Rouaï, Belloumou, Boissier (K. Diomandé, 59th), El Hadary (Ipiele, 59th); Courtet (captain), Abi (Takaoka, 67th). Coach: Stéphane Moulin.

[ChristopheVAFC]

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National : avec VA, Bryan Passi se remet tout doucement dans le rythme - La Voix du Nord

National League: With Valenciennes, Bryan Passi is slowly getting back into the swing of things

The central defender, who hadn't played an official match for nine months before joining Valenciennes, has just played two in a row, against Bourg and Le Puy this Friday. He says it himself: the rhythm and the feeling are returning, even if the match didn't go his way this time.

Bryan Passi insists: Valenciennes came back onto the pitch after the break this Friday with "the same desire, the same conviction" as during the first forty-five minutes. Except that Le Puy "dominated us for almost the entire second half, we couldn't find the physical resources to get back into the game." And it ended 3-0. The newcomer doesn't believe his team suffered from a mental deficit, even though they seemed to collapse after the second goal. "Last week, we had the resilience to go for 2-1 and then 3-1 at the end of the match, we were incredibly solid." This (Friday) evening, they had the wind at their backs a bit more, they won more duels, and that's what made the difference.

"Everything to make it work"

The former Mafra player, who hadn't played for six months and hadn't played a single competitive match for nine months, was inevitably lacking match fitness when he arrived in Valenciennes, where he signed this winter to fill in for Romain Thomas (Achilles tendon) on the left side of the Valenciennes defense. Caught out on the goal conceded against Bourg-en-Bresse and then on the big chance that followed, which Jean Louchet thwarted on January 16th, he felt much better after an extra week of training. "As the matches go on, I'll get stronger," he assures. "Clearly, the pace of competition is nothing like the pace of training." I'm also going to find my feet in this new defense, learn a new way of playing.

He came to Valenciennes for the project, the club, "the players who are here and the coach," there's "everything in place for it to work" in this environment. "In this second half of the season, we know what to expect; points away from home are hard to come by, especially here where the trip is long and the pitch is awful. We have to create a fortress at home," the turnaround will come from that.

[ChristopheVAFC]

Stéphane Moulin in a video interview:

"In the first half, I think we were present in the duels. We went down 1-0 due to a bit of bad luck, because, well, he (the Le Puy player) tried to cross, but his cross was poor, it hit the post and went in, and it was a goal."

"But we still had chances in the first half; we could have been ahead. I think we were in the game at halftime, and then unfortunately, we conceded a goal right at the start of the second half. From then on, it wasn't what we hoped for or expected."

"So, I'm extremely disappointed with the second half, obviously with the result, which is logical considering the overall performance, but I didn't understand why we changed our approach in the second half."

"We tried to change things up, to field a team with more attacking players." "Offensive, but so many technical errors in the second half, so there you have it, it's true the pitch was difficult, I admit, but it was difficult for both teams, so they're more used to it than us, that's for sure, but well, the second half was not at all satisfactory."