May 6, 2022
“Happy who, like Ulysses, has had a beautiful journey (…) More than hard marble I like fine slate (…) More my little Liré than the Palatine Hill / And more than the sea air the sweetness angevine”. It is in these terms that have entered the collective memory of schoolchildren from another time that the local poet Joachim Du Bellay already expressed himself in the Regrets, collection of sonnets written in 1558, where he regretted his exile in Italy after having had to leave his castle of Turmelière in Liré, near Angers. The fact is that already, nearly six centuries ago, Anjou, rich in castles built along the Loire during the Renaissance, enjoyed an unusual quality of life and an enchanting setting. If nothing has changed today, if the region still attracts with its sweetness of life and its rich heritage, we should not however expect the same tearful lyricism or the same sweetness this Sunday on the lawn of the Raymond stadium. Kopa in Angers…And in terms of castles, it is no doubt because of having done too much…in Spain (meaning by that, for having lived too long beyond their real means) that the Girondins, while on the edge of a precipice much deeper than the moat of Chambord, will play the most important 90 minutes of their bumpy and chaotic season. A quit or double which, like a symbol, sanctions years of comfort and lack of ambition where the progressive loss of identity of one of the oldest French clubs ended up coming to the surface, like a boomerang, more painful than ever today. It’s a bit as if, over the centuries, Du Bellay had sold his soul and his pen to Oscar Wilde or Charles Bukowski, if you know what we mean… In the current squad anyway , there are hardly any players nostalgic to see their little Liré again (or else, those who remain have quite ostensibly been placed…in oblivion). And the profile of this team built with millions of euros from which many passing intermediaries with an opaque past will have drawn shamelessly, with an excess that an unsurprising deficit of 67 million euros comes to sanction today (DNACG report released this Wednesday on the 2020-2021 season), contrasts sharply with the philosophy and culture of their adversary of the day, where stability has been elevated – admittedly with more or less success – to the rank of brand of manufactures, many of the current inmates of the SCO (Capelle, Manceau, Thomas, Traoré, Mangani…) having spent a good part of their career in this club, the trend does not date from yesterday.
Bordeaux slips, but Angers too
The other side of the coin may have happened this season, where it was very difficult for Gérald Baticle, the new coach, to succeed the historic Stéphane Moulin. (see also the explanations of our colleague Gildas Crozon, guest of Navy and White Top this Thursday, May 5). As a result, the SCO found itself on such a slippery slope and a dynamic as fatal as that of the Girondins last season (only 2 small victories in the Return phase, against Troyes 2-1 on January 23, then against Brest 1- 0 two months later) which would surely have led him straight into the abyss if he hadn’t had the good idea to steal a few precious draws here and there (Lorient, Lille, Nantes, Clermont) which earned him to float and be still in control of your destiny 3 laps from the end (15th, 4 points ahead of the roadblocker St Etienne), even if your margin of error is now non-existent. For the reception of the Girondins, Capelle and the spearhead Boufal (injured and out until the end of the season), Cabot (ankle) and Thomas (suspended and scorer in the first leg 1-1 on August 22) will miss the call. Not easy therefore for Baticle, even if the Scoists know that they hardly need more than a victory in the last 3 matches to ensure their maintenance, the level of the championship this season and the train of senators for the teams at the trails suggesting that 38 points could be enough to escape the ax. For the Girondins, still deprived of their three long-time injuries (Elis, Pembélé and Sissokho), but also of Ignatenko (injury to the left adductor) and Gregersen (sprain to the internal ligament of the right knee), things will still be simpler, after the myriad of missed opportunities that will have studded their spring. If they don’t repeat last season’s coup at Kopa (2-0 victory on August 30, 2020), they will have one foot and 4 toes in Ligue 2, or even both if St Etienne (who this time will play after them ), won in Nice on 11 May. It will therefore be an opportunity to give everything without calculating, and perhaps finally, to keep the score permanently if they are lucky enough to open it, which they had not been able to do on the way out, as eleven more times this season.
[Christophe Monzie, à Angers, photos C.M.]
See you this Sunday May 8, 2022 in the show Top Chrono from 14h. The pre-match mag with guests from Bordeaux and Angevin, then the kick-off at 3 p.m. Comments from Christopher Monzie assisted by Lawrence Brown.
Match to follow on all our frequencies live from the Raymond Kopa stadium in Angers, on our website www.arlfm.com and on the ARL app on your phone, in multiplex with the Regional 1 match Arlac-Mérignac / Pau B decisive for the climb to N3 (comments by Christophe Gameiro live from the JA Cruchon stadium in Arlac) from 3 p.m. and the best moments of the 41st Prix Cycliste Lucien Fouchy from 2.30 p.m. (comments by Pierre De Alberto). Also echoes of the 1/4 final first leg of Federal 1 rugby CM Floirac / CA Périgueux at 3 p.m. (comments by Loïc Le Cabellec).
reaction of David SCREENWRITINGthe coach of FC Girondins de Bordeaux.
reaction of Gideon MENSAHGhanaian left-back defender of FC Girondins de Bordeaux.
reaction of Gerald BATICLEthe coach of SCO Angers.
reaction of Vincent Manceaufull-back for SCO Angers.
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