Beaten 1-0 in Pau during the 13th matchday of Ligue 2, the Crocos accumulate defeats and are struggling with the block.
“Yes, there is a real concern, there is an emergency, we must be on the alert”. So spoke Benoît Poulain on Saturday evening (22 October) before leaving Nouste Camp in Pau, the eighth defeat – already – of the season consumed (1-0).
Captain Croco has more than reason to sound the alarm because the statistics are relentless. In the last ten seasons, on eight occasions, two of the teams that occupied one of the last four places after thirteen matches have been relegated at the end of the season. Three were even during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. The possibility of maintaining Nîmes would therefore be around 50%.
It can be very tight but the urgency is there
Only once, in this decade, have all the last four of the evening of the thirteenth day come out. Niort (13 points), Sochaux (11 points), AC Ajaccio (8 points) and… Nîmes (4 points) had thus saved their skin in the (famous) 2015-2016 season that the Gardois had started with 8 points from a penalty.
Will the troops of Nicolas Usaï be able to overturn the fortunes as those of Bernard Blaquart were able to do? Do they have the marrow to reach it? We can doubt why this workforce lacks character elements that can shake the course of events and drag their partners in their wake.
“It’s still very tight”, on Saturday evening he tried to positive Nicolas Usaï evoking the ranking. Nîmes is just one point behind Annecy, the first non-relegation player, and a little further up, Dijon, Laval and the QRM-Metz duo are just two, three and four lengths away. It’s still very tight, yes, but when you progress with an average of just 0.85 points per game, that gap is quite a chasm.
Will the Crocos come out of the red zone before the World Cup, which inevitably would be good for morale? To achieve this goal there are two games left: in Costières against Bordeaux and away to Niort, who will have everything from the famous six-point match. The cape and the red lantern, from one end to the other.
In Béarn, on Saturday evening, Benoît Poulain tried to give reasons to believe it. Despite the defeat, he assured: “In spirit, it was good. Not on the same level as against Amiens (1), but we didn’t give up or let the match slip away, which sometimes happens when we find ourselves at ten. We didn’t and this is positive, there were good attitudes “.
A bad game
Okay – and it’s still a minimum – but it won’t be enough to rip the backing. In the match, Nîmes did not show up much against Pau. There was too much technical waste and too many approximations. “We play in a new organization (the 4-4-2 replaced the 3-4-1-2 for two games, ed), argues Benoît Poulain, we are still making our mark. “ It may be time to find them because there is urgency today.
Echoes of crocodiles
CARTONS Warned on Saturday in Pau, Koné is now under the threat of a third yellow card synonymous with automatic disqualification. Excluded in Béarn, Djiga will miss the 7th round of the French Cup against Bastia-Borgo, a match for which Fomba will also be disqualified.
BEFORE Outside, the crocodile team had always scored up to that point. A Pau has therefore remained silent for the first time this season on the go, the fourth time in total.
PENALTIES The Crocos suffered their second penalty of the season in Pau. Stéphanois Krasso had succeeded in the first, Pau Koffi missed the second.
POLY Koffi’s penalty was rejected by Maraval’s two poles. Since the start of the season, the Crocos have been saved six times from their stacks.
