The new Ligue 2 season starts this weekend. At the Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne the objective is clear and ambitious: to return to Ligue 1 at the end of the season, two years after leaving it. To achieve its goals, does ASSE absolutely have to have a successful start to the season and in particular its first month of competition? To answer that question, we’ve looked at the Greens’ last ten season starts.
Season 2013/2014: A good initiating dynamic that leads almost to the heights!
At the start of the season, Christophe Galtier’s Greens are focused on their double confrontation against Milsami as part of the 3rd preliminary qualifying round of the Europa League. After qualifying brilliantly (2 wins) for the European play-offs, the Saint-Etienne residents are finally starting their championship (L1), and in a very good way: 3 wins and 1 loss in 4 games. Meanwhile, the Greens fail in dams against Esbjerg. But Sainté decides to make good against bad luck and focuses on the championship. The dynamic initiated by the start of the season in L1 will allow Sainté to finish in 4th place and nevertheless to fail at the foot of the podium.
Start of the season report:
Europa League: 2 wins, 2 losses Ligue 1: 3 wins, 1 loss (=2,25 pt/match)
Final classification L1: 4th
Fabien LEMOINE / Romain HAMOUMA – 17.01.2014 – Saint Etienne / Lille – 21st day of Ligue 1 –
Season 2014/2015: A good start to the season to finish once again European!
For this new season, Sainté begins with two victories in the league against Guingamp (0-2) and Reims (3-1). Christophe Galtier’s men are defeated by Kardemir Karabükspor in the first leg of the Europa League. On the return they finally manage to qualify on penalties for the group stage. After a draw against Rennes, the Greens suffered a monumental slap against Paris (5-0) or rather Ibrahimovic FC. They nevertheless raise their heads a dozen days later against Caen. This overall successful start to the season launches their season. The Saint-Etienne finally finished 5th. Still European.
Start of the season report:
Europa League: 1 win, 1 loss Ligue 1: 3 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss (= 2pt/match)
Final ranking: 5th
Season 2015/2016: A good start in France and abroad!
ASSE begins its 3rd consecutive season qualified for European matches. This time they face the Romanians of Târgu Mureș. Once the qualification for the play-offs has been acquired, the Greens begin their championship with a defeat in Toulouse (2-1) and a draw against the Girondins (1-1). The Greens are really launching their championship after winning the play-offs against Milsami, again them: 2 victories against Lorient and Bastia. The Saint-Etienne finally finished the season 6th and lost a place in the standings compared to the previous season.
Start of the season report:
Europa League: 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss Ligue 1: 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss (= 1.75 pts/match)
Final ranking: 6th
Joie BRANDAO / Jonathan BRISON – 01.08.2013 – Saint Etienne / Milsami Orhei – Preliminary Round Europa League –
Season 2016/2017: The Greens start by trampling
The first month of competition of this season can be separated into 2. On the one hand the European competition which starts off ideally well with 2 wins and 2 draws which allow the Foréziens to access the group stage of the Europa League. On the other, a discreet entry into the league with 1 defeat (Bordeaux), 1 victory (Montpellier) then 1 draw (Toulouse). This start to the season in diesel mode costs a European place for the Greens at the end of the season.
Start of the season report:
Europa League: 2 wins, 2 draws Ligue 1: 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss (=1.33 pt/match)
Final ranking: 8th
Season 2017/2018: Thank you Oscar Garcia despite everything?
Who says departure of Christophe Galtier, says opening of a new chapter for ASSE. Oscar Garcia arrives in Forez and makes a more than convincing debut at the head of the Saint-Etienne team: 3 victories (Nice, Caen and Amiens) and 1 defeat (Paris). Despite this successful start to the season, the humiliation received in the derby spells the end of the game for Garcia who leaves the ship still stunned by this historic spanking. After a slump under Julien Sablé, Jean-Louis Gasset managed to raise the bar, to the point of believing at the end of the season in an unexpected European place. In the end, the “Bande à Gasset” finished 7th.
Start of the season report:
Ligue 1: 3 wins, 1 loss (= 2.25 match)
Final ranking: 7th
Jean Louis GASSET of ASSE during the Ligue 1 match between Angers SCO and AS Saint Etienne on May 24, 2019 in Angers, France. (Photo by Valentin Desbriel/Icon Sport)
Season 2018/2019: the magician Gasset and his dynamics!
Despite an infernal dynamic during the end of the previous season, the men of Gasset start the new season correctly but without extravagance. 1 victory (Guingamp) then 3 consecutive draws (Strasbourg, Montpellier, Amiens) and finally the traditional defeat against PSG. The Greens then pass the second, to the point of dreaming of qualifying for the Champions League. They finally fail at the foot of the podium.
Start of the season report:
Ligue 1: 1 win, 3 draws, 1 loss (=1.2 pts/match)
Final ranking: 4th
Season 2019/2020: ASSE says thank you to the Covid!
After the departure of Gasset, the leaders of Saint-Etienne decided to give the keys to the team to Ghislain Printant until then first deputy. But the start of the season is average or even bad. After an inaugural victory against Dijon (1-2), the Greens stall against Brest (1-1) before collapsing in Lille (3-0) and Marseille (1-0). They manage to stop the bleeding against Toulouse (2-2), but it is only temporary. Printant is thanked and Puel takes the reins of the group at the beginning of October. Castres is struggling to straighten the team. The COVID-19 pandemic finally puts an end to the championship prematurely. This has the effect of saving ASSE, at the gates of the relegation zone (17th).
Start of the season report:
Ligue 1: 1 win, 2 draws, 2 losses (=1 pt/match)
Final classification (arrested): 17th
Claude PUEL head coach of Saint-Etienne during the Ligue 1 match between Nimes Olympique and AS Saint-Etienne at Stade des Costieres on April 4, 2021 in Nimes, France. (Photo by Alexandre Dimou/Icon Sport) – Claude PUEL – Stade des Costières – Nimes (France)
Season 2020/2021: The Greens put the turbo … before breaking it!
Sainté is off to an ideal start to the season. 3 games, 3 wins against Lorient, Strasbourg and Marseille. 2 goals scored in each game, 3 cleansheets. The start of the season is perfect, ideal. The fans are thrilled. The Greens then mark time in Nantes (2-2). Before totally derailing, cracking. The Greens are severely defeated by Rennes and Lens. One would have thought that the international truce would stop the bleeding, but nope. ASSE finally chained 7 consecutive defeats, and 11 games without a win. A sad record. Claude Puel and his men finally manage to save the furniture in the second half of the season, and finish 11th.
Start of the season report:
Ligue 1: 3 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses (=1.66 pt/match)
Final ranking: 11th
Season 2021/2022: A failed start to the season… like the season that will lead to relegation.
Claude Puel begins his 3rd season at the head of the Green team. While the previous season the Saint-Etienne had started with 3 wins, this time they start with 3 draws against Lorient, Lens and Lille. They then lost to Marseille (1-3) and Montpellier (2-0). The start of the season is let’s say it: missed. Like the rest of the season. Claude Puel is relieved of his duties after the slap received against Rennes (0-5) on December 5. Pascal Dupraz arrives but fails to save the club, which is relegated after the play-offs against Auxerre.
Start of the season report:
Ligue 1: 3 draws, 2 losses (0.6 pts/game)
Final ranking: 18th (relegated)
Pascal DUPRAZ (Entraineur Saint-Etienne ASSE) during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Saint Etienne and Troyes at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on March 18, 2022 in Saint-Etienne, France. (Photo by Philippe Lecoeur/FEP/Icon Sport) – Photo by Icon sport
Season 2022/2023: The Greens rely on the winter transfer window!
For the first season of Laurent Batlles at the head of the first team of Sainté, the first matches are complicated. After an inaugural defeat in Dijon, the Stéphanois chained 2 draws against Nimes and QRM before suffering a new humiliation against Le Havre in an empty Cauldron. The Greens are reassured against Valenciennes (2-2) before having a burst of pride against Bastia (5-0). The first part of the season has failed, the Greens are in the red zone at mid-season and must rely on a good winter transfer window to recover and achieve an excellent second part of the season which allows them to go back to an unexpected 8th place.
Start of the season report:
Ligue 2: 1 win, 3 draws, 2 losses (1 pt/match)
Final ranking: 7th
What start to the season must the Greens make to hope to go up?
After studying the last 10 seasons of the Greens, in Ligue 1 then in Ligue 2, one thing seems clear: if a good start to the season does not necessarily guarantee a good final ranking, a failed start to the season leads to a difficult continuation of the season, made of worry, stress and sometimes leading to the worst. Because make no mistake, last season, the winter transfer window saved the buttocks of ASSE. In 2020, it’s COVID. And in 21/22, even the change of coach did not prevent relegation which had become inevitable over the seasons.
Apart from the 16/17 season (1.33 pt per game at the start of the season), the beginnings of the season with less than 1.5 pt/game on average rarely end well in terms of the classification.
However, ASSE’s objective this season is clear and ambitious: to move up to Ligue 1. For this, it will be necessary at best to finish in the first 2 to go directly up, at worst to finish between 3rd and 5th place to play the playoffs and hope to play in the play-offs. If we look at the last decade, despite the division of the championship having changed, the Greens gained an average of 1.92 points per game at the start of the season when they finished in the worst 5th of their championship.
Laurent BATLLES coach of Saint Etienne during the press conference of AS Saint-Etienne on July 10, 2023 in Saint-Etienne, France. (Photo by Romain Biard/Icon Sport)
For this 2023/2024 season, 5 matches are scheduled in less than a month: Grenoble, Rodez, QRM, Sochaux (or Annecy) and Valenciennes. The Greens would therefore be well advised to glean at least 9 or 10 points (9.6 points) to be in the standards.
But of course these are only figures and statistics, which in no way take into account the truncated summer preparation, the state of form of the players, the preparations of the opposing teams. Only the truth on the ground will count. At the end of the reception of Valenciennes, an international truce will open, and it will then be time to make a first assessment. We can already see if the Greens are in the nails or not in the quest for their objective, the rise in Ligue 1.
#rise #Ligue #determined #August #ASSE
