The new season in France’s Ligue 1 started this week, in anticipation I read many previews telling me who the best teams would be and the dark horses etc, the usual suspects were there, Lyon, Bordeaux and Champions Marseille all favourites for the title, There was a name I kept seeing with the same prediction it worried me, all the previews tipped Rudi Garcia’s Lille for a title push, the outside bet if you will.

All this expectation should be a good thing, If “the experts” believe Les Lillois have the players and management in place to have a real good crack at the Ligue 1 title, then surely there must be something there, from following the team for 6 years now it’s not a position myself or the team are used to being in. Since I started following LOSC back in 2004 I have always viewed them as a team happily performing under the radar, no big flashy signings, a very stable club, developing good young players, European football was the cherry on top.

Not a household name by any means, however 3 Champions League appearances in the past 8 years and some great finishes in Ligue 1 make it hard to fathom that only 10 years ago the club gained promotion to Ligue 1, Bosnian manager took over a club trying to stay afloat in Ligue 2 in 1998, and by 2002 they were finishing 3 ^rd in Ligue 1 a meteoric rise in fortunes for the small northern club.

Claude Puel - The Mastermind

Claude Puel was the man in charge when my affinity began and he had a very good team, with an excellent work ethic, Gregory Tafforeau and Mathieu Chalme were the fullbacks, I really admired Tafforeau, a no-nonsense hardworking fullback with a great left-foot, you could see the potential to be the Captain he became, Chalme I must say looking back never impressed me the way he has at Bordeaux, however he was steady and a decent defender and went about his business, I preferred the now Lazio player Stephane Lichsteiner and was happy when Chalme left to Blanc’s Bordeaux, Stephane impressed with willingness to attack and quality of crosses.

Puel’s team suffered defensively, not a week went by when there wasn’t a Tony Sylva goalkeeping error or Tavlaridis had messed up causing another goal, Vitakic, Rafael and then Plestan were all chosen as Efstathios’s partner and they never looked very solid, but somehow in the 2005/06 season they only conceded 31 goals the same amount as Champions Lyon, and finished 3rd, this was mostly down to the hard work of the midfield. Puel’s team philosophy was based on discipline, effort, and the desire to close the opponent down at all times, the less time they had on the ball, the quicker you could retrieve the ball.

Most games the team was set-up in a 4-5-1 formation with Abdul Kader Keita playing on the right as an advanced midfielder, the mercurial Jean Makoun was the general, alongside him, the long serving Stephane Dumont who was the captain at the time, ex-Tottenham man Milenko Acimovic was the “playmaker” so to speak and on the left was young local boy Mathieu Debuchy; Debuchy, Dumont and Makoun were the ones who pressured the most, and they were backed up by the impressive youngsters Mathieu Bodmer and Yohan Cabaye, this left the trio of Acimovic, Keita and Odemwingie to hit teams on the counter attack.

Peter Odemwingie

This was the team I fell in love with, the duo of Odemwingie and Keita were just breathtaking, I will never forget the first home game of the 2006/07 season what better than a match against your bitter rivals, Lille did not let the home fans down, on a high after the 2-1 away win at Rennes Les Dogues turned on the style, RC Lens were handed a thumping 4-0 defeat, Kader Keita delivering two fantastic crosses for Peter Odemwingie to put away in style, apart from a 3-0 win against Bordeaux the league campaign never got much better than that first home game, a tough Champions League campaign ultimately cost the team dear and Lille finished that season in 10th place. Victory over Milan in the San Siro followed by the high profile 2-0 aggregate defeat by Manchester United was the highlights of Lille’s season.

By the start of the 2007 season it was all change in Lille, Puel was still in charge but the team I knew and loved had been ripped apart 13 players left the Metropole that summer, Odemwingie, Keita, Bodmer. Chalme, Rafael and Tavlaridis the big name departures, in their place brought in was Marko Maric, Franck Beria and Luis Yanes.

As a fan I was gutted, I had planned a trip to Lille in March 2007 to watch them take on Le Mans at the Metropole, only to have the trip cancelled the night before due to a fire at a warehouse in London, all Eurostar trains were cancelled for 24 hours, gone was my chance to see Odemwingie & Co.

It was obvious the intentions of the Lille board, sell the stars and bring in the youth, Only 4 of the players that played in the opening win at Rennes started the first game of the 2007/08 season in a 0-0 draw at home to Lorient, a very frustrating season 18 draws in 38 league games, saw Lille finish in 7th place.

The only bright sparks of the season were the young players coming through, Cabaye, Chedjou, Rami, Mirallas and the exciting Brazilian Michel Bastos.

In 2008 the unthinkable happened the mastermind behind all the success Lille had had Claude Puel left the club, his excellent results with a small club had earned him the job at French Champions Lyon taking with him the philosophy that had led this team to Champions League football, in all fairness he had taken the club as far as he could and you cannot take away the man’s ambition, Jean Makoun followed him to the Stade Gerland, the new Lille era would start without their best player.

Rudi Garcia

Rudi Garcia was man picked to led this young team an ex-Lille player who had performed miracles with a team that had gained promotion to the league in 2004 and he took them to the heady heights of 9th a tremendous achievement, Garcia known for his attacking brand of football, how would a team brought up on a counter-attacking disciplined formation take to a forward thinking coach. Garcia went about bringing his own players in, midfield dynamo Florent Balmont was joined by Ligue 1 veteran Pierre-Alain Frau, striker Tulio De Melo, the permanent signing of Rio Mavuba who had impressed on loan, and increased minutes for young players Emerson, Rami and youth sensation Eden Hazard, the squad looked weak in areas, I had doubt over how they would cope in the 38 game season.

Three games into the season and it wasn’t looking good, a decent draw away at Nancy then a home defeat 3-1 against Le Mans, and an away loss against Rennes by 2 goals to 1, the future did not look bright at all, Garcia then signed Robert Vittek and the formation changed from what was mostly a 4-5-1 to a more attacking version of 4-3-3, Vittek and Hazard began to play more and Lille went on a unbelievable run, in 19 matches they only lost once, conceding 18 goals but scoring 31 they began to create a reputation of being a very dangerous team, scoring the 4th highest amount of goals in the league and finishing an impressive 5th, for a season that started poorly there was many positives to take, Garcia had given Lille an identity again, combining Puel’s high pressure game with an attacking mindset that teams had to be wary of.

The 2009/10 season was met with a mixture of expectation and cautiousness, Rudi Garcia was briefly sacked by the Lille board, only to be brought back in, which could explain why only two players were brought in to strengthen the side, ex-French International Goalkeeper Mickael Landreau and Le Mans winger Gervinho, the former excited me and fellow Lille fans, known for his explosive pace and goal scoring abilities he could form a potent strike force with De Melo and Hazard, Landreau a very experience keeper, brought in to try and sure up a shaky defence, disaster struck in a pre-season training session Landreau ruptured his right knee and wasn’t seen in a Lille jersey until October, a major blow to Rudi Garcia’s plans.

Eden Hazard - The Young Wizard

A very poor start to the season defeats to Lorient, Marseille and PSG in the first 4 games saw Lille with only 1 point out of a possible 12, the first win of the season came at home to Sochaux, Debuchy scoring the only goal of the game, this sparked a fantastic run over 21 games they lost only 3, 14 wins scoring an amazing 46 goals, the catalyst behind the great run were new signing Gervinho with 13 goals, youth sensation Eden Hazard and the goals of ageing striker Pierre-Alain Frau having an Indian Summer to what could only be described as a faltering career 13 goals his biggest haul since 2002, Lille ended the season with 5 wins out of 6, that last win however cost Les Dogues a place in the Champions League, losing out to Auxerre by one point, they finished the season with 72 goals scored more than any other team in the league and 40 goals conceded, only 4 teams conceded fewer, Eden Hazard picked up the award of best young player in Ligue 1 for the second year in a row, more importantly they were amongst the top-tier of French clubs again, their star players linked again with the cream of European Clubs.

In what has been a very slow summer for transfers, Moussa Sow of Rennes has been Lille’s only new signing, this season they will rely heavily on the stars of the last campaign, I would love all the “experts” to be correct and Les Dogues push on and challenge for the title, however with the history the club has you will forgive me if I am very sceptical, Pierre-Alain Frau will not have another 13 goal season, the chances of Tulio De Melo staying fit for a whole year are just as unlikely and with the transfer deadline still 21 days away, somewhere a big name player is going to move, and replacements have to be bought, if Gervinho, Hazard, Rami and Cabaye are all still present at the Metropole come the first of September I will be a very happy fan. Lille are a selling club and you could argue that last season they punched above their weight, Lille have to sell their star players to make money, with the new 50,000 sweater stadium due to be opened in 2012 bills have to be paid, every player not matter the talent has a price.

When you see a team you support constantly linked with having a good season, it puts you on edge, why can’t they just leave us alone, and let a great season happen by surprise, experts, bookies, ex-players the more they mention your chances the more you believe it yourself, only then to be brought crashing back down to earth when you lose 3-0 at home to a relegation candidate, luckily Lille started their season with a good 1-1 draw away at another top tip Stade Rennais, I just hope all the expectation doesn’t turn into a curse, and Rudi Garcia and his men can play to their best, Champions League qualification for me would be a great year.

I was lucky enough to visit Anfield in March and watched my team in the flesh for the first time and just like in 2007 I plan to visit Lille this season and watch a game at the Metropole, not sure who the opponent will be and it doesn’t matter, I will be going to see Hazard, Gervinho, Cabaye & Co. Hoping nothing stops my journey this time, not only because I want to visit the Metropole and sit in the Stade du Nord with the hardcore fans, but I feel that if I don’t visit this year and see the current star players then just like in 2008, 2011 could be the start of another rebuilding job for Rudi Garcia.

Like most people this has come as a massive surprise, I went to the gym around 2 o’clock nothing on the TV screens then, I get home make some lunch have a look on twitter, and the place had gone crazy with MON resigned tweets…. didn’t see that one coming.

From recent Interviews you could tell he wasn’t 100% happy with the situation at Villa, but never expected him to quit, so many scenario’s come into my mind, is it the pending transfer of James Milner, surely not cause for £30m you can go buy a couple of players to replace him, I don’t think that would make him quit, maybe Lerner had told him he wasn’t getting all the Milner money to spend, maybe they factored a deal by bring a player from City that O’Neill just didn’t want, surely again not enough to make you leave a very successful job.

The other factor playing in my head is his wife, from the statements made by both the club and manager, it all sounds very amicable.

“I wish them all the best for the future. I will obviously be assisting the club in the immediate short-term with regard to the handover of my duties.”

This doesn’t seem like the words of a pissed off manager not able to stay at the club anymore, this sounds like someone that just can’t take charge of the team anymore, maybe his Wife has became ill again, it was the reason that he left Celtic all those years ago, I of course hope this is not the reason, but personal family reasons could be the cause of his departure.

It’s a sad day for both club and manager, and the fans are the ones that lose out ultimately, now the question is, who will take his place.

The bookies have Martin Jol as favourite at 5/2 if Fulham couldn’t get him to leave his Ajax role, I don’t see what Randy Lerner could do to persuade him, especially if money was the reason Martin left.

All the usual candidates are there, Curbishley, Eriksson, Bilic, Klinsmann, I doubt it would be any of them, however Klinsmann would not be a bad shout, with Jurgen’s connections in English football and over in the States, he could be interested in taking the Midlands job.

Next we’re given the option of picking managers who are already with clubs which I would be very surprised if they left a role after all the summer pre-season work, to start it all again, Steve McLaren, Allardyce, Lambert, Martinez, Holloway and Bruce will not be leaving their jobs at this stage of the season, to join a club about to lose their best player.

Aston Villa’s next manager will be someone not in a job right now, who can come straight in, no compensation needed, just a straight replacement, Gareth Southgate you say, maybe, but for Villa’s sake I hope not, is Glenn Hoddle a better or worse appointment than Southgate, I’ll leave that one up to you to decide.

A name that I thought of and I can see top of the bookies list is the man who took the USA to the Last 16 of the World Cup, Bob Bradley, they link is there surely Lerner an American with an American in charge, Bradley is a good coach, his son would also be a good replacement to Milner. With no English football experience it would be a bit of a gamble however the kind of gamble that could pay off, from what I saw at the World Cup Bradley looks a very good man manager, his team came from behind against England, Slovenia and Ghana, and played to the death against Algeria and progressed, playing some good football at time, he can also play 4-4-2 so will suit the Premier League fine.

  Bradley would be my choice for the next Manager, we will have to wait and see how this one plays out.

A very tough season lays ahead for all 24 Championship teams, looking through the lineups I am struggling to pick upright favourtites, plenty of Play-off contenders, most teams stuck in limbo and a few tipped for the bottom, let’s meet the contenders

PROMOTION CANDIDATES

Leicester City

The only team that I think has the greatest chance of promotion this year, although they have lost Manager Nigel Pearson they have kept star striker Matty Fryatt a goal machine in the past 2 seasons, to gain promotion from this league you need a goal scorer, and Fryatt guarentee’s 15-20 goals a season, add to that the like of Richie Wellens, lloyd Dyer, Robbie Neilson and Dany N’Guessan and you have the makings of a strong team. Manager Paulo Sousa did a good job at Swansea, it is a tough ask to follow in Nigel Pearson’s footsteps however Paulo has the ability to not only follow him, but take Leicester one step further.

Other candidates – Middlesbrough, Swansea, Ipswich

PLAYOFF CONTENDERS

Bristol City

Another new manager at a potentially massive club boosted by the signing of England International David James in goals, also keeping the likes of Nicky Maynard, Damion Stewart and Gavin Williams they have a strong squad with lots of potential. I expect them to have a very strong season and with time still left to add that little bit more quality, they will be a team to beat.

Cardiff City

Dave Jones announced today that the transfer embargo had been lifted, this should be the catalysty Cardiff need to bring in some good players, added to an already talented squad the potential to have a good season is there, Jason Koumas has already signed more should follow. Joe Ledley has gone to Celtic, Chopra is constantly linked with a move away, they still have Peter Whittingham, Ross McCormack and Jay Bothroyd to fire them into play-off contention. It will take all of Dave Jones managerial nouse to pick the team up from last years play-off defeat to get them a good start to the season, if he does Cardiff’s new groud could be a hard place to visit.

Coventry City

My last team picked for the play-offs is a little bit of a long shot, however all the ingredients are there, talented manager who’s done it before, exciting players and a good home crowd, Gary McSheffrey returns to where he once cause so many problems, young Irish players Stephen O’Halloran and Roy O’Donovan, the experience of Lee Carsley and a really exciting player in Lukas Jutkiewicz who showed his class on loan at Motherwell last year a remarkable goal in the memorable match against Hibs. Aidy Boothroyd will need to gel the players quickly, helped by the likes of Freddy Eastwood, Michael Doyle and Martin Craine good times could return to Coventry and the Ricoh Arena.

Other Candidates – Sheffield United, Leeds United

RELEGATION CANDIDATES

Scunthorpe United

It must be hard being a Scunthorpe fan constantly punching above your weight, plucking strikers either from the scrap heap or obscurity, watch them score tons of goals, to then watch them be sold again to the highest bidder, Billy Sharp saved his career at Glanford Park only then to move onto Doncaster, and this year it was Gary Hooper’s turn 50 goals for The Irons and then the big move to Celtic, so again Scunny fans have to look for their next savoir, Chris Dagnall has been brought in from Rochdale on a free and given the number 9 jersey, hopes will be pinned on him, too many players have left, I think it will be a long old season, and it could have a horrible ending.

Portsmouth

It’s easy to pick on Portsmouth, the club is in a real mess, minutes away from non-existence 14 players in the squad, 2 of them due to leave at some point, there needs to be heavy rebuilding in the squad to give them any chance, the players they have can only be described as journeymen, Tommy Smith, Michael Brown, Danny Webber all players that will not strike fear into any team, Kevin-Prince Boateng and John Utaka will surely leave, maybe even Aaron Moekena would leave, a grim job for Steve Cotterill lies ahead.

Other Candidates – Millwall, Derby County

As someone put it today on Twitter, I am starting my own football revolution, first their was this website, then I brought you my Podcasts, so what’s next I hear you ask, well…….

gibfootballforum

Yes that’s right I have launched a sister site to this, a forum where people can go and make their own points, start conversations, teach each other about players and teams we might not be aware of.

There used to be a group of us on a Pro Evo forum that had indepth conversations about football the in’s and out’s of the beautiful game so I wanted to create a place where this could happen again, so please go to the forum, sign up and start the conversation.

I hope to see a few of you there.

• Absolute belting goal by NYRB Dane Richards, top corner from the edge of the box 2-1 NYRB
• # – Gary Hooper to have medical with Celtic today, Raul to sign with Schalke, Guti to Besiktas
• # Mancini says he'll pay £70m for Torres, Newcastle looking at Ben Arfa on loan, Birmingham chase Nathanial Clyne
• # Rafael Marquez due to join Henry in New York, Gallas turns down Panathinaikos, Eric Djemba-Djemba linked with move to West Brom
• Do Schalke have an all white strip, just to ease the transition of seeing him not in a Real shirt
• # – Gary Hooper agrees personal terms with Celtic, now just the medical before it's official
• RT @:if # land dzeko & david luiz , they've got the tools to establish themselves as a force in euro football for next decade
• RT @: Guti – Great feature with video. Watch the backheel at the bottom of the page! Unbelievable: http://bit.ly/cAMAxF
• Great piece on new Ligue 1 team Arles-Avignon by @ http://6pointer.wordpress.com Really enjoyed it
• SHUT UP DAVID PLEAT – Attention!!!! Americans talk different to Brits, get over it you bloody dinosaur
• RT @: Van Basten esque goal from Swedish youngster http://bit.ly/9ayfE3 # superb goal, hope he's not a one touch wonder
• RT @: The greatest celebration I've ever seen….maybe # Amazing
• Preview of tonight's Champions League matches -…
• Braga v Celtic – this link works http://desportotvciga.blogspot.com/
• Why is the bloody ball ornage
• Passing is just too slow, need to inject some pace into Celtic's play, Browna n Maloney passengers so far
• If that's all Mulgrew is gonna do all year is pump long balls up, he can do one now, even Naylor could do that
• For me the whole point of 4-2-3-1 is that you pass the ball not hoof it up to a big man
• Words escape me for that referee's decision, illegal penalty too
• Celtic playing awful I feel, the constant long balls are really grating with me, it's just giving the ball away
• Need to change it, it's just not working, if your gonna hit it long need 2 upfront
• Hooiveld, Mulgrew and Maloney have had shockers, probably others too
• Need an away goal now, brown was sleeping at the corner
• Well thanks Champions League it's been nice, out before August….lovely
• Any Celtic fan that truely beleives they can advance next week, please let me know your reasons, I saw nothing positive in that game
• *NEW PODCAST* – reaction from the Champions League – here http://bit.ly/d1MRQV or here http://bit.ly/bEcNrz and on iTunes "gibfootballshow"
• *NEW PODCAST* – reaction from the Champions League – here http://bit.ly/d1MRQV or here http://bit.ly/bEcNrz and on iTunes "gibfootballshow"
• RT @: Timo Hildebrand Confirms Interest From Celtic: Free agent has attracted interest from Celtic… http://bit.ly/9qxAJi
• You must # @ @Zonal_Marking @ @equaliserblog @ @iainmacintosh@GeoffFootie @ @karlsentk
• Share my love of Ligue 1 @ @OffsideSarah @ @chrismayerV1 @
• just found out via @ that Alejandro Sabella has left Estudiantes, sort of ruins the game against Sheff Utd on Sunday
• Hello to all my new followers 189 now, pleased with that, I remember when I was trying to get to 100, thanks for all the # guys
• thinking of launching a forum or chat on all leagues and events, would anyone be interested
• RT @: @ http://www.liammckinnon.com/friends.html cheers for the mention mate
• Watching my @ play @'s @ 0-0 6mins in
• Chance @ go close, Shalrie Joseph start the move and Nyassi shoots just wide 0-0 17mins
• 1-0 @ Le Roux, 25min, 16yard bullet from the frenchman @ will be happy
• Half Time, @ finishing the stronger team, Revs still in this 1-0 HT Le Toux the scorer
• 55 mins good start to the 2nd half for @, Revs should have had a PK, still 1-0
• 65mins Mansally should have score for @ from Phelan's cross
• GOOOOOALLLL Marko Perovic from the FK awful goalkeeping from Seitz 1-1
• Full Time 1-1 between @ and @ decent game, awful goalkeeping for Perovic's equaliser
• Thierry Henry just set up Juan Pablo Angel for a NYRB goal 1-0 v Houston
• Game 1-1 now, Brad Davis with the pen for the Dynamo
• Brad Davis had the chance to make it 2-1 for the Dynamo but skies his penalty still 1-1
• Juan Pablo Angel makes it 2-1 to the NYRB really good goal
• Estudiantes warming up for the friendly against Sheffield United http://tweetphoto.com/36234593
• No Veron for Estudiantes, but Enzo's son Marcos Francescoli plays, anyone know who else is good to look out for
• Blades have Hungarian full back Laszlo Bodnar playing today on trial, Cresswell and Ward upfront, leon britton plays too
• 0-0 at half time, decent game, Sheffield the better team, some nice stuff from the Argentines though

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