If on May 29 the residents of Saint-Etienne thought they were in hell with relegation to Ligue 2, today the situation is much more catastrophic.
Indeed, although the group led by Laurent Battle resumed training this Thursday, members of the staff and players will have to roll up their sleeves to achieve better quality in the second part of the season.
After fifteen days, ASSE is in last place in the ranking with only 11 points. In comparison, Saints were also last in League One last season with the same number of matches and a dismal record of 12 points.
This summer, the arrival of Laurent Batlles restored a semblance of happiness to Forez, where a large part of the fans saw him as the ideal man capable of returning the club to the elite in one season.
However, a disastrous start to the season in all areas apart from three penalty points quickly dashed Stephanois' hopes. Indeed, the first few days ended in poor performance, including an ignominious 6-0 defeat at Geoffroy-Guichard against Le Havre. Then on the sixth day there was a burst of pride with the first win of the season, over Bastia and in style (5-0). However, Sainte could not get good results despite a solid success against the Girondins on the eighth day. Moreover, despite the return of the crowd to the Cauldron, the players were unable to offer victory to their men with several draws and a miserable exit in the French Cup at home to Rodez. Find out how the owners call French to Strike this time by clicking on this link - https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/world/europe/french-to-strike-but-this-time-owners-call-it.html.
So how did AS Saint-Etienne get to this point?
First, the situation inside the club has been very difficult for several years. If from 2009 to 2017 ASSE survived and stuck to European courses thanks to their excellent coach Christophe Galtier, as well as winning the League Cup in 2013, the rest only worsened, despite the passage of Jean-Louis Gasset, who was able to keep "St. » in League 1 and qualify it for the Europa League.
Claude Puel then took charge of the club after the dismissal of Ghislan Printant at the beginning of the season, but his team continued to stagnate in the second part of the table. The people of Saint-Etienne were still reeling from the 2020 Coupe de France epic and their qualification for the final after beating Stade Rennes thanks to a last-second goal from Boudebous. However, this evening of March 5, 2020 is the last real moment of joy, even today, in the Cauldron of Angels.
However, the sporting situation continued to deteriorate until midway through last season, when Claude Puel was sacked and replaced by Pascal Dupra, the maintenance master. However, the magic would not work and despite a play-off spot at the end of the 2021/22 financial year, Saint-Etienne would lose out to third-placed Ligue 2 side Auxerre.
Read later: 11th place after Euro 2024
The fans as the only positive point of this first part of the season
After four matches behind closed doors at home, Saint-Etienne found their twelfth player against Grenoble on October 1. However, there was no atmosphere as leaders feared possible incidents in the stands, banning instruments such as drums from entering the stadium.
However, in the following matches, the people of Saint-Etienne lived up to expectations, creating an atmosphere worthy of the great evenings at Geoffroy-Guichard. In addition to the presence of the two cops, Magic Fans and Green Angels, the other stands were well filled, and the bar of twenty thousand fans was almost always exceeded, despite the disastrous sporting situation.
Despite the encouragement of the fans, the players could not get over themselves to offer them the success the Saints deserved.
During the second phase of the 2022/2023 financial year, the men of Saint-Etienne will play a vital role in the club's survival and must be as impeccable as they have been this season to allow ASSE to stay in Ligue 2.
The important winter transfer window
To reverse the trend, the club will have to do everything possible to achieve a quality winter transfer window that will allow Laurent Battle to have a more competitive squad to quickly avoid the relegation zone. For this, some players who could not be convinced, such as Ivan Mason, could have an exit voucher in the event of an offer. Finally, in terms of arrivals, ASSE will once again have to make do with a very limited budget and will focus on young players who have yet to experience Ligue 2.
Saint-Etienne resumes its 2022/2023 season on December 26 and will need to quickly regain a taste for victory to limit the damage, keeping the club in Ligue 2 BKT to avoid thoughts of a possible drop to the Nationale, synonymous with the end of one of the club's greats in the history of French football.