Football Season Guide

By finishing seventh in Ligue 1 last term, Saint-Etienne frustratingly missed out on the European spots by the narrowest of margins. Goal difference was all that stood between them and a place in the Europa League, with two heavy defeats against Bordeaux the decisive factor in their whole campaign. Jean-Louis Gasset lifted Sainte away from the relegation zone after a quite wretched start to the season, and Laurent Blanc’s long-time assistant will be hopeful that he can build upon what he started over the coming campaign. Things, however, promise to be complicated for Les Verts, who have seen much of their depth stripped away over the course of the summer. Many first-team members have departed the club and have not been replaced, including prolific forward Jonathan Bamba, who departed on a Bosman deal, and midfielders Remy Cabella (loan from Marseille ended), Hernani (loan from Zenit over) and Vincent Pajot (sold to Angers). So far, only Wahbi Khazri has arrived on the offensive side of things, although both Lois Diony and Arnaud Nordin have returned from loan spells and will be aiming to make an impact. The only other arrival is Timothee Kolodziejczak from Tigres, who will replace Ronael Pierre-Gabriel, signed by Monaco. Sainte do, however, have the foundations of a good side in place, particularly after their good work signing Neven Subotic and Mathieu Debuchy in January to anchor their defence, plus Yann M’Vila, who has agreed to stay on and play in midfield. It is going forward that they have lost so much. Bamba and Cabella were their top two goal scorers, combining for 15 strikes and 14 assists. Robert Beric did finish the campaign well but is the type of player who needs good service, meaning that Romain Hamouma will need to raise his game after a couple of quiet seasons and Khazri will need to hit the ground running.