Ligue 1 End-of-Season Roundup

There is a lot of smart in this post.

As European football has finished for the season, I always like to take a look back at my Ligue 1 season preview and see how my choices held up in the end.

I had tipped the Top 4 to be (in order): (1) Marseille; (2) Bordeaux; (3) Lyon; and (4) Lille.

I nailed the correct position for Marseille and Lille, and was only off by 1 spot for Lyon. Clearly, Laurent Blanc hates me and tried to make me look like a fool in conspiracy with Jean Fernandez, as Auxerre wound up finishing in 3rd place while Bordeaux slipped all the way to 6th.

I had also claimed that bottom 3 would come from the following sides: (1) Boulogne; (2) Valenciennes; (3) Le Mans; (4) Grenoble; and (5) Sochaux. Oh, look who was relegated – Le Mans, Boulogne, and Grenoble. Those teams sound familiar (as for Valenciennes finishing 10th, well, never mind that man behind the curtain).

So, I correctly predicted 3 of the top 4, including having L’OM as title-winners, and all 3 of the relegated sides. The lesson here is clearly that I am the smartest man alive.

Other smart moves in Ligue 1?

Well, Laurent Blanc pretty much made it official that his 3-year romance with Les Girondins is over, telling the club that “he wanted to answer favourably to the French federation’s solicitation to become the France coach…” After Bordeaux was done pouting (and listening to Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” on repeat), they agreed to release him from his contract while asking the FFF for appropriate compensation.

Our final good move comes from the custodians of PSG, who have decided that they have had enough of the shenanigans from the Auteuil and Boulogne stands that have lead to numerous deaths over the past few years. The stands will no longer be available for season tickets, meaning that any individual wishing to sit at either end of the park will have to buy randomly numbered/allocated tickets for each match. In addition, sections of those stands will be reserved for families and youth teams from the Paris suburbs. By preventing hooligans from buying season tickets or from buying tickets in a block, as well as by introducing families into those areas, it is likely that a significant amount of the violence will be reduced. Hopefully this will begin to change the poor image of the club.