Girondins Update

Girondins Bordeaux 2-0 Stade Rennais

Ok I was seriously wrong about this one. Instead of huffing and puffing to an unconvincing win Bordeaux totally outplayed Rennes right from the start. After (almost deliberatly) having no shots on target last week they managed 4 this weeks with another 5 going off target so at least they are shooting more, the defence did it's job once again limiting Rennes to only 3 shots, two of which were on target. Every team from 3rd to 7th could only manage a draw so the gap between Bordeaux and 3rd placed Auxerre is now 6 points and they managed to take 2 points off Lyon who also only managed a draw. Whilst Lyon are still well out of sight there is now significant daylight between Bordeaux in the automatic Champions league spot and Auxerre in 3rd place who would have to play a qualifying round before making the group stages.

Having whinged about Bordeaux's negative play for the last... well the whole season actually but I have not given credit to the fact that yes they are boring but they get results week in and week out and now barring a major collapse really are going to play in the Champions league next season. Ricardo has turned a side that was frankly horrible to watch last year into a slick efficient well drilled football team. Well done to them, if they make the Champions league then they can be as boring as they like!!

Girondins Update

I've missed a bit of news recently due to actually being busy at work (honestly) and also the whole translation thing sometimes gets in the way as well. Last week I 'read' on www.girondins.com that Kojo Afanou had signed another contract with the club "Good" I thought "he's a pretty solid defender they need men like him in the team." I later read on Sky Sports that I had totally mis-read the report and what had actually happened was that Afanou had been having problems at the club and had then flown out to Morocco to visit his wife without telling anyone. The powers that be at Bordeaux decided that he'd pushed his luck too far and sacked him. Prehaps I should work a little harder at mon français...
One bit of news however which I can be sure of is that Olivier Kapo will not be joining Bordeaux. Although he still wants to be loaned away from Monaco (and they still want rid of him) they do not want him going to another league 1 club, particularly one that is already much better than them (even with Meriem).

This Saturday sees 14th placed Rennes become the next team to be bored into a coma at Parc Lescure. Although Stade Rennais were one of last seasons surprise packages, finishing 4th and grabbing the UEFA Cup spot, this season has been a return to mediocrity. Earlier this year the two sides drew 2-2 in Brittany with Bordeaux twice throwing away the lead and whilst this was one of 10 draws for les Girondins, Rennes have only drawn twice. Their record stands at P25 W10 D2 L13 so I can't see them getting sucked into Bordeaux's negative game play and I believe Rennes will fancy themselves on Saturday so I'm going to predict a surprise away win. Bordeaux should reallyhave the metal to see them through this one but I've just got a nagging feeling that if Rennes really go for it and grab an early goal then Bordeaux who have long forgotten how to attack a game, will have no reply. Hope I'm wrong.

Mr Kassam, if your going to go, go now.

An evening of fun and games was had at the Kassam stadium for a hastily arranged 'fans forum' where our chairman was basically told by the fans to sell up and sod off. Not a bad thing in itself but some of the personal attacks were a little 'uncomfortable', however he needs to go. Credit to Mr Kassam he had the balls to sit there and take a lot of difficult questions and he provided answers to most. He nearly lost his temper once but to be fair to him he let a lot of things go that would drive most of us to the point of violence! I am not an FK fan and never have been and I hope he sells quickly but I couldn't help feeling sorry for him on Tuesday. Whatever anyone says he had taken the club on with all good intentions, saved it from the brink of liquidation and spent 50+ million pounds on it only to see it fail miserably and become one of the most disliked men in the county!! But he is a hard business man and surely knew the price of failure, he does not hesitate to get rid of anyone who he believes is failing him and seems to understands that it is now up to him to hang up his hotels and leave.
Mr Kassam has assured us that the club will not be let go 'on the cheap' and that it will only be sold with the stadium to a person or consortium who proves to him that they have the financial backing to take the club forward. He was given a round of applause for that and rightly so. He has shown the fans by saying this that he is no Kieth Cox or Maxwell and will not leave the club in deeper shit that when he took over.

Girondins Update

Olympique Lyonnais 0-0 Girondins Bordeaux

I am flumoxed. I stayed up to watch this game last night (conveniantly following the Super Bowl) on channel 4 and I can't believe not only that Bordeaux are second, but that they arn't bottom of the league. They are the most negative, one dimensional, boring team I have ever had the pleasure of watching. How they managed this incredible result is beyond me as Lyon absolutely wiped the floor with Bordeaux who blatently came looking for a draw, so blatent was it that they did not even register one shot on target. Bordeaux's main strength seems to lie in the fact that they are so damn negative that they can kill any game dead. Lyon were simply unable to play the fast flowing attacking football that has made them so deadly whilst bordeaux just sort of... well... bored the arse off of whoever had the ball so they just kicked it out of play or fell over or something. Honestly, I have seen them 6 times now; 3 times in the flesh and 3 times on tv (2 tv games away at Lyon...) and I have seen 4 draws and 2 defeats. I used put it down to the idea that European football has always been played at a slower pace and that I was just not used to the differences in the game however I am now convinced that it is an atribute exclusive to Bordeaux. They never looked like scoring last night, in fact they never looked like they wanted to score, they went simply to ruin Lyons game plan and to take a point. Job done then, but little in evidence to show they won't be destroyed in next years Champions League.

Don't get me wrong, it was a stunning hard fought result and Bordeaux did remember to play a little bit of football in the last five minutes. The Lyon result really does show how far Les Bordelais have come since they were humiliated 5-1 at Gerland last season and whilst you struggle to see where they will get their goals from they never look like conceding either. With regards to the race for European qualification it was almost as good as a victory last night, but for a football purist (like myself) there is something slightly upseting about Bordeaux's approach to football. That said they are second in the league after nearly getting relegated last year so it seem very unfair to complain after such a fantastic result.

Contrasting cup results...

Two very different cup ties took place last night. In South West France, Bordeaux recovered from an early slip up to beat National Ligue side Entente Sannois-Saint-Gratien 2-1 in the 16eme round of the Coupe de France. Two second half goals from Portuguese debutant Beto spared any blushes as Bordeaux were made to fight hard to see off their 3rd division opponets leaving Les Girondins one game away from another quarter final. All in all a good solid work for a few of the fringe players in what was a competitive line up. Job done, now for Oxford...

An insultingly under-strength Oxford 'team' were humiliated at Court Place Farm last night, going down 0-1 to Thame United. Yes that's Thame United as in bottom of a league four divisions below us Thame United. The homeless Southern League western division side who had previously only managed 3 wins will take their place in the Oxfordshire senior cup semi finals mainly due to Oxford treating this historic competition as a joke. Say what you like about the competition and the side that Oxford put out, but in my view we are the county's professional team and losing in the Oxon senior cup to anyone no matter what starting eleven is humiliating. Frankly it was an an insult to the competition, the fans (200 or so mugs who payed £5 for that), the Oxfordshire FA and mainly the other clubs participating in the competition.

Sort it out Oxford.