French footballing monument Saint-Etienne are hoping the glory days might soon return following the arrival of new Canadian owners, but first they face a battle to establish themselves again in Ligue 1.
Les Verts have been French champions 10 times, which was a record until Paris Saint-Germain overtook them last year.
They were once European Cup finalists too, but they have not won the French title since 1981, with a long period of decline setting in after the great Michel Platini left for Juventus the following year.
Saint-Etienne returned to prominence a decade ago, lifting the League Cup in 2013 and enjoying several top-five finishes.
However, they were relegated in 2022 and spent two years in Ligue 2 before coming back up via play-offs last June.
At the same time, long-time owners Bernard Caiazzo and Roland Romeyer sold their stakes to Kilmer Sports Ventures, the firm of Canadian billionaire Larry Tanenbaum.
It was a deal which thrust this great old name into the modern day world of football clubs owned by North American capital or nation states.
Tanenbaum, 79, is also the chairman of the company which controls NHL side Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors in the NBA, and Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.
The new president at Saint-Etienne, meanwhile, is Ivan Gazidis, the South African ex-chief executive of Arsenal and AC Milan.
“I am based in New York. I won’t be there every day but I will follow the club every day. I will be involved in all the strategic decisions,” Gazidis told AFP.
“We don’t make big promises. We are going to advance step by step and the first will be survival in Ligue 1. We will make mistakes. There will be ups and downs.”
So far this season there have been mainly downs, with Saint-Etienne going into this weekend’s derby against rivals Lyon sitting third-bottom after 10 matches.
Saint-Etienne lost six of their first nine matches, including going down 8-0 at Nice in their worst defeat in over 70 years.
They did beat Strasbourg 2-0 last weekend, but few reinforcements have arrived since last season despite the takeover.
The biggest impact has come from Georgian forward Zuriko Davitashvili, signed from Bordeaux and who scored five goals in three games in October.
“You can’t just arrive in Ligue 1, land from all four corners of the globe and put together a team just like that. You need time,” complained under-pressure coach Olivier Dall’Oglio.
He is unlikely to survive many more defeats, even if the concept of time is something that Tanenbaum — whose net worth is $2.5 billion according to business magazine Forbes — agrees with.
“We will need to be patient to become a great side again. A club like Saint-Etienne is designed to win titles but that needs to be built step by step,” he told sports daily L’Equipe.
Player to watch: Lucas Chevalier
The 23-year-old Lille goalkeeper was finally rewarded for his outstanding performances with an overdue call-up to the full France squad on Thursday.
A native of Calais on France’s Channel coast, Chevalier is in his third campaign as a regular starter for Lille and has been brilliant during this season’s Champions League campaign, which has featured wins over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid as well as a draw with Juventus.
Chevalier and Lille take on Nice this weekend in a battle of fourth against fifth.
Key stats
29 – Leaders Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in 29 away games in Ligue 1
5 – Bottom club Montpellier have lost their last five matches and are five points adrift. They have let in 30 goals, becoming the first team to concede so many after just 10 games of a season since Nice in 1978/79
124 – Derby rivals Lyon and Saint-Etienne will meet for the 124th time in all competitions
Fixtures (times GMT)
Friday
Marseille v Auxerre (1945)
Saturday
Strasbourg v Monaco (1600), Lens v Nantes (1800), Angers v Paris Saint-Germain (2000)
Sunday
Nice v Lille (1400), Le Havre v Reims, Montpellier v Brest, Rennes v Toulouse (all 1600), Lyon v Saint-Etienne (1945)
