Jeu du Jour: Ligue 1 Season Preview 2009/10

Never say we don't keep you up-to-date with football news from around the world... Here's another new feature for SPAOTP - Jeu du Jour, a weekly round-up of all that's happening in French football. The new season starts this Saturday, so here's our preview of what to expect from each of the twenty participating clubs in 2009/10.

Auxerre
The only top-flight team in France never to have been relegated, AJA (as they’re known to their fans) typically struggle against the best teams in Ligue 1 but generally give everyone else a run for their money. If their Player of the Season for 2008/09, Ireneusz Jeleń, can avoid injury this season, they’ll get plenty of goals and should be good for a Europa League spot come May 2010.

Bordeaux
Worthy winners of last season’s Ligue 1 championship ending Lyon’s seven-year domination thanks to a run of eleven straight victories from mid-March to the end of the season. Much of Bordeaux’s success in the last campaign was put down to Ligue 1 Player of the Year Yoann Gourcuff who scored 12 times from midfield in 37 appearances. His loan spell from Milan has now been made permanent for around £12 million which should see him at the Stade Chaban Delmas for four more years. He’s also the son of Lorient coach Christian Gourcuff, should you be that interested.

Boulogne
or Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale, to give them their full name. Boulogne have finally arrived in the top flight of French football after 101 years of unrelenting anonymity. Whether this will be a short stay remains to be seen following the departure of coach Philippe Montanier who at the end of last season took over the reins at Valenciennes. Incoming replacement Laurent Guyot (previously a member of Nantes’ 1995 championship-winning side) will surely settle for 17th spot when the new campaign draws to a close.

Grenoble
The team from the Alps were languishing in the fourth tier of French football ten years ago but finally reached Ligue 1 last season where they finished a commendable 13th. The trouble is all their victories came against lower-half-of-the-table teams and this time they won't be an unknown quantity either. Grenoble were formerly managed in the early 80's by Jean Djorkaeff, father of Youri. There… bet you didn't know that.

Le Mans
Putting aside its connections with 24-hour motor racing, Le Mans are another team that have only recently reached the top flight after years of struggling. Their best ever finish was 9th the season before last but 2008/09 saw them flirting with relegation after a poor finish in which they failed to win any of their last six games. Much hope will be pinned on star striker and Emmanuel Petit-lookalike Thorstein Helstad who stumped up ten goals last season.

Lens
Last year's Ligue 2 champions return to the top table following their shock relegation in 2007/08 under the guidance of Jean-Pierre Papin, no less. It was a shock in the sense that they were Ligue 1 runners-up in 2002 and won it outright in 1998, yet for all that 'The Blood and Gold' have been reborn under the guidance of little-known coach Jean-Guy Wallemme. Missing all the fun was former Liverpool defender Grégory Vignal who signed for Lens in 2006 but has since been on loan at Kaiserslautern, Southampton and currently QPR. We'll leave it up to you to decide whether that's a good thing or not.

Lille
The local rivals to Lens, Lille have been dark horses in recent years, putting in at worst a top ten finish or at best (as in 2005) getting as high as second. Lille have already started their 2009/10 campaign with a 2-0 away win against Serbian team Sevojno in the first leg of the Europa League Third Qualifying Round, and if they get a draw at home this Thursday, they'll be through to the group stage where glory and Aston Villa await (possibly).

Lorient
They play in orange shirts, they're Ligue 1's most westerly-located team and their nickname is The Haddocks. What's not to like? Jeez, even their club badge has a football-playing fish on it. If anyone from Grimsby Town are reading this - THAT'S how to market yourself. Another mid-table finish looks on the cards for the men led by Christian Gourcuff who, incidentally, is the father of... oh, I see.

Lyon
Claude Puel's first season in charge of OL happened to be their first since 2000/01 where they didn't win the league title. *Slightly* embarrassing. Still, it wasn't for the want of trying as Lyon had a seven-point lead over Marseille back in late-February and weren't knocked off the top until April 12th. Lyon's wake-up call was made worse by Karim Benzema's £30 million move to Real Madrid in the summer, but he's been replaced by Argentinean striker Lisandro Lopez who's been banging goals in left, right and centre for Porto of late. Could be an expensive gamble, but we think he'll be one of the big name stars this season, just you see.

Marseille
Close but no cigar - that was the summary of Marseille's season just ended. Having put in a finishing run that almost matched that of record-breakers Bordeaux, they had to settle for second place, just three points short of winning the title. With that, coach Eric Gerets made his excuses and left, only to be replaced by Didier Deschamps who's had a two-year break from coaching since resigning from Juventus. Still yet to convince many fans of his managerial skills, he did take Monaco to the 2004 Champions League Final so we'll wait and see what happens this season. As for their transfer activity, here's a summary: IN - Heinze and Morientes, OUT - Mears, Wiltord and Zenden.

Monaco
Once upon a time not so long ago, Monaco were a member of French football's elite - and we're not just talking about the time Glenn Hoddle played there. Nowadays, however, they've settled for mid-table mediocrity and have a tendency to change their coach more times than a National Express driver. This season's new arrival is Guy Lacombe who did a good job in guiding Rennes to a couple of top-7 finishes over the last couple of seasons. He also has Portsmouth's Djimi Traore for company who, ironically, played under Lacombe while on loan at Rennes in 2008. Which was nice.

Montpellier
It's been five long seasons, but Montpellier's banishment to Ligue 2 is finally over. Yet as elsewhere, the man that led the team to promotion (Rolland Courbis) has been ushered out in favour of a new man, namely the French Under-21 coach Rene Girard. All very well, except the team didn't achieve a great deal under his leadership which may mean a tough season ahead for Montpellier.

Nancy
The north-easterners can owe their recent (comparative) success to Uruguayan coach Pablo Correa. He joined Nancy as a striker in 1995 and at one time played alongside Tony Cascarino before retiring in 2000 (the two events being largely unconnected, we think.) In 2002, he rocked up to the Stade Marcel Picot and a few years later secured promotion to Ligue 1 where they've been ever since. They even finished fourth in 2007/08, but they tend to be a bottom-half-of-the-table club if truth be known. Curiously, they've offloaded two of their best players - Marc-Antoine Fortuné and Landry N'Guémo - to Celtic this season, but they've bought a shed-load from elsewhere so they shouldn't be too affected.

Nice
Monaco's near neighbours have carved out a reputation as an above-average team since gaining promotion in 2002. The next step is for them to push on and seek a Europa League place, but it may prove a little out of their reach as new coach Didier Ollé-Nicolle only has experience with sub-Ligue 1 clubs. Also if talented striker Loïc Rémy gets snapped up by Galatasaray as is feared, there could be worrying times ahead. At least they'll always have the biscuit-making business to fall back on.

Paris Saint-Germain
PSG appear to have turned a corner last season, putting in a decent showing to finish sixth. They have bags of talent in the squad including new purchase Grégory Coupet (second-choice 'keeper for the national team), captain Claude Makélélé and Guillaume Hoarau, second-highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 during 2008/09. They also, like virtually every other Ligue 1 club this season, have a new coach in the form of Antoine Kombouaré who knows that feeling of being up against it - he spent two seasons playing for Aberdeen in the late-1990's. Could go one better and reach Europe next season.

Rennes
Stade Rennais, as they're properly known, are one of Ligue 1's great teams that always put up a decent fight. They haven't finished any lower than 7th in the last five seasons and if they can just convert some of their many draws into wins, European competition shouldn't be far away. This season they welcome a new coach (naturally) - Frédéric Antonetti from Nice - and Junichi Inamoto from Eintracht Frankfurt. Elsewhere in the squad you'll find Carlos Bocanegra in defence alongside the improbably named Rod Fanni and the not-at-all-Waltons-related John Boye. One of the more interesting teams to follow, as a result of the above.

Saint-Etienne
Les Verts had to suffer a nail-biting end to last season, avoiding the relegation trapdoor only on the last day with a 4-0 trouncing of Valenciennes. This time around they'll be hoping their players aren't so racked with injuries as they strive to repeat their fifth-place finish of 2007/08. Alain Perrin's the man in charge and as a title winner with Lyon in the same season, he knows what it takes to get the best out of his squad. He's also a former manager of Portsmouth which explained what happened last season pretty well. Expect an improvement this season, but not much of one.

Sochaux
A club that relies heavily on developing their young players, Sochaux are sadly well shot of their heyday in the 1930's when they were a force to be reckoned with. Nowadays The Lion Cubs have little money with which to buy new players although US striker Charlie Davies arrived from Hammarby in the summer. More water-treading looks set to be on the cards and now their best player, Mevlüt Erdin, has gone to PSG, a fight to avoid relegation can't be ruled out either.

Toulouse
Our Team of the Season last season, Toulouse finished fourth after battling against relegation the campaign before. A team that's historically struggled to keep its footing in the top flight, Toulouse deservedly take their place in the Europa League where last season's top scorer André-Pierre Gignac (24 goals) should give opposition defences plenty to worry about. Only a few minor tweaks have been made to the squad during the summer and more importantly they've retained the services of their coach, Alain Casanova, all of which should make for further success this time around.

Valenciennes
A relative newcomer to Ligue 1, survival is still the name of the game - none more so than this season which brings in Boulogne's promotion-winning coach Philippe Montanier. His first target will be to improve the team's performance away from home after Valenciennes failed to pick up a win on their travels in 2008/09. It shouldn't be too difficult for a man of his calibre to achieve, and this season he'll be able to call on the services of former Reading midfielder Tae-Hee Nam among others.

Just One Scudetto: Serie A Season Preview 2009/10

Something new for you now on SPAOTP. Here's Sp3ktor with the first in a regular series of round-ups on Italian football - and what better way to start than a look at each of the twenty participating clubs.

Atalanta
Very much a yo-yo club, these close neighbours to the Milanese giants finished a creditable 11th last season. Such is the way in Italian football, only seven of the teams in Serie A are starting with the same head coach as they started the previous season. Atalanta's coach - former Gazza team-mate Angelo Gregucci - is one of the new appointments. His only previous Serie A coaching experience is as assistant to Roberto Mancini at Fiorentina, and a disasterous five-week spell as manager of Lecce. Bodes well, then.

Bari
The club that took David Platt to Italy in 1991 returns to the top flight as champions of Serie B. They could struggle, though, as the mastermind of their promotion, coach Antonio Conte, has left the club. In just over a year he turned a team facing relegation into champions. Of course being a stalwart of Juventus in the Nineties and the manager's position there going spare, all the attention he got inevitably led to him being linked with the job - attention Bari didn't like, obviously. Giampiero Ventura, a journeyman coach who's seen his last two Serie A teams relegated has taken the helm. Bari's badge reminds me of cornflakes.

Bologna
It took a last day victory to keep Bologna in Serie A in their first season back in the top flight. New man in charge, Giuseppe Papadopulo, is their sixth head coach in just over three years. He has a good record of getting promotions so perhaps they're thinking a bit more long term with this appointment.

Cagliari
The Sardinian club finished comfortably mid-table last campaign, winning as many as they lost and having a goal difference of -1. Not bad considering they started by losing their first five games under new head coach Massimiliano Allegri (left) - a young coach with a solid reputation in the lower leagues.

Catania
With manager Walter Zenga crossing Sicily to coach their bitter rivals Palermo, Catania have picked a very inexperienced coach in Gianluca Atzori to try and keep them in Serie A for a third season. They finished 15th last time out but that was more down to them taking their foot of the gas after they achieved safety - losing six of their last eight. They have an elephant on their badge; the only other club I can think of with that is Coventry City. Their kit seems to be modelled on Crystal Palace, even down to the white-with-red-and-blue-sash away kit.

Chievo Verona
Chievo seriously struggled at the start of their first season back in the top flight picking up just 9 points in their first 17 games. The appointment of Mimmo Di Carlo as head coach turned their fortunes around, seeing them lose just four games in the second half of the season. Most of these were draws, however, so they only just escaped a quick return to Serie B.

Fiorentina
Mired in recent controversy, Fiorentina were given more than a slight helping hand in getting back to Serie A after reforming in 2002. They're back to winning ways too having secured a second consecutive Champions League qualification. Manager Cesare Prandelli is the current Serie A Coach of the Year.

Genoa
Genoa have been in storming form under coach Gian Piero Gasperini since rising from Italy's third tier in 2006. Both seasons in the top flight have seen them qualify for Europe despite having a very thin squad and regularly losing their best players to bigger clubs. 34-year-old Hernan Crespo from Inter will be leading the line for them this campaign, having to fill the boots of 24-goal-scoring Milito who goes in the other direction. Genoa are one of the few clubs to retain the word 'Cricket' in their full title (Napoli and Milan dropped it years ago). If that's not a good enough reason to like them, I don't know what is.

Inter
The dominant team since the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, Inter have won the last four Scudetti and with the Special One in charge there's not much to suggest any different this season. They've lost the league's top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic but seeing as they've got Samual Eto'o and a wad of cash in return, there shouldn't be too many grumbles on the blue side of Milan.

Juventus
Being runners up last season wasn't good enough for the board at Juve and Claudio Ranieri was out on his ear. His replacement is Ciro Ferrara, a former team captain and latterly youth team coach in his first manageial position - an interesting choice for such a high profile job. The Old Lady welcomes back one of her favourite sons in the shape of 35-year-old Fabio Cannavaro after three seasons at Real Madrid. Regular readers of the Bundesbag on these pages will be intrigued to see how Diego, their €24.5m summer signing from Werder Bremen, performs in Serie A.

Lazio
Although winners of last season's Coppa Italia, Lazio fans have had to settle for mid-table mediocrity since finishing third in 2007. Davide Ballardini, who was in charge of Palermo last campaign, is new in post following Delio Rossi's decision to step down.

Livorno
Winners of the Serie B play-off, the Tuscan club enjoyed a brief period of modest success a few years back under Roberto Donadoni. After he left to take up the role of national team coach things all went a bit pear-shaped (for both parties). Currently managerless with the Italian Football Federation blocking the permanent appointment of stand-in coach Gennaro Ruotolo because of insufficient coaching badges.

Milan
The headlines may be all about the departure of Kaka but this season is the one where Milan have to get used to life without Maldini. Ancelotti, of course has gone to Chelsea and is replaced by local hero Leonardo, in his first managerial role; he should certainly provide his opposite number at Inter with a run for his money, if only at the press conferences. Honestly, this guy makes Mourinho look like the bloke who collects the sun lounger money.

Napoli
Roberto Donadoni makes his return to management after a disasterous tenure as national team coach. Napoli had a decent enough start last season but trailed off to finish mid-table. Nowhere near the team they were in the Eighties, they're doing ok considering they've died and been reborn since. Napoli are owned by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis - nephew of Dino.

Palermo
Palermo have been a surprise package since returning to Serie A after a thirty-year absence in 2004 and have been buzzing around the UEFA spots since then. The biggest news for them is the installation of Walter Zenga as head coach from fierce local rivals Catania. They play in pink - live with it.

Parma
Parma make a return to Serie A after a season down in the second tier. While the heady days of the milk-carton funded mid-nineties are far behind, it was only a handful of seasons ago this club was getting regular UEFA Cup football - even reaching the semis in 2005. Their head coach Francesco Guidolin has made a habit in his professional career of returning to clubs, playing for Verona in four separate stints and having as many periods as coach of Palermo.

Roma
Last season was the worst for Roma under coach Luciano Spalletti, having to settle for a Europa League spot after getting used to Champions League football. They've finished runners-up four times since their last title in 2001. They'll be doing very well to get that high this season, especially if they lose Daniele de Rossi to Arsenal, as has been strongly rumoured (but then every decent centre half in the world is being linked with The Gunners). Supporters will be pleased though to see that Mr Roma, Francesco Totti, has signed a new five-year deal (he'll be 37 by the end). The club was formed in a merger at the behest of Mussolini. Don't hold that against them, though.

Sampdoria
Samp arrived back in the top flight strongly in 2003 but since only just missing out on a Champions League spot in 2005 they've been pretty ordinary, finishing 13th last season. Luigi Del Neri takes over as head coach, joining from Atalanta. He took over as manager of Porto after Jose Mourinho left, only to be sacked before the season even started. It was the second time that had happened to him so don't be surprised if someone else is in charge come the opening day. Sampdoria have Cassano: that makes them worth watching.

Siena
More famous for its bi-annual horse race Il Palio, Siena have been enjoying themselves in Serie A. A lower league side for much of their history, Siena are beginning their seventh consecutive season in the top flight. They're hardly setting the division on fire but they do well enough. Their head coach is Marco Giampaolo: he's one of the very few managers not new in post.

Udinese
If Udinese could keep together a run of the form they are capable of, they could be a major force in Italian football. As it is, they tend to fall away at the end or struggle if they're distracted by European qualification. They qualified for the Champions League in 2005 and a repeat certainly isn't beyond them. This will be head coach Pasquale Marino's third season in charge - a veritable eon in Serie A terms.

UEFA Champions League Qualifiers Round Up

The road to the Champions League group stages is long and even more treacherous than Alberto Contador on the mountain stages of the Tour de France.

Of course some clubs are not required to join that road until it becomes a lot wider with tarmac, cat's eyes and those flashing signs warning you against bottle necks at Junction 11. Right now however, we are still at that dusty track stage of the competition where the title winners of leagues ranked between 50 and 53 compete in a two legged round with the reward of a place in the coveted third qualifying round at stake. You'd get pretty long odds on a lot of these teams making it to the big show so let's enjoy them while we can.

Despite what you might think, there are some pretty big names in this round. Last year's heroic underdogs BATE Borisov entered the competition at this stage. They would have made a bob or two from last season's exploits and if they've invested wisely the Belorussians will be confident that they can make a swift return. BATE eased their way past FC Makedonija Skopje from Macedonia 4-0 on aggregate.

Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade may also have their eye on trips to Turin or Madrid later in the year. They are comfortably through after a stonking 12-0 victory over two legs. The second leg finished 8-0 (Cleo scored a hat-trick) and was their biggest ever win in European football. All of which sounds really impressive until you realise that their opponents were Welsh champions Rhyl. Still, you can only beat what's in front of you I suppose.

Winners of the Best Club Name of the Round competition (if there were such a thing) are the Molodovan champions FC Sheriff of Tiraspol. In fact, they are early favorites for the same award in the next round since Inter Turku of Finland failed to shoot the Sheriff, losing out 2-0.

Another recent groupie are Levski of Sofia who, on paper, shouldn't have broken a sweat against the Andorran champions Sant Julia. And indeed they didn't on grass either. 9-0 was the final score. Maryan Ognyanov bagged a brace in the second leg which ended 5-0.

The Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava are through after beating the Bosnians, Zrinjski. It finished 4-1 overall but Bratislava were a goal down after the first leg and had to pull out some stops to get through. Goals from Juraj Helenar and Gaucho settled the nerves after in the first 20 minutes.

There were some close games. Poland's Wisla Krakow could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Levadia of Estonia in the first leg. The Tallinn club not only held on but manged a last minute winner from Vladislav Ivanov to render the away goal redundant and see the Estonians through.

Another nail-biter was in Kalmar, Sweden, where the Hungarians Debrecen squeaked through. They won the first leg 2-0 with goals by Jozsef Varga and Zoltan Kiss. Varga was on target in the second leg with a precious away goal. However Kalmar stormed back with three goals. It was tense but the Magyars hung on.

While the Swedes crashed out, their neighbours in Denmark are laughing up their sleeves after FC Kobenhavn progressed. Ndoye and Almeida were the goalscoring heroes over the two games for FCK as they demolished Mogren 12 (twelve) - 0.

Fans of rampant commercialism in football will be as delighted as the enemies of romance to hear that Red Bull Salzburg narrowly progressed to the next round at the expense of Bohemians.

The Irish club are strapped for cash and could really use a decent European run. It looked really good for them too after holding the Austrian giants to a 1-1 draw in Salzburg. It was all back to Dublin for the second leg and Bohs almost made it to a second round tie against Dinamo Zagreb. Tragically for them, Patrik Jezek scored for Salzburg with only three minutes on the clock. It finished 2-1 on aggregate. Gutted.

The third qualifying round takes place at the end of the month. This round features the runners-up from Scotland, Holland, Greece, Czech Republic and so on. SPAOTP will be sure to let you know what happens.

Full results are here. Third Qualifying round is here. The story of Red Bull/Austria-Salzburg is here.

Premier League Fixtures 2009/10

For those of you that weren't already aware, today's the day the Premier League releases it's fixtures for the 2009/10 season.

It's a day of great excitement but one that's somewhat stifled by the inability of blogsites like us to display any of those fixtures. We'd like to show you who your favourite team's playing in the opening weeks of the season, who they're playing over the Christmas period and who they're playing when the excrement hits the fan as the season's ending in May, but we can't.

We've already discussed the frustration we feel about the Premier League's strict copyright laws in the past, so let's not get too bogged down in all of that now. Instead, let us point you in the direction of the Premier League website where full details of all the important fixtures will be displayed for your viewing pleasure from 10:00 BST today.

(Oh and let's not forget the Football League fixtures too - they're avaiable via the Football League website...)

Football Kits 2009/10: Who makes what

Back in August 2008, Some People Are On The Pitch wrote one of its most popular articles ever. It wasn't a lengthy thesis on the things we hate most about Cristiano Ronaldo, nor was it an online poll asking you for your happiest memories involving Milton Keynes Dons. Somewhat surprisingly, it was an article listing the kit manufacturers of each of the 92 Premier and Football League teams for 2008/09. I know... we we were surprised too.

We can only think that our article was regarded as the perfect reference guide for those of you interested in who makes what where football kits are concerned. That being the case, we thought we'd set up a new page for the 2009/10 season - especially given the fact that many new kits are already being launched for the next campaign.

So here goes with our list of confirmed kit manufacturers for the 2009/10 season. We'll be updating the page whenever we hear of any new strips being launched so don't forget to check back for all the latest news throughout the summer here in the UK.

Confirmed kit manufacturers for 2009/10
Adidas: Chelsea, Derby, Liverpool, Macclesfield, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Peterborough, Plymouth, Swindon. Admiral: Hereford, Walsall. Bukta: Chesterfield, Millwall. Canterbury: Portsmouth, Preston. Carbrini: Aldershot, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Exeter, Oldham, Rochdale. Carlotti: Rotherham, Scunthorpe. Errea: Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Burnley, Cheltenham, Darlington, Grimsby, Northampton. Joma: Charlton, Leicester, Watford, Wycombe. Le Coq Sportif: Carlisle, Everton, Stoke, Wolves. Lotto: Barnsley, Crewe, QPR. Macron: Leeds, Sheffield Utd, Stockport. Mitre: Huddersfield, Ipswich. Nike: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Hartlepool, Man United, MK Dons, Southend, Notts County. ProStar: Accrington Stanley, Shrewsbury. Puma: Brentford, Bristol City, Cardiff, Colchester, Coventry, Leyton Orient, Morecambe, Reading, Sheff. Wed, Tottenham. Reebok: Bolton. Surridge: Bradford, Bury. TAG: Burton Albion. Umbro: Birmingham, Blackburn, Hull, Lincoln, Man City, Nottm. Forest, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, West Brom, West Ham. Vandanel: Barnet, Dagenham and Redbridge, Doncaster, Gillingham, Port Vale, Tranmere, Wigan, Yeovil. Xara: Norwich.

Total Number of Kits (so far) Per Manufacturer 2009/10
(Last season's figures shown in brackets)

Umbro: 11 (11)
Puma: 10 (9)
Adidas: 9 (6)
Nike: 9 (9)
Vandanel: 8 (10)
Errea: 7 (7)
Carbrini: 6 (2)
Joma: 4 (2)
Le Coq Sportif: 4 (5)
Lotto: 3 (5)
Macron: 3 (1)
Admiral: 2 (0)
Bukta: 2 (2)
Canterbury: 2 (1)
Carlotti: 2 (4)
Mitre: 2 (2)
ProStar: 2 (3)
Surridge: 2 (2)
Reebok: 1 (1)
TAG: 1 (0)
Xara: 1 (1)