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<blockquote data-quote="Sound" data-source="post: 1647528" data-attributes="member: 6649"><p>Vive la revolution!'Paul Marshall</p><p>Archive </p><p></p><p>France may be the country that 'invented' the revolution, but even by their own high standards, the machinations of the Ligue 1 close season have almost been on an equal footing with anything that kicked off in 1789. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>GettyImages</p><p>Florent Malouda has swapped Lyon for Chelsea this season.</p><p></p><p>Off-field intrigue involving ministers of state, the threat of a players' strike narrowly averted, the figurative guillotine falling on a host of bosses and all the usual hustle and bustle of the summer transfer window have meant there is more than your usual fair share of column inches to fill. </p><p></p><p>However, for the seventh consecutive season, the question remains: Can anyone stop Lyon cantering to the title before November? </p><p></p><p>A record 17-point gap between the champions and second-placed Marseille last season does not bode well for a thrilling climax to the coming campaign. </p><p></p><p>But like in all the best spy novels, the enemy - this time - may well come from within. Like every summer, hands are being wrung around the country as the best French talent heads for more lucrative climes, and even Lyon are no exception. </p><p></p><p>Former Chelsea man Tiago has shuffled over the border to Juventus, while the double departure of left-back Eric Abidal to Barcelona and Florent Malouda to join his former Guingamp team-mate Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge means Lyon's left flank is now even weaker than that of New Labour. </p><p></p><p>The arrival of Fabio Grosso from Inter Milan to replace Abidal is designed to fill that particular void and if the Italian can recapture his World Cup-winning form and avoid dropping off during 90 minutes as his predecessor had a tendency to do, then he will do well. </p><p></p><p>A bigger question mark hangs over the head of 20-year-old Hatem Ben Arfa, for whom the 'highly-rated' tag has been bandied about in carefree fashion for just a tad too long. </p><p></p><p>Ben Arfa must now stand up and be counted as the 'new Malouda' or Lyon will delve its grubby hand into the rather large pot of cash whipped up by their recent stock market flotation to lure Jerome Rothen away from Paris Saint Germain. </p><p></p><p>There is even concern over new boss Alain Perrin, formerly of Portsmouth. </p><p></p><p>Back in 2002, the candidature of Perrin - then an up-and-coming coach at humble Troyes - to replace Jacques Santini at Stade Gerland provoked former Lyon legend Bernard Lacombe to say: "How can you give the keys of a Ferrari to someone who's used to driving a Citroen 2CV?" </p><p></p><p>Lacombe was (and ominously for Perrin still is) special advisor to Lyon club president Jean-Michel Aulas, and with Perrin's list of clubs since that quote (Marseille, Al-Aïn, Portsmouth & Sochaux) hardly reading like a list of top-of-the-range models, the new man in charge clearly has to prove he won't make a sow's ear out of a silk purse. </p><p></p><p>Admittedly, in winning the pre-season Peace Cup in South Korea - beating Bolton in the final - and seeing off his old team Sochaux in the Champions Trophy (the French Community Shield) last weekend, Perrin has made a smooth start, but the jury remains out. </p><p></p><p>Perrin though is apparently planning on installing a revolutionary transfer policy, turning his back on the strategy that saw the club nab Milan Baros last season, by announcing he wants "a centre-forward who scores goals." </p><p></p><p>Nicolas Anelka and Louis Saha are those rumoured to be in Lyon's sights, as the club finds itself with just three strikers in the first-team frame: Baros, the promising but youthful Karim Benzema and the wilful, yet currently injured, Fred. </p><p></p><p>While Benzema looks a real gem, Baros' consistent failure to find the net suggests he may be better off taking up tennis, while Brazilian Fred - undoubtedly a talent - may soon be heading for pastures new having swanned off to the Copa America without the club's permission, then breaking his foot and deciding Brazilian medics rather than his full-time employers know how best to heal him. </p><p></p><p></p><p>GettyImages</p><p>Sylvain Wiltord is unhappy at Lyon, but will stay another year.</p><p></p><p>Perrin has also had to iron out dressing-room unrest with Sylvain Wiltord initially failing to turn up for the pre-season tour to South Korea, while the new boss umpired a manly chat between Sidney Govou and Juninho following Govou's accusation that there was one rule for 'Juni' and one for the rest, leading the Brazilian to turn in the captain's armband in a huff. </p><p></p><p>On the plus-side, perpetual whinge-bag Alou 'I played in the World Cup final, don't you know?' Diarra has been flogged to Bordeaux, France number one Gregory Coupet has signed a contract extension and Lyon have added to their ranks by again snapping up the best talent Ligue 1 has to offer. </p><p></p><p>In addition to Nadir Belhadj from relegated Sedan, Mathieu Bodmer and Abdulkader Keita have taken the TGV down from Lille, even if at a combined 24million euros the duo are overpriced and, while their potential is undeniable, they still have much to prove in both the Champions League and Le Championnat. </p><p></p><p>That leaves rather too many question marks hanging over the squad to be totally confident. </p><p></p><p>Lyon may still give sub-editors the chance to trot out their 'Seventh Heaven' headlines, but count on it being closer than the last two seasons. </p><p></p><p>The most impressive of the challengers looks to be Marseille, for whom the phrase 'flatter to deceive' has been a club motto in recent seasons, but who - under the steadying influence of president Pape Diouf - are finally acting more like a football club and less like the sporting equivalent of 'The Godfather.' </p><p></p><p>Loyal to their recent past, the 1993 European Cup winners have been highly active in the transfer market, but contrary to tradition, have bought wisely and, most importantly, sold with equal level-headedness. </p><p></p><p>When the lederhosen-clad bürgers of Bayern Munich stepped in with a rather large cheque for 25million euros for Frank Ribery, OM ignored the protests of their fervent supporters, said 'Danke schön,' quickly cashed it in and then set about picking up some rather useful players and Boudewijn Zenden. </p><p></p><p>Despite a Champions League final display for Liverpool so colourless he must have convinced viewers they were watching in black-and-white, the not-so-flying Dutchman's stints at Barcelona and Chelsea - less so Middlesbrough - mean he adds badly-needed European experience to the club's Champions League campaign. </p><p></p><p>The Anfield connection does not end there with Djibril Cissé having turned down Bolton to play for "the club [he] supported as a boy" in exchange for an eight-million-euro-sized wad of used banknotes, and Benoit Cheyrou - brother of ex-'Pool flop, Bruno from Auxerre. Incredibly the club were not put off by his older sibling's lack of big-club success in England nor, even more incredibly, by Benoit's revelation that the favourite minstrel on the Cheyrou i-Pod is R Kelly. </p><p></p><p>For all his lack of success in England and the singular lack of a decent first touch, Cissé's goalscoring record of 78 goals in 149 Ligue 1 games means he should provide a goal threat, while the addition of Cheyrou alongside the tenacious Lorik Cana in central midfield should allow Samir 'the new Zidane' Nasri the chance to show enough of his talent to provoke someone to offer an obscenely large amount of cash for his services this time next year. </p><p></p><p>With Ribery gone, Nasri - Marseille born-and-bred like the headbutt-happy Zizou - will be the creative focal point of the team, and despite looking young enough to have to ask his parents' permission to be allowed out for an evening kick-off, his smooth osmosis into the French national squad suggests the 20-year-old is up to the task. </p><p></p><p></p><p>GettyImages</p><p>Nasri: Pipped as the 'new Zidane' in France.</p><p></p><p>With World Cup final sub Gael Givet enjoying a reunion with Julien Rodriguez - a centre-back pairing which helped Monaco to the Champions League final in 2004 - and captain Habib Beye shunning the 'come hither' looks of the Premiership, OM look to have a squad capable of ironing out the rollercoaster form which saw them fall away last season even as Lyon stuttered. </p><p></p><p>With Toulouse likely to be stretched paper-thin should they reach the Champions League group phase, and Paris Saint Germain still rebuilding under Paul Le Guen expect Rennes - who have recruited the experienced Mikael Pagis and Jerome Leroy - to make a sustained push for a top-three finish. </p><p></p><p>The main theme of the summer though has been a managerial merry-go-round the scale of which would have had Barnum and Bailey drooling. </p><p></p><p>No fewer than seven top-flight clubs will start the season on August 4 with a new man in charge, one being Lens who coaxed Guy Roux away from homely Auxerre after more than four decades, even if the 68-year-old needed government intervention to overturn a league ruling preventing pensioners from coaching a top-flight side. </p><p></p><p>The most intriguing sowing of new initials on training kit, though, is that of the 'LB' of Laurent Blanc, who has been given his first coaching role at Bordeaux. </p><p></p><p>A silky world-class defender, Blanc's footballing credentials should ensure Bordeaux are a far more attractive - if not necessarily effective - proposition than they were under Ricardo, the Brazilian who has taken his no-nonsense samba-less strategy off to Monaco. </p><p></p><p>But with his squad amputated of international duo Rio Mavuba and Julien Faubert - who have headed for Villarreal and West Ham respectively - and having already had a public slanging match with his club president, the head of 'Le President' may soon be the first on the chopping block.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sound, post: 1647528, member: 6649"] Vive la revolution!'Paul Marshall Archive France may be the country that 'invented' the revolution, but even by their own high standards, the machinations of the Ligue 1 close season have almost been on an equal footing with anything that kicked off in 1789. GettyImages Florent Malouda has swapped Lyon for Chelsea this season. Off-field intrigue involving ministers of state, the threat of a players' strike narrowly averted, the figurative guillotine falling on a host of bosses and all the usual hustle and bustle of the summer transfer window have meant there is more than your usual fair share of column inches to fill. However, for the seventh consecutive season, the question remains: Can anyone stop Lyon cantering to the title before November? A record 17-point gap between the champions and second-placed Marseille last season does not bode well for a thrilling climax to the coming campaign. But like in all the best spy novels, the enemy - this time - may well come from within. Like every summer, hands are being wrung around the country as the best French talent heads for more lucrative climes, and even Lyon are no exception. Former Chelsea man Tiago has shuffled over the border to Juventus, while the double departure of left-back Eric Abidal to Barcelona and Florent Malouda to join his former Guingamp team-mate Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge means Lyon's left flank is now even weaker than that of New Labour. The arrival of Fabio Grosso from Inter Milan to replace Abidal is designed to fill that particular void and if the Italian can recapture his World Cup-winning form and avoid dropping off during 90 minutes as his predecessor had a tendency to do, then he will do well. A bigger question mark hangs over the head of 20-year-old Hatem Ben Arfa, for whom the 'highly-rated' tag has been bandied about in carefree fashion for just a tad too long. Ben Arfa must now stand up and be counted as the 'new Malouda' or Lyon will delve its grubby hand into the rather large pot of cash whipped up by their recent stock market flotation to lure Jerome Rothen away from Paris Saint Germain. There is even concern over new boss Alain Perrin, formerly of Portsmouth. Back in 2002, the candidature of Perrin - then an up-and-coming coach at humble Troyes - to replace Jacques Santini at Stade Gerland provoked former Lyon legend Bernard Lacombe to say: "How can you give the keys of a Ferrari to someone who's used to driving a Citroen 2CV?" Lacombe was (and ominously for Perrin still is) special advisor to Lyon club president Jean-Michel Aulas, and with Perrin's list of clubs since that quote (Marseille, Al-Aïn, Portsmouth & Sochaux) hardly reading like a list of top-of-the-range models, the new man in charge clearly has to prove he won't make a sow's ear out of a silk purse. Admittedly, in winning the pre-season Peace Cup in South Korea - beating Bolton in the final - and seeing off his old team Sochaux in the Champions Trophy (the French Community Shield) last weekend, Perrin has made a smooth start, but the jury remains out. Perrin though is apparently planning on installing a revolutionary transfer policy, turning his back on the strategy that saw the club nab Milan Baros last season, by announcing he wants "a centre-forward who scores goals." Nicolas Anelka and Louis Saha are those rumoured to be in Lyon's sights, as the club finds itself with just three strikers in the first-team frame: Baros, the promising but youthful Karim Benzema and the wilful, yet currently injured, Fred. While Benzema looks a real gem, Baros' consistent failure to find the net suggests he may be better off taking up tennis, while Brazilian Fred - undoubtedly a talent - may soon be heading for pastures new having swanned off to the Copa America without the club's permission, then breaking his foot and deciding Brazilian medics rather than his full-time employers know how best to heal him. GettyImages Sylvain Wiltord is unhappy at Lyon, but will stay another year. Perrin has also had to iron out dressing-room unrest with Sylvain Wiltord initially failing to turn up for the pre-season tour to South Korea, while the new boss umpired a manly chat between Sidney Govou and Juninho following Govou's accusation that there was one rule for 'Juni' and one for the rest, leading the Brazilian to turn in the captain's armband in a huff. On the plus-side, perpetual whinge-bag Alou 'I played in the World Cup final, don't you know?' Diarra has been flogged to Bordeaux, France number one Gregory Coupet has signed a contract extension and Lyon have added to their ranks by again snapping up the best talent Ligue 1 has to offer. In addition to Nadir Belhadj from relegated Sedan, Mathieu Bodmer and Abdulkader Keita have taken the TGV down from Lille, even if at a combined 24million euros the duo are overpriced and, while their potential is undeniable, they still have much to prove in both the Champions League and Le Championnat. That leaves rather too many question marks hanging over the squad to be totally confident. Lyon may still give sub-editors the chance to trot out their 'Seventh Heaven' headlines, but count on it being closer than the last two seasons. The most impressive of the challengers looks to be Marseille, for whom the phrase 'flatter to deceive' has been a club motto in recent seasons, but who - under the steadying influence of president Pape Diouf - are finally acting more like a football club and less like the sporting equivalent of 'The Godfather.' Loyal to their recent past, the 1993 European Cup winners have been highly active in the transfer market, but contrary to tradition, have bought wisely and, most importantly, sold with equal level-headedness. When the lederhosen-clad bürgers of Bayern Munich stepped in with a rather large cheque for 25million euros for Frank Ribery, OM ignored the protests of their fervent supporters, said 'Danke schön,' quickly cashed it in and then set about picking up some rather useful players and Boudewijn Zenden. Despite a Champions League final display for Liverpool so colourless he must have convinced viewers they were watching in black-and-white, the not-so-flying Dutchman's stints at Barcelona and Chelsea - less so Middlesbrough - mean he adds badly-needed European experience to the club's Champions League campaign. The Anfield connection does not end there with Djibril Cissé having turned down Bolton to play for "the club [he] supported as a boy" in exchange for an eight-million-euro-sized wad of used banknotes, and Benoit Cheyrou - brother of ex-'Pool flop, Bruno from Auxerre. Incredibly the club were not put off by his older sibling's lack of big-club success in England nor, even more incredibly, by Benoit's revelation that the favourite minstrel on the Cheyrou i-Pod is R Kelly. For all his lack of success in England and the singular lack of a decent first touch, Cissé's goalscoring record of 78 goals in 149 Ligue 1 games means he should provide a goal threat, while the addition of Cheyrou alongside the tenacious Lorik Cana in central midfield should allow Samir 'the new Zidane' Nasri the chance to show enough of his talent to provoke someone to offer an obscenely large amount of cash for his services this time next year. With Ribery gone, Nasri - Marseille born-and-bred like the headbutt-happy Zizou - will be the creative focal point of the team, and despite looking young enough to have to ask his parents' permission to be allowed out for an evening kick-off, his smooth osmosis into the French national squad suggests the 20-year-old is up to the task. GettyImages Nasri: Pipped as the 'new Zidane' in France. With World Cup final sub Gael Givet enjoying a reunion with Julien Rodriguez - a centre-back pairing which helped Monaco to the Champions League final in 2004 - and captain Habib Beye shunning the 'come hither' looks of the Premiership, OM look to have a squad capable of ironing out the rollercoaster form which saw them fall away last season even as Lyon stuttered. With Toulouse likely to be stretched paper-thin should they reach the Champions League group phase, and Paris Saint Germain still rebuilding under Paul Le Guen expect Rennes - who have recruited the experienced Mikael Pagis and Jerome Leroy - to make a sustained push for a top-three finish. The main theme of the summer though has been a managerial merry-go-round the scale of which would have had Barnum and Bailey drooling. No fewer than seven top-flight clubs will start the season on August 4 with a new man in charge, one being Lens who coaxed Guy Roux away from homely Auxerre after more than four decades, even if the 68-year-old needed government intervention to overturn a league ruling preventing pensioners from coaching a top-flight side. The most intriguing sowing of new initials on training kit, though, is that of the 'LB' of Laurent Blanc, who has been given his first coaching role at Bordeaux. A silky world-class defender, Blanc's footballing credentials should ensure Bordeaux are a far more attractive - if not necessarily effective - proposition than they were under Ricardo, the Brazilian who has taken his no-nonsense samba-less strategy off to Monaco. But with his squad amputated of international duo Rio Mavuba and Julien Faubert - who have headed for Villarreal and West Ham respectively - and having already had a public slanging match with his club president, the head of 'Le President' may soon be the first on the chopping block. [/QUOTE]
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