Relegated and fallen ten times in the last twelve days of Ligue 1, Le Havre AC arrives in Saint-Brieuc on Saturday, with the hope that the Coupe de France will offer it a breath of fresh air. Otherwise…
Coupe de France (32nd finals). Stade Briochin (N2) – Le Havre AC (L1), Saturday (3:30 p.m.)
A Kop whose heart is empty well before the bell, players called by fans to wet their jerseys, a coach, successor this summer to Luka Elsner, encouraged by a large part of the public to hand over the keys to the squad… Such was the atmosphere of the recent evening at the Stade Océane, the scene on Sunday of a new setback, this time conceded against Strasbourg (0-3), the sixth at home, the eleventh of the season.
Saturday in Saint-Brieuc, it is therefore not by puffing out their chests that the Normans, at the head of whom Didier Digard has been confirmed, will set foot on the lawn of the Fred-Aubert stadium. “The Cup is the players’ competition,” insists Mathieu Bodmer, the sporting director of the HAC, in order to set part of the scene. Either they sleep and slip away, or they decide to have a great adventure. »
A deficit estimated at €10 million
Weighed down by an offensive sector that makes no one envious in L1 (11 “for” goals), Le Havre has been struggling for weeks to get out of the trap. Their relegated position is ultimately linked to the means available to the oldest French club, against a backdrop of a budget that went from €35 to €29 million last summer, a deficit estimated at €10 million, a ban on recruiting for expensive title and a payroll supervised by the DNCG.
All this, knowing that from the CVC investment fund, Le Havre AC only received €1.5 million while at least the 17 other L1 clubs received €33 million. A strange distribution recently pointed out by a senatorial commission and the Paris Judicial Court. The club, via its president Jean-Michel Roussier, therefore intends to see the legal battle between it and the LFP to the end.
As for the players, they will not be able to afford to waste this 32nd final on the lawn of the Stade Briochin, a meeting for which Didier Digard, for whom we do not yet know whether he will line up, on Saturday, an unprecedented “eleven” , will have to do without Arouna Sangante, the captain, Josué Casimir, his best attacker, and Issa Soumaré, all injured.
Photo credit: Photo Frédéric Dides/AFP
