Between January 4 and February 5, Stade Briochin will play seven matches, including a round of 16 of the Coupe de France on January 14 or 15. The price of success for the Griffons, but a funny puzzle too.
It's a pretty crazy month of January that awaits the Stadistes Briochins, superb winners of Le Havre AC on Saturday afternoon (1-0).
Since amateur clubs were not necessarily invited to play in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, this round will be played during the week, on January 14 or 15. A first difficulty for the Griffons who already had a very busy schedule in National 2.
Bourges from January 4
Postponed on November 22 due to the state of their pitch, the Bourges reception will be their first meeting of the year. The Griffons will host Sadio Mané's club on Saturday January 4, at 6:30 p.m. “We will resume training on December 30,” explains Guillaume Allanou, the coach. There will be another session on the 31st, we will give them January 1st and we will start again on 2 and 3.”
The difficulty will be to let the minds regenerate while keeping the bodies involved. Enzo Leguerrier, the physical trainer, will offer two individual sessions to everyone starting this week. Exercises that will be done remotely. “We have to stop seeing each other for a few days,” smiles Guillaume Allanou.
Seven matches in one month
Like other clubs at the same level, the Griffons have been on deck since mid-July, without a weekend off, except for November 22 and 23 when their match was postponed. And the rest will therefore be frantic.
On Saturday January 11, the Griffons will host Blois at 6:30 p.m. On Friday the 17th (if they play in the Cup on the 14th), they will meet US Saint-Malo in Marville, neighbors that they eliminated from the Cup in the 8th round after a tough and contested meeting (0-0, 5-4 on the tabs). If TV invites them to the Cup on Wednesday 15th, this derby would logically be postponed to Saturday 18th.
On Saturday January 25, we will then host Châteaubriant (6:30 p.m.). The month of January will end on Friday the 31st in Avranches. And this month of competition will extend with a seventh match, on Friday February 7, with the reception of La Roche Vendée. A calendar that is still likely to change if the Costarmoricans reach the round of 16 of the Coupe de France… on February 5!
No training grounds
“It’s both difficult and exciting,” judge Guillaume Allanou. The positive point is that everyone will be involved, there will be rotations. The risk is to have injuries knowing that we do not have a plethoric workforce.”
The two championship matches which will precede the Cup will not be the easiest to understand. Tenth in N2 with their two games late, the Briochins have no margin at this stage of the competition.
And then a recurring subject will arise during this busy period. “Where are we going to practice?” », asks Guillaume Allanou. The only training pitch at Fred-Aubert is now unusable in the face of bad weather, the adjoining synthetic pitch is in a sad state. The fallback solutions (Langueux, Plaintel, etc.) have their drawbacks. In short, a recurring headache which adds to the state of the Fred-Aubert lawn itself. There are in fact 4 or 5 matches, depending on the draw this Sunday evening, that it will have to host during these four weeks. A burden that she too will find difficult to bear.
Crédit photo: Photo Nicolas Créach
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