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Bordeaux will play a Girondin club in the Coupe de France for the 10th time in its history. This Monday evening, the draw has spoken, it will be CMO Bassens, a club promoted to Regional 2 (4th in R2 after 3 days) which will be the opponent of Bruno Irles’ men. It remains to be seen where and when the meeting will take place. A question that the president of the right bank club, Cédric Borie would like to resolve quickly.
WebGirondins: What was your first reaction to the announcement of this draw?
Cédric Borie: We are of course very happy to welcome them as supporters of the Girondins. Now, there is a problem, which is that we are mainly organizing to welcome the Girondins and their supporters. The objective is above all not to go behind closed doors. So we are in the process of organizing with the Bassens town hall to find a solution and find a solution that can satisfy the prefecture. And that we can celebrate Gironde football which is suffering too much at the moment.
Are you a Girondins supporter?
Yes since I was 10 years old. I am from Lot-et-Garonne and on Saturday evenings my father took me to see the matches. At the time, in the old stadium where there was still the track around. (Laugh). I subsequently subscribed. The Girondins de Bordeaux are my favorite club. But no matter how much we say what we want, the Girondins are the flagship club of the region, the link of the region. This club needs to come back quickly, and it will come back, I’m not worried. I am still very optimistic, they will come back, you see the players who came. They didn’t come for the money.
“I want a little bit at our League”
Did the descent of the Girondins to N2 and the loss of the training center directly impact you?
For us, football-wise, it doesn’t impact us at the club, but it impacts everyone. The department and the region must have flagship clubs. Today, we see it apart from Pau and Toulouse in the great South-West in terms of professional team, that’s all we have. so today there is a lot of work to do. But we are behind and we see it, as soon as the stadium opened, there were 10,000 people in National 2. The Girondins will remain the Girondins whatever happens.
Let’s talk about your team, can you introduce it and explain your goals this season?
We are discovering the R2 championship (7th division) since we have just come up for the first time. The objective is to bring up the reserve (3rd in D2 after 2 days) and to keep the first team in R2. But the main objective is to play football. To bring attractive things with a coach who has this rigor and this desire too.
“The coach being very demanding, he wants to go as high as possible”
Concerning the squad, can we see quite a few players from Bassens?
We have everything, but we have the particularity of having Bassenais. They started in Bassens. Some of them went to the Girondins, they tried to break through. Others left to play in Regional 1 or Regional 2, but they returned two years ago to give a helping hand to their favorite club.
Is this connection to Bassens important?
Yes, absolutely. The policy is to have club players. It’s the refreshment bar, the home after the matches, it’s the collective above all.
What do you expect from this match in the Coupe de France, is it a goal?
The coach being very demanding, he wants to go as high as possible. Last year, we went to the sixth round (beaten by Angoulême (N2) 5-0), so this year, we set ourselves the seventh. So do as well, or even better than last year. Now it’s the Girondins, there is hope. It remains the limit of possibilities as they say. It will be played out on the field. And then, may the best win, but while having fun and bringing as many people as possible around the grounds. We are suffering too much in Girondin football at the moment.
Regarding reception, do you have any information on the potential stadium?
No today, I have the municipality which is in the process of organizing itself, of finding, of having the green light from the prefect to know which stadium can accommodate. There are not 50 of them. We know there are 2 or 3 that can accommodate the Girondins. It’s Matmut (not available this weekend), it’s Libourne and it’s Sainte Germaine. But Sainte-Germaine until now, the prefect was working behind closed doors. My priority is not to have closed doors.
You are in the rush with the draw this Monday evening, and the match this weekend
I blame our League a little bit, because the other leagues made the draw last week between Tuesday and Wednesday. I told the club, the Girondins, there are no problems, but not this weekend. Because when we do the draw on Monday and there is a match on Saturday, it’s complicated.
Finally, what is your prediction for this meeting?
The prognosis unfortunately (laughs), I’m always optimistic, but we have to be realistic, it’s going to be complicated. We already played last year against a N2, Angoulême, and we see the level there is with the N2, even the N3 is day and night. We know that the N2 is high level. The challenge will be complicated, but I want us to show a beautiful image. I know our players will give their all.
Nathan Hanini
Also read >> Alexandre Rubio (Mayor of Bassens): “We want to avoid a closed-door scenario”
