Red lantern of Ligue 2, FC Martigues has just suspended its coach Thierry Laurey. The Provençal club, like Arles-Avignon or Istres a few years ago, is having a season in hell. But is the power of OM the only reason for these successive routs?
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Nothing is going well at FC Martigues. With only nine points in 16 days, the Provencal club is buried at the bottom of Ligue 2. This Monday evening, unsurprisingly after the card received in Troyes (4-0), the club decided to suspend its coach Thierry Laurey. President Pierre Wantiez is looking for an electric shock but, already 6 points behind the 17th, remaining in Ligue 2 has become a very big odds.
The FCM’s nightmare season has an air of déjà vu. She recalls other unfortunate experiences of professional football in Provence. In 2004/2005, Istres played its only season in Ligue 1, finishing in last place with only 32 points and only six victories. The record will be even worse for AC Arles-Avignon (2010/2011) with only 20 points among the elite (3 wins, 11 draws and 24 defeats!). In Marseille, Endoume then Consolat flirted with professionalism without ever achieving it.
Why these failures? First there is the obvious shadow of OM, which seems to devour all that Provence can contain of passion for football. With the exception of SC Toulon with very hot derbies in the 80s, the Olympian club has never had any rival club within 100 km around.
“And yet, there is a window, that of training, explains Lionel Maltese, specialist lecturer at Aix Marseille University.
“OM is weak in training. Other clubs should play in this niche.”
Lionel Maltese, lecturer specializing in sports management at Aix Marseille Universityat France 3 Paca
“But, with Martigues, we have a club that is not structured. We put a team together and see if it works. It’s a gamble. In fact, OM has the same problem of lack of stability but the brand is so strong and the shareholder solid that it still holds up, even if the sporting results are not good, like last season with an 8th place, analysis Lionel Maltese.
Beyond the Olympian competition, it is the absence of long-term vision which seems to penalize these “small” Provençal clubs. “Success in professional football depends on three key people: the president, who must notably manage all relations with local authorities, the general director for the entire economic part, and the sports director with a strong focus on the center training, adds Lionel Maltese.
Without stability, there is no long-term project, with another consequence being stadiums that age quickly. Result, as soon as a team, with great sporting dynamics, reaches the high level, its enclosure is never up to standard. Martigues played its home matches this season in an empty and very expensive Vélodrome before retreating to… Gueugnon, Istres were only able to play… 5 Ligue 1 matches at the Parsemain stadium in Fos, hastily built after the climb. Without a stadium, no audience, no enthusiasm and the impression of an “artificial” club.
To exist in professional sport, you have to avoid football as evidenced by the results and the popular enthusiasm around ice hockey in Marseille with the Spartans or Rugby in Aix with Provence Rugby. For football, outside of OM, there is no salvation…
