Rodez arrived four hours late for his trip to Paris FC, a new unfortunate episode for the Ruthenois when it comes to taking the plane.
Our name may be Raf, but that doesn't stop us from having a capricious relationship with planes. The trip to Paris this weekend is added to the list of adventures experienced by the Ruthenian club in recent years. This time there were no fears of the trip to Bastia, in 2004, when a door came off in mid-flight above the Mediterranean, nor of that to Guingamp, in 2022, when a worrying smoke had invited herself into the cabin. But the blood and gold delegation was forced to review all its plans. The heavy fog above Paris, Friday November 1, 2024, actually hampered the trip made via a private flight.
Rather than leaving in the morning, as they are accustomed to, the Aveyron team finally took off on Friday early in the afternoon. And after two vain attempts to land in Melun (Seine-et-Marne), the plane was finally redirected to the Bourget aerodrome. He landed around 2 p.m., four hours behind schedule.
“These events can unite a group, but…”
Enough to shake up the entire pre-match. “We ate at 3 p.m. instead of noon, we didn’t have a pre-match snack, we postponed everything,” explained Didier Santini, the coach. “It’s not the best way to prepare for a match, but that wouldn't have been an excuse if we had lost. I think we are stronger than that.” Moreover, these inconveniences did not prevent his team from achieving a good performance on the leader's field (3-3).
“These are events which can unite a group, which can reveal certain things. But as a coach, I prefer that the day unfolds as we planned, with what we had put in place,” he said. he added. During a normal week it can be fine, but here it happens three days after another trip (During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday), we returned at three in the morning from Bastia.
Rodez airport closed on Saturday
The annoyances were not limited to the outward journey. Because of this change of program, the Ruthenois were not able to take off after the match, as they are used to. They spent the night in the capital, before returning Saturday morning. This time the delegation was forced to land in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), because Rodez airport is closed on Saturdays, before returning by bus at the start of the afternoon.
A trip in which only half of the players participated, while the others, notably those who have family in the Paris region, took advantage of these setbacks to benefit from an improvised weekend in the capital. Note that the traditional clean-up session the day after the match has been canceled, and that the resumption of training will take place as planned on Monday, with two sessions.
