Struggling in Ligue 1, Lyon finds its boiling supporters against Brest on Wednesday (9:00 p.m.) during the 21st day and fears a new dispute at Décines-Charpieu after the insurrection which followed the defeat at home against Strasbourg (2-1 ) mid-January.
A fringe of ultra supporters had attacked the players’ bus as soon as it arrived at the venue, which probably did not help OL’s performance. After the end of the meeting, members of the kops had tried to enter the field before investing the access road to the locker rooms. They had been contained and then dispersed by the police.
The unbreathable atmosphere had even forced coach Laurent Blanc to hold his press conference on the edge of the field and not in the auditorium provided for this purpose, in a surreal atmosphere.
Players always targeted
Several players had been targeted for several weeks, like Karl Toko Ekambi, exfiltrated since through a loan to Rennes, or even players at the end of their contract and no longer concerned by the project like Moussa Dembélé and Houssem Aouar, who remain in the crosshairs of the ultras. Laurent Blanc himself castigated, on Sunday in Ajaccio, the attitude of some, without naming them. “You have to be pro and some are more pro than others,” he said after the match.
For his part, President Jean-Michel Aulas has stepped up to defend the director of football Vincent Ponsot and the director of recruitment Bruno Cheyrou, much criticized. “The kops can have an opinion on the players. It is their right. But when they attack leaders who are exemplary … It’s me they’re attacking,” cursed the leader (73), who remained in office despite the takeover of American tycoon John Textor, new owner of the OL.
“We will be working with John on a number of quick transfer window initiatives. But let Vincent Ponsot and Bruno Cheyrou be left alone,” thundered Aulas, who built modern OL. However, he must now face a wave of unpopularity, especially on social networks. For their part, the executives of the ultra groups are finding it increasingly difficult to contain a base of very young members, some of whom were not born at the time of the first of the seven championship titles in 2002.
Since the defeat against Strasbourg, OL have qualified for the Coupe de France against Chambéry (N3, 5th div.) and won in Ajaccio (2-0) while already modifying their squad with departures and an arrival. In addition to the departure of Toko Ekambi, those of the Brazilian Tetê to Leicester and Jeff Reine-Adelaïde to Troyes have been recorded. Conversely, Swedish striker Amin Sarr was recruited.
Lessons against Juninho
But OL are also apprehensive about returning to their stadium in the context of a skirmish, through the media, between Jean-Michel Aulas and the former supporters’ idol, Juninho, whose stint as the club’s sporting director n was not a success (June 2019-December 2021). To his credit, “Juni” has successfully recruited Brazilians Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta, each acquired for 20 million euros and transferred for more than double (85 million euros). But his end of mandate, in a vitiated atmosphere, left traces.
He is now a consultant for RMC where he sometimes gives his negative opinion on OL. The two men blame each other for the club’s current difficulties which, in reality, worsened from the moment coach Bruno Genesio’s departure was announced on April 2, 2019 after a home defeat against Rennes in the semi-finals. final of the Coupe de France – already in a poisonous atmosphere.
The ultras could take advantage of the birthday of the best player in the history of Olympique Lyonnais (48 years old, January 30) to once again express their anger at the downgrading of the club, which is experiencing a complicated new season, very far from its standards of the 2000s.