EA Guingamp: They score when they want

On the penultimate day of the Ligue 2 season, the final two places on the promotion podium were decided. FC Nantes and En Avant Guingamp secured one-nil victories against sides already doomed to relegation. These results, coupled with others, meant that two sides from the north west of France will be rubbing shoulders with the glitterati of French Football’s top league. With AS Monaco crowned champions, the top end of Ligue 2 is essentially done and dusted ahead of the final round of games (EAG can finish above FCN if results go their way).

Monaco’s title is well merited if expected or standard given the resources that they have and the investments made in the squad, and FC Nantes are one of France’s traditional powerhouses-cum-sleeping-giants (for more on FCN’s promotion, do read this excellent piece).

While it is certainly good for sentimentality and nostalgia to see Monaco and FC Nantes’ return to Ligue 1, it is the story of En Avant Guingamp which is worth delving a little deeper into.

En Avant Guingamp are returning to Ligue 1 after nine years in the wilderness, one glorious day in Paris in 2009 aside.  This promotion caps a remarkable 3 years for the club as Guingamp were, in fact, relegated to the Championnat National in 2009-10 before bouncing immediately back. So these three seasons under the tenure of Jocelyn Gourvennec have marked great and continued progression.  To recognise this, Gourvennec was elected as Ligue 2 Manager of the Year. Interviewed in France Football afterwards he spoke of his happiness at being awarded the prize whilst casting an eye forward to the challenges of Ligue 1.

“We will continue to work and do what we know how to do very well at Guingamp, move forward with humbleness but with a lot of desire as we want to do something in this league.”

Gourvennec was not the only person at EAG to get a gong at the end of season awards: midfield supremo Gianelli Imbula walked home with the Ligue 2 player of the season trohpy. The Congolese player is much sought after and there has been a large amount of speculation around Imbula. A Google search for him throws up pretty much nothing but transfer rumours.  Hardly surprising given that he is an “incredible player with an excellent mentality”, according to his manager. A grander stage surely awaits.

One does not normally succeed in football without scoring goals (whatever Jonathan Wilson may tell you) and it is no coincidence that EAG boasts the top Ligue 2 goalscorer in their ranks. Mustapha Yatabaré has hit the back of the net 23 times with the 38^th game week to come. Impressively he has that amount of goals without a single penalty. Putting that statistic into context, no-one has scored more goals in a Ligue 2 season since Guillaume Hoarau in 2007/8; last season’s top scorer had 15. Guingamp have managed to blend immense physicality, which is often needed in this division, and high levels of technical skill, Thibault Giresse adding elements of finesse to proceedings with his total 13 assists this season.

So Ligue 1 will keep up its Breton quota next year but what actually is known about Guingamp? Firstly, pronunciation: Gan-gomp (but go softly on the P) is an approximation of it for Anglophones. However, I fear it may join the realms of Reims and Angers in being forever problematic for English speakers.

EAG’s most recent time in Ligue 1, four seasons at the turn of the millennium, was in part instigated by two future English Premier League stars in Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba, both of whom were involved in the club’s best ever finish, 7^th in 2002-03, before leaving for Lyon & Marseille respectively.

One thing that does single Guingamp out as abnormal is the population. It is quoted as being just below 8,000 and yet EAG play their home games in a stadium with a capacity of 18,250 – around two and half times the number of the town’s inhabitants. This situation is not unique in France (this article [Fr] neatly sums up other similar occurrences). The support must therefore come from surrounding areas as well as the town residents, towns such as Saint-Brieuc, Lanion or Dinan amongst other areas of the Cotes-D’Armor department of Brittany.

Whether EAG will be able to avoid an immediate return to Ligue 2  is debatable; much like any promoted team, recruiting effectively and cleverly will be imperative. Their home record has been mightily impressive in Ligue 2 this season and will need to be carried forth into Ligue 1. Creating ‘fortress Roudourou’ could be a vital step towards potential safety. This is surely achievable given that it is a fairly old fashioned stadium and is full of character. This stadium filled with partisan, passionate Bretons making a lot of noise could be a daunting prospect for Ligue 1 teams.