Stade de Reims – 2012/13 Season Review

Back in the top flight after a 33-year absence, the Stade Auguste Delaune was absolutely rocking for the opening game against Marseille, and although beaten by a very good Benoit Cheyrou goal, there were positives to take for Hubert Fournier and his team. Losing the next week to Bastia must have had the club worried that they could be facing a swift return to Ligue 2 but bouncing back from that early set-back they would win three of the next four games, and this sort of form continued for the majority of the season. Their Champagne football at home would eventually see them finish 14^th, higher than many predicted at the start of the season.

Reims would end the season with the 11^th best home record in the league, with only four defeats on their own turf, the same as Lyon and Saint-Etienne. It may not have been pretty at times, but it was effective. Paris Saint-Germain, Lille, Saint-Etienne, Lyon and Rennes all left the Champagne-Ardenne region with their tails between their legs. The wonderful win over PSG was inspired by a superb performance by Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak; the former Bordeaux player was the thorn in the Parisians’ side, not only breaking up any attacking move PSG could conjure but popping up with the winner only five minutes after Reims had gone down to ten men. It was a heroic performance from all involved.

That win for Reims inspired PSG’s Sporting Director Leonardo to the famous line:  “We are perhaps not made to play in these types of games…We created a team to play in the Champions League, not the championship.”

Compliments to Reims for probably starting Leonardo’s mental downfall.

Fournier continued to count on tremendous performances from the spine of his team; Gaëtan Courtet top-scored with nine goals, a massively important player with four goals in four games during that early run, an inspiration to the team after coming back to full fitness after a cancer scare saw him battle through chemotherapy. Then behind Krychowiak in the Reims defence, you had the daunting task of taking on Anthony Weber and the dreadlocked Mickaël Tacalfred, both stalwarts in the backline.

Protecting the goal, providing the last line of defence and easily Reims’ best performer during the season was 34-year old Kossi Agassa in goal. The Togolese would have been an ever-present this season if it hadn’t been for the African Cup of Nations taking place in January, luckily Reims survived without his superb shot-stopping and game-saving heroics. He was often the man of the match – just ask Toulouse, Lyon, Brest and Marseille. In those four matches Agassa’s performances helped gain nine vital points, and without his acrobatics the corks would have been firmly sealed on the locals’ champagne.

Before the start of the season President Jean-Pierre Caillot would have had very modest goals – 17^th place would have been as high as they could have wished for, so the heights of 14^th place and avoiding the last-day drama often associated with Ligue 1 promotees will have been beyond their wildest dreams.

Next season will be just as, if not tougher, for Fournier’s men. However, they have the key elements in place and a few young players coming through, so like most teams in the league, with a few key signings and some well-placed luck, top-flight football should be sustainable for one of France’s legendary clubs.

FINAL POSITION: 14th

Review by @Gibney_A