Olympique Lyonnais Cafe

[sl7vk]

Well I could certainly think of worst than Hollier....

http://sports.fr/fr/images/features/200447/domenech_crop.jpg

[Catfish]

Why is Lyon not more popular? They are obviously a great club with tons of talent, depth, and great at developing players.
So what gives?

Thanks.

[sl7vk]

Why is Lyon not more popular? They are obviously a great club with tons of talent, depth, and great at developing players.
So what gives?

Thanks.

I'll try to field this one....
Lyon's success is really recent.... 10 years ago the club was a consistant mid to lower level league one team, equivalent to PSG now (that was just a shot at Ganu). Seriously, I would say they would have been like Nantes is now. In terms of the EPL I would have compared them to maybe Birmingham City. Historically, St. Etienne has been the regional powerhouse... Other fans outside of Lyon might have been attracked to Marseille as well. Lyon's success is all very new, and it takes time to garnish support and "convince" fringe fans that you are the real deal, and that you are going to dominate for a long time. Recently Lyon was voted the most popular club in France by L'equipe, something that would have been totally unthinkable even 5 years ago.
So to answer your question... Be patient, Lyon is starting to take over.

[SportBoy333]

Well I thought our guy guignol was the man to keep us up to date with all the latest Lyon match information and news and all that surrounds the club. Sadly I was wrong about him. I thought he would do here what ganu does in the PSG forum. Lyon played Bordeaux yesterday and he didnt even come in here and mention the match at all. No starting lineups, no match updates, no nothing. Shame on you guignol for letting us and your team down.

[guignol]

sorry SB333, i only do this at work. at weekends i'm almost never in front of a computer.

i can put you onto a great place for live match updates: http://live.football365.fr/
it's in french, but they're not discussing philosophy or nuclear science, so it's readable...

Lyon
Florent Malouda (24')
Cris (34')
Cris (46')
Sidney Govou (67')
Sidney Govou (84')
Bordeaux
Albert Riera (10')

is about the same in any language!

[ikvat]

Once more, Lyon has been untouchable!

[guignol]

Why is Lyon not more popular? They are obviously a great club with tons of talent, depth, and great at developing players.
So what gives? Thanks. this year, OL topped the équipe poll for the first time as the most popular club in france. of course this is not necessarily among supporters, it includes everyone from schoolboys to housewives.

OL's success is recent; only 15 years ago they were in D2. and they have yet to make the kind of run in european competition that makes all of france, and not just the lyonnais, get dreamy-eyed.

the general opinion the french have about lyon is perhaps partly responsible. it has an (underserved) reputation for being bourgeois, cold, aloof and dreary.

[sl7vk]

Here's your replacement for Essien or Diarra.

Aulas drague Toulalan (http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/050516/35/7cb1.html)

[lefutur]

great game against Bordeaux. Lyon was moving the ball around almost as well as Arsenal did when they demolished Everton.

At this rate they are gonna be really solid in Europe next year.

[gaijin]

Here's your replacement for Essien or Diarra.

Aulas drague Toulalan (http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/050516/35/7cb1.html)

Agreed.

And in English:

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/list.asp?hlid=276838&lid=11&cpid=24&title=Lyon+trail+Toulalan&channel=France

[SportBoy333]

I really think Toulalan should stay at Nantes. That team's stadium is always full(35,000 +), they have great support and as far as I know the club is not in any major debt. There's no reason why they shouldnt be able to keep this 21 yr old kid. If they sell him they are sending a horrible message to their great fans.

[guignol]

nantes is obviously a solid club, i've seen some of their youth teams play, they really know how to grow players, and above all the nantes style has become a model.

that said, les canaris are very close to relegation, and we know what that means. besides, nantes has made a tradition of growing little canaries and letting them take wing when they're ready to leave the nest...

another name on the short list is sochaux's jérémy mathieu. it's interesting, with all the hullaballoo about essien and diarra, that DMF is one of the posts that OL was already looking to reinforce for next year due to the CAN, which will mean lots of absences for african internationals. and this is something to factor in on the worth of essien and diarra for next season.

[SportBoy333]

nantes has made a tradition of growing little canaries and letting them take wing when they're ready to leave the nest...



Sounds like a tradition of being cheap and lacking ambition to me. They are the most popular club in the entire northwest of France. They have a very modern and nice 38,000 + seat stadium thats usually filled. Nantes is not some tiny town. There's no excuse for them doing what they do unless they have a owner who doesnt want to spend any money to win and it seems that they clearly have one of those.

[guignol]

i can't say you're wrong. i certainly wish that some clubs like auxerre, sochaux and nantes had bigger budgets, and certain others like OM and PSG had the organization and serious attitude of the first mentioned!

i was talking with some colleagues at lunch yesterday about this. OL is paradoxically handicapped by the lack of competition in france. whether lyon has really outgrown the league or their opponents were particularly inept this year, the result is the same: french titles are discounted, the players have to go abroad to find challenges, and the difference between league matches and european fixtures is too great.

but to go farther, why is france so far behind the "big" leagues?

money. not that france is a poor country. but the tax structure penalizes our clubs (except monaco), and FFF rules about budgets and PLC's really hamstring french football.

but are we really wrong, and england, spain and italy right? fighting against the control of sport by money is a rear guard action doomed to failure, but perhaps it's the good fight.

[SportBoy333]

i can't say you're wrong. i certainly wish that some clubs like auxerre, sochaux and nantes had bigger budgets, and certain others like OM and PSG had the organization and serious attitude of the first mentioned!



No you cant compare Nantes to those 2 other teams. Auxerre is a small town that averages 10,000 people per game and Sochuax has a 20,000 seat stadium and gets around 14 or 15,000 per games. Those 2 clubs really shouldnt have bigger budgets. Nantes are more popular than those 2 clubs combined. If Nantes had a different owner who had ambition they would have a bigger budget.

[guignol]

yes, you're right, although auxerre draws from all of burgundy and right down to lyon country, so they theoretically could draw as well as lens.

but what i still regret is that the best run clubs are those who don't have the means to show all they know how to do.

just a last word about nantes. of all the teams i've seen, at all levels, the one that impressed me the most were the 7 year olds FCNA brought to the big minguettes tournament last year. from their kits and bags, to their warmups to their disciplined play... wow! they were really proud to wear that shield and they did it honor. they put all the other clubs to shame, notably the OM 9 year olds, who almost forfeited a match because their coach couldn't get them rounded up at kickoff time!

[SportBoy333]

i was talking with some colleagues at lunch yesterday about this. OL is paradoxically handicapped by the lack of competition in france. whether lyon has really outgrown the league or their opponents were particularly inept this year, the result is the same: french titles are discounted, the players have to go abroad to find challenges, and the difference between league matches and european fixtures is too great.

I think its because their opponents were inept rather than they have outgrown the league. Marseille, PSG, Monaco, Bordeuax, Lens, Toulouse, Nantes, St. Etienne, etc. these teams should be able to provide more than enough competition for them. Remember before Lyon's 4 championships in row like 8 different teams in 10 years won the title. In all the other countries the big clubs dominate but it France the 2 traditionallly biggest clubs OM and PSG do not dominate. PSG havent won since 94 and Marseille since 93. Imagine if Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayren Munich, Milan, Juventus, Inter, Manchester Uninted hadn't won a title in over 10 years. Thats inconceivable. Marseille and PSG's mismanagement has allowed Lyon to sneak it and take their spot.


but to go farther, why is france so far behind the "big" leagues?

money. not that france is a poor country. but the tax structure penalizes our clubs (except monaco), and FFF rules about budgets and PLC's really hamstring french football.

but are we really wrong, and england, spain and italy right? fighting against the control of sport by money is a rear guard action doomed to failure, but perhaps it's the good fight.

No we are right and they are wrong. France doesnt have teams in the top 2 leagues going into massive debts. Spain and Italy wont allow for a European DNCG to happen. They know the consequences of what would happen if they did. Their teams would be in trouble.

[SportBoy333]

Seperated at birth:

The man who should be and could be Lyon's next manager Carlos Bianchi.

http://www.sugerimos.com/contenido/uploads/tn1_23274a.JPG


American comedian and writer Larry David.


http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9804/14/larry.david/larry.david.jpg

[sl7vk]

yes, you're right, although auxerre draws from all of burgundy and right down to lyon country, so they theoretically could draw as well as lens.

but what i still regret is that the best run clubs are those who don't have the means to show all they know how to do.

just a last word about nantes. of all the teams i've seen, at all levels, the one that impressed me the most were the 7 year olds FCNA brought to the big minguettes tournament last year. from their kits and bags, to their warmups to their disciplined play... wow! they were really proud to wear that shield and they did it honor. they put all the other clubs to shame, notably the OM 9 year olds, who almost forfeited a match because their coach couldn't get them rounded up at kickoff time!

Even if the government can take Nantes away from Brittany, they are still Bretons...... and Bretons are proud honorable people. It's no surprise that there youth teams play like they do.

[sl7vk]

Not to get too far off of subject but...
Landreau vers Villareal (http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/050517/35/7cmf.html)
Hasn't Landreau been rumored to leave for like 5 years now.... Oh well, some things don't change.