The I hate Lille/Lille sucks thread

[SportBoy333]

I hate this team. I hate that they are probably gonna be in the Champions League even though they have a small budget. I hate that they dont even have their own stadium to play in. If I were Lens I would not let them use my stadium for the Champions League. Force them to have to use the Stade de France instead. What does Lens gain by letting them use their stadium ? The only reason that they are 2nd in Ligue 1 is because the league is so weak. Thank god they lost to Monaco today. If you saw that match you saw how out played they were. This team has no depth. Do you really think they are gonna add anyone good for next year to help them improve. They will lose more good players than they will add. Here is hoping they lose all their remaining games and dont get into the Champions League. Monaco is now 1 pt behind them for 2nd. Marseille needs to go on a winning streak now and hope Lille drops points and loses if they want to catch them. JUST SAY NO TO LILLE IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND YES TO MONACO AND MARSEILLE. Let us all pray for the sake of French soccer.

[gaijin]

Oh, dear.

I like you Sportboy - but I'm gonna have to neg-rep you if you cannot give me good reason to....

This team has done fantastic this year. They have no money, no stadium and have managed to get into the CL thanks to team effort, hardwork and sheer self-belief. If only PSG, Nantes and Bordeaux undertsnad those crucial elements of the game - then we would have some serious competition in France. Yet, we don't.

If you could only understand that games are not won in the cities population, their hardcore fans or their amazing players, pretige and wealth. They are won on the football field.

Lille are up there on merit and they truely deserve what they get. If a team plays attractive football, utilises what it has to the maximium and plays other incomptent teams off the park, it's hardly their fault. I think it would best be served if you started a diatribe against french soccer in general and its pathetic attempts to catch the Lyon express before you pick on a club like Lille. The so called 'bigger' teams are the ones who deserved to be slain my friend.

I say, all the best Lille. Claude Puel is a great manager, was harshly treated at Monaco and deserves all the success he gets with Lille.

Good luck to them, the LOSC fans deserve it.

[SportBoy333]

I know they have earned it on the pitch but they've benfitted from bigger teams doing so poorly. I respect your opinion ganu but I am all for what is best for French soccer and I dont think Lille is the Champions League benefits French soccer in any which way. As a fan I'd rather see Monaco and Marseille in the Champions League rather than Lille. I know Lille earned it over those teams but I dont care. I wanna see the teams in there with the best chance to do well in the competition and those teams this offseason will spend more to improve than Lille will. Their fans arent even that great. Look at their dreadfull attendence. You said Lille was the 4th largest French city how can you have fans and a stadium like that if you are in the 4th largest city. Most of the inhabitants of Lille choose to support RC Lens rather than their own team anyway.

[gaijin]

Also You do understand that Lille has a far bigger population than Monaco right? In fact, I would hazard a guess that there new stadium could house the Monegasque population. You do also understand that Lille has 5 cup wins the same number as Monaco right? You do also understand that they also have a championship to their names as well.

Let me tell you something, a few years back a team from Rhones Alpes started to qualify for Europe with a smallish team, a decent fanbase from a very large town and had won not alot (just 5 cup wins)

Have a guess, have a guess who that was? Yep. Lyon. Gaining European qualiciation two years in a row, helped this team build a foundation upon which they could build and build and start to knock us and Marseille off the top of the powerfulest teams in French soccer.

Before Aulas arrived and they found Santini, Lyon were a very, very avergae to good side in Ligue 1. Now they are dominanting the domestic front.

To stop a potential Lyon coming through would be an absolute travesty. In what way would Lille not entering the CL be a success? Please tell me...

[gaijin]

I know they have earned it on the pitch but they've benfitted from bigger teams doing so poorly. I respect your opinion ganu but I am all for what is best for French soccer and I dont think Lille is the Champions League benefits French soccer in any which way.

Heh. I guess, you must have a warped opinon of French soccer my friend. Its not about the benefit as a whole, it's as much as giving a much needed kick up the arse to everyone else and trying to establish a sense of competiton. What's the point in running, if we know that we are just gonna lose? Because it's 'fun?' Gimme a break.

As a fan I'd rather see Monaco and Marseille in the Champions League rather than Lille. I know Lille earned it over those teams but I dont care. I wanna see the teams in there with the best chance to do well in the competition and those teams this offseason will spend more to improve than Lille will.

How can you be fan? You want to impede the development of French soccer, because you would rather see the same teams reach the second round, lose and pick up their pay-check - so they can monopolise the domestic game even further?

If you are good enough to outplay everyone for 38 games, then you deserve a reward, regardless if you are local pub team. Teams cannot live off their repuatation - you have to earn it, and Lille are doing that.

How an earth can they become, a Marseille or a Monaco - if you will not give them a chance. If you ran the FFF, I reckon you would have scoffed at Lyon in the mid nighties then...?

What makes you so sure, Lille won't do so well? I guess many laughed when Monaco were in there last year too....They didn't exactly have a squad with strength indepth.

Their fans arent even that great. Look at their dreadfull attendence. You said Lille was the 4th largest French city how can you have fans and a stadium like that if you are in the 4th largest city.

Ahh, I see we are unware of the new stadium hiccups then? Trust me, the thing is way out of town. The only people who have been going there are the hardcore fans - many don't like the idea of driving 10 miles out of town to see there team. The old stadium was right in the heart of the town.

Many Brighton fan will attest, Gillingham may as well have been on Mars.

Most of the inhabitants of Lille choose to support RC Lens rather than their own team anyway.

What are basing that on? A hunch? I have been to Lille. I know many a Lillois, and I can tell you for a fact, they don't support Lens.

[SportBoy333]

Also You do understand that Lille has a far bigger population than Monaco right?

Yes they do and their average attendence isnt even that much higher than Monaco's is.

In fact, I would hazard a guess that there new stadium could house the Monegasque population.

They'll be lucky to average 20,000 per game in that new stadium. Look at the history of Lille' attendence. I dont think they've ever averaged more than 17,000 per season. They should have started building that new stadium after there 1st Champions League run 3 years ago. Now theyre gonna go on their 2nd CL run and they havent even started building it yet.

Let me tell you something, a few years back a team from Rhones Alpes started to qualify for Europe with a smallish team, a decent fanbase from a very large town and had won not alot (just 5 cup wins)

Have a guess, have a guess who that was? Yep. Lyon.

Lyon is the 3rd largest French city so there was always potential there. Their attendene throughout the years has always been higher than Lille's. The difference is that most people in Lyon support OL while most people in Lille support RC Lens.



To stop a potential Lyon coming through would be an absolute travesty.

I dont think they are a "potential Lyon". I think Toulouse and St.Etienne
are better bets to be potential Lyons then Lille are. TFC and ASSE will be better next year, Lille will not be.


In what way would Lille not entering the CL be a success? Please tell me...

Playing your matches in a half empty stadium thats also the same stadium as your hated rivals is not a success to me its embarrasing.

[SportBoy333]

How can you be fan? You want to impede the development of French soccer, because you would rather see the same teams reach the second round, lose and pick up their pay-check - so they can monopolise the domestic game even further?

They can go further than the 2nd round. They always have the potential to go far. I wouldnt mind seeing Lyon, Marseille and PSG as the same 3 French reps in the Champions League year after year. It wouldnt bother me. Biggest budgets and most fans hence the best chance to do well. I know its not possible those 3 teams can make it every year so in the event they dont I wanna see well supported teams like Lens, ASSE, and Bordeaux or rich teams like Monaco take their place instead of teams like Lille and Auxerre.





If you are good enough to outplay everyone for 38 games, then you deserve a reward, regardless if you are local pub team. Teams cannot live off their repuatation - you have to earn it, and Lille are doing that.

Thats true but call me crazy or senile but I really dont care.

How an earth can they become, a Marseille or a Monaco - if you will not give them a chance. If you ran the FFF, I reckon you would have scoffed at Lyon in the mid nighties then...?

I wouldnt scoff at a team in the 3rd largest city who has good support. Even when Lille were playing in their old stadium their support was not as good as what Lyon gets. I dont think Lille has ever averaged over 17,000 per season in their history.

What makes you so sure, Lille won't do so well? I guess many laughed when Monaco were in there last year too....They didn't exactly have a squad with strength indepth.

Monaco has more money than Lille to sign better players. Their youth system is also better than Lille's is. Lille will not do well because they will lose more good players than they will bring it.



Ahh, I see we are unware of the new stadium hiccups then? Trust me, the thing is way out of town. The only people who have been going there are the hardcore fans - many don't like the idea of driving 10 miles out of town to see there team. The old stadium was right in the heart of the town.

Many Brighton fan will attest, Gillingham may as well have been on Mars.

They didnt exactly fill up their old stadium every week.



What are basing that on? A hunch? I have been to Lille. I know many a Lillois, and I can tell you for a fact, they don't support Lens.

Lens average over 35,000 per game. All those people have to come from somewhere since Lens is only 40,000 people. I'm guessing most of them come from Lille because its the largest city near by and the center of the whole region.

[gaijin]

Yes they do and their average attendence isnt even that much higher than Monaco's is.


Lille 2000/01 = 16,859 (highest - 20,000)
Monaco 2000/01 = 7,559 (highest - 16,000)

Lille 2001/02 = 17,581 (highest - 20,380)
Monaco 2001/02 = 7,213 (highest - 15,000)

Lille 2002/03 = 15,559 (highest - 20,211)
Monaco 2002/03 = 8,448 (highest - 17,172)

Lille 2003/04 = 15,104 (highest - 20.480)
Monaco 2003/04 = 10,394 (highest - 16.560)

I think that's fairly bigger, I'd say.


They'll be lucky to average 20,000 per game in that new stadium. Look at the history of Lille' attendence. I dont think they've ever averaged more than 17,000 per season. They should have started building that new stadium after there 1st Champions League run 3 years ago. Now theyre gonna go on their 2nd CL run and they havent even started building it yet.


Yet how do you not know that the new stadium will attract more fans? You cannot be certain. You are going on the pretense that the old Grimonprez-Jooris, will be a conintuation for their new ground? I think its fairly ignorant, to say that they should have built there stadium then, rather than now. They have actually been trying for years to rebuild their stadium - but the situaition with the Local counsel has boiled over into serious difficulties over planning permission.


Lyon is the 3rd largest French city so there was always potential there. Their attendene throughout the years has always been higher than Lille's.


Nice is a big city. Are they potential then? What about Grenoble?

You do know that the population of Lyon has radically grown during the eighties and nighties yes? Look at St-Etienne's rapid growth too. The aire urbaine of Lille is one of the biggest in France, they have a large cachment zone to deal with.


The difference is that most people in Lyon support OL while most people in Lille support RC Lens.


Bulls***t. Again, where is your proof for this? You just assume all Lillois support Lens. Come on. Yes, just like all the people in Nice or Montpellier support Marseille. lol.


I dont think they are a "potential Lyon". I think Toulouse and St.Etienne
are better bets to be potential Lyons then Lille are. TFC and ASSE will be better next year, Lille will not be.


Right. Okay then. Tell me which team has played in the CL in the past few seasons out of them two then.....


Playing your matches in a half empty stadium thats also the same stadium as your hated rivals is not a success to me its embarrasing.

That is an option thrust upon them by the local counsel, which will not allow them to rebuild their ground. Its a last ditch option, that most Lille fans do not like. They have no other option.

[gaijin]

They can go further than the 2nd round. They always have the potential to go far. I wouldnt mind seeing Lyon, Marseille and PSG as the same 3 French reps in the Champions League year after year. It wouldnt bother me. Biggest budgets and most fans hence the best chance to do well.


*Sigh* You really don't get it do you? Look up 'Wimbledon FC' then take a look at what happened from the late 70's to the late 90's. It's one of the best things to happen to English football for a long while.

Football needs teams to shake the foundations of French soccer.

You must be really ignorant if you think that having the same 3 teams in the Cl, benefits the domestic game as a whole. I can tell you for a fact if Lille were in the CL, they would be a full house and thousands of fans cheering them on.


I know its not possible those 3 teams can make it every year so in the event they dont I wanna see well supported teams like Lens, ASSE, and Bordeaux or rich teams like Monaco take their place instead of teams like Lille and Auxerre.


Why? St-Etienne have ten title wins, it still didn't stop them getting relegated in the 90's. You cannot live on past repuations, you live for today and the performances you put out today. You are only as good as your last result in football.


Thats true but call me crazy or senile but I really dont care.


I'm not gonna call you senile, I'm gonna catagorise you as a person with absolutely no sense of the elements of a 'competiton'. By your standards, why don't the rest of the teams, bugger off and play their own little league then?


I wouldnt scoff at a team in the 3rd largest city who has good support. Even when Lille were playing in their old stadium their support was not as good as what Lyon gets. I dont think Lille has ever averaged over 17,000 per season in their history.


Juve is a huge club with scant stadium support. Don't judge a club by it's fans.


Monaco has more money than Lille to sign better players. Their youth system is also better than Lille's is. Lille will not do well because they will lose more good players than they will bring it.


The old tax breaks help, if not give them an unfair advantage over Lille. Lille have about an equal youth system I would say.


They didnt exactly fill up their old stadium every week.


Neither did Monaco.


Lens average over 35,000 per game. All those people have to come from somewhere since Lens is only 40,000 people.

Douai-Lens has a population of just over half a million.

Pratcially are all of the major support for French teams (bar PSG and L'OM) is locally based.

[SportBoy333]

Lille 2000/01 = 16,859 (highest - 20,000)
Monaco 2000/01 = 7,559 (highest - 16,000)

Lille 2001/02 = 17,581 (highest - 20,380)
Monaco 2001/02 = 7,213 (highest - 15,000)

Lille 2002/03 = 15,559 (highest - 20,211)
Monaco 2002/03 = 8,448 (highest - 17,172)

Lille 2003/04 = 15,104 (highest - 20.480)
Monaco 2003/04 = 10,394 (highest - 16.560)

I think that's fairly bigger, I'd say.

Well I was talking about this year when I said that. Lille's attendence should be higher than that since they are so much larger than Monaco in population. Lille is not a football town. Those numbers prove that.



Yet how do you not know that the new stadium will attract more fans? You cannot be certain. You are going on the pretense that the old Grimonprez-Jooris, will be a conintuation for their new ground? I think its fairly ignorant, to say that they should have built there stadium then, rather than now. They have actually been trying for years to rebuild their stadium - but the situaition with the Local counsel has boiled over into serious difficulties over planning permission.

Im saying they should have built their new stadium earlier so they wouldnt have to play their Champions League games in another stadium should they have quailfied for it again.



Nice is a big city. Are they potential then? What about Grenoble?

I have more confidence in Nice fans filling up their new stadium than I do in Lille fans filling up their new one. Grenoble I know nothing about.




Bulls***t. Again, where is your proof for this? You just assume all Lillois support Lens. Come on. Yes, just like all the people in Nice or Montpellier support Marseille. lol.

I said most people in Lille support Lens I didnt say all of them do. I base that on a team from a small town averaging 35,000 per game and assuming that those people have to come from somewhere else because the town itself is so small. So I assume they come from the largest city right nearby. Most people in Montpellier and Nice do support Marseille just look at how bad Montpellier and Nice's attendences have been realitive to the size of those cites. I said most I didnt say all. Marseille is the best supportered French team their fans are all over.



Right. Okay then. Tell me which team has played in the CL in the past few seasons out of them two then.....

Next year Toulouse and St. Etienne will both have better seasons than Lille I guarantee it. Those 2 teams have more money to spend this offseason to improve their team than Lille does. The only reason Lille will even spend any decent money is because they want to prepare for the Champions League. Even then I am very dubious as to if they will spend anything big.

[SportBoy333]

*Sigh* You really don't get it do you? Look up 'Wimbledon FC' then take a look at what happened from the late 70's to the late 90's. It's one of the best things to happen to English football for a long while.

Football needs teams to shake the foundations of French soccer.

You must be really ignorant if you think that having the same 3 teams in the Cl, benefits the domestic game as a whole. I can tell you for a fact if Lille were in the CL, they would be a full house and thousands of fans cheering them on.

3 years ago when they were in the Champions League the stadium was most certainly not full. 2/3 or 3/4 maybe but not full.




I'm not gonna call you senile, I'm gonna catagorise you as a person with absolutely no sense of the elements of a 'competiton'. By your standards, why don't the rest of the teams, bugger off and play their own little league then?

How bout they compete for UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup spots instead.

Juve is a huge club with scant stadium support. Don't judge a club by it's fans.

Because their stadium is too large for them.



Neither did Monaco.

Lille should be filling it up to a greater capacity than Monaco does. Didnt you say Lille has over 900.000 people and Monaco 30,000 ?



Douai-Lens has a population of just over half a million.

Pratcially are all of the major support for French teams (bar PSG and L'OM) is locally based.

Bordeaux and St.Etienne have many fans all over as well.

[gaijin]

Well I was talking about this year when I said that. Lille's attendence should be higher than that since they are so much larger than Monaco in population. Lille is not a football town. Those numbers prove that.


Riiiight. You say it was all about population, and being able to get more fans to the stadium? It proves my point. Monaco get crap support, Lille get better support, but are still rubbish and can never be a big team. I don't see how this works....

Surely a team that is able to draw a bigger crowd would be better for the CL then?

You must be insane to think that Lille is not a football town my friend.


Im saying they should have built their new stadium earlier so they wouldnt have to play their Champions League games in another stadium should they have quailfied for it again.


Did you read what I said? They can't. They have had massive planning permisson problems. Stadiums do not magically appear out of thin air when you want them to.


I have more confidence in Nice fans filling up their new stadium than I do in Lille fans filling up their new one. Grenoble I know nothing about.


Well, let me tell you. Grenoble's attendances is nothing to write home about either. And it easily pisses over the popualtion of most middle sized towns.


I said most people in Lille support Lens I didnt say all of them do. I base that on a team from a small town averaging 35,000 per game and assuming that those people have to come from somewhere else because the town itself is so small.


Nope, as I have just stated, the aire urbaine comes in at a cool half a mil. :cool:


So I assume they come from the largest city right nearby. Most people in Montpellier and Nice do support Marseille just look at how bad Montpellier and Nice's attendences have been realitive to the size of those cites. I said most I didnt say all. Marseille is the best supportered French team their fans are all over.


I guess alot of people in Sunderland support Newcastle because they are the better team then?.....lol. Nice hate Marseille. People who do that, are gloryhunters, plain and simple. You obviosuly do not understand local mentality...


Next year Toulouse and St. Etienne will both have better seasons than Lille I guarantee it. Those 2 teams have more money to spend this offseason to improve their team than Lille does. The only reason Lille will even spend any decent money is because they want to prepare for the Champions League. Even then I am very dubious as to if they will spend anything big.

Maybe, but that's for tomorrow - the results don't come before, they come after the game.

PSG once outspent the majority of League teams once, but finished mid-table, what does that prove? Money doesn't always buy you guranteed success.

[Nanbawan]

Anyway, if Lille qualifies for CL, they deserved it through sporting results, period. I don't see the point of this discussion. Sportboy, if you really like the game, you outta show a better spirit. Neither Lille nor its fans deserve this kind of rant ; of course I'd rather see OM and PSG take the spot because they played very well, but that's simply not the case. BTW, PSG's display this season did not really help the credibility of French football...

Having more European experienced teams is a good thing for French football in the long run, and with the recent Champions League single group round format, Lille has a chance to qualify. If we want to see french big guns perform at the higher stage, they'd better have their things tidy again...

[Nanbawan]

PSG once outspent the majority of League teams once, but finished mid-table, what does that prove? Money doesn't always buy you guranteed success.

Money is supposed to stabilise the team at the higher level... :rolleyes:

[Looper121]

I know they have earned it on the pitch but they've benfitted from bigger teams doing so poorly. I respect your opinion ganu but I am all for what is best for French soccer and I dont think Lille is the Champions League benefits French soccer in any which way. As a fan I'd rather see Monaco and Marseille in the Champions League rather than Lille. I know Lille earned it over those teams but I dont care. I wanna see the teams in there with the best chance to do well in the competition and those teams this offseason will spend more to improve than Lille will. Their fans arent even that great. Look at their dreadfull attendence. You said Lille was the 4th largest French city how can you have fans and a stadium like that if you are in the 4th largest city. Most of the inhabitants of Lille choose to support RC Lens rather than their own team anyway.

Hmmm, sorry sportboy. But even though I support another French team it is hard to say that I don't want to see one of the underdog clubs be successful elsewhere in Europe...

[Marsiglia29]

les Supporters de Lille voulait un stade de 50 000 places.

ce stade est une vrai merde, tous les Lillois le dit

- pas couvert
- la pluie
- le vent
- le froid
- la piste
- les tribune loin du terrain
- pas leur stade
- l'horreur de ce stade
...
http://www.stadiumguide.com/lille4.jpg


je suis pour Lille en Ligue des Champions, meme si j'aurais préféré que ça soit Rennes

regarde ce qui ont fait en 2001/2002 pas mal

tour préliminaire de la Ligue des Champions
Parme AC - Lille OSC Aller 0 - 2 Retour 1 - 0

Llille, en 2001/2002 Ligue des Champions

Lille - La Corogne 1-1
Manchester - Lille 1-0
Lille - Olymp. Piraeus 3 - 1
Olymp. Piraeus - Lille 2-1
La Corogne - Lille 1 - 1
Lille - Manchester 1 - 1

qui fini 3ème

UEFA
Fiorentina - Lille Aller 0 - 1 Retour 0 - 2
Lille - B. Dortmund Aller 1 - 1 Retour 0 - 0

voila le parcours de Lille en 2001/2002

en 1999/2000 y joué en D2
en 2000/2001 ce classe en D1 3 éme

Manchester, Olymp. Piraeus... ont eu vraiment du mal a marqué un but contre
Lille.



Le future stade de Nice sera rarement pleins.

Montpellier sont anti-OM , Nice pareil anti-OM

[gaijin]

3 years ago when they were in the Champions League the stadium was most certainly not full. 2/3 or 3/4 maybe but not full.


Erm, I don't think so......Right, I guess the Lille fans are gonna put off a CL match. Come on, that is ludicrous, and you know it. Lens stadium was packed last time around.


How bout they compete for UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup spots instead.


How bout they compete for the competition, they qualified for, and the incompetent teams who couldn't, compete for the UEFA cup and Intetoto spots instead?


[Juve] Because their stadium is too large for them.


And I guess Old Trafford is too big for Man Utd then? The culture is alot different in Italy, crowds are never really that big for most games - plus again the stadium is so far out of town that also attributes to this problem. Juve have to be one the best supported teams in Italy.


Lille should be filling it up to a greater capacity than Monaco does. Didnt you say Lille has over 900.000 people and Monaco 30,000 ?


Right. Since when does the population have any bearing on how team should be well supported? There is no direct correlation in French football, to say that a higher population means increased fans at gates. I said, look at towns like Grenoble and Montpellier, who have scant support. Oh, but they are doing crap and thus don't get the support?

Ay, and there's the crux.

At least Lille have the capacity to get people in. Monaco will never attract 20,000 of their own fans.


Bordeaux and St.Etienne have many fans all over as well.

Erm, I would say marginally. Unlike our estimeed Geordie Canadian, there aren't that many Les Verts world-wide as say PSG or Marseille.

Anyway, if Lille qualifies for CL, they deserved it through sporting results, period. I don't see the point of this discussion. Sportboy, if you really like the game, you outta show a better spirit. Neither Lille nor its fans deserve this kind of rant ; of course I'd rather see OM and PSG take the spot because they played very well, but that's simply not the case.

Having more European experienced teams is a good thing for French football in the long run, and with the recent Champions League single group round format, Lille has a chance to qualify. If we want to see french big guns perform at the higher stage, they'd better have their things tidy again...

I like Lille, but I thought his comments in a creating a thread, that is called the Lille sucks thread was very imflammatory. If he did this, but replaced Lille with PSG and kept the same ethos going, what kind of response would he have gotten?

If he would have just said, I think what Lille has done has been great but I would prefer to see Marseille or PSG there, then fine. But I felt, that he was making out that a team like Lille deserved nothing because they're aren't as big as the latter two clubs, and would ruin the purity of French soccer. Which is absolute nonsense.

I think Lille need to be commended for what they have achieved, and I think anyone who thinks that they are damaging the stucture of French soccer by getting their just rewards is very narrow-minded.

BTW, PSG's display this season did not really help the credibility of French football...

I agree, that even a National side would have put up a better fight in last year's CL than we did.

Money is supposed to stabilise the team at the higher level...

Whilst also destabilising the clubs at a lower level as well. They could theoretically buy all the best talent in the league and increase their own chances whilst destroying their oppenents chances. Everyone needs a level playing field. Continual growth would make certain teams richer and richer and other teams poorer and poorer. Lille's entrance into the CL, would help maintain the balance of power in France, whilst teams like Sochaux, Rennes etc - can still have a shot of Europe.

Some might argue, if we fail to get into any form of European compeition this year, it will benefit the league as a whole. I for one agree.

[guignol]

LOSC has long been overshadowed by their neighbors RC Lens, just as OL was for a long time by les verts. That doesn't mean the Lillois supported Lens in opposition to their home club; the bulldogs have been in the top flight for only a few years, so it's normal for the region as a whole still to to be red and gold. The identity of LOSC is still under construction, just like their stadium. This is being blocked for the moment because of its proximity to a national landmark. Clearly until they get this built it's hard to judge their support. Villeneuve d'Ascq where they play now (not Lens) only holds 18,000, and it's way out of town, so actually their attendance figure are pretty good.

I can say that there are as many Lillois who contribute to the OL board as OM or PSG fans.

As for the two other clubs they're compared with here, once you've been to Lens you can see how a town of 40,000 can pull in 35,000 fans week after week: there's burgerall else to do, and the people there are in dire need of something to feel good about. As for Monaco, the club basically survives due to ONE supporter; the prince. I've been in Louis II and seen fewer fans that for the OL B team.

Lille deserves their position for what they do on the field, but also off it. Lille is like a mini OL; the business magazine l'Expansion named them best managed club in France between 2000 and 2003. Meanwhile, soap opera clubs like PSG and OM had deficits last year bigger than Lille's 20M€ budget. Next year's budget will be 30M€... sounds like the right track to me.

[SportBoy333]

Erm, I don't think so......Right, I guess the Lille fans are gonna put off a CL match. Come on, that is ludicrous, and you know it. Lens stadium was packed last time around.

No I dont think it was packed. Please give me the actual numbers to prove that their 3 CL home games were all full.


And I guess Old Trafford is too big for Man Utd then? The culture is alot different in Italy, crowds are never really that big for most games - plus again the stadium is so far out of town that also attributes to this problem. Juve have to be one the best supported teams in Italy.

Man Utd fill up Old Trafford regularly. When Juve moves into their new stadium their attendence will increase.


Right. Since when does the population have any bearing on how team should be well supported? There is no direct correlation in French football, to say that a higher population means increased fans at gates. I said, look at towns like Grenoble and Montpellier, who have scant support. Oh, but they are doing crap and thus don't get the support?

I'm guessing they dont get bigger support because people in Montpellier rather would support Marseille and people in Grenoble would rather support ASSE and OL rather than their own team

Ay, and there's the crux.

At least Lille have the capacity to get people in. Monaco will never attract 20,000 of their own fans.

Lille is a large city yet the team there has never averaged even 18,000 people per season EVER. To me that doesnt sound like a city thats a big football town.


Erm, I would say marginally. Unlike our estimeed Geordie Canadian, there aren't that many Les Verts world-wide as say PSG or Marseille.

Ok probably more 20 years ago then their are now. Fair enough.


I like Lille, but I thought his comments in a creating a thread, that is called the Lille sucks thread was very imflammatory. If he did this, but replaced Lille with PSG and kept the same ethos going, what kind of response would he have gotten?

I wouldnt have used PSG because PSG is in the capital and largest city and is a much better supported team than Lille is.

If he would have just said, I think what Lille has done has been great but I would prefer to see Marseille or PSG there, then fine. But I felt, that he was making out that a team like Lille deserved nothing because they're aren't as big as the latter two clubs, and would ruin the purity of French soccer. Which is absolute nonsense.

Well I probably should have said I prefer to see OM or PSG there but its not possible for PSG to be there because they are too far down the table so thats why I used Monaco instead of PSG because they are in 3rd place.



I think Lille need to be commended for what they have achieved, and I think anyone who thinks that they are damaging the stucture of French soccer by getting their just rewards is very narrow-minded.

I didnt say they were damaging the structure of French soccer. I said I'd rather see the bigger clubs be the reps in the Champions league. I will bet you all the money in my pocket right now that Lille does not make it out of their Champions League group stage. Lille will not help France's UEFA coff. points that much.





Whilst also destabilising the clubs at a lower level as well. They could theoretically buy all the best talent in the league and increase their own chances whilst destroying their oppenents chances. Everyone needs a level playing field. Continual growth would make certain teams richer and richer and other teams poorer and poorer. Lille's entrance into the CL, would help maintain the balance of power in France, whilst teams like Sochaux, Rennes etc - can still have a shot of Europe.

The only way France can have success in the Champions League is if the bigger clubs are there. Success is what I want. Sochaux and Rennes in the Champions League have little chance of gaining success. They are more suited for the UEFA Cup.

[SportBoy333]

les Supporters de Lille voulait un stade de 50 000 places.

Why does Lille deserve a 50,000 seat stadium when through out their entire history they have never even averaged a measly 20,000 per season. If anything Lens deserves a 50,000 seat stadium because they'd probably fill it.



Le future stade de Nice sera rarement pleins.


I disagree with you my friend. I think Nice's attendence in their new stadium will be better than Lille's attendence is their new stadium. What am I basing this on ? Its just a gut instinct I have. There's more people in the southeast of France than their is is northern France so Nice will have more people to draw from than Lille does.