Usually, the period of resolutions is rather in the middle of winter at the time of New Year’s Day. At the DFCO, they were taken in the heart of summer. Make a clean sweep of last season, the Garande era, and the disappointing 11th place finish. Look up and build on a successful preparation – three defeats and a draw in friendlies, 14 goals scored and just one conceded – under new coach Omar Daf. Deprived of Deaux, Scheidler, Dobre and possibly Jacob (uncertain), the Dijonnais start their championship on Saturday July 30, 2022 with a big piece : AS Saint-Etienne. Kick-off 3 p.m. at Stade Gaston Gérard, to be broadcast in full on the radio thanks to FBB.
Get off to a good start
“There was a lot of frustration last season, we feel players who want to fight it out. (…) All you have to do is let go and have fun”, analyzes Omar Daf. Hitting hard, from the start, against the Greens, described without detour as “favorites” by the neo-Dijonnais, with their label of “relegated from Ligue 1”. The “Reds” want to show that they can compete, that they can be part of the race to the top this season, and not settle for a soft stomach (or even worse, to fight for maintenance), in an exercise where only the first two will reach Ligue 1.
Historically, starting a season with a victory is not really a specialty of Dijon. It’s only happened twice in the last ten seasons. The last in 2018/2019 (a 2-1 success in Montpellier, in L1), the other … in 2012/2013 (1-0 at home against Guingamp, in L2).
Too early to talk about the end goal, really?
At the end of the previous financial year, on May 16, the president of the DFCO, Olivier Delcourt, announced it live in 100% DFCO on France Bleu Bourgogne: “The objective will be to finish in the top two. The objective is to move up next season”. Risky communication that leaves no room for error, or deliberately high ambition to pull the club up? Fans will make up their minds.
A goal reminded of striker Mickaël Le Bihan in the pre-match press conference, who seems to share the ambitions of his president: “When you see the team we have… We know we missed last season. I think we’re pretty strong, we’re expecting one or two recruits, if I’m not talking nonsense. Now , it’s up to us to be efficient and regular, that’s what it takes to go up”.
“It’s much too early. There are players still in the process of leaving. On the offensive level we are not yet complete” -Omar Daf
Inclinations gently tempered by the new Dijon coach, Omar Daf: “We have to be ambitious. Now we also have to approach this very homogeneous championship with a lot of humility. It’s far too early. There are players still waiting to leave. On the offensive level we are not not yet complete. Once we have our full squad, the championship is launched, we can talk about clear objectives.”. A request for reinforcements to read between the lines, as Portuguese winger Xande Silva (Nottingham Forest) is getting closer to signing in Dijon.