The Thistles sink into their negative spiral. ASNL conceded the biggest defeat in the club’s history in L2 (6-1), Tuesday against Valenciennes. Resident of Ligue 1 between 2013 and 2017, the Lorraine club has been going through a descent into hell for a few years.
An already critical ranking
Since obtaining professional club status in 1967, the ASNL has never played in a championship lower than Ligue 2 (30 seasons in the first division, 24 in the second). After 22 games, Nancy has only 15 points, 7 less than Grenoble, play-off, and 9 less than Bastia, first non-relegation. A critical situation for a historic French professional football club.
Discover the ranking after the 4 late games of the evening pic.twitter.com/X7AVesYftM
– Ligue 2 BKT (@Ligue2BKT) February 1, 2022
A takeover and lowered ambitions
At the head of ASNL since 1994, Jacques Rousselot announced on December 31, 2020 the takeover of the club by an American investment fund specializing in finance and real estate, for nearly 10 million euros. NewCity Capital, already owner of the clubs of Barnsley (English D2) and KV Ostend (Belgian D1), takes over the club from the start of 2021.
Arrived with ambition “to access Ligue 1 in the medium term“, as the new president Gauthier Ganaye confided, the ASNL has invested little during the various transfer markets. All the players who have arrived at the club since it has been under the American flag have been free transfers or loans. This winter , Nancy recorded the arrival of experienced players Yeni N’Gbakoto and Thomas Fontaine (free), as well as Antonin Bobichon (loan, Angers), a recruitment considered insufficient by many supporters in view of the club’s current situation.
The coaches ball
Since the takeover of the club two years ago, no less than four coaches have succeeded each other at the head of the team. Despite a convincing second half of the 2020-2021 season, going from 17th to 7th place, Jean-Louis Garcia’s contract was not renewed at the end of the season.
In July 2021, the new leaders appointed the German coach Daniel Stendel, who had already coached the club of Barnsley, team of the NewCity Capital group, between 2018 and 2019. Under his orders, the ASNL signs the worst start to the season in Ligue 2 of its history. After 6 defeats and 4 draws, the coach was fired and Benoit Pedretti, then coach of the reserve team (N3), became interim number 1.
The former French international resigns on December 23, citing the fact of not being “sure to have the necessary experience to help the team out of this relegation zone“. Looking for an experienced coach, the leaders appointed Albert Cartier at the head of the team at the beginning of January, elected best coach in Ligue 2 in 2014 with Metz. The former Nancy player (193 games) will have little time to bring stability and hope for maintenance.
Alarming statistics
ASNL is by far the most feverish defense in Ligue 2. With 44 goals conceded in 22 games, the Thistles concede an average of two goals per game. It is also the team that concedes the most goals from set pieces in the league. In December, Benoit Pedretti sounded the alarm, saying that a “certain psychosis set in as soon as the team conceded a set piece“.
5 – Valenciennes scored 5 goals in the first period against Nancy. This is the first time that the VAFC has achieved such a performance in L1 or L2 in the 21st century. It is at the same time the first time that the ASNL cashes 5 during the first 45 minutes in L1 / L2 in the 21st. Festival. #VAFCASNL
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) February 1, 2022
In attack, the Nancys also act as bad students. They have only scored 17 goals since the start of the season and only Dunkirk, who precede them in the standings, have done worse with 16 goals. Although they shoot a lot at the opposing goal, Albert Cartier’s players are the most imprecise in the championship with 29.1% of shots on target.
Finally, they are also the most unruly in the championship, with 42 yellow cards and 9 red cards. The Nancy have finished nine games in numerical inferiority. This feverishness makes it difficult to build a good result for the team. Without a quick rectification of weaknesses in different aspects of the game, ASNL seem to be heading for their first season outside the professional world.