Onward and Out: New Window, New players, New Beginning

Hi everyone, My name is Anicho. This will be my first blog for theOffside, and I will be Jennifer’s new co-blogger. I look forward to helping Jennifer keep you updated on Les Girondins for the next couple of years. I’ve been following Bordeaux for about four season, now. It was under Ricardo in 2007 that I began to watch, but it wasn’t until Laurent Blanc’s first season with the club that I decided to become a fan, and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Yesterday the transfer window officially opened. I don’t expect Bordeaux to be very active in the next few weeks during the World Cup, but hopefully we’ll hear some interesting news, especially in regards to Chamakh’s replacement. So far there has not been any concrete rumours; we have been linked to players like, Mario Mandzukic from Dinamo Zagreb, Ljuboja from Grenoble, Bobo from Besiktas, and even Brandoa ! (Incredible!) We have also been reported to be following Cabaye, Dieumerci Mbokanito of Standard de Liege and Issiar Dia. We haven’t been linked to Gameiro as of yet; he appears to have a price tag of 15 million euros which I believe is too much for the club.

At the moment I doubt the legitimacy of many of the rumours because Jean Tigana is not even here! He’s in Brazil right now watch matches in Sao Paulo. I’m hoping that he’ll find some really exciting young players to add to our squad with the help of Ricardo who practically set the frame work to our current squad.

Looking into next season, I think for the most part we will keep the majority of our players. I can only see Alou and or Gourcuff leaving due to none European qualification, and Bellion, Gouffran, Henrique and maybe Cavenaghi leaving due to being surplus to requirements or playing time issues.

Alot of people have already begun to write us off and seem to think that Bordeaux are done and will not reach the same heights as the did in 2009, or that Bordeaux will fall into helm of mediocrity and become an average team. I think, this team (If it remains intact) is still very capable of competing with Marseille and Lyon, although they still do have a superior team to us. At the very least, we should be competing with Lille for the final Champions league place. After what we achieved last year, I don’t see why we can’t achieve similar results with one or two good additions.

Last season it was not our individual quality that had won us the title; it was hard work and team spirit instilled into the team by Blanc and Gassets, that helped us win our first L1 title in 10 years. The never say die attitude, sweat until every last drop of sweat is gone attitude. It was our mentality that set us appear from Lyon and Marseille last season, the beautiful football only follows after the team spirit. I think Jean Tigana will instills a similar philosophy of worth ethic, so why not? Why can’t we do it again?

If you have any questions, no problem don’t hesitate to ask.

Allez Bordeaux!

Category: Bordeaux Team News