Havre won Ligue 2 last season
After five years from their last Ligue 1 campaign, Havre returns to the top division of French football. This is a just reward for a stunning last season, when they largely dominated the competition finishing eight points clear of second placed Nantes. Although they weren’t considered favourites for promotion, Havre surprised everyone and easily clinched first place. New coach Jean-Marc Nobilo arrived at the start of last season, and led his team to success in his first season at the club. He knows that main objective is to avoid relegation, and he has chosen to stick with almost unchanged squad this season. Despite much stronger competition they will play in, Nobilo believes that team spirit that was crucial for great results last season will be again enough to ensure survival.
The squad is almost unchanged
After great success last term, the club decided to keep all the players and only brought a few new ones. Apart from Guillaume Hoarau, who was top goalscorer in Ligue 2, who returned to PSG, and Valery Mezague, who returned to Sochaux, no other players left the club. Indispensible in Toulouse team last season, Nicolas Dieuze added some experience in midfield, along with Stephane Noro, while Cedric Faure who came from Reims is expected to help improve scoring. The rest of the team is pretty much the same as last season, and the club will hope that someone from their youth system, which is famous for producing and nurturing young talent, will shine this term. It will be difficult to replace Hoarau in attack, who scored 28 goals last season.
In
Stephane Noro (Troyes)
Cedric Faure (Reims)
Nicolas Dieuze (Toulouse)
Massamba Sambou (on loan from Monaco)
Guillaume Norbert (Nantes)
Out
Guillaume Hoarau (returned to PSG)
Valery Mezague (returned to Sochaux)
Benjamin Laurant (on loan at Amiens)
Antoine Devaux (Boulogne)
Oliver Blondel (Toulouse)
They will fight for survival
Last season was very successful for the club, and they dominated the second division. The club decided to stick with the same players, and only few players joined the club. Havre is famous for its youth academy, and some young players might get the chance to play this season. Dieuze, Faure and Noro are good players, but the coach faces a tough task replacing Guillaume Hoarau in attack. Of the new players only Norbert is striker, but he may not be good enough for this competition. Coach Nobilo knows that this is much stronger competition, and states that his team must learn to cope with defeats, as they are inevitable. Main objective is to avoid relegation, which may become almost impossible if the club don’t sign some new players, especially in attack. With Hoarau gone, we don’t see where the goals are going to come from, and we feel that Havre will get relegated.
CL
CLQ
UEFA
RELEG