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Strasbourg are a club torn between inertia and evolution. Change is visible all around the Meinau: in its recently developed stands and on the pitch where, in two years, they have gone from perennial relegation strugglers to Champions League candidates. The motor for change was BlueCo’s purchase of the club in 2023. The takeover was met with stout opposition and the team’s upward trajectory since has done little to remould public opinion.
“I feel like we are back at the beginning. I am so disappointed with the reaction,” complained Liam Rosenior on Sunday, exasperated by the latest fan protests. You needn’t scratch too much to uncover the resentment that bubbles beneath the surface of the Meinau. The 15-minute strike, where the club’s ultras remain silent at the start of matches, is now just a common feature of Strasbourg fixtures, and you are never more than a few weeks away from a lengthy and often explosive supporters group communique denouncing some facet of the management of the club.
BlueCo have always been the target of the fans’ ire – and that remains the case – but recent protests have also seen other figures caught in the crossfire. Marc Keller, who played for Strasbourg in the 1990s and came to the club’s rescue when it went bankrupt in the early 2010s, is the latest target. He built the club back up from the amateur divisions but fans are furious that he sold up to BlueCo. Strasbourg’s supporters federation called for him to “face his responsibilities” and leave before their match against Le Havre on Sunday. “We will never accept what Marc Keller has done to the club by selling to BlueCo,” read the statement.
And what the club has become is acquiescent. What Chelsea want, Chelsea get. Ben Chilwell hardly fits the team’s needs but that is largely irrelevant to BlueCo given their extensive portfolio of players. He needed a new club and interest wasn’t forthcoming, so Chelsea sent him to Strasbourg to join Mathis Amougou and Diego Moreira, who have also made the same move in recent seasons. Chilwell made his debut in the 1-0 win over Le Havre. He was hooked at half-time.
Strasbourg fans are unimpressed by BlueCo’s opaque dealings and asset juggling. Ishé Samuels-Smith joined Strasbourg from Chelsea on a permanent deal this summer before returning to Stamford Bridge and then being sent out on loan to Swansea City – all within the same window. “They’re taking us for fools,” read a banner unfurled by the Strasbourg fans in response to the saga.
A more disparaging banner was reserved for Emanuel Emegha, who will move to Chelsea next summer. The power dynamics within the BlueCo “family” mean that Chelsea get the pick of the crop. Emegha scored 14 league goals last season and was handed the captain’s armband over the summer, but he is now preparing to move to Stamford Bridge.
The announcement of the deal was not well received in Alsace. “Emegha, pawn of BlueCo, after changing shirts, hand back your captain’s armband,” read a banner. Rosenior said that Emegha was “devastated” by the banner. “I don’t know why they want him to leave straight away,” added Moreira. “OK, he has signed for Chelsea, but he is still here.”
Emegha’s insistence that he is “100% focused on Strasbourg until the end of the season” has not appeased fans. However, that he remains in France at all this season is a testament to Strasbourg’s newfound exceptionalism. While the financial realities of French football force others to sell, Strasbourg are able to retain their assets and resist even the advances of “top European clubs that play in the Champions League” – as revealed by Emegha himself.
Having brought in 18 players this summer for a combined €110m, making them the top spenders in Ligue 1, above even PSG, Strasbourg are now the envy of French clubs. And yet, despite joining the elite, fans are reminiscent of the times of hardship, of relegation struggles and financial worries. Rosenior pleaded for fans to applaud his players after a hard-fought win against Le Havre; he was met with hostility, boos and jeers. “Please, please,” he shouted, but the Englishman cut the image of a man fighting a hopeless battle.
The win, secured through Joaquín Panichelli’s late penalty, takes them up to fifth in Ligue 1 and level on points with third-placed Monaco. Having finished seventh last season, their performances so far this campaign suggest they will be in the race for a Champions League place. It would be quite the achievement but, for many Strasbourg fans, it still won’t be enough.
Ligue 1 results
ShowLille 2-1 Toulouse
Brest 1-2 Paris FC
Metz 1-1 Angers
PSG 2-0 Lens
Strasbourg 1-0 Le Havre
Rennes 0-1 Lyon
Nice 1-0 Nantes 0
Auxerre 1-2 Monaco 2
Marseille 4-0 Lorient
Talking points
PSG continued their winning start to the season but it came at a cost. Luis Enrique, head shaven and in a sling after breaking his collarbone in a bike accident during the international break, watched on as Bradley Barcola scored both goals in a 2-0 win against Lens. Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué missed the game after picking up injuries on France duty, much to the frustration of PSG, who said they “deplored” Les Bleus’ management of Dembélé in particular. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lee Kang-in and Lucas Beraldo also came off injured on Sunday. PSG may just be a victim of their own success last season, going all the way in the Champions League and the Club World Cup, affording them a pre-season that lasted merely seven days. The effects are already being felt.
Lyon defied expectations at the start of the season. They only stayed in Ligue 1 after an appeal and are now without key players such as Rayan Cherki, Lucas Perri and Georges Mikautadze, who all left in order to redress the financial balance and fulfil the promises made to authorities. So it was a surprise when Paulo Fonseca’s side won their first three games without conceding a single goal. However, their luck turned at the weekend against Rennes. They conceded three in a late collapse after the England youth international Tyler Morton was harshly shown a red card in the 75th minute. Lyon were 1-0 up when he was sent off; they ultimately lost 3-1, handing Rennes their first win since their season opener.
Perhaps Éric Roy was not catastrophising when he said that Brest, who competed in the Champions League last season, would be fighting for their survival in Ligue 1 this time around. Key players such as Pierre Lees-Melou, Mahdi Camara and Abdallah Sima were part of a mass exodus, and the impact is being felt on the pitch. After a draw on the opening weekend, Brest have since lost three on the bounce. Their latest defeat – 2-1 at home to Paris FC – leaves them in the relegation zone, exactly where Roy feared they would be.
This is an article by Get French Football News
