“The Lensois model should inspire French clubs, especially those with more resources than him”

IYou have to beware of good stories in football, capricious screenwriter who often ends them in a fish tail. After triumphing in the final of the Coupe du France last year, FC Nantes received a historic slap at the same stage of the competition, and is now threatened with relegation to Ligue 2.

A descent would give the Canaries the opportunity to write a “return”, classic narrative spring behind which still run, at the lower level, Bordeaux, Metz or Saint-Etienne. Racing Club de Lens (RCL), for its third season in the top flight after finishing seventh in the two previous editions, is living a fairy tale.

A guaranteed European qualification, a ticket for the Champions League more than likely, a national title still mathematically accessible…, Saturday May 6, in a once again incandescent Bollaert stadium, RC Lens defeated Olympique de Marseille, direct rival , and maintained its current euphoria.

Tenth Ligue 1 budget

The story has everything to please: this exceptional popular fervor, the fusional relationship between the team and the public, symbolized by the central place of the kop of the Marek tribune; players as emblematic as Seko Fofana, scorer against Marseille; the collective strength expressed on the field; this rebirth after five seasons of purgatory in the second division.

This success is much less the result of circumstance than the reward for excellent work. At a time when the correlation between financial means and sporting results is constantly strengthening, the Sang et Or obtain performances well above their budget, the tenth in Ligue 1 (62 million euros). The Lensois model should inspire French clubs, especially those with more resources than him.

The winning formula is known, however, and most French teams strive to apply it: really give technical power to an ambitious coach and a sports director armed to optimize recruitment; ensure the effort of training young players.

Few manage to apply it as well as RC Lens, with Franck Haise on the bench and transfers as judicious as that of the Belgian Loïs Openda, author of nineteen goals this season. Lensois know-how is so coveted that OGC Nice poached sporting director Florent Ghisolfi during the fall, in order to put billionaire owner Jim Ratcliffe’s project on better track.

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