Wally with a Brolly

We continue the Tour de France of Ligue 1 clubs with Bordeaux, a club with a history of success over the years.


Bordeaux, like many cities in France, possesses a certain reputation. Whilst Paris is viewed as arrogant, Marseille as hot-blooded, and Lille as welcoming, Bordeaux is seen (and sees itself) as an intellectual city. From the cultured wineries to the famous law school named after French philosopher Montesquieu, Bordeaux has a sense of fine things which many other cities, Paris excluded, don't particularly aspire to.

The club itself is no different. Its name of 'Girondins' not only refers to Bordeaux's region, the Gironde, but also to members of the Girondins political party during the French Revolution. The Girondins were idealists and moderates (for the time). Their naivety led to their downfall at the hands of Robespierre (ever heard of him?) and others, but they have always been fondly remembered in French History. Well, as fondly as revolutionaries can be. But we're weird in France about that.

The Girondins during the French Revolution. Idealistic, moderate. Guillotined.

Bordeaux's stadium itself is named after a French political figure. Jacques Chaban-Delmas was a figure of the Resistance, fighting in the liberation of Paris, and mayor of Bordeaux for nearly 50 years. He was also a beloved liberal and open-minded politician known throughout France for his approachable nature and integrity. But it's still very Bordeaux-like to name their stadium after him.

Chaban-Delmas: French and Bordeaux hero. Also looked like an absolute 1950's stud.

I thought about making a wine reference,but I'm not so sure the Girondins do get better with age. And considering that's the only wine-related pun I can really think of, this can't do.

No, the Girondins are not especially getting better with age, but they have had sustainable success for a number of years. Led by French legends such as Jean Tigana and Alain Giresse in the 80's, the club attracted a number of young players and up-and-coming managers in the 90's and 2000's. From Aimé Jacquet, the victorious France 98 manager, to Rolland Courbis (pre-prison and Depardieu-like obesity) and finally Laurent Blanc, Bordeaux has had a succession of promising and successful managers.

Its list of players is also impressive. The 80's were the period of a number of Platini's France team-mates, from the previously-mentioned Tigana and Giresse to Battiston (the man beaten up by Schumacher in the 1982 World Cup semi-final) and Lacombe.

With the end of disgruntled owner Bez's time in the 90's came a new wave of young French players. The wonderful trio of Zidane-Dugarry-Lizarazu led the unfancied Girondins to the UEFA Cup Final 1996 and helped shape these players, bringing them to the attention of Juventus, Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively.

Shocking shirt, bad hairstyles. But a great team led by Zidane, Dugarry and Lizarazu.

Despite the departure of such heralded names, Bordeaux under the hat-wearing Elie Baup (now manager of OM) won the title in 1999, pipping l'OM to the trophy on the final day of the season. Despite this success and the goalscoring exploits of Portuguese talisman Pauleta, Bordeaux struggled slightly in the early 2000's. Despite constantly reaching the UEFA Cup or the Champions' League, Bordeaux played a dour style of football under Ricardo.

And then Laurent Blanc happened, and Bordeaux enjoyed a superb run of success. Within two years, Blanc had done a Ligue 1-League Cup double whilst promoting a merry band of young French players led by (at the time) Zidane's successor Yoann Gourcuff. The new Magician and his team-mates Alou Diarra and Cedric Carasso even came close to a Champions' League semi-final and were cruising in the league, playing some exuberant and joyous football which tore teams apart.



And then it all went pear shaped. Despite being well ahead in Ligue 1, Bordeaux, probably unsettled by rumours of Blanc taking the France job, suffered a huge downturn in form. As in relegation form.

Blanc left at the end of the season, his reputation somehow untainted by his clear dereliction of duty. Ensued a chaotic tenure by Jean Tigana which ended with a mid-table finish. Now led by the able Gillot, Bordeaux are looking to return to the heights of the not so distant glory days. But you know what you're getting with Bordeaux. Unlike the wine, it's consistent. Finally, I managed to get my wine pun. Happy days.


THE MANAGER
After the disaster of Jean Tigana's tenure, Bordeaux needed someone to steady the ship, someone so impervious to pressure that Bordeaux could go back to its controversy-free ways. After highly successful spells at Lens and Sochaux, Francis Gillot has helped the club, despite its debts and the loss of its best players, bounce back and aim for Europe once again. Described by some as boring and conservative, Gillot is exactly the opposite: a passionate lover of good football. His teams at Sochaux fought relegation by playing entertaining football and trusting the youngsters, and Gillot seems to try to establish that pattern. A likeable, highly competent manager, Gillot also doesn't hide from his and his players' failings, notably declaring after this week-end's game against Toulouse that he was 'bored as f**k' by what he saw from his players. If that's not entertaining, I don't know what is.


STAR PLAYERS

Ludovic Obraniak is Bordeaux's technical leader. We portrayed him as one to watch in our preview of the Ligue 1 season, and Ludovic has continued to assert his influence. Playing as a left winger or in the hole, the man with the silky left foot has tried to combine with a variety of strikers (most of them bad; this to be explained soon), meaning he has had to be the main provider of goals and chances for a limited Bordeaux side. A very good player reaching maturity now.
Bordeaux have also had a history of very good goalkeepers, starting with Gaetan Huard in the 90's, followed by Ulrich Ramé in the 00's. Cédric Carrasso has continued that tradition ever since joining the Blanc revolution from Toulouse in 2009. Agile, brave and a commanding presence, the
France number 3 has been an integral part of one of France's best defences in years. Quite an achievement when you consider how defensive some of the Ligue 1 teams are. A very good goalkeeper, still in his prime at 31. Finally, he might look like a Peruvian music player, and he might have failed to live up to his hype, but Benoit Tremoulinas has been a very consistent performer at left back for several years for the Girondins. As an attacking full back, Tremoulinas has performed in the way a young Lizarazu did for Bordeaux back in the 90's. Always active, clever in his use of the ball, deceptively quick and with decent crossing ability, he has made the left back slot his own. Now 27, his time might have passed, but he still is one of Ligue 1's best left sided players, let alone defenders. He's also improved his
defending quite a lot in the last couple of years.












REMEMBER HIM?

David Bellion. Wow. You know what that means. Surprisingly, Bellion was signed by Laurent Blanc when he arrived. Since then, it's fair to say he hasn't really set the world alight. Not capable of holding the ball, not a great finished, he's only got out of Gillot's doghouse due to Gouffran's departure. Bordeaux are in trouble. Julien Faubert is also a name which makes me throw up, and he's back in Bordeaux. Ronster talked about him in some detail in his article, so have a look at his Ligue 1
review to know what I'm talking about. Finally, Henri Saivet has failed to confirm all the hopes placed in him at an early age, through a combination of injuries, poor choices and complacency. He's now found a place in Gillot's team and is finally starting to perform. He still has a long way to go before reaching the highs predicted by FM a while back.