The Fort Worth Press - French monument Saint-Etienne eye success again under new ownership

USD -
AED 3.672981
AFN 68.117769
ALL 91.052358
AMD 386.014842
ANG 1.797501
AOA 912.487145
ARS 993.745401
AUD 1.50171
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.695844
BAM 1.813092
BBD 2.013776
BDT 119.188661
BGN 1.813527
BHD 0.376965
BIF 2944.322901
BMD 1
BND 1.323235
BOB 6.916595
BRL 5.691899
BSD 0.997386
BTN 84.157539
BWP 13.316709
BYN 3.264054
BYR 19600
BZD 2.010438
CAD 1.38794
CDF 2865.000181
CHF 0.872985
CLF 0.034707
CLP 957.680398
CNY 7.147804
CNH 7.119295
COP 4323.25
CRC 509.585435
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.220265
CZK 23.415999
DJF 177.608647
DKK 6.91373
DOP 59.959953
DZD 133.373211
EGP 49.298594
ERN 15
ETB 122.777922
EUR 0.92715
FJD 2.262994
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.770885
GEL 2.725001
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.357653
GIP 0.765169
GMD 71.49143
GNF 8599.080392
GTQ 7.697121
GYD 208.667841
HKD 7.769705
HNL 25.162229
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.211065
HUF 375.360535
IDR 15659
ILS 3.720195
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.31705
IQD 1306.572726
IRR 42105.000116
ISK 137.500062
JEP 0.765169
JMD 157.844482
JOD 0.709303
JPY 153.018028
KES 128.660228
KGS 86.199903
KHR 4052.024622
KMF 455.949684
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1384.57027
KWD 0.30669
KYD 0.831186
KZT 490.256791
LAK 21891.686443
LBP 89645.774041
LKR 291.836621
LRD 189.503252
LSL 17.435108
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.832579
MAD 9.863819
MDL 17.887867
MGA 4599.896173
MKD 57.067738
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 7.984797
MRU 39.735983
MUR 46.449756
MVR 15.410022
MWK 1729.457134
MXN 19.827802
MYR 4.383975
MZN 63.905017
NAD 17.435432
NGN 1681.529711
NIO 36.700905
NOK 10.88787
NPR 134.651253
NZD 1.66327
OMR 0.385026
PAB 0.997395
PEN 3.769908
PGK 4.002892
PHP 58.398503
PKR 277.198439
PLN 4.000111
PYG 7741.582616
QAR 3.635209
RON 4.613697
RSD 108.474984
RUB 97.998683
RWF 1366.897805
SAR 3.756109
SBD 8.347827
SCR 13.618912
SDG 601.503112
SEK 10.700955
SGD 1.322065
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.790366
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 570.02744
SRD 34.955017
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.72705
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.429917
THB 34.000006
TJS 10.602244
TMT 3.5
TND 3.103786
TOP 2.3421
TRY 34.349773
TTD 6.765426
TWD 32.037501
TZS 2690.000111
UAH 41.234426
UGX 3660.888106
UYU 41.466004
UZS 12775.563178
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 44.129867
VND 25305
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 608.08829
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.747831
XOF 608.08829
XPF 110.559006
YER 249.849925
ZAR 17.354898
ZMK 9001.204601
ZMW 27.029257
ZWL 321.999592
  • BCC

    -0.9100

    140.85

    -0.65%

  • SCS

    0.0200

    13.08

    +0.15%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    7.16

    -0.7%

  • CMSC

    0.1700

    24.68

    +0.69%

  • JRI

    0.1200

    13.37

    +0.9%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    24.89

    +0.16%

  • GSK

    0.7600

    36.66

    +2.07%

  • RIO

    2.1400

    67.47

    +3.17%

  • RBGPF

    0.0100

    61.4

    +0.02%

  • NGG

    0.1800

    64.3

    +0.28%

  • BCE

    -0.6700

    28.07

    -2.39%

  • RELX

    -0.0500

    47.66

    -0.1%

  • AZN

    0.8400

    64.69

    +1.3%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.32

    +0.11%

  • BTI

    -0.2400

    35.4

    -0.68%

  • BP

    0.1300

    30.29

    +0.43%

French monument Saint-Etienne eye success again under new ownership
French monument Saint-Etienne eye success again under new ownership / Photo: © AFP/File

French monument Saint-Etienne eye success again under new ownership

French footballing monument Saint-Etienne are hoping the glory days might soon return following the arrival of new Canadian owners, but first they face a battle to establish themselves again in Ligue 1.

Text size:

Les Verts have been French champions 10 times, which was a record until Paris Saint-Germain overtook them last year.

They were once European Cup finalists too, but they have not won the French title since 1981, with a long period of decline setting in after the great Michel Platini left for Juventus the following year.

Saint-Etienne returned to prominence a decade ago, lifting the League Cup in 2013 and enjoying several top-five finishes.

However, they were relegated in 2022 and spent two years in Ligue 2 before coming back up via play-offs last June.

At the same time, long-time owners Bernard Caiazzo and Roland Romeyer sold their stakes to Kilmer Sports Ventures, the firm of Canadian billionaire Larry Tanenbaum.

It was a deal which thrust this great old name into the modern day world of football clubs owned by North American capital or nation states.

Tanenbaum, 79, is also the chairman of the company which controls NHL side Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors in the NBA, and Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.

The new president at Saint-Etienne, meanwhile, is Ivan Gazidis, the South African ex-chief executive of Arsenal and AC Milan.

"I am based in New York. I won't be there every day but I will follow the club every day. I will be involved in all the strategic decisions," Gazidis told AFP.

"We don't make big promises. We are going to advance step by step and the first will be survival in Ligue 1. We will make mistakes. There will be ups and downs."

So far this season there have been mainly downs, with Saint-Etienne going into this weekend's derby against rivals Lyon sitting third-bottom after 10 matches.

Saint-Etienne lost six of their first nine matches, including going down 8-0 at Nice in their worst defeat in over 70 years.

They did beat Strasbourg 2-0 last weekend, but few reinforcements have arrived since last season despite the takeover.

The biggest impact has come from Georgian forward Zuriko Davitashvili, signed from Bordeaux and who scored five goals in three games in October.

"You can't just arrive in Ligue 1, land from all four corners of the globe and put together a team just like that. You need time," complained under-pressure coach Olivier Dall'Oglio.

He is unlikely to survive many more defeats, even if the concept of time is something that Tanenbaum -- whose net worth is $2.5 billion according to business magazine Forbes -- agrees with.

"We will need to be patient to become a great side again. A club like Saint-Etienne is designed to win titles but that needs to be built step by step," he told sports daily L'Equipe.

Player to watch: Lucas Chevalier

The 23-year-old Lille goalkeeper was finally rewarded for his outstanding performances with an overdue call-up to the full France squad on Thursday.

A native of Calais on France's Channel coast, Chevalier is in his third campaign as a regular starter for Lille and has been brilliant during this season's Champions League campaign, which has featured wins over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid as well as a draw with Juventus.

Chevalier and Lille take on Nice this weekend in a battle of fourth against fifth.

Key stats

29 - Leaders Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in 29 away games in Ligue 1

5 - Bottom club Montpellier have lost their last five matches and are five points adrift. They have let in 30 goals, becoming the first team to concede so many after just 10 games of a season since Nice in 1978/79

124 - Derby rivals Lyon and Saint-Etienne will meet for the 124th time in all competitions

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Marseille v Auxerre (1945)

Saturday

Strasbourg v Monaco (1600), Lens v Nantes (1800), Angers v Paris Saint-Germain (2000)

Sunday

Nice v Lille (1400), Le Havre v Reims, Montpellier v Brest, Rennes v Toulouse (all 1600), Lyon v Saint-Etienne (1945)

L.Holland--TFWP