LENS: The Team that Always Just About Gets It

By: Sam | July 19th, 2007

As the start of the season looms, it’s time for the France Offside to give you an in-depth look at each of the 20 teams vying for Hexagoal. Today, we meet RC Lens, the team that just can’t get enough of finishing not too badly in the table.

The team: Lots of coming and going from this small northern town this summer. They picked a little something for everyone, with no position being neglected. Two keepers, Croatian Vedran Runje and Ligue 1 connaisseur Ronan Le Crom were added, as well as defenders Lucien Aubey from Toulouse and Fabien Laurenti from Ajaccio. Let’s not forget about the much talked-about Julien Sablé snubbing OM for le Sang et Or, and Ivoirian international Kanga Akalé making the trek from Auxerre. They are not, however, without their losses, such as POTY candidate Seydou Keita gone to Sevilla, and Jussiê and Tixier also departed.

As underlined by the fact that two significantly experienced goalkeepers have been added to the squad, that very position is obviously a solid, if not confusing spot for the team. With Runje and Le Crom, there’s also last year’s starter Charles Itandje. Their backline isn’t as great. Granted, Yohann Demont and Vitorino Hilton are formidable opponents, but the rest isn’t much, except for Lucien Aubey, Milan Biševac and Grégory Vignal. The midfield is very sparse beyond the expected starting four, with the only big names being Sidi Keita, Olivier Monterrubio, Julien Sablé and Éric Carrière. The three potent strikers they possess in Daniel Cousin and the pair of Éléphants Kanga Akalé and Aruna Dindane are more than enough to make them a threat.

What can I say that I haven’t said? It’s like they’ve got a starting eleven and that’s it. They can get a few more decent players or not get any injuries.

The coach: This made some news in papers all over the place. After parting ways with François Gillot this summer, the famed Guy Roux was hired to take over. Only the league didn’t want him to because he was too old. At 68, that’s plenty old, but not enough to keep him out of this job, was the ruling, and now the man who coached Auxerre for forty-four years will get it together with Lens in the Intertoto Cup and Ligue 1.

The stadium: It’s not everyday you’ll see a stadium that can seat the entire town in which it finds itself. But the 40,000-strong town of Lens is always behind their side, and they do it well in Stade Felix-Bollaert, on of the best stadiums in the country.

The final say: Yep, they always manage something in the table, but I’m picking them to narrowly miss out on the top 5 with the moving around that they have to cope with.