That was the goal, and it was achieved. Tenth at the end of a first season stopped early due to the Covid-19 pandemic, FC Chambly will again be on the starting line of Ligue 2 on August 22 with, in its luggage, a year of 'experience. A guarantee to do better? Not necessarily. It is customary to say that the second season is on the contrary more difficult than that which follows the accession. The promoted status no longer exists, nor the effect of surprise that accompanies it, and the dynamic of victories has necessarily run out of steam.
For example, the Picard club had won 18 of its 34 games in 2018-2019, against 9 in 28 games during the past season. The coach, Bruno Luzi, is however rather dubious about this assumption. "I do not know, you just have to explain to me why, that one shows it to me, advanced the coach, the day of the resumption of the training at the end of June. In a year, if we go down, I will actually say that it is harder. And then, the experience of this first season, it cannot be taken away from us. It can only serve us. "
There is moreover more breakage during the first season than the second for the promoted ones if one refers to the last five editions of Ligue 2. Only the Red Star, after a good fifth place the year of his accession in 2015 -2016, was relegated the following year. On the other hand, five clubs went straight up: Paris FC in 2016, Quevilly-Rouen in 2018, Béziers and the Red Star in 2019 then Le Mans during the last championship.
A club that has never known downhill
The players are still very cautious when they talk about "the year of confirmation". “I think it's true when we say that the second is the most complicated, blows goalkeeper Simon Pontdemé. Even if it is not an exact science, we will no longer have the dynamics of the rise, while the graduates will have it. We must not be satisfied with what we have done. "" We may be a little more expected, adds midfielder John Popelard. Our opponents have seen that our first season has been consistent, they will undoubtedly be more focused when they meet us. The start of the championship will be important, to avoid thinking about it. "
For the ex-promoted, the risk would also be to be intoxicated by this first successful experience. "When you discover a level, that you don't know what to expect, you are bound to be on the block. The second season, you can be subconsciously a little less, blows the captain and defender Thibault Jaques. We must not forget that we are Chambly. If we think it will go well under the pretext that it went well the first time, we will already be off to a bad start. "
The advantage is that in Chambly, this way of reasoning is not really the style of the house. Since its creation in 1989, the club has never been relegated once. “It can happen to anyone, but maybe less here than elsewhere,” adds Thibault Jaques. The coach will not hesitate to remind us that we are nobody and bring us back down to earth. We almost have to draw a line on last season. We remain one of the smallest budgets. The important thing is to leave at least three behind us. "A speech that matches that of striker Florian David:" Chambly has always been a difficult team to maneuver, it is the DNA of the club and it will remain so. No matter what happens, we will fight from the first to the last day to maintain ourselves if necessary ... "
