Bordeaux's relegation, which is three points and 12 goals away from a safe haven towards the final round, could have been predicted.
For several years now the team from southwestern France has been tossing and turning between mania and depression, struggling for a place in Europe and then staying in the league and replacing coaches at a pace - ten of them in the last eight seasons - until it finally failed to prevent the inevitable.
On Saturday she will host Brest, but the knowledge that only her huge win and defeats of Saint-Etienne and Metz will leave her with no chance of surviving in the league has led even coach David Gion to sum up;
"We are a failure, it's a sad season, we don't deserve Bordeaux to play in the first division."
With six championships last held in 2009 under Laurent Blanc and seven more trophies, Bordeaux is one of the biggest teams in France's first division.
In 2018 she still finished in sixth place in the table, but the cracks that stood out even then expanded over time and became a big pit this season.
After being saved last year thanks to narrow victories in the final rounds, this season there was no way to stop the fall.
No change of coaches in February - a substitute for Vladimir Petkovich - nor did the addition of four new players in January help.
Bordeaux started the season with a home loss to Clermont and later snatched a five from Strasbourg, a six from Maran, a five from Reims, a six from a million and a five from Nantes.
Only in April did it maintain a clean sheet for the first time, and with 89 absorbs it presents the worst defense in the five major leagues in Europe.
Bordeaux fans protest last Saturday against the team, Photo: AFP
So true, there were injuries, but it happens to every team.
Bordeaux's crisis stems from a very poor acquisition made in the summer, shaky self-confidence, scandalous defensive play and chaos that slipped off the field at a very early stage.
An economic crisis forced the club to release in January and without prior notice world champion Laurent Koscielny, who was furious at the conduct;
"They did not explain anything, it's like getting slapped in the face," he told Lakip.
In March, veteran goalkeeper Benoit Costil confronted the team’s Ultras and threatened to leave immediately, while team president Gerard Lopez sharply attacked;
"It seems to be the brothers of the players who play here. They look like they have a grenade in hand every time they get the ball."
In recent games fans have hung posters against the players and in the media an abnormal mess has been reported at the club whose image has always been clean, family and good.
Coach David Goyn.
Failed to save the situation, Photo: AFP
Thirty years ago, when she was relegated to the Premier League for the last time, Bordeaux soon returned and with players like Zinedine Zidane joining and Bicente Lizarazo and Christophe Dugari growing up at the club, she returned to the top until in 1998 she won the championship with stars like Sylvan Wiltord and Lillian Laslan.
Today, given the uncertainty and disorganization that have crushed the group, it is hard to see how Bordeaux is producing a similar rescue campaign.
As it seems, something dramatic and drastic has to happen for the team that was once a team at the top of the French league to be like that again.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us
