Rodez ultimately secured their place in Ligue 2 next season with some to spare, although it was tight in the end as they failed to win any of their last nine matches of the season – drawing seven of those.
Survival was their goal from the outset of the season, but there were ominous signs early in 2021 as they had picked up just a couple of victories and had a worrying tendency of throwing away leads late in games. Indeed, shortly before the halfway point of the season, they were bottom of the table amidst a run of four 1-1 draws in succession.
However, it was during that period that they started to turn things around. Small tweaks were made in the starting XI, with Nassim Ouammou featuring increasingly at left wing-back and Florian David given a more prominent role in supporting Ugo Bonnet in attack.
The driving force behind Rodez’s survival, though, came from their midfield. Both Remy Boissier and David Douline performed to expectations and were utterly central to their efforts. Injuries to Aurelien Tertereau and Julien Ponceau, who should have been one of their best players, were not allowed to damage the team as much as they might have been.
The defence, meanwhile, benefitted from the arrival of Julien Celestine from Valmiera in early January. He was a strong performer, while Yohan Roche failed to find his level after a bout of malaria.
In goal, meanwhile, Theo Guivarch arrived as first choice in the summer from Guingamp but was ultimately replaced by Lionel Mpasi, who did a solid job.
Rodez built a well-balanced squad designed for survival, and despite being tested by injury issues responded well to that challenge. Doubtless they will approach next season with similar aims.
