Football Season Guide

Auxerre flirted with relegation last season, pulling to safety in the nick of time thanks to superb end to the season that saw them lost only 1 of their last 8, including wins in each of their last 3. It was the second campaign in succession that they had tread by such fine margins, with Lassina Sinayoko coming up big again in the final weeks of the campaign. Sinayoko, though, has departed the club to join Paris. Despite his heroics at crunch time his overall campaign was modest as 6 of his 12 goals came in the last 7 games. The other key player to leave was goalkeeper Donovan Leon, who has long been a key stabilising figure behind the defence. A big change in the dugout comes, too, with Will Still taking over from Christophe Pelissier. Auxerre’s summer has been a little complicated. Injury problems have hit their preparations while they had a match against Paris FC cancelled as a consequence. Results have been shaky, with no wins in their last 3 against weak opponents. AJA benefit from having a settled starting XI, despite losing a couple of key figures. In particular, their defence is a strength. It only conceded 44 goals last season, which was not bettered by any club outside the top 4. Consistency in attack has been AJA’s biggest issue. Remy Labeau Lascary has arrived and will hope to remedy this problem, but they do who have players who are potentially destructive, including Danny Namaso and on-loan Bournemouth midfielder Romain Faivre, whose spell at the club last term was hindered by injuries.