Football Season Guide

Chamois Niortais are beginning a fifth consecutive campaign in the second tier and will be eager to improve on last season, when they scrapped against relegation and finished in 16th place. However, the early signs are encouraging, as they appointed their new coach before last season had even finished and also moved quickly to secure the new signings they had been chasing. Denis Renaud is the new man in charge and will be eager to put behind him the disappointment of his spell at the helm of Paris FC last season - he was sacked before Christmas and the team were eventually relegated. Niort have seen some important players move on, with goalkeeper Paul Delecroix and the talented Faiz Selemani stepping up to Ligue 1 with Lorient, midfielder Djiman Koukou joining Lens and striker Seydou Kone leaving for Laval. However, Delecroix has been replaced by Alexandre Bouchard, who played under Renaud at Paris FC. Veteran defender Jonathan Brison arrives from Saint-Etienne on a three-year deal, while Aliou Dembele and Laurent Agouazi will bolster the midfield and bring with them plenty of experience of this level as they sign from Bourg-en-Bresse and Tours respectively. Romain Grange, another with the Paris FC connection, will feel he has something to prove after being part of a relegation campaign last term but he is a real creative threat, and young Cameroonian forward Didier Lamkel Ze has penned a three-year contract, his first professional deal as he joins from Lille. His compatriot, last season's leading scorer Ande Dona Ndoh, remains, as does Jimmy Roye, who signed a new contract in May to keep him at the club until 2019. "The club are looking to progress and grow. The aim is to contend towards the top of the table in Ligue 2," says Brison.