Football Season Guide

Paris FC could be forgiven for suffering a hangover from last season as they head into the new campaign. The capital club enjoyed an outstanding season as they finished fourth in the table but their dream of winning promotion died as they were beaten on penalties by Lens in the first round of the play-offs. It was a painful conclusion to a superb first year at the helm for Mecha Bazdarevic, and he will now hope to lift a new-look side for another crack at promotion this time around. Their success last season was built around a watertight defence with the veteran Vincent Demarconnay in goal, and he will again be there this time. Most of last season's key players remain, but two members of that back line have moved on, with Souleymane Karamoko opting to join Nancy and left-back Romain Perraud returning to Nice at the end of his impressive loan spell. Perraud has now joined Ligue 1 newcomers Brest. It remains to be seen if Paris FC can possibly be as strong this time around, and it is curious that their recruitment efforts so far have been centred around improving their attack. Oussama Abdeldjelil and Romain Armand have both signed from clubs who were relegated to the third tier, while Florian Martin is a gamble having not played at all last season. However, the 29-year-old attacking midfielder has been outstanding at this level in the past with Niort and Sochaux. So can they compete for promotion again this time at the Stade Charlety? "There have been a lot of departures and it will take a bit of time to build a new squad. The spine remains though, and the transfer window has only just opened. We are preparing to have another season like the last one," insisted the winger Julien Lopez.