Welcome to ‘Le Méthode de Lemaire’, translation – Lemaire’s method. I’m guessing your next question is, who is Lemaire? Well, it’s Yves Lemaire in fact but there will be more about the man himself later on!
For myself as a blogger, it’s safe to say my comfort zone is building up clubs that I can really connect with or just enjoy myself with a club closer to home like Dundee United. However, for this save I’m going narrative and I’m going into the unknown of lower league French football at semi-pro level.
This save has been long in the planning and I’ve enjoyed all the preparation I have done, so hopefully all of you can find some entertainment from this series! But less from me, let’s go and meet our new friend Yves Lemaire.
An Introduction to Yves Lemaire
Yves Lemaire is well known in the majority of France as a former player. Yves made the decision to retire at the age of 35 after coming to terms that his once electric ability had faded. The first year of retirement saw Yves become a French football pundit for mainly Ligue 2 matches with the odd Ligue 1 match. His punditry style, think Roy Keane mixed with Jose Mourinho…straight talking stubborness!
Yves misses the game more and more every day and made the decision to step into management. Before we see Yves take charge of his first team in management, let’s learn some more about him.
Profile
- Name – Yves Lemaire
- Date of birth – 21/04/1985
- Place of Birth – Lyon, France
- Favourite Club(s) – Olympique Lyonnais (supporter), Niort FC (player), CS Sedan (player), Le Mans FC (player)
- Player Position – Striker, Central Attacking Midfielder
- Preferred Foot – Right
Playing Career
Yves Lemaire never experienced Ligue 1 football as a player however, that didn’t take away from his legendary status within Ligue 2 and below. Yves was in Lyon’s academy and started his career at 17 years old, after a storming first season he demanded first team opportunities but was told otherwise. Yves refused a new contract and joined LB Chateauroux in the Ligue 2, showing his talent over a 2 year period.
A transfer to Ligue 2’s Niort FC saw Lemaire become a cult hero but after suffering consecutive relegations in 07/08 & 08/09 to the fourth tier, Yves left on a free. Back to Ligue 2 with CS Sedan, which saw better league performance with a high of 4th before moving on to Le Mans FC but another relegation experienced along with Le Mans being kicked down the tiers for financial problems. This saw Yves move to Tours where he settled within Ligue 2 for 3 seasons.
Lemaire transitioned to a CAM upon moving to US Orleans FC and remained in Ligue 2 for both seasons but injuries really started to disrupt his seasons there. It was then a one season switch to FC Chambly Oise in the third tier (Championnat National) winning promotion, before an emotional return to FC Niort for his last season playing and experiencing Ligue 2 one last time.
Plenty of appearances and goals, however Yves never won any trophies as a player but unfortunately experienced relegation quite a few times. Yves will remain in the heart of Niort FC & CS Sedan fans and despite a single season at Le Mans FC, his commitment to the cause will never be forgotten to their club and fans also.
The Club – GOAL FC
Now you have an idea about who Yves Lemaire is, what about the club that is involved amongst all of this?
The club was originally founded in 2000 but were known as Monts d’Or Azergues Foot at this time. Fast forward 20 years and the name change to GOAL FC happening (Grand Ouest Association Lyonnaise Football Club) after Monts d’Or Azergues Foot merged with local amateur clubs Tassin FC, Champagne Sport FC and Futsal Saône Monts d’Or.
The club is located in the village of Chasselay in the Rhone region of Eastern France, in close proximity to Lyon.
Now their stadium is named after a famous Frenchman – Ludovic Guily. One of Yves Lemaire’s idols. Stade Ludovic Guily was named after the winger joined Monts d’Or Azergues Foot in 2013 which was officially his last club of his career. Returning home and joining the club caused for the stadium to be named after him and for his successes throughout his career. The stadium has a total capacity of 5000 (600 seated).
The Announcement
Yves Lemaire has arrived at GOAL FC, a local club to him and he has big plans to get this club into Ligue 1. The dream is to make GOAL FC into a French football force but this will take some time, especially being down in the Championnat National 2 (fourth tier).
The club are semi-pro level meaning it’s mainly part time contracts which can cause issues with player turnover. Regardless Yves wants to get the club to the level of being professional as quickly as he can.
Yves has low coaching badges but his experience of being an ex-professional footballer at regional level should help with the first two tiers that need to be tackled.
Meeting the Press
Quite a few members of the press turned up for Lemaire’s first interview, things like this were second nature to Yves, looking very calm in the scenario.
The first question comes in “Yves, good to see you back in football but why as low as National 2? Why GOAL FC?”
Yves takes a quick sip of water before looking back up…“A club called GOAL FC should not be in the fourth tier of this beautiful country’s football pyramid. I will take them to Ligue 1. This is local to me, I can prove myself in management here, what’s not to like.”
A local press officer jumps in with the next question “You experienced a few relegations in your career, is there a chance this could rub off here?”
Yves lets off a small smile and a little chuckle towards the press officer “As a Manager, I am in control of the squad, as a player you could only do so much. I don’t come here thinking of that, I come here thinking of first place always. I do not care who is good in the league, GOAL FC will be the force to be watched.”
Lastly a press officer from a regional sports outlet asks “Do you feel early pressure in the role considering you played a lot at Ligue 2 standard? Will this bring more expectation to your role?”
Yves states “The expectation is mid-table, my expectation is promotion. So my own expectation brings self pressure, the board? Well they can talk to me whenever they feel it’s necessary.“
It’s clear that Yves is very patriotic and will not take any nonsense from the press. He feels with the club’s rebrand they clearly should be higher than they are in the football pyramid but only time will tell if Yves is the man to take them far.
Club Finances
There isn’t a lot of money in the bank but this is expected at this level. However, transfer wise Yves has no budget and £193 p/w in the wage budget. For any squad improvements it’s going to be difficult to boost the squad so it may be a case of working with what you’ve got for Lemaire.
The ‘5 Phase’ Philosophy
Before Yves decided to come into management, he designed his own philosophy which is based on 5 phases of club progression. His aim was always to start low down in the tiers and GOAL FC will be the club where the philosophy is implemented.
PHASE 1 – Status – This essentially is to get the club to professional status by whatever it takes tactically or financially.
PHASE 2 – Stability – After going professional, this is to bring stability to the club in Ligue 2.
PHASE 3 – Implementation – To identify with an attacking style of play to become more competitive within the league.
PHASE 4 – Control – To win promotion to Ligue 1 using phase 3 and to become established within that league.
PHASE 5 – Dominance – This is the final step, become a title and cup winner, then target European success as well. Become a force within French Football.
These will be tracked and essentially ticked off once complete, it is a step by step process however, Yves aims to complete all of this at GOAL FC and will do whatever takes for it to happen.
What’s Next?
Next up Mr. Lemaire gets to work and embarks on the Championnat National 2 league season. Along the way, he will of course meet the players and also have talks with the board but will everything align for our new favourite manager? Stay tuned for the progress!
While you’re exploring the DP-FM website, check out our awesome guest bloggers in Emperor FM, FM Beth, FMG, Zane Pritchard FM, TomBlogsFM & RileyFM with their respective saves.
Thank you all for joining this journey, it’s good to be doing something different and I can’t wait to see where this project goes! Take care all.
DP-FM’s Scott
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