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Cheers Simon, I'm aware that I'm 'guilty' of very short updates at the moment but I'm getting back into the swing of the occasional heavy-weight one now and again
The Cup draw gave Pau an away tie at non-league Calais, no bad thing as far as Ed was concerned. He could get some inside information because he had just signed a second Scout in Serge Lesnard – more good news.
Of course, as a pessimist, he knew that there would be a payoff and two days later it came, Elhadji Ba straining knee ligaments in training and ruling him out until after the winter break. Once again, on the eve of having a full squad to choose form, that choice had been ripped away from him. The fans responded well, telling the local press that it wasn’t the end of the world, that they were still enjoying following a team playing well above their station, to Ed it was yet another ‘bloody typical’ setback.
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As seemed to be happening regularly, just when things really started to dip Ed suddenly got a lift, Pau fought out an end-to-end battle with their hosts at Libourne St-Seurin. After going behind early on Ed watched with growing pleasure as his side started to turn the screw, first levelling, then going ahead on the stroke of half time with a wicked free-kick from Di Bartolomeo.
Tchami added a second in the dying minutes, and once again the Pau rollercoaster seemed ready to climb again. The press had started to take notice – despite the spell of stalemates Pau were now on an unbeaten run of 10 games and the media were beginning to ask when the dream would finally start to fade.
Winter was well and truly drawing in, even in the south of France, but you would never have known it from the impromptu celebrations that had taken over the streets of Pau. The sun was setting, the Pyrenees veiled in shadow to the south, and a chill wind was blowing in from the north – none of that seemed to worry the locals who took to the streets in their shirt-sleeves, around 2,500 of them had been at the Stade du Hameau earlier in the day to witness the 6-1 demolition of Roye.
To Ed the picture wasn’t quite so clear cut of course, Roye’s defeat left them at the bottom of the table – only 5 points from 20 games and a goal difference of -44 – hardly indicative of the level of skill that his side faced week in and week out. That said, even he could appreciate the morale boost that the win would undoubtedly give to the lads.
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The win, and the way that it had lifted the Pau support, made Ed’s decision easier regarding the French Cup tie. With the problems in squad depth he’d been planning on blooding some youngsters but, if things in the league had not been as good, he probably would have reconsidered – hoping for a big win to boost confidence.
The Roye win had done that job however, so among the starting line-up that had made the trip to Calais were Karim Tafer, Marc-Antoine Correia, Sartolou and a couple of other youngsters who had yet to see first team action.
It was first team regulars who secured the win though, albeit that it needed extra time to settle the game. Sensing their chance against a few of the Pau youngsters Calais had started fast and won a penalty off Bédani, but the midfielder made up for it 6 minutes later by tucking away his own spot kick before the game had descended into a midfield slog.
Running low on time Ed decided to bring a couple of seniors back in as Calais had Ekongolo sent off from defence. It eventually did the job – although not until late in extra time when Bonnel headed home Cami’s cross to finally break the deadlock seconds from the seemingly inevitable shoot-out.
The run up to the winter break proved to be a pain for Ed, Kangu’s suspension for a booking in the game where they threw away a point at Valence was followed by a training ground injury to Jacques Leglib. With Labat and Ba out (both of the right fullback options)*, the influential Cami suspended, and the visit of in-form Romorantin looming, Ed just wanted to get away for a few days and have a break from juggling players for every game – he made arrangements to depart after the final league game before Christmas to see his folks back home, leaving Naïmi in charge of admin that arose.
*[Writers Note: this “out of position” bug is really annoying me – I’m spending a lot of time filling slots with players who aren’t ideally suited – the fact that they always end up rating a 2 or 3, and their morale plummets from Superb to Very Poor in the space of 90 minutes is having a major impact]
The Valence game was followed by another 0-0 draw, a creditable result with the starting XI in makeshift mode again. His side had acquitted themselves well enough, although Romorantin maybe edged it on chances, but it was more yellow cards for minor offences that formed Ed’s main concern.
There was a brief respite, Marignane being easily swept aside in the Cup with a 2-0 win that included a first senior goal for Sartolou, coming off the bench to put the tie out of reach. But the final league clash of the year created more headaches.
Valenciennes were pulling themselves out of a slump and Dia’s early goal proved to be enough to take the points. The defeat was disappointing, the injury to Cami, and the booking which would see Di Bartolomeo suspended when the season resumed, were the greater concern though.
Cheers Dave, and you're right about Pau - when I started out writing the story again I found some rather stunning photographs of the place - simply beautiful.
As usually happens I've already played a good while in advance of where I'm posting at the moment but I won't make any 'prophecies' on players that might spoil wha the future holds
Ed put his plans to visit his parents on hold for a few days. For starters he really needed to try and make some arrangements to bolster the midfield, and he needed to make them before other clubs had the same idea.
It was also a matter of not wanting to be at his parent’s place over Christmas. He knew they’d love to have him there of course, in fact that was part of the problem, his mother would spend the whole time fussing over him and that was the last thing he wanted. Instead he would have a quiet time at home and then travel back around New Year for a few days.
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The combined scouting activities of his two men had produced no more than a handful of possibilities for Ed to look at – it didn’t make good reading, loan deals were not a possibility at this stage of the season and if he was going to spend money, he wanted to make sure he spent it well.
In the end three bids were made, and instructions were left with his assistant, Naïmi, regarding the order of preference.
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