French LNV league 2010/2011

    What happened to Paris? They were dominating France years ago?

    Quote from raylight

    What happened to Paris? They were dominating France years ago?

    No money.


    They have very view supporters and almost no sponsors. The city of Paris is probably giving them 80% to 90% of their money.


    Look at the team: no french international (even former youth or junior NT members) . Escalante, Boula, and Van der Veen were never important member of their NT which don't belong to the top 15 in the world. Esseddyq was the worst opposite of the league last season, and Jiri Novak is getting older and older.
    All they have is a lot of young players, and all they can hope for is a few of them to improve a lot.


    Despite their 4 victory in a row (from 2006 to 2009), Paris has not been the favorite of the championship since 2003. They managed to win a lot of title with good rosters (even if not the most impressive) , payed with money they sometimes did not have. (but the city always paid the bill).
    But now they can't even raise enough found to recruit a real opposite, and the supporting cast is looking weaker and weaker.

    As Armel said, Paris won 4 titles in row but since I follow French league they weren't title candidate No.1 :whistle:


    Money is big problem for French clubs, just look at Tourcoing. They're coming from a big city (Lille) and have only 8 professional players :white: St.Quentin on the verge of bankruptcy, also Cannes & Poitiers have financial problems.


    I was surprised when I saw Esseddyq signed for Paris because he was tragic last year. But Paris was desperate/short budget and signed him :rolll: Now Esseddyq is injured and Paris signed Webber as medical joker :lol: no difference between him & Esseddyq :rolll:


    Nantes is doing great in last few weeks even Rybnicek played really bad. Linz and Holubec are their locomotives now :whistle: Nice played without Mrozek, starting OH, Damiao out of form, and Beauvais remained unbeaten in 2011. I don't know why Granvorka is still bench player, Lacassie played extremly poor :down: Pavel Bartik :obey: no words for this guy :thumbup:


    St.Quentin is already in B league, club is hit by big financial crisis and rumors says Majdak will leave St.Quentin soon... just to mention St.Quentin played in playoff semifinals last year :whistle:


    Poitiers plays great, 9 wins in row and nect week Marechal returns. His return will give Lecat more options in attack and Poitiers will be much stronger :whistle: Montpellier beat Rennes easier than I thought and throw Rennes out of playoff zone. Despite they are playing poor, Paris is still in playoff zone but I doubt we will see them in playoff. Tolouse without heavily injured Ojansivu will have hard job to stay in A league..

    Quote from Kaziyski

    Linz and Holubec are their locomotives now :whistle:


    It was expected from Holubec because he's a great spiker (he would probably not have signed in Nantes if his girlfriend - Laura Bonnerova - was not playing there. Nantes and Cannes are the only city in France with a male pro team and a female pro team). But Linz (came from Kladno) was pretty unknown here. I think he's technically a bit short for french ligue A (he's strugling in reception) but he can make a physical impact in Nantes and that's important. For me the best OH is Lavagne. He's a great receiver (in top 5 of the championship) and the team need that to play with Holubec. He's also rather efficient when spiking (he was 12/12 yesterday ! 8| ). Of course with 1.84 m he can't handle Nantes attack all by himself, but I think the team need him so Repak can use the spiker he wants.


    Quote from Kaziyski


    Poitiers plays great, 9 wins in row and nect week Marechal returns. His return will give Lecat more options in attack and Poitiers will be much stronger :whistle:


    Lecat will surely have more opportunities with Maréchal back. Yet I wonder if this will help the team so much. Because both Rivera and Lopes are doing well. I'm not sure that Maréchal will bring so much more to the team. The only thing is that they'll have more weapon in case of a tight game. And obviously, they will also be able to replace and injured or tired OH, which would help them not to lose points.


    Quote from Kaziyski

    Paris is still in playoff zone but I doubt we will see them in playoff. Tolouse without heavily injured Ojansivu will have hard job to stay in A league..


    I agree with you. Especially if they lose 3 points as a penalty for their forfeit in Nice. If they don't, maybe Skrimov can save them a few games. I think they also can threaten a few teams at home. But a making it to the playoff will surely not be easy for them.

    Quote from Kaziyski

    I don't know why Granvorka is still bench player

    He's been without a club for around 6 month (end of season in Turkey to december). So he came in Beauvais completely out of shape.
    He also had a few little injuries problem and missed at least one game.
    And he's not any more the player he used to be. I knew it would not be easy for him to get a place in Beauvais's roster. Yet I think he would be in better shape for the playoff and maybe that's when we'll see what's his real level know.

    Maréchal will not immediately be starter, 3 months of suspension is long time and certainly lacks match practice. Rivera and Lopes are playing great, with high % of reception so no need to change anything.


    I think Linz was best player in Czech league last year and soon I expect him in Czech NT. As you said he's struggling on reception but he will be better eventually ;)


    Looks Anthony recovered for Paris, he returned in lineup so Skrimov is back on opposite... I don't see any team which Paris can trash, they had problems with Toulouse without Ojansivu :aww: despite they're playing better with Skrimov as opposite I hope Rennes will catch playoff instead of them :drink:

    18th day results:



    Poitiers 3/1 Montpellier 20-25 25-23 25-21 25-20 P2
    St-Quentin 0/3 Tourcoing 18-25 19-25 20-25 P2
    Sète 0/3 Tours 18-25 21-25 17-25 P2
    Toulouse 2/3 Ajaccio 25-18 25-22 26-28 18-25 14-16 P2
    AS Cannes 3/2 Paris 25-27 25-16 31-29 20-25 15-12 P2
    Rennes 3/0 Nice 25-17 25-22 25-21 P2


    Beauvais vs Nantes Rezé will be played tomorrow.


    Ranking:


    1. Tours * 41
    2. Poitiers 41
    3. Sète * 33
    4. Montpellier 30
    5. AS Cannes 29
    6. Rennes 27
    7. Paris * 26
    8. Ajaccio 26
    9. Nantes Rezé * 26
    10. Tourcoing 24
    11. Beauvais ** 22
    12. Toulouse 20
    13. Nice * 15
    14. St-Quentin 2


    * one game less
    * three games less


    Comments:


    - First thing, the game Nice vs Paris is going to be played. Therefore Nice is losing 3 points (and now is clearly in trouble) and Paris is no longer threatened by a 3 points penalty. Paris failed to fly to Nice because of the snow back in december.
    - Tours's victory in Sète (with 17 blocks in 3 sets !) and Poitiers's win against Montpellier, are digging a gap between the two best teams and their followers. In Sète Simovski could not play (sprained ankle in Ajaccio last week), and in Poitiers Maréchal did not start the game but replaced Rivera rather quickly and had a good game.
    - Cannes, without Moreau, managed to defeat Paris in 5 sets, Rennes got 3 points against Nice, Ajaccio win in 5 sets in Toulouse, and Tourcoing easily got the best of St Quentin .


    Overall getting 1 points for Toulouse is not so bad since Nice lost and will have to play against Paris.
    Paris getting 1 point in Cannes is also rather good for them. But of course Ajaccio's away victory (only the 2nd since the beginning of the championship) is definitely the best result.

    Tours scored impressive win over Sete, total domination :obey: Simovski means a lot to Sete, Mistoco don't posses quality to replace him. Even with Simovski I think Tours would win, probably not 3-0 but they would win. Simovski should be out for a another week. Poitiers had big problems on reception, very low % of reception and allowed 8 aces. Rivera is substituted already in 1st set and Marechal used his chance. Montpellier played good match, very effective in attack unlike Poitiers but in key moments they weren't calm. Nice is hospital, Benoit (backup MB), Mrozek and Furneau didn't played, Kraska was listed as injured but played and hosts have had easy job :whistle: Pupart and Frangolacci had problems with reception, especially Pupart. Kolacny was very good in attack and even average performance was enough to beat Nice. :aww:


    Cannes will have big problems until Moreau returns, simply they can't play without him and Moreau won't return soon :whistle: Stress fracture of foot is serious injury and Moreau will be out for at least 1,5 months and I expect Cannes to slip in the rankings. Paris is pathetic team, Cannes 41 errors in 5 sets :cheesy: weren't enough to win :aww: they have had nice chance to take away win. Paris missed several set points in 3rd set and Cannes took first chance for 2-1 lead. For me 2:3 against Cannes without Moreau isn't good result :whistle: we will see them against Ajaccio on Corsica :whistle:


    Tragedians of the week are Toulouse :rolll: :obey: They led 2-0 and 24-20 against Ajaccio, Ajaccio saved 4 MP and took 3rd set. In 4th set Toulouse collapsed, Ojansivu played awful and Milhau replaced him. Again Toulouse was close, they led 14-11 in 5th set and lost 14-16 :rolll: :gone: what a choke :rolll: :obey: also Ajaccio showed mental strenght, Jioshvili good display :whistle:


    Tourcoing (without Perez, what is with him?) won vs poor St.Quentin but St.Quentin is already in B league :wavy:

    Beauvais lost first match in 2011, Nantes won 3-1.


    From what I've seen from stats during the match Beauvais had big problems with efficiency, especially OH. Gaumont Casias started match but soon he was replaced by Lacassie. Songolo awful performance, in one moment he had 3/11 in attack :what: Nantes also had problems in attack, also both OH had bad day but they made less mistakes than hosts :whistle:


    Now they are 4 pts behind PO spot, with 2 matches less but vs Sete & Tours. In just 3 days Beauvais will face Rennes in crucial match for them :whistle:

    Quote from Kaziyski

    Beauvais lost first match in 2011, Nantes won 3-1.


    From what I've seen from stats during the match Beauvais had big problems with efficiency, especially OH. Gaumont Casias started match but soon he was replaced by Lacassie. Songolo awful performance, in one moment he had 3/11 in attack :what: Nantes also had problems in attack, also both OH had bad day but they made less mistakes than hosts :whistle:


    Now they are 4 pts behind PO spot, with 2 matches less but vs Sete & Tours. In just 3 days Beauvais will face Rennes in crucial match for them :whistle:

    Gaumont Casias seems to have a long way to go to recover fully. And Granvorka also has health issues. If this situation remain the same too long, they will struggle to reach the 8th spot...


    Result:


    Beauvais 1/3 Nantes Rezé 22-25 25-13 22-25 12-25 P2


    Updated ranking:


    1. Tours * 41
    2. Poitiers 41
    3. Sète * 33
    4. Montpellier 30
    5. AS Cannes 29
    6. Nantes Rezé 29
    7. Rennes 27
    8. Paris * 26
    9. Ajaccio 26
    10. Tourcoing 24
    11. Beauvais ** 22
    12. Toulouse 20
    13. Nice * 15
    14. St-Quentin 2


    * one game less
    ** two games less


    About Nantes, they are appearing more and more like a playoff conteder. An amazing achievement for a newcomer in ligue A, especially with the lowest budget of the ligue!


    Their next game will be against Paris, then they'll play in Rennes, and after that against Ajaccio (after defeating Beauvais and Cannes), namely their closest opponent for the playoff. So we should find out pretty soon whether they deserve to be in the 8 best team or not !

    19th day results:


    Montpellier 3/1 St-Quentin 25-20 21-25 25-16 25-15 P2
    Tourcoing 3/2 Sète 20-25 25-22 12-25 25-15 15-9 P2
    Tours 3/0 Toulouse 25-19 25-22 25-12 P2
    Ajaccio 2/3 AS Cannes 25-21 25-20 20-25 19-25 8-15 P2
    Nice 1/3 Poitiers 26-24 12-25 19-25 21-25 P2
    Beauvais 1/3 Rennes 25-19 20-25 21-25 20-25 P2
    Nantes Rezé 3/1 Paris 25-17 24-26 25-23 25-18 P2


    Ranking :


    1. Tours * 44
    2. Poitiers 44
    3. Sète * 34
    4. Montpellier 33
    5. Nantes Rezé 32
    6. AS Cannes 31
    7. Rennes 30
    8. Ajaccio 27
    9. Tourcoing 26
    10. Paris * 26
    11. Beauvais ** 22
    12. Toulouse 20
    13. Nice * 15
    14. St-Quentin 2


    * one game less
    ** two games less


    Comments:


    Nantes and Rennes made an other step toward playoff with their victories against Paris and Beauvais. Both team will face each other next week and the winner is likely to remain in the top 8 until the end of the season.
    Beauvais now really needs to score points. If they could not get some out of Rennes they'll hgave to get some against Sète. Tours or Poitiers or they won't go far. Paris ... Well ... Out of the libero, I don't even know who's going to start next game.
    Ajaccio, Tourcoing got points against Cannes and Sète (that were both playing without their starting opposites), and are likely to keep doing their best to be as high as possible in the ranking. Not easy to tell if it's going to be enough to reach the playoff, but that's definitely not making it easy for Beauvais.


    The other games were not of much interest as show the results.
    Next day will be more interesting with rival clubs of Sète and Montpellier facing each others. The cities of Rennes and Nantes are also historical rivals (both were at some time the capital of Britanny) but it wasn't extending to volleyball until this season. The game between Paris and Ajaccio will also be very important, the loser being probably in trouble to reach the top 8.

    Tonight was french cup 1/8 finals.


    Results:


    Tourcoing 3/0 Nice 25-16 25-23 25-23
    Tours 3/0 Paris 25-16 25-18 25-23
    Dunkerque 0/3 Rennes 19-25 20-25 22-25
    Orange 3/1 AS Cannes
    Toulouse 2/3 Montpellier 16-25 25-20 16-25 25-23 13-15
    Avignon 0/3 Beauvais 18-25 22-25 23-25
    Chaumont 3/0 St-Quentin 25-21 28-26 25-21


    Lyon vs Poitiers will be played tomorrow



    The big surprise is Cannes's defeat in Poitiers. St Quentin's defeat in Chaumont (currently leading the pro B) is not really a big surprise, and more a proof of how weak St Quentin is. Montpellier struggled against Toulouse depiste many players not playing in Toulouse. Nice played in Tourcoing without new recruit, Bulgarian OH Alexander Simeonov.

    I forgot to comment last round in France :cheesy:


    IMO biggest surprise is Cannes win over Tours in five sets. As you know Cannes is without best player and captain Moreau, also Bengolea sprained ankle in Cup match earlier that week so he was on bench. Big win for Tillie squad :cup: Sete outplayed Montpellier in three sets, quite easy even Simovski is still out, so Geiler led Sete to easy win. Rennes overcame Nantes in straight sets and climbed up to 4th place, just point behind Sete. Beauvais took point against Poitiers, big result for them as they came after 2 home defeats against direct PO conteners but probably they lost realistic chances to reach PO .Rouzier with 59% in attack didnn't allowed upset and helped Poitiers to take 1st place. Tourcoing took important 3 points in Toulouse, while Nice beat poor St.Quentin and reduced Toulouse advantage only on 2 points. Paris beat direct PO opponent Ajaccio and stayed in PO zone with 2 points in front of Tourcoing and Ajaccio. :whistle:

    I heard that they asked my best friend's team's coach (1st Dutch division (so under A and B league)) to come and coach Paris.. I'm pretty sure he declined.

    I couldn't find full stats for this round? Nothing for Nice and how Simeonov played :sos:

    News from France !


    French cup:


    Lyon 0/3 Poitiers 21-25 20-25 21-25


    20th day results:


    Sète 3/0 Montpellier 27-25 25-20 25-23 P2
    Toulouse 0/3 Tourcoing 19-25 16-25 21-25 P2
    AS Cannes 3/2 Tours 25-19 25-20 26-28 17-25 20-18 P2
    Paris 3/1 Ajaccio 25-19 23-25 25-22 25-15 P2
    St-Quentin 1/3 Nice 27-29 25-22 21-25 31-33
    Poitiers 3/2 Beauvais 25-14 23-25 25-23 26-28 15-13 P2
    Rennes 3/0 Nantes Rezé 26-24 25-18 25-23 P2


    22nd day result:


    St-Quentin 0/3 Rennes 21-25 21-25 16-25 P2


    Ranking:


    1. Poitiers 46
    2. Tours * 45
    3. Sète * 37
    4. Rennes ° 36
    5. AS Cannes 33
    6. Montpellier 33
    7. Nantes Rezé 32
    8. Paris * 29
    9. Tourcoing 27
    10. Ajaccio 27
    11. Beauvais ** 23
    12. Toulouse 20
    13. Nice * 18
    14. St-Quentin ° 2


    * one game less
    ** two games less
    ° one game more


    Comments:


    - Tourcoing's appeal has been rejected, so the 2 points penalty is effective. Yet, they still have the right to ask the French Olympic Committee for a conciliation.


    - St Quentin is now sure to rank last of the championship ...


    -About Tours's defeat in Cannes. Tours had to play without Alexis Gonzalez (who had to go back in Argentina for personal reasons - he should be back for next game) and try to play with young Cyril Guittet. After two sets, Guittet was replaced by Nielsen as libero leading the team to avoid a straight set defeat and eventually wining one point. Yet, Cannes was able to win the tie-breaker.