At the end of my first season in league 1 which for me ended badly with what I would consider an unfair relegation, now I am asked about the possibility of my departure from the club. I didn’t leave for Guadeloupe in a great state of mind. I am torn between the urge to stay in league 1 and not leaving at the worst time for the club that has held such an important place in my heart. The offers by other clubs are tempting and I turned to the President of the Stade Malherbe for advice. But the discussions which are honest on both sides, end with no firm offer. Mr Fortin does not want to let me go and he discusses the possibility of going back to league straight away. In order to encourage me to take up this challenge, he offers me the captaincy. This, in truth, was the outcome that I had hoped for all along.


image_preview.jpgA chaotic beginning
I am now the intermediary between Franck Dumas and the squad. We start with great self belief because we have great depth within the squad. But we will come down with a crash as we start with 4 consecutive defeats against teams of average quality. We are in trouble when I have to leave for training with the French national team as Malherbe are playing Amiens, fortunately we manage a 3-0 win. I come back to Caen and begin to questioning my influence within the team. Luckily, some of the lads like Aziz and Brahim are of huge and invaluable support. Now follows a good period where we get some good results and the team start to settle down, problem now is that we are getting too many draws. We finish with a great 3-1 win over Brest.

 

image_preview3.jpgThe offers from Olympique Lyonnais
I am about to spend the holidays with my family, and before going back to the championship, Lyon and Bernard Lacombe contact me due to Caçapa’s injury. An unexpected event that urges to contact Mr Fortin who, even if he understands my position does not want to hear about a departure in the middle of the season. In Spite of being so proud to have been contacted by the mighty Lyon, I decided not to leave. The arrival of Muller was also a decisive factor.


image_preview4.jpgEvery cloud has a silver lining
The resumption of the league is a nightmare. Defeat at home against Reims (1-3), elimination from the French cup by Longuenesse, and at the time I was so happy with my brothers promising debut in the league with an exceptional goal. There is a crisis meeting at the beginning of February, where we put in place a new internal communication plan in order to pick ourselves up. We realised that the only way to go back up to league 1 was to win 13 matches, we set ourselves this challenge knowing it was a little unrealistic. It began with 9 consecutive victories and a win against our Havrais neighbour s (4-1) who roughed us up in Deschaseaux. The concern, was, that during the match, I had injured my right thigh and would be out for the rest of the season. I watched the last match of the season in the stand, massively frustrated.
 

signature à l’om.jpgA curious and difficult end to the season
I remember two matches: Brest and Creteil. The first, we lost 2-1 eased only by the defeat of LOrient at Valenciennes.
The second, against Creteil will be the craziest match I ever played with Caen. A 3-1 victory, where we hit the goal post 3 or 4 times, we were so unlucky. We really wanted to succeed, we deserved to... but fate decided otherwise. A big disappointment made worse by the fact that I had to withdraw from the European Championship.
I said farewell for the last time to the fans around the Stade Malherbe with whom I lived the incredible saga that is, league 2.
Now my future lies elsewhere. I am immediately contacted by Bordeaux and Marseille. I am tempted by the offer from Bordeaux who will be playing in the champions league, which is an incredible incentive. But the manner of discussions between Marseille and Caen seemed better suited to my competitive streak. The Marseille fans gather behind me, and, as we say in france “the train only comes once...”