A third consecutive bottom-half finish for Auxerre, and their worst points tally since being relegated from Ligue 1 back in 2012. The 1996 French champions - who were in the Champions League group stage as recently as 2010-11 - are no closer to returning to the elite after only avoiding relegation on the final day of the campaign.
The Chinese-owned club had hoped to push towards the top of the table under Pablo Correa, after the Uruguayan had pulled them away from trouble last season. However, they spent all bar one week of the season in the bottom half of the table, and a nine-game unbeaten run - sparked by a 1-0 win at eventual champions FC Metz in early November - proved to be a false dawn. In amongst that result Auxerre were dumped out of the Coupe de France at the first hurdle by lower-league opposition, and Correa was sacked in March during a sequence of five straight defeats. Sporting director Cedric Daury took charge for the rest of the season and kept Auxerre up, but they won just one of their last 13 matches and finished only two points clear of the bottom three.
Romain Philippoteaux was the team's joint leading goal-scorer with a paltry four goals. He just about shades goalkeeper Mathieu Michel for the award of player of the season. Auxerre will now hope for a fresh start again next season, having announced the appointment of a new coach in Jean-Marc Furlan, who is fresh from leading Brest to promotion to Ligue 1.
