Gazelec Ajaccio held only slim hopes that they might be able to bounce immediately back to Ligue 1 following their relegation. Pre-season predictions that the Corsican club would fall short of that aim proved to be accurate as the small squad that they have at head coach Jean-Luc Vasseur’s disposal did not prove to be sufficient to be competitive on a regular basis. Gazelec were based around a group of veteran players who slowly found themselves fazed out of the team over the course of the season. Midfielders David Ducourtioux and Jerome Le Moigne became less important, as did centre-back Jeremie Brechet. On the other hand, the club does seem to have built in an encouraging manner for the next campaign – providing they can keep their best players. There were attacking issues for much of the season, but John Tshibumbu looked bright in the second half of the campaign, while the performances of Yoann Court were, throughout, excellent. Court, however, seems destined to move away in the summer. With last season’s star man Mohamed Larbi restricted to just a few minutes after falling out with the coach and surprisingly released before Christmas, that left Gazelec with a huge creative deficit that was filled by loanee Said Benhrama in the second half of the campaign. If they could retain him, it would be a big coup. In the midfield, Amos Youga was a star performer, while the defence did not quite have the unyielding edge that made Gazelec such formidable opponents at this level in the past. It was, however, their lack of scoring power that led to many home draws, which ultimately undermined their ability to challenge for the top three. If Gazelec can sign well in the summer, they could make the jump back to promotion challengers, but with a slim budget that will be no easy task. They must always start with survival in mind.
