Valenciennes ultimately endured a disappointing season in Ligue 2 as they were unable to make significant inroads up the table and had to be content with a campaign of relative mid-table obscurity.
Going into the season, their life was made tricky by the loss of striker Nuno Da Costa and wing-back Saliou Ciss, who had provided so much of their offensive thrust in the previous campaign. The latter would eventually return to them in January, but they were rarely a particularly impressive offensive machine.
Lebo Mothiba spent the first half of the season on loan from Lille before being recalled, with the South African notching eight goals and finishing joint leading marksman alongside veteran Sebastien Roudet, who remained a vital component of their team.
They were aided immensely by the contribution of Gaetan Robail late in the campaign and, while his six goals in the final six games succeeded only in lifting their position above the mediocre, at least if they can keep hold of him for next term it will be a base to build from.
It was Faruk Hadzibegic that took charge of the team for the first couple of months of the season but, despite pushing VAFC into the top half of the standings, his contribution was not deemed good enough and he was sacked after a 2-0 loss to Auxerre.
Reginald Ray was appointed in his stead a couple of weeks later with Valenciennes sitting ninth in the table and, while they did enjoy a positive run before Christmas, they slipped back in the second part of the campaign.
Fans became disquieted by Valenciennes showing even less offensive quality until the final weeks of the season, with a barren run of form the lasted from January to mid-April seeing the team register only three wins from 15 matches in all competitions.
Valenciennes were never really in danger of going down, but they flirted with it, adding up to a disappointing season.
