Football Season Guide

Guingamp missed out on a playoff place last season due to a lack of consistency, particularly when playing at home. This failure saw Stephane Dumont step down at the end of the season, with former Lorient boss Sylvain Ripoll stepping up to take command of the Breton club from the beginning of July. Ripoll inherits a squad that has been stripped of much of its depth. The key departure is clearly that of striker Amine El Ouazzani, who has moved to Braga for big money. Otherwise, they have lost much of their depth, with little coming in so far to bolster the squad. In attack, Brown Irabor has joined up after scoring 12 in the third tier last season, while Brighton Labeau is liable to be first choice despite scoring just four in the Swiss top flight last term. Neither appears a convincing replacement for El Ouazzani, who may have inconsistent but was brilliant at his best. It also appears they are pinning their hopes on just a few players in the wide areas, none of whom really had consistent campaigns last time around. In midfield, meanwhile, there is a little more strength in depth in the centre but they do not have a naturally creative central player. Mehdi Merghem could perhaps play the role but was very disappointing last term. The full-back areas were very problematic last season because of injury problems, but these did at least see the emergence of Lucas Maronnier, who at 24 has made a belated breakthrough in the professional game. Similarly, the centre-backs are horribly injury prone and a lack of depth in this area is very concerning, particularly with goalkeeper Enzo Basilio being an inconsistent performer. The squad looks incomplete and is likely to be strengthened by the end of August – else it could be a very long season.