Football Season Guide

Bastia started the past season with great ambitions, as they were dreaming of a promotion to the Ligue 1, on the basis of all the good done in the previous campaign, when they finished 4th, but things went quite differently. In fact, up until the end of January, they seemed to be heading straight for the bottom 4: coach Regis Brouard was thus sacked and Michel Moretti took over, ad interim first and then permanently. Under the new coach, wins started coming with some regularity and they eventually managed to finish the campaign on the 13th standing, well above the relegation zone. Despite leading them to salvation, displaying a good football, Moretti was not confirmed at the helm and he will now act as the coach's deputy. The new man at the helm is Benoit Tavenot, who did well with Dunkerque in the Championnat National, betting a lot on youngsters, and already worked with the club 15 years before. Bastia underwent a major squad overhaul over the summer which means that they will now display a completely renewed defence and attack. In fact, at the back they lost the likes of starting centre-backs Okou and Keita, together with back-up Dramé. While Guidi is expected back from the long-lasting injury that kept him sidelined for the past season but they also added centre-backs Akueson, who had a positive season at Versailles, and Guevara, who is a non-entity in the league. Moreover, they have several full-backs who can be adapted to the role as occurred last season and they also added a couple of left-backs in Ariss and Mazikou. In the midfield, Siby returned to his parent club but he will not be missed. On the other hand, 21-year-old Etoga might play a more relevant role. The attack lost key striker Alfarela, their main scorer with 12 goals, together with back-up Santelli, highly-considered Conte and aging Charbonnier. Striker Rodrigues, who did well at Concarneau, and two wingers, Boutrah, coming from a good season at Vitesse, and Cissé, who left no mark at Nancy.