Football Season Guide

Guingamp have had a nightmare build-up to the new campaign, with their pre-season schedule decimated by the fact that three members of their playing staff plus two coaches were infected with coronavirus at the beginning of August. Until August 12, the only friendly they were able to play was against their ‘B’ team, while the professionals spent two weeks in quarantine and only began training again on August 6. This comes off the back of a difficult 2019-20 season in which their expected promotion challenge fell totally flat. While their direct style yielded an impressive 40 goals, they conceded 33. Sylvain Didot’s arrival did spark a slow improvement and he remains in charge for this campaign. No key starting players have been lost over the course of the summer, save goalkeeper Marc-Aurele Caillard, who was solid but not irreplaceable. Equally there has not been many eye-catching arrivals. One exception is Paul-Georges Ntep, a winger who had aspirations of being an international before constant injury issues thwarted him. If he can hit form, he could be the league’s outstanding player. There are other useful attacking options – Ronny Rodelin, Bryan Pele, Yannick Gomis and Frantzdy Pierrot – while the midfield looks strong, with plenty of flexibility. It is the defence that will come under scrutiny, however. Philipe Sampaio has been signed from Tondela in Portugal and represents an unknown quantity, while Sikou Niakate has returned from loan. It seems unlikely they will be able to keep hold of left-back Pedro Rebocho, although due to the health concerns around the club, their transfer plans have been unclear. Nevertheless, the potential in the squad is strong, with no obvious weak links, though that was the case last season and they struggled to a mid-table finish.