Football Season Guide

Back-to-back wins in the last 2 games of the season made Pau reach salvation at the end of the past campaign despite one of the poorest attacks and of the poorest defences of the league. They had started the season poorly and also faced a deep winter crisis, but coach Didier Tholot succeeded leading them to their third survival in a row. Nevertheless, the new season will see radical changes as Tholot was let go and Nicolas Usai, whose recent past in Ligue 2 at Nimes and Chateauroux was far from bright, was hired instead. Pau are one of the smallest clubs of the Ligue 2 and last season they relied heavily on loans from bigger clubs, which means that several protagonists of the past campaign quit over the summer. The attack was particularly affected by these departures, with the likes of wingers Boisgard and Begraoui and striker Ibnou Ba all gone. Highly experienced Boutaib, who had a mixed season at Paris FC, should replace the latter, while no wingers were signed yet. In fact, Usai is considering a change of system, turning Tholot's beloved 3-5-2 into a 4-4-2. They also had to face big losses at the back as starting goalie Prior and key right-back Koffi left for pastures new while starting left-back Evan's is recovering from serious knee injury. Boto and Obiang will provide cover for the latter while Kamara should be the new number 1. A valid right-back is still missed, though. With starting Sylvestre also gone, Pau opted for talented Ngom and Mohamed as new faces for the midfield, while 19-year-old Ahoussou could become a protagonist at centre-back.