Originally published on 20th Feb ’17, this article can also be found as
part of the Ligue 1 review at GFFN and Guardian Sport.

‘In transition’ is a phrase common in footballing lexicon, much like its natural partner, ‘project’, it suggests an ideology is in the process of taking hold at a football club. However, the expiry date of any such philosophy continues to be eroded by the impatience, competitiveness and often fickle nature of modern football meaning, before these ideals can take root, the big red button marked “reset” is pushed without much consideration or foresight. A process which, in some cases, has become a frequent one, should results not be immediately forthcoming.

A vicious cycle develops and clubs can become suspended in a state of perpetual transition, a constant search for an identity resulting in an absence of it altogether. The plight of such clubs, Valencia, Marseille and Aston Villa in particular, has been well publicized but Lille’s toil has gone largely unnoticed, hidden away in northern France following their 2011 league title. But now, with the club sold, a possible relegation battle looming and ‘El Loco’ waiting in the shadows, Lille will soon be cast in sharp relief.

To say that Lille fans are indebted to Michel Seydoux is an understatement. The film producer and businessman turned club president oversaw Les Dogues as they journeyed from Ligue 2 hopefuls and the dilapidated Stade Grimonprez-Jooris to European regulars, in a new home at the gleaming Stade Pierre-Mauroy through a glorious league and cup double, a superb new training complex and relative financial security.

But now the steady hand of Seydoux has gone, the club sold to Gérard Lopes, who is “not a buyer, but a successor” Seydoux insists “one who has the vision, the capacity, and a project to allow Lille to continue to win titles”. But with him comes the zenith of an uncertainty that has been growing since their 2011 Ligue 1 and cup triumph and another season that has descended into underachievement as Lille approached the Saturday evening’s trip to Caen just a point clear of the bottom three.

Domestic titles brought with it Premier League interest in the summer of 2011 and the departure of Yohan Cabaye and the erratic, but then pivotal, Gervinho, while Adil Rami left for Valencia as the double winning side was slowly disbanded. Eden Hazard and top scorer Moussa Sow stayed put for one more comparatively underwhelming campaign, Lille finishing bottom of a weak Champions’ League group, while coach Rudi Garcia departed for Roma in 2013, as LOSC slumped to 6th place and again failing in Europe. René Girard replaced Garcia, the alchemist behind Montpellier’s 2012 league win, carrying a remit of returning the club to the league podium and title race. The subsequent third placed finish amounted to relative success in spite of the sales of Dimitri Payet, Lucas Digne, Aurelien Chedjou and the erstwhile Florian Thauvin for a sum over well over €40m. But the exodus showed a shift in the club’s tact.

With defender Simon Kjaer the only reinforcement of note and a series of limp displays resulting in a lacklustre eighth place finish the following year, amid criticism from media and frustration from supporters Girard’s reign petered out, his contract left to expire. Girard cited the shift in policy as a cause, it not meeting his expectations. Seydoux meanwhile explicitly stated that the club must move away from signing established players and towards developing their youth products. With this in mind, LOSC shifted focus to two-time African Cup of Nations winning coach, Hervé Renard. His arrival was heralded by some sections of the fan base but greeted with trepidation by others, his club career being a torrid one to date.

Renard’s new Lille proved to be a shambles. His aggressive management style seemed to breed division among the squad and his poultry 13 league games yielded just seven goals, leaving Les Dogues with genuine relegation fears. What started out as another transitional year turned into a season that was close to being written off entirely. Frédéric Antonetti’s uninspiring arrival represented another shift in direction.

The nomadic Ligue 1 coach, formerly of Rennes, Bastia and others, was appointed to provide solidity and consistency as the club. Like many before him, he dispensed with the identity his predecessor had been attempting to mold, at least temporarily, in favor of safety. To many onlookers’ amazement, however, Antonetti briefly exceeded expectations in guiding Lille to a superb 5th place finish and a Europa League berth. But once again, success proved to be fleeting.

It became painfully clear early in the current campaign that Lille’s rise had been almost single handedly driven by the supreme Sofiane Boufal whose guile, skill and finishing had dragged his teammates by the collective shirt collar into the upper reaches of the table.

The £25m that Southampton paid for him fell someway short of reflecting his true importance to Lille. Antonetti was gone by autumn, plunging the club again into a period of transition, relegation fears and a lack of identity. With Seydoux himself saying his team played “like goats”, this was amounting to another season which Lille fans would do little more than endure, the club becoming ever meandering.

With this season mirroring the last, the murmur of revolution gathered momentum in the boxes and suites at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Seydoux’s protracted negotiations with Luxembourg’s Gérard Lopes finally reached a climax and the club officially changed hands on January 26th. The switch in gear, and in transfer policy, was sudden. With just five days before the January window reached its garish yellow-tied conclusion, Lopes’ ownership and its validity had to be ratified by French football’s financial authorities, the often alarmingly strict “DNCG”, before the club could actually make any signings that were immediately promised by the fresh management team.

As a result, deadline day was exceptionally hectic as an eclectic troupe of players made their way to northern France. Paraguay international defender Júnior Alonso (Cerro Porteno) followed Brazil U20 centre back Gabriel (Avaí) across the Atlantic, combative Portuguese midfielder Xeka (Braga) aided skillful Dutchman Anwar El-Ghazi (Ajax) in providing an injection of European experience, while former Monaco forward Farès Bahouli (Lyon) and winger Ricardo Kishna (Lazio) made up a half dozen additions within 24 hours of each other.

As Seydoux’s ethos of developing youth lurched into overdrive, of the six, only Alonso at 24 exceeded 22 years of age, the former’s aim to promote from within was circumvented by the new regime. The promising teenage trio of technical midfielder Martin Terrier (19), who has sporadically impressed this winter, along with Youssouf Kone (21) and Hamza Mendyl (19), had their paths to the first team made considerably more crowded.

Despite the influx of talent, Lille proceeded to implode, disastrously losing the three games that followed deadline day to PSG and fellow stragglers Lorient and Angers. A brief revival either side of Christmas under Antonetti’s interim successor, long serving Lille coach Patrick Collot, was by then long forgotten and the stand-in boss was relieved of his duties just last week to be replaced by former Marseille assistant Franck Passi, a regular interim lacking in meaningful managerial success or pedigree. The seemingly scatter-gun strategy itself raised further questions as to who was behind these new signings and why. Two men that Lopes describes as his ‘friends’ may provide an explanation.

Perched on a touchline cool-box the Velodrome, coffee in hand or otherwise, Marcelo Bielsa rapidly endeared himself to the French footballing public. His Marseille side of the 2014/15 season led the table at Christmas with a tireless, gung-ho style that produced compelling encounters and spectacle to a league that in the past has struggled to find either. Despite fading to fourth in the second half of that campaign, ever since his ignominious exit from OM after an opening day loss to Caen, a stormy relationship with club hierarchy reaching a head, Bielsa’s stock remains high across Ligue 1, particularly on the south coast.

Rumours of a hero’s return to OM with the arrival of investor Frank McCourt persisted for some time. But it would be Lille and Lopes to secure El Loco’s services ahead of next season. The club formally announcing the deal that had been discussed for some time, not least by Lopes himself, on Sunday morning with Passi charged with keeping the club in Ligue 1 for the remainder of the current campaign.

Bielsa’s influence is matched, if not exceeded, at least for now, by Lopes’ right-hand man and new general manager Marc Ingla, formerly Barcelona Vice-President between 2003 and 2008. “The club may now need change. It is a serious project.” said Ingla, a statement of intent. “LOSC has done very well in recruiting in the past. There are many talents in the region, in France, in Belgium. It’s going to be a competitive project. We will do it differently, using the assets of the club. The club in general works, the infrastructure is great. We are here to bring new ideas, new working methods. “

Bielsa’s future employers made a sizable step toward safety in defeating follow relegation candidates, Caen in a nervy 1-0 win last weekend. Newcomers Xeka and El-Ghazi finally proved their worth despite Adama Soumaoro’s petulant, if harsh, dismissal for a shove on Ivan Santini just after the hour.

Xeka’s rumbustious display in midfield saw a burgeoning partnership with the powerful presence of Ibrahim Amadou develop, with El-Ghazi showing considerable composure to slide his shot past Vercoutre on 69 minutes having been picked out by a neat Yacine Benzia pass. El-Ghazi and Passi celebrated together, hinting that this team are ready for the fight and that they knew what this snarling victory could mean with the club propelled into 14^th, but still squeezed in tightly to the bottom third of the Ligue 1 table.

For now, Lopes, the prospect of Bielsa and a glut of signings have provided some hope for a club that has been quietly floundering for a number of seasons, but crucially what Les Dogues need is an identity and for it to take up permanent residence. Consistency, however, is not something readily associated with El Loco. Bielsa’s club tenures tend to open with a flourish; the well drilled, intense nature of his leadership and style have his sides going hard from the start, racing into leads and exciting with their open, brash, almost naive attitude to attacking football.

But, as with OM, they then hit a wall. His charges tire, the overbearing intensity becomes counterproductive and their form disintegrates with alarming pace. In the cases of Marseille and Bilbao, despite successes with both, with 18 months his tenure had burnt itself out. A repeat performance could be costly for Lille. They have rescued themselves from one disaster and they look ready to rectify a second, but if the turmoil left in Bielsa’s wake at OM is anything to go by, they might not survive a third mis-step in this division.