Bonjour! We’re halfway through season six, and a formation change has seen us pick up some much-needed consistency. We’re fourth in the league, still in both domestic cups, and have made it to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup. Let’s see if we can kick on from here…

On the turn of the new year, we learn our cup fate, and it’s second division Lille…

But just as one cup journey begins, another one ends, as we’re dumped out of the League Cup on penalties by Nimes despite leading 1-0 at half time…

Anyway, back to the league, and having lost our last game to PSG, we immediately bounce back away at Bastia, who dominate on shots at goal, but there’s only one stat that matters…

A brace a piece for the front two takes care of the ten men of 15th-placed Lens…

The offers continue to rise for Diaz, but I’d be an absolute fool to let him go…

We give away a cheap penalty to help leaders Marseille on their way, and then it just gets progressively worse from there on in…

It’s a scrap against Lille in the cup, but an extra time goal from De Paula sees us scrape through to face Auxerre…

The attacking midfield has gone a bit stale of late, so I shake things up against Toulouse, bringing in Kaiku and Revilla for ACG and Nando, and it seems to do the trick…

Having your keeper getting injured against the defending champions isn’t ideal, but Sukia comes on and has a worldie, and then Arenaza comes on to seemingly score the winner, only for John Barnes’ Ghanaian cousin to p*ss on our fireworks…

I’m fuming not to have won, but The Board still think it’s a superb result, so every cloud…

It’s not good news for Leighton. Time to find some cover with deadline day looming…

Right after I sanction Sotero joining Ovarense on loan…

Guess who’s back, back again…

Fifth-placed Nantes have been a funny old team for us, largely down to Dida, but even though he plays out of his skin once again, he’s no match for our front line today, with a hat trick for Diaz, and brace for Calle…

In the first of a double-header with Auxerre, they start by dumping us out of the cup…

And then they wallop us in the league, as Bernie Diomede rekindles his love for scoring against us…

Despite our recent domestic failings, we’ve been flying in Europe, so the first leg with Chelsea comes as a welcome distraction.

They have a grey keeper, who of course has the game of his life, and despite absolutely peppering their goal, we slump to defeat at the hands of Tore Andre Flo and Billy Dodds…

We battle back from three down at home to Caen, but it’s not enough, and that’s a fourth straight loss, and the nine-point cushion we had over the teams below us is now just three..

We’re behind again at Monaco, and look to have slipped into free fall for the second half of the season yet again, but help arrives in the form of Barthez getting injured, and his replacement being sent off, allowing us to stroll to a much-needed win…

Things go from bad to worse in the second leg with Chelsea, but remarkably, we battle back to 3-2 down on aggregate, requiring one more goal to go through, but Clarence Seedorf crushes our dream with 11 minutes to go…

So that now just leaves the league. Rock-bottom Strasbourg have fallen on hard times, and Arenaza heaps more misery on them, with a brace to get us back to winning ways…

Mateo has a busy game against Lyon, scoring at both ends of the pitch as we notch up a routine home win…

We can’t win a trophy for love nor money, and this is the f*cking League Cup final…

It’s three more goals against Montpellier, and three different scorers, as we make it four league wins in a row…

A Leighton masterclass earns us another three points at home to Metz, putting us nine clear of fifth-placed Caen, and with a healthy goal difference of +17, one more win should seal fourth place and UEFA Cup football again…

And that win comes at Guingamp, where we’re ruthless, and Caen get hammered by PSG to mathematically secure us at least fourth…

We were starting to gather some momentum, and had an outside chance of pipping PSG to third spot on the final day, but it all goes out the window with an inexplicable hammering at home to relegation-threatened Gueugnon, who have taken four points off us this season…

And if that wasn’t bad enough, we’re then made to look like Prats by rock-bottom Le Havre. Good job we won at Guingamp…

The good thing about loaning Lekue again was that Toledo couldn’t recall him until the Spanish transfer window reopened, so we got almost the rest of the season out of him this time…

Just like last season, our final game is meaningless, so I give the departing Jose Galdames the captain’s armband, and give Edu Alonso, Gracia, and Arregui their swan songs as we concede four goals for a third game running…

So, once again it’s fourth place, which isn’t to be sniffed at, but at the same time, it doesn’t really feel like we’re getting anywhere, and the gap between us and the top teams still seems massive. I’m no quitter though, so I’ll keep chipping away to see if we can catch a break and at least win a cup or something…

Stats time, and we might as well name the player of the season award after Leighton…

This never really used to mean much, but it finally seems relevant now that we’ve got a positive bank balance. Every little helps…

So that wraps up another season. There seems to be a bit of a pattern developing, which we desperately need to try and break if we’re going to win any silverware at all. Join me again next week to see whether it will be lucky season seven, or just the same old same old. See you then. Au Revoir!