“We wanted to provoke something,” Stéphane Le Mignan explained to reporters following FC Metz’s latest defeat, a 6-1 mauling away from home at the hands of Lille OSC. The head coach had taken a gamble before kick-off, removing club captain Gautier Hein and goalkeeper Jonathan Fischer from the starting line-up. 

Like Mignan said, something needed to be “provoked,” something needed to change. Metz are bottom of the table and the only team in Ligue 1 this season who have not yet won after nine games: they have the worst defensive record, having conceded 26, and the joint-worst attacking record with Angers SCO, with 6 goals scored. Two draws against fellow strugglers Le Havre AC and Angers are the only points they have on the board. 

However, if Mignan was searching for a spark in his alterations, all he seemed to find was the club’s lowest point this season. A performance so lacking that it felt as if the white flags had already been raised for the campaign. Or as Hein said after the match, “We feel ashamed. I think we’re all a bit lost today. We don’t know where to start. We’re simply not up to the task.” 

Metz’s Ligue 1 misery

He wasn’t the only player to come to that conclusion. Former RC Strasbourg Alsace midfielder Jesse Deminguet repeated the viewpoint in the mixed zone, “We’re simply not at the level of Ligue 1.” A damning statement, but not one that is particularly surprising. Even Metz supporters would have had worries before the start of the season about the level of players available. 

Defeating AS Saint-Étienne last season in the Ligue 1 promotion-relegation playoffs was an achievement that was rightfully celebrated, especially considering the respective budgets. However, the reality was that this was a squad that had overachieved in winning promotion back to Ligue 1 at the first time of asking. And unless a significant facelift was performed, it was a squad bound to struggle. 

A facelift was never forthcoming. Metz, like most teams in France, do not have the financial muscle to completely upgrade and alter their squad. Still, there would have been some hope that a promotion would mean the team would at the very least be improved. The opposite has been the case, with the departures of significant talent in the shape of Matthieu Udol, Papa Amadou Diallo, and Arthur Atta meaning Le Mignan has less to work with than he had in Ligue 2. 

A future in the balance

Le Mignan’s future remains in the balance. The Metz president, Bernard Serin, has always been reluctant to cull managers during the season and has only done so three times since taking his position in 2009. The last manager to face the axe midway through a campaign was Philippe Hinschberger, who was relieved of his duties after collecting a record of nine defeats and one win to start the 2017/18 campaign. 

Uncomfortable reading for Le Mignan as he prepares for the 10th game of the season with a worse points total than Hinschberger. However, if there is a silver lining for the manager, it is that it’s unclear who they could actually bring in to improve the situation. There is no easy fix, there is no magic solution. And so we are left with an image of Le Mignan making these changes and hoping that it will “provoke something.” 

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

• Metz have a great sense of timing and on Wednesday will play host to one of the league’s most in-form teams. Pierre Sage has arrived at RC Lens and has bafflingly transformed the club into a team that looks capable of challenging for Europe. On Saturday evening, they defeated Olympique de Marseille to climb to second in the table. Have a read of Sage’s exploits HERE. 

• Le Mignan is not the only manager to be staring down the axe. Habib Beye’s time at Stade Rennais looks to be drawing closer to the end, a defeat to out-of-form OGC Nice seemed to be the endpoint. However, he has been given a stay of execution; a victory away at Toulouse FC would save his job. Read the full story HERE. 

• Strasbourg had a chance to go second in the table with a victory away to Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday evening. They would get off to a flying start when the Ligue 1 top scorer, Joaquín Panichelli, opened the scoring. Lyon would instead mount a comeback, which was fuelled in part by Ismael Doukouré’s sending off. Read what happened HERE.