“We’ll enjoy it while it lasts, and dig deep when things get tough,” Le Havre AC head coach Didier Digard explained last weekend following his side’s 2-1 win over RC Strasbourg Alsace. From the outside looking in, the former Middlesbrough midfielder might sound a touch fatalistic, but this is the reality of life in the coastal city. The sun doesn’t often shine in the rain-swept landscape of France’s Seine-Maritime department, so you need to enjoy it while it does.
After defeating Strasbourg, Le Havre followed up the result with another win on Sunday by the same scoreline, this time dispatching Toulouse FC. It’s only the second time this season that Le Club Doyen have won two consecutive games, having defeated relegation rivals AJ Auxerre and mid-table Stade Brestois back in October. Unlike the results in October, these recent wins have been against teams with aspirations for Europe. And perhaps, the most pleasing part for Digard, Le Havre have thoroughly deserved their good results.
Le Havre not getting ahead of themselves in Ligue 1 survival battle
Le Havre were the far better side against Strasbourg even before they were given a significant helping hand following Ismaël Doukouré’s first-half red card. They pressed and harried one of Ligue 1’s best-stacked and most expensively assembled squads from the first whistle until the last. And on Sunday, they showed brilliant resilience to beat Toulouse despite being down to ten men for the majority of the game after their captain Arouna Sangante was sent off in the 2nd minute of the match.
With twelve games left of the season, these wins have left Le Havre in a favourable position. They now sit 13th with a nine-point buffer between themselves and Auxerre in the relegation playoff spot. And they have a solid chance to maintain that gap when they travel to the Stade de la Beaujoire to face relegation-threatened FC Nantes on Sunday, who are in the middle of a five-game losing streak.
Digard knows not to get ahead of himself; there’s still a long way to go until safety has been achieved, but the signs are promising that Le Havre will succeed in their bid to survive a third consecutive season in Ligue 1. A remarkable feat when you consider that this is a club that has had to live within its meagre means, and hasn’t spent a single penny on transfer fees since the 2023 summer transfer window.
Didier Digard: A future in speculation
However, what comes next for Le Club Doyen is a little less clear. Digard’s future in particular remains vague. The head coach, who started his playing career as a Le Havre academy graduate, only has months left on his contract with his boyhood club. L’Équipe reports that the club would like to pin him down to a new deal, but his profile has grown in stature since they first appointed him as Luka Elsner’s successor ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Outside interest has reportedly been growing in Digard, and Le Havre may face a challenge from clubs with European ambitions, superior budgets, and far more frequent sunnier spells. Unfortunately, Le Havre’s lot for much of their history has been to rebuild once they can no longer afford to keep an asset, and the more Digard succeeds, the less likely it is that he’ll be on the sidelines at the Stade Oceane beyond this campaign.
Takeaways
- RC Lens’s head coach, Pierre Sage, won’t admit that his side are in a title race, but the rest of the league aren’t so convinced by his talk of avoiding relegation. Lens thrashed Paris FC 5-0 to go top of the Ligue 1 table, after Paris Saint-Germain stumbled against Stade Rennais. You can read the full story HERE.
- Olympique de Marseille’s descent into madness took another turn on Sunday when Medhi Benatia resigned as sporting director. Relations with club president Pablo Longoria reportedly deteriorated amid the chaotic departure of head coach Roberto De Zerbi. Read what happened HERE.
- Tyler Morton has been a centerpiece in Olympique Lyonnais’s season. The England youth international is hoping that his work in helping Les Gones reach a 13-game winning streak will be recognised by Thomas Tuchel and the England camp. Read the full story HERE.