Reprieve, rapid recruitment and a staff reset, Lens women’s turbulent summer | OneFootball

Lens travel to Marseille on Saturday at 18:00 after a summer of reprieve, rapid recruitment and staff reshaping.

They were relegated on 6 May after a 2-6 defeat at Paris FC, only to be told two months later they would remain in the elite when Dijon were excluded by the DNCG, according to L'Équipe.

Training restarted on 1 July and the reprieve arrived on 8 July. President Andreea Koenig then launched a second recruitment wave aimed at players suited to their style and already experienced in the top flight, alongside sporting director Laurie Dacquigny, appointed in March.

Koenig reckoned the chances of a reprieve were about two per cent and a relegation scenario meant a smaller budget. The club rethought its structure, including the staff, and named Loïc Fiévet, 38, formerly of Valenciennes and Lorient’s national U19s, to succeed Sarah M'Barek.

The fixture list did not reflect Lens’s preferences, making logistics trickier and appearances at Bollaert harder, despite two games there last season. Koenig took only a few days in Romania to see her mother, otherwise she spent the summer on the phone preparing.

Matchday one brought a coherent display but a 0-2 loss to PSG. Last season they drew 1-1 at Bollaert yet forfeited the point for an administrative error that damaged their survival bid, and Koenig says they might not have been fully ready then and standards must rise to avoid a repeat.

Source: L'Équipe

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