Troyes head coach Laurent Batlles' dismissal was well on the cards
Troyes' three-year association with veteran manager Laurent Batlles was brought to an end last week after their draw against Brest. Batlles, who has overseen the club's progress since the 2018-19 season, guided them to Ligue 1 promotion this season.
For the club, it was a long wait, especially after the curtailed Ligue 2 season in 2019-20 where the club could have secured automatic promotion.
However, Ligue 1 has been a different challenge altogether. They were only one point off 18th-placed Metz when Battles was finally sacked. They currently have 17 points after 19 games and are 16th in the table.
City Football Group have decided to tap Quevilly-Rouen manager Bruno Irles to replace Laurent Batlles at ESTAC Troyes. bit.ly/3HwRBgN
Failure for Batlles after a splendid transfer market last summer
Despite being bestowed with some of the more competitive signings of the summer, Batlles failed to produce results with the new team.
The arrival of midfielder Rominigue Kouame from defending champions LOSC Lille was a major coup for Troyes. Apart from that, wingback Giulian Biancone arrived from AS Monaco and Renaud Ripart came from Nimes Olympique.
Official | ESTAC Troyes have signed Renaud Ripart (28) from Nîmes for €3.3m. bit.ly/3wGHbFm
Despite these major signings in the summer, it took the club five games to register their first win in the division against FC Metz in September. The club only had two wins from their opening ten games.
Struggles in the attacking third
Troyes have scored the third lowest number of goals in the league so far and incur a negative ten goal difference.
Despite opting for an attacking 3-4-3 formation with newly available resources, they have lacked potency in the attacking third. Interestingly, their major goal contributor this season has been their holding midfielder, Xavier Chavarelin.
The three-man attack of Renaud Ripart, Mama Balde and false nine Gerson Rodrigues has only yielded five goals this season. It underlined the lack of threat they offer their opponents.
Challenges of the first division
Troyes' lack of experience in the first division was something that held them back in the majority of the games they have played so far. The game against Montpellier in September was a case in point.
Despite the visitors going down to ten men in the 80th minute, Troyes' lack of quality on the ball allowed Montpellier to equalize the tie at the 87th minute. They conceded possession on the flanks and failed to deal with a simple cross to allow the visitors to take home a point from the game.
A similar moment of indecision and panic was also noted in their recent outing against Lille. They scored an own-goal in the dying minutes to hand Lille all three points.
It is fair to say that despite Batlles' best attempts to keep the club up, they need a man who can stabilize their sinking ship.