Olympique Rouen

[David Grizzle]

The first round of the T11 Cup is in the books after a convincing 4-0 victory for Les Coqs Gaulois on the road ended the tie 6-0 on agg.

Also under way are the group stage for Olympique Rouen's 3rd Champions League campaign where they are looking to get over the hump after coming up short in the final each of their first two seasons. A familiar face greeted O.R. in the form of their CL semi final opponents from last season for the first match of group H. During that tie the Thai opponents (no pun intended) managed to score 3 of the 8 goals that Rouen conceded prior to the final although it ended with a 7-3 agg victory for the favorites from Upper Normandy.

This season the result was even less enjoyable for visitors from Bangkok as O.R. walked away with a comfortable 4-0 victory which extends their streak to 3 games without conceding a goal to start the campaign.



The much anticipated day 3 league draw finally came for lvl 4 and it looks like we are in for an exciting 26 game campaign. New opponents abound this season as only 1 of the teams drawn into the league came from the pool of familiar teams many expect to be drawn with. There is a solid mix of talent but just as last season Les Coqs Gaulois are the prohibitive favorites to win the league although this season there is one other team with enough talent to make a run at Rouen. The Thai club finished won their Champions League last season and finished 2nd in their league with an impressive 37.6 avg rating compared to the current 38.8 of O.R. (Though the latter is improving very quickly and it remains to be seen if anyone can keep up in league play.

[David Grizzle]

A week that started out with a massive 14-0 victory over the ironically named Victory F.C. Sadly ended in a thud.

Olympique Rouen fell to Fuboleros F.C. in the T11 Cup round of 32 by a 6-3 agg total. Most frustrating is that the teams usual strength at defending set pieces fell apart for this match allowing all 3 of the opp goals from set pieces. Had the team defended like they usually do in such cases OR would have spent much of the game chasing what would have been only one more goal to advance on road goals but in the face of the defensive lapses the team didn't have enough fight to overcome such long odds.

The team can take some solace in advancing one round further than the previous season in spite of jumping up 2 more cup levels and defeating the two highest lvl opponents in franchise history. For a lvl 4 team to defeat not one but two lvl 7 sides in two legged cup ties is an impressive feat in and of itself and the cash injection from those victories came in handy in replacing much of the net spend during the summer transfer window.


This week sees a rare break in the action for international play. Les Coqs Gaulois next play on 4/17 in league play against a mid table side from Egypt before completing the CL group stage in what amounts to little more than a friendly against the worst performing team in the entire 32 team field from the Ukraine who have conceded 22 times in 5 games without a single goal scored while dropping all 5 games to date.

On match day 5 OR rolled out their B side and held on for a 2-2 draw that secured them 1st place in group H with a 3 point lead and the head to head being won during the previous meeting with swatcat ending 4-0.

Olympique Rouen will then await the results of the draw for the round of 16. The team has never lost over in the competition prior to the final in which they have fallen twice in a row. The team is looking to get that monkey off their back and with more than a full * advantage over all possible opponents the quest is looking promising.

Club manager and president David Grizzle had this to say. "The amazing fans in Rouen and the whole region of Upper Normandy have embraced the team in a way that is beyond what we dreamed of when we moved the club here over two years ago. They have been a part of both League and T11 Cup victories but the Champions League is the last major prize left out there to be won and the heartbreaking fashion in which the club has been denied the last two years have made everyone here determined to deliver the goods this season. While we have won two major trophies in the two seasons they have yet to win a double here and there are no fans on earth who deserve it more".


The team has filled the maximum allowed seating capacity for a lvl 4 club each and every game this season. There is also a very long waiting list for season tickets and many fans are openly questioning why a club with a stadium that can hold 31,000 fans and the fan base to support such a crowd has to be limited to 11,500 tickets per game.

One supporter put it like this. "I can understand the need to keep some competitive balance among clubs of the same lvl with many only having a capacity for 3,000 or less but there are already so many ways that teams can gain a financial edge through less legitimate actions including rich oligarchs losing millions of their own fortunes in order to buy players that normal clubs cannot afford. Why make it so that the attendance restrictions actually cause the ticket/merch revenue to fall below the allowable win bonuses for league play. It is only the CL and Cup that the team actually turns a profit on. I have been on the waiting list for 2 years and cannot get a seat at the stadium while nearly 20,000 seats remain covered for home matches. The stadium is still being expanded to seat well over 40,000 before the season is over and yet not one of those seats will be filled until the cap is lifted some next season. It is ridiculous!"

[David Grizzle]

Olympique Rouen Crowned lvl 4 League Champions!!

For the 2nd straight season and 3rd time in 4 Olympique Rouen won the league title. Also for the 2nd straight season the team led the league from wire to wire ending with a 52nd straight round at the top of the table. The 5-1 victory over the 4th placed finishers meant that the club had two games to spare clinching after round 24.


Also this day marks the clubs 3rd straight season making it into the Champions League finals having yet to lose a 2 legged tie in the competition since the clubs inception. However they have twice previously failed to take home the ultimate prize falling in consecutive seasons in the finals.

This final has a different feel to it as Les coqs gaulois are heavy favorites this go around. Last season they were close underdogs and struggled to a 0-2 defeat. In their first final they were razor thin favorites but fell 2-1 while being down to 10 men for over half the match.

Less than one hour remains until kickoff for the much anticipated finals with the clubs supporters buying up their allotment of tickets in less than 1 minute from their release on the internet. Olympique Rouen boast a club membership of nearly 38,000 supporters that is growing every day according to club president David Grizzle, "We have a rapidly expanding fan base which is among the largest ever for a lvl 4 club, We have already expanded our stadium capacity to nearly 43,000 seats in anticipation of continued progression up the ladder as well as building a top flight caliber youth academy, and a world class stadium experience which includes one of the worlds largest video displays in a football stadium."

[Staggy Stagg]

"We have a rapidly expanding fan base which is among the largest ever for a lvl 4 club, We have already expanded our stadium capacity to nearly 43,000 seats"
43000 at level 4, what crowds do you get. I have a team at level 5 and cannot fill a 7000 seater stadium @10 ticket price and a 25.0.0 league season so far.

[David Grizzle]

I get something like 11,500 per game but I think I have to keep it to $8 to fill it up. By full I mean the lvl limit the game has. Even if you had 200,000 seats you can only seat the limit for your lvl.



I built up past the limit mainly to get the top lvl youth academy. I don't plan to upgrade again until either I can seat enough to need it or I have $24M to burn without it hurting me. It went from like $6M the last upgrade to $24M just like that lol. Now that academy is maxed out I don't care much. I don't make any money from tickets anyway. I make most of my income from competition prizes. It is actually a bit insane that I can make $15-$25M in a year from winning but I get less than $1M from my main sponsor.

TV rights being by far the most lucrative part of the sport in real life and the reason that Hull City makes more money than Atletico Madrid but this game splits it up evenly for all in tokens. That is the most unfair and unrealistic thing to me. I think if it is going to be a token award it should be based on your success lvl. Fans, Wins, Silverware, etc should determine how many tokens you can get. Since tokens are the real money in this game it makes sense to me. Kit sponsor should also be decided this way although in $$ rather than tokens.

[David Grizzle]

Season 5 for Olympique Rouen starts off with an early big victory, followed up with another yearly spending spree.


Olympique Rouen got T11 Cup play underway only moments after the official start of the new season. There game against the lvl 8 opponents from Djibouti was the very first tie to get underway and in spite of a tense back and forth for the first half an hour seeing the match all even at 1-1.

In the 31st minute Rouen would seize the momentum and never relent, scoring twice in less than 2 minutes. The first came after a giveaway by the opposition CB allowed ST Wilson Sanchez to go in 1v1 against the keeper then calmly slide it in the net for what would be the winner. In the 33rd minute Chilean winger Sebastian Rocha would also open his account for the season after taking a sensational through ball from Omar Cardenas.

Only 3 minutes into the 2nd half it would again be the RW Cardenas making the play, this time on his own leaving his marker flat footed to create just enough space to place a beautiful strike into the far corner to increase the margin to 4-1. Just 6 minutes later it was another terrific pass from Cardenas this time setting up Les coqs gaulois all time leading scorer Mikkel Sorensen to complete a brace and end the scoring at 5-1.

It was a delightful result against the favored opponents who are 3 levels above Rouen in the ladder. They head out to the tiny African nation for the 2nd leg of the opening round today with a 4 goal advantage. The opposing manager blamed the lack of time to prepare for the match it having come so quickly after the schedule was announced but the excuse rang hollow as it was hardly a disadvantage that only his side had to deal with.



Following the match the club announced 5 new signings that each surpassed the previous record transfer fee for the club.

The first was 18 year old Argentine GK Cristian Cozzoni who was the most valuable player on the market and due to the position he plays it was little surprise that the bidding was intense and lasted a whopping 35 rounds while it also came at a steep cost of a massive $21.1M. It was nearly twice the official valuation of the player but team President and manager David Grizzle had this to say "We have been looking to solidify the position for the entire 4+ years this club has been competing. Cristian is by far the most promising young keeper we have had a chance to sign and we could not let the opportunity pass us by".

Cozzoni is expected to immediately get his crack at taking the starting job in the 2nd leg of the T11 cup prelim round and with his price tag it would have been more shocking to have him sitting on the bench. The teams willingness to not only sign a new GK but pay such a steep price was criticized by some members of the media and the fan base. Incumbent starter Maxence Honore performed well in his first season after being eased into the starting job last season at age 18. He allowed only 14 goals in 29 starts for the lvl 4 League and Champions League winners with an amazing 20 clean sheets in all competitions including 15 of his 19 league starts. Honore maintained an average rating of 6.689 in all competitions as well as a save % of 82.278%.

The temptation of a GK who is valued so high, coupled with Honore's slip in form at the end of the season proved to be too much for the club to ignore. Although they won the CL final, Honore put in his worst rated performance of the season in the match while also having 3/4 of his 6 rated matches in the last 5 league games.


The 2nd signing came at the other position that has seemingly always been in flux for Rouen. 18 year old Bulgarian RB Georgi Metodiev was also coveted by several other clubs but the bidding wasn't nearly as intense lasting only 4 rounds before ending at $10.9M, this time only slightly above his official valuation of $10.6M which after joining up with the team and beginning training immediately jumped to $11.2M which matched that of their first signing making them currently the co-most valuable players in club history for the time being.

Their 3rd pickup of the opening frenzy was 18 year old Cameroonian AM Stephane Ekwalla. The club got a relative bargain as the bidding process ended quickly at a cost of $9.18M, well short of his initial valuation of $9.9M. Ekwalla is 2 points shy of 6* status and has yet to join the club for training.

#4 of the evening soon followed in the form of Ekwalla's fellow countryman, 18 year old LB/CB Arthur Ebeye. Rouen for the 3rd time crossed the $10M plateau, this time by a mere $100k which was $300k short of his initial valuation of $10.4M. He was the 3rd most valued player on the market this season making this the astounding 3rd time in 4 years that the club has signed the top 3 available young players on the market on opening day of the transfer window. Ebeye also quickly earned his 6* status pushing him up to a $10.9M valuation.

Ebeye is expected to push for the starting job at LB in spite of the continued quality performances of the teams elder statesman (at only age 24) Dor Zilberman. Zilberman has been a rock at LB the past 3 seasons but questions remain about whether he grow enough to keep up with the teams rapid climb up the football ladder. He finished last season as the only starting outfield player rated less than 7*. Getting to that level this season would be that much harder.


Finally the final signing came in the form of 18 year old Swiss right winger Anthony Moric. While he was the player with the lowest initial valuation among the clubs signings he also is a full 4 points shy of reaching 6* status and thus has the potential to catch up or surpass some of the others when his training program kicks in. Moric was the only one of the 5 signings that went uncontested this season. It is looking like there is a possibility that the days of signing the top talent on the market uncontested in coming swiftly to a halt as the club jumps up divisions each season.

In the bottom 4 divisions clubs were not willing to break the bank for such young and unproved talent. How much of this seasons intensity came from promotion vs having the most valued talent coming at positions that are much harder to find is up for debate. Previous seasons saw the top players coming mostly from CM, CB, and ST. This season CM's of that caliber were not there and while CB was well represented and ST's were there to be found they were not the top dogs this go round.



Finally the club had to fund the spending spree. Once again it was a combination of their wealthy ownership group contributing their own funds as well as sales of players deemed expendable or who had not lived up to expectations.

The club fist sold Greek DM Antonis Lemonis for a fee of $5M. Lemonis spent only one season at the Stade de Rouen appearing in 4 games and while he provided solid (if not spectacular) play he plays a position that the club rarely uses any longer following the breakout season of CM Christian Segreste who scored 22 goals last season the club dispatched of an out an out holding midfielder and instead rely on a box to box CM with the ability to join the attack as well as the pace and skill to track back and help shut down opposing AM's.

Next to the chopping block was RM Sherom Kasami. The 19 yr old failed in his managers desire to move him further up the pitch into a RW role and never could get on the pitch. He was also one of last seasons bigger signings but with the addition of Ekwalla who is comfortable in an attacking role and while he hasn't been deployed out on the right side yet in his career the club is much more confidant in his ability to adjust to the change, providing cover for both AM Mauro Ezen and RW Omar Cardenas.

Reserve GK Berkin Isyapan shortly after departed the club for a reported fee of $3.13M. The 22 year old made only one start last season and was made expendable with the signing of Cozzoni. The club does not keep 3 keepers on the roster and nobody in Rouen wanted to completely give up on Maxence Honore who still may end up the starter this season.

Also sold was 19 year old Argentine ST Cristian Bottaro who appeared in only 2 games for Rouen scoring one goal. While he has quite a bit of potential and certainly couldn't be called a bust the club already has not only 2 fully established starters at the position who have had back to back 30+ goal seasons but also has another youngster from Cameroon in the form of 19 year old Arthur Ngan who performed very well during the early season injury to Wilson Sanchez as well as providing a scoring punch off the bench when the team deployed 3 forwards later in games to give them an extra weapon. Ngan scored 10 goals and added 5 assists in 15 appearances.

Also the team has an U21 prospect at ST in the form of 18 year old Gregory Bengelloun who while currently a point shy of 4* has the potential to be outstanding, the club has not forgotten that about this time 3 seasons ago Omar Cardenas had the exact same rating, 3 seasons later he has scored over 60 goals for the club and is an indispensable part of the teams core.

Finally the last 2 completed sales came in the form of two little used reserves. The first, AM/RW T. Henry for a fee of $4.26, Henry appeared in 5 games with 2 goals and 2 assists but is not progressing as the club had hoped. Secondly was 20 year old RB Malik Efendi who started the last 4 matches for the club while earning MoM honors in his club debut. With the signing of Metodiev, the late return in form of the young Peruvian defender Agustin Garcia, and star CB Jason Goller having trained hard to learn to play RB where he is now comfortable there was no room for an player who can play only one position and who also does not have long term potential.

Still on the Transfer list is 19 year old Spanish WB Jose Martin. So far he has failed to attract an adequate offer although it is early in the season and WB is not a position that is used by the majority of teams. He does have a solid value of $5.6M and was originally signed in order to be converted to FB but became redundant with the signing of Ebeye and the increasing comfort of Silvano Ibarra at the position, Ibarra started training at LB last season as it became clear that he might not have a long term future at CB unless he is prepared to spend most of his time on the bench.


Finally there were two other players who were sold at the end of the season in order for the club to raise the initial $11M needed to bid on the top caliber players for lvl 5. Both were also part of last years signing crop which overall was not a very productive group but in spite of this fact the club was able to recoup most of the money spent on those who didn't stick.

First was one of the two big signings at this time last season from Ecuador LM Carlos Esteban Biojo. Biojo, like fellow wide midfielder Sherom Kasami did not acclimate to his intended new position further up the wing. Last seasons lack of natural LW/RW players of high caliber led to the dual experiment and when they played in their natural positions they were effective but neither performed well as forwards. With the system in place there is no room for anyone outside of CB who is not able to contribute offensively. All 6 of the teams starting non defenders scored at least 22 goals last season.

The other early departure was DM Paul Pariseau. Paul played fairly well in the 5 games he started in place of the injured Christian Segreste but his lone contribution offensively was a single assist and with the decision to pare down the roster size by not carrying any holding midfielders or wing backs it became an easy decision.

Fans have voiced their displeasure at the lack of French players on the squad. Last season the team carried 4, currently there is only 1 remaining French player and that is Honore, who it appears has lost his starting job at GK. The team is likely to sign their young academy product in ST Gregory Bengelloun but that would still leave only 2 national players, neither of which is projected to play very much. But with the game becoming far more globalized with the switch to multinational leagues without requirements for home grown players there is little incentive to do anything other than get the best players you can, regardless of nationality.

[David Grizzle]

Les Coqs Gaulois claim dominant road victory in T11 Cup, Advance to Qualifying round in style

Following their first leg victory at the Stade de Rouen 5-1 Olympique Rouen were a confident group but were not taking anything for granted. Even with a 4 goal advantage, which in order to fail to advance would require their worst defeat in club history they had conceded a road goal.

One might expect a club that had never lost by more than 2 goals in 4 seasons to relax a bit with that 4 goal cushion. But this team showed their resolve today, going into a country in which they had never traveled and facing a side that, at least on paper, was similar in quality to their own, they controlled the ball 80% of the time.

"We have a couple new faces but most of us have been together for over 3 years now. We remember how it felt to lift the T11 Cup trophy but we also remember how it feels to be knocked out in the first 3 rounds the past two years. We are determined to not let that happen again. We played well tonight but our job is far from done, we want the treble."

The words of striker Wilson Sanchez who again came away with man of the match honors. His 3 goals in the two legged tie put his career total up to 104 in 3 seasons with the club. This would make him the clear star of most every team at this level but he has been somewhat overshadowed by the other half of the striker pairing in team captain Mikkel Sorensen who has struck 119 over that span to go with his 52 assists, 9 more than Sanchez, though many of each have been to one another.

Rouen came out with a fury, creating chance after chance but lacking the final product. Until the 23rd minute when a beautiful one two between the pair led to the opening goal by Sanchez. That first goal took an already daunting task for the East African side of scoring at minimum 4 times, a feat achieved only twice in 4 years, into a nearly impossible 6 goals by losing the road goal advantage.

The second half started with the hosts coming out swinging but their already slim hopes were crushed ten minutes into the half when Omar Cardenas, having sprinted down the right flank, cut inside and fired a sensational strike from 25 yards right into the top corner on the far side leaving the keeper flat footed.

Another 20 minutes passed with a lot of possession but not much action until a 76th minute foul put CM Fillipo Romano in the book. Christian Segreste swung the ball into the box where once again it was Cardenas who made the play, losing his marker for just the split second he needed to nod the ball into the far side of the net to increase the lead to 3-0.

6 minutes later the scoring finished the way it started, with Sorensen again setting up his partner in crime Sanchez for the 4th goal. There was little celebrating when the final whistle blew. It was all business for the boys from Upper Normandy, advancing through the preliminary round for the 4th straight year with a 9-1 agg victory.

In the post match press conference manager David Grizzle had this to say. "Our goal here was always to get though this first hurdle, the biggest improvement in this team will always come between the preliminary round and the qualifying round. It is the gradual process of getting the team match fit with no preseason and especially this season having the match on such short notice, our boys did a great job again of working hard for 90 minutes and being unselfish on the pitch. You can see the hunger these guys have. They want to win this tournament badly. We got the Champions league monkey off our back last season. We are playing against teams 3 and 4 tiers above us, to win under these conditions is hard but we won't lie down for anyone."

Next up is the Champions league group stage match day one. Kickoff is at 21:18GMT on the 4th at the Stade de Rouen against English side Max FC, the 4th seed in group E. Later on that evening will be the lvl 5 league draw.

[David Grizzle]

Olympique Rouen continue hot start, now heavy favorites to advance to T11 Cup last 16

Rouen manager David Grizzle made it clear that this season the club expected to advance further in T11 cup than the last 2 seasons. Having fallen in the preliminary round 2 years ago, and the playoff round last season, the last 16 was the minimum that would be excepted. "This club started it's existence with back to back T11 cup victories. It was the first trophy in the clubs history and the most important in club football. Failing to make a real run in the competition is not acceptable."

The club looked it real danger of failing to even return to the playoff round after a disappointing 1-1 home draw in leg 1 of the prelims. The shocking 4-0 road victory that followed has seemed to carry over into all competitions. That draw remains the only time this young season that Rouen failed to win a match in all 3 competitions. Starting off the playoff round on the road against tough opposition didn't seem to phase the young side. This is a group that is used to winning after all, outside of the two cup failures this club hasn't finished worse than 2nd in the other 9 competitions they have entered and have 6 major trophies to their names. There remains 8 players on the club who started that 2nd T11 Cup victory and that was a very young team even compared to now.

The playoff round 1st leg started off very much like their previous cup match. It took less than 11 mins to score the opener in both matches. This time it was a perfectly timed pass from Omar Cardenas that met the in form AM Mauro Ezen for a tap in to give Rouen an all important road goal and the 1-0 lead. There would be no letting off as usual. When this bunch smells blood, be it in the comfy confines of the Stade de Rouen or the hostile German ground they were in on this day. It took all of 6 minutes for Rouen to double their advantage when a corner from Sebastian Rocha met the head of 18 year old LB Arthur Ebeye who had lept over his marker to head the ball inside the far post.

In the 26th minute Les Coqs Gaulois made it 3-0 when Cardenas made a mazy run inside from the right flank and placed a magisterial strike from outside 25 yards into the top corner. While the threats continued for the full 90 mins Rouen's Germany opponents managed to stem the bleeding but failed to produce a goal of their own as the match ended 3-0. Rouen come home tomorrow with a commanding advantage and looking to advance to the last 16 for the 3rd time in club history. While they are certainly taking nothing for granted it would take the worst defeat the club has ever suffered to see them off at this stage. The clubs two previous trips to the final 16 both ended in lifting the famous trophy and while the mountain they need to climb is much steeper than those two the prospect of returning to the biggest stage has supporters excited again.

[David Grizzle]

Season 5 ended both with tremendous highs and terrible lows.

Olympique Rouen wrapped up its 4th league title with 2 games to go. Having scored 118 league goals while allowing a record low of 8 for another record +110 in league play.

Reaching our 4th straight Champions League final saw Rouen facing a familiar foe in Punki, also from our league. While the two league matches were easy wins by Les Coqs Gaulois this match would prove much more difficult.

After falling down 1-0 early Rouen would quickly get the equalizer. Right before the half they would take their first lead on the 48th goal of the season for star ST Mikkel Sorensen. Just a few mins later Omar Cardenes would stretch the lead to 3-1 and that would prove a massive goal.

In the 80th min Punki brought the score back to 3-2 and Rouen brought on longtime starter turned reserve CB Jason Goller in place of the struggling ST Wilson Sanchez creating a 5 man back line that would see out the remaining 10 mins securing the 2nd straight double and 2nd Champions League title in 4 tries.

But in spite of their success rumors of financial problems with the ownership came as a shock to supporters. American Billionaire David Grizzle had taken a beating in his other ventures and the rumors were that with the massive expenditures made out of the pocket of the owner to get the team to this level could not be sustained.

Stay tuned right here as further developments are expected shortly.