Chambéry's giant-killing French Cup run

The domestic football league in France might not be on the same par as its wealthier counterpart across the Channel in England: there's not nearly as much money in the game and few teams have anything approaching the international status of say a Manchester United or a Liverpool.

But right now a club from the Championnat de France amateur 2, or what amounts to the country's fifth division, is having a dream run in the French Cup.

On Wednesday Stade Olympique de Chambéry, an amateur side from the south-eastern département of Savoie made it through to the quarterfinals after beating first division Sochaux 2-1.

Not impressed? Well you should be.

Aissa Yahia Bey the scorer of Chambéry's 71st-minute match-winning goal (screenshot Eurosport video)

Because not only did Chambéry do it the hard way by coming back from a first-half goal by a team currently standing 10th in Ligue 1, they also made it "three-in-a-row".

After eliminating both last year's beaten finalists Monaco and seeing off Brest in previous rounds, Sochaux became Chambéry's third successive top-flight scalp.

And that's a first in French football from an amateur team.

It's a feat that as far as coach David Guion was concerned almost amounted to being "a miracle".

"To beat three top division teams in the space of a month would have been unthinkable," a visibly moved Guion said after the match.

"Of course we're all incredibly delighted especially to continue in the competition and at the same time create history."

Chambéry coach David Guion (screenshot from French Football Federation website video)

While Guion, who has only been coaching the team since July last year, insisted that hard work and hours of training had been the secret behind the club's Cup run so far, Chambéry midfielder said there had been an additional incentive which probably made all the difference on the field.

"They're professionals and of course physically and technically they're much better than us," he admitted.

"What made the difference for us was simple motivation."

Chambéry will have to wait until Sunday's draw to discover who they'll face in the quarterfinals.

The other teams that have qualified are Lorient, Nice, Lille and Paris Saint-Germain from Ligue 1 and Angers, Reims and Le Mans from Ligue 2.

But Guion is not thinking so far ahead.

There's a match league match to be played this coming Saturday and Guron wants his players to relish their exploits so far in the Cup.

"I've not yet thought about the quarterfinals," he said.

"You can imagine that I want everyone to savour what has happened so far and I just hope we can find the energy to perform well when we play again on Saturday."

In reaching the quarterfinals, Chambéry became only the fifth amateur club to make it so far in the competition.

The last time was in 2008 when Union Sportive de la Jeanne d’Arc de Carquefou knocked out Olympique de Marseille in the last 16 before being stopped by the eventual beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain.

Chambéry-Sochaux: Résumé

Marks and Spencer planning return to France

It's news to fair warm the cockles of any expat Brit's heart - no matter how misty their memories or tenuous their ties with Blighty might have become.

Oh yes, and the French surely won't be too disgruntled either.

British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) is reportedly on the brink of returning to France.


And what a comeback!

According to the French financial daily La Tribune, M&S boss Marc Bolland is close to a deal to take over the spot at 100 Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris currently occupied by the clothes retailer Esprit.

The paper reports that Esprit staff were told of the decision last week and that they'll be taken on when M&S opens its doors on "la plus belle avenue du monde".

Apparently not all of them were exactly thrilled at the prospect with one of them telling the paper, "We're very disappointed, we feel cheated."

Well there's no pleasing some people perhaps.

M&S is remaining tight-lipped about the whole thing at the moment and refusing to comment on what it calls "rumour and speculation regarding stores".

But as the Britain's Daily Telegraph points out, Bolland opened the door to a possible return across the Channel in releasing plans last November as to how the company intends to "grow business" as its website puts it, over the next five years.

"While we have 337 stores in 41 territories overseas, we are essentially a UK retailer that exports," he said.

"We have an opportunity to move on from this and become a more international retailer, reducing our dependency on the UK economic cycle."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8293716/Marks-and-Spencer-plans-return-to-Paris.html

M&S shut up shop at all of its 38 European stores, including 18 in France, in 2001 with the loss of 3,350 jobs across the continent.

In March of that year the then-chairman, Luc Van de Velde, sent the company's 1,700 employees in France an email, informing them of the decision.

He's Belgian - which maybe explains his lack of manners!

France's embarrassment and anger over Strategic Airlines

Strategic Airlines - a charter company banned by France - makes a mockery of the country's civil aviation authority and takes advantage of a lack of European Union-wide regulations.

(screenshot from TF1 news)

In a special report during its prime time news on Monday, French television channel TF1 looked at how a European subsidiary of the Australian-based company Strategic Airlines had managed to flout a ban placed on it by the French civil aviation authority last September.

The charter airline simply moved its headquarters to neighbouring Luxembourg, as a "completely separate subsidiary" gained a licence from that country's aviation authority, and continued its flights from French airports to destinations in Greece and Portugal.

Strategic Airlines first gained a licence to fly in Europe in 2009 but its name soon became synonymous, as far as passengers and authorities in France were concerned, with technical problems and delays.

Complaints about waits of up to 30 hours because of technical problems and 'planes described by passengers as "flying coffins" as well as spot-checks carried out French civil aviation authority officials led to its licence being revoked in September 2010.

But just a few weeks later the company was back in business.

It had found a loophole in European Union regulations: there is no single agency within the 27-member state bloc responsible for overseeing airlines.

Perhaps the European Aviation Safety Agency would be the body most able to fulfil that function, but its role is limited as it makes clear on its website.

"The Agency works hand in hand with the national authorities which continue to carry out many operational tasks, such as certification of individual aircraft or licencing of pilots."

In other words each member state is responsible for deciding whether a licence will be issued to an airline and although a blacklist of airlines exists, it only applies to non-European companies.

And, according to Gilles Gompertz the general manager of the airline consulting business Avico, Strategic took full advantage of the inadequacy of EU-wide regulations.

"We closed the the door (to the airline) in September 2010 and one month later we opened the window," he said.

"What cannot be explained is the refusal by the company to correct faults and to return to the market after it has effectively been banned. That's shocking."

While Luxembourg's civil aviation authority is apparently "keeping a close eye" on Strategic's operations, it did little to prevent the airline once again upsetting passengers in December, this time those bound for the island of Madeira.

After a 10-hour wait, they were informed that their 'plane had been cancelled - an incident the airline put down to having been the fault of the tour operator.