Olympique Lyonnais manager Fabio Grosso addressed the club’s ultras after a 1-1 draw against FC Metz. Les Gones remain bottom of the table and are the only club in Europe’s top five divisions not to have won an official game so far this season.
Lyon’s miserable season continues. Grosso has already admitted that the club are mired in a relegation battle. At Sunday’s match at the Groupama Stadium, fans unfurled a banner reading: “Objective: Staying up.”
It had been hoped that last weekend’s events at the Vélodrome would galvanise the club. Lyon’s bus was attacked on the way to the match against bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille. The window closest to Grosso was smashed and the Italian manager was then struck by a bottle, leaving him with a considerable facial wound just above the left eye, which required stitches. Grosso did not lead training on Tuesday or Wednesday as he recovered from the incident, but he took his place in the dugout against Metz.
However, Lyon were lacklustre and were reliant on a late Skelly Alvero equaliser to salvage a draw. Lyon’s players have already had a dressing down from the club’s ultras this season and this time it was left to Grosso to confront the frustrated fans.
“The problem is that no one at the club is there to help you during the week or even to be here right now because it isn’t your job to be here in front of us today. If you have something to tell us, say it, and if you don’t want to tell us anything, because it isn’t your job to do so, we won’t hold it against you,” the leader of the ultras told Grosso.
In images broadcast on Prime Video Sport, the Italian manager replied, “I tell you all the time – you’re special. We will give you everything because you deserve it. Thank you for everything. We did everything to get the win today. We won’t give up. I promise to give you everything and I hope that will be enough.”
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
