AS Saint-Étienne remains the favorite club of 3% of French women and 28% has sympathy for the Greens, figures which rise to 6% and 50% among football fans. It is especially the over 50s who are attached to it.
Four out of five football fans believe that the club which has the most championship titles in France will not go down to Ligue 2 at the end of the season, even though it occupies 15th place 12 days before the end. For them, it is mainly the players who are responsible for this situation.
Here are the main lessons from the last Odoxa survey for RTL and Groupama. The survey was carried out on the Internet on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 February with a sample of 1,004 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over, including 419 football fans, according to the quota method.
1. A club always appreciated by the French
AS Saint-Etienne remains the most successful club in the league. With 10 titles, the Forez club is ahead of Olympique de Marseille (9) and a PSG-Monaco-Nantes trio (8). The Greens are also part of the very closed circle of French finalists in the Champions League with OM, Monaco and Reims.
These results, combined with a popular culture and values, make it a club that counts for many French people. It’s the favorite club of 3% of adults (1.5 million people) and 28% of our fellow citizens say they have sympathy for ASSE. Above all, unlike clubs like OM or PSG, the Greens are very little rejected. Only 8% of French people say they don’t like them.
The results we see among football fans further underscore the club’s place in the landscape. 56% are attached to it, including 6% declaring it to be their favorite club. Only 5% of football fans say they don’t like the club.
Credit: Odoxa for RTL and Groupama
But the last title in the championship of the Greens goes back almost 40 years (1981) and the unfortunate final against Bayern Munich with the famous square posts dates from 1976. Clearly, it is a time that the under 50 can not not know.
So it’s very logical that attachment to the club is highly correlated with age. It evolves crescendo from 19% among those under 25 to 42% among those 65 and over. So it’s inevitable: the more the years go by, the more the club’s popularity will wane.
Credit: Odoxa for RTL and Groupama
2. The club will continue at the end of the season
Since its rise in 2004, AS Saint-Étienne has been present at the highest level of French football each season. The club is even systematically part of the Top 10 since the 2010-2011 season. It is therefore one of the pillars of the championship which is today in danger.
On the eve of the 27th day and a derby in Lyon, the Greens are in 15th place with only two points ahead of the roadblocker, Nîmes. Can they go down to Ligue 2? The vast majority of football fans do not believe it. 81% think so.
Credit: Odoxa for RTL and Groupama
3. The main players responsible for the situation
With 100 million euros budget, the club from Stéphane has the 6th financial power in the championship. By reaching 15th place in Ligue 1 after 26 days, ASSE therefore has a season clearly below its objectives.
For football fans, the main culprits of this bad season are the players (47%). The duo of presidents composed of Bernard Caïazzo and Roland Romeyer is not exempt from reproach either in the eyes of football fans. 32% of them believe that they are the main culprits for these poor results.
Credit: Odoxa for RTL and Groupama
Finally, the least responsible of all for football fans is the coach, Claude Puel (20%). His latest decision, however, caused a lot of ink to flow. By putting a club legend, Stéphane Ruffier, on the bench, the Stéphane coach has drawn harsh criticism, particularly from the player’s agent.
Football fans tend to favor the coach : 52% believe he was right to place the club goalkeeper for almost 10 years on the bench, 47% believe that he was wrong.
Credit: Odoxa for RTL and Groupama
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