Still defeated this Tuesday, January 31 against Laval (1-0), the DFCO advanced to 17th place in Ligue 2. Now relegated, the men of Omar Daf are more than ever threatened by a potential descent into National. Behaviors that imply question, non-existent game plan, results at half mast: we explain to you why we can be worried.

On December 27, after DFCO’s 5-0 victory at home against Laval, we wondered if the team had clicked for the rest of the season. At the time, we believed in a comeback for the club and a successful second part of the exercise. This Wednesday, February 1, here we are to fear a descent into National after a 1 to 0 defeat against… Laval, during the 21^th Ligue 1 day.

In the world of sport, we call it an inflamed. We admit our error in judgement. Since the victory last December, Dijon have played five matches, for four defeats and only one victory. Here are the men of Omar Daf at the 17^th place in the championship, in a relegation position therefore.

“There is disappointment but above all anger, confided the Dijon technician after the loss to Laval last night. At some point, some people have to ask themselves questions about their level and take responsibility.”

A few days, the coach’s tone has since hardened. After the 3-0 defeat against Bordeaux last Saturday, the former Sochaux coach was already talking about the “Attitudes that bothered me. We were unable to hold our heads up high”.

That evening, we had seen a collective slow down after the second but Girondin. The meeting ended with Dijonnais without desire, unable to put in the commitment necessary for a high level match.

What you have to look at is the content and attitudes of some.

Omar Daf, DFCO coach

Against Laval on Tuesday, Omar Daf tried to create an electric shock. Fate Baptiste Reynet. Saturnin Allagbé started the match in the cages. Left on the sidelines in recent weeks, Daniel Congré found a starting place in defense and his captain’s armband on his left arm.

Valentin Jacob and Xande Silva, weakened by an injury, were replaced at kick-off. But the small tactical revolution did not have the effects proposed. After the 10th defeat of the DFCO in Ligue 2, some supporters then expressed their disappointment.

“It’s no longer even useless to get angry for players who make fun of us every game”, comments on Twitter a faithful. Another post a famous same from the Malcolm series where a character entrusts “I didn’t expect anything, but I’m still disappointed”. Another fan wields irony: “Thank you, what a game, what a game! Congratulations to the whole team, we’re doing it again on Saturday against Dunkirk”.

For our sports journalist Christophe Tarrisse, the DFCO is still paying the price for its last galley seasons. “There is a remnant of players who were in Ligue 1 and whom the club did not manage to sell. Players who do not have a mad passion for the DFCO and for defending it. For some, as long as the salaries fell at the end of the month, it’s good”.

Inevitably, when attitudes leave something to be desired and trust is not there, collective performance is not there. In 2023, the DFCO scored only two goals in four matches, for eight conceded.

Beyond the statistics, the team gives the impression of not knowing where it is going. At the start of the season, when Dijon was doing well, the common thread was clear, the idea being to defend while advancing and to press the opponent high to corner him in his camp. Now, none of that.

The team goes through technical clumsiness, missed passes and uninspired attacks. Only a few phases, too irregular to really succeed, allow us to glimpse a collective intention.

“We have to show another face. Outside, we are too timid. We have to be more ambitious and conquering in the game, because it is difficult to exist…”urged Daniel Congré after the match in Laval, where without a good Saturnin Allagbé, the defeat could have been heavier.

“It’s not possible to have so much technical waste. […] In this division, you have to show more personality.”analyzed his Omar Daf side.

In general, in a season as disappointing as this, the coach is the first fuse of the club, the one that is licensed in order to create a new dynamic. Point of that on the side of Dijon. Omar Daf is still in place. In the entourage of the club, we are even told that the project is to build around the technician, repressing him as the most likely to save the club from a descent.

On January 12, Olivier Delcourt, the president of the DFCO, also assures: “I will not be the president who separates from Omar Daf. He is in Dijon. The players totally adhere to his speech, to his ideas”.

As a reminder, the last season, David Linarès had been set aside in August. His successor, Patrice Garande then decided not to continue the adventure after the end of the championship, believing that he did not have the same vision of the future of the club as its president. Omar Daf had therefore been poached from the neighbor Sochaux.

“It’s too late to replace Omar Daf now, believes Christophe Tarrisse. Olivier Delcourt renewed his confidence in him. Does that mean he’s the man for the job? That’s another question…”

Our journalist especially evokes the speech of the Dijon coach. “The words don’t really change. After each match, he explains that a reaction will be needed. But we feel that the players have not taken note of the situation. We do not feel them in mission mode for maintenance”.

The situation is such that the announcement last night, shortly after the defeat at Laval, of the arrival of French striker Marley Aké, on loan from Juventus, almost went unnoticed. What reassure the supporters and relaunch the team? Not sure…