AS Saint-Etienne Goes from Champion to Selling Club: A Loyal Fan Vents

Being a lifelong fan of a team takes a person through a wide range of emotions regarding their rooting interest. From the highs of triumph in the league or a Cup final, to the lows of losing the derby to their most bitter rivals, true fans leave their hearts hanging on their team's every move.

While there are a handful of teams I take a rooting interest in due to their style of play or specific players, there is only one club that I call mine. As a lifelong fan of the boys in green from Saint-Etienne, I have witnessed some highs and some definite lows over the years.

Recently, I began to realize an apparent fact which has taken me to the rock bottom of a fan's emotional scale: My club has gone from a proud champion and high-profile club to an apparent developmental club for teams in its own league.

There have been signs of this coming for many years now, but this summer has been the most brutal since suffering through relegation in 2001.

For those who know little about Saint-Etienne (and that would be most), here is a brief rundown of ASSE’s once-proud history. ASSE has the most Ligue 1 titles of any club, with 10. They were a powerful force in Europe in the mid-1970s and have enjoyed many all-time greats, including Platini and Blanc.

When Platini lifted the Ligue 1 title in 1981, it would be the last meaningful title for Les Verts. Since then, Saint-Etienne has suffered relegation multiple times, including the most recent in 2001 when the team was docked seven points for club management being part of forging Portuguese and Greek passports for Brazilian and Ukrainian players, as noted by the BBC.

The high-point of the past three decades was the surprising run to a berth in Europe in the 2008 season. The club was led by a core group of young players who seemed to have ASSE on the verge of reclaiming its rightful place among the elite in Ligue 1. It turned out to be a tease—back-to-back 17th-place finishes coincided with an inability to hold on to the talented core.

In 2009 the resident Dragon Lady of my home about had me committed for depression when Bafetimbi Gomis was sold to the evil empire of Lyon. I wasn't depressed because Bafe was a tremendous young goal scorer, or even because he was transferred. It was because he was sold to our most bitter rivals who were nearing our mark of league titles.

Sell him to Lyon when there was serious interest from top teams in other leagues? It had to be a bad dream.

Unfortunately for me (and the rest of the Les Verts supporters), this was just the beginning of a trend.

While I was able to make it through the 2009 and 2010 seasons (where we barely escaped relegation), it was only due to the aid of outside influences, like alcohol (and lots of it).

During those seasons, in an effort to save my hair and any sanity I had remaining, the Dragon Lady put parental locks on the channels that carried ASSE games. In hindsight, I applaud her effort, but needless to say, it did not help.

This past year, Saint-Etienne hung around the top of the table for a large amount of the season before falling to the mid-table by the end. It was still enough to give me hope.

A mix of talented youth with a few seasoned veterans had me smiling again. Adding another piece or two in the transfer season should be enough to see us compete for Europe. But the soccer gods crushed those dreams in the first few weeks of summer.

The first to exit was Dimitri Payet, the exciting young attacker. His goalscoring had kept ASSE at the top for the first half of the season. After having been linked to clubs like Liverpool, he was sold to current Ligue 1 champions Lille.

This was followed up with news this week of U21 French international Emanuel Riviere’s transfer to Toulouse. Riviere had attracted interest from clubs like Arsenal (no trophies in six seasons, why are you all crying?). Once again, common sense took the day off and we decided to sell him to another mid-table club who we compete against.

As if losing the top two attacking options were not enough, add the rumors reported by ESPN regarding midfield stud Blaise Matuidi potentially transferring to PSG, and Saint Etienne is about to go a perfect three-for-three in regards to selling three of their best players (if not their three best) to their competitors. All three players are in their early 20s and have bright futures ahead of them.

With the cash to spend from the two completed deals, ASSE has brought in only one solid transfer in goalkeeper Ruffier from Monaco. Ruffier is an excellent young keeper, but keeper was not an area of immediate need.

The most exciting news outside of Ruffier has been the loan deal for AC Milan forward Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang, a talented but inconsistent player who spent the second half of the 2010-11 season on loan to ASSE.

I still hold out hope for a miracle, with time still left in the transfer season, but my hope is fading.

A Matuidi exit to PSG with no major purchases will lead to a requirement of heavy medication in order for me to make it through this season.

Even though it has been 30 years since ASSE was a true champion, I will continue to tune in every week this season to root my beloved green on.

The Dragon Lady will still be there to ask supportive questions like, “Why can’t you support a better team so we can save on prescriptions and adult beverages—a team like Lyon?”

It will only be a futile attempt on her part.

As a true fan, I cannot cut ties with Les Verts, no matter how many players we sell to that evil empire up the Rhone—but that does not mean that I will not have some serious meltdowns along the way.