Valenciennes sack Pierre Blois two days after a record 13-0 Coupe de France win

Valenciennes have sacked their head coach two days after the biggest win in the club’s history. In a statement published on Monday 12 October, the club announced that “Pierre Blois has been relieved of his responsibilities with the first team”. Samuel Goethals takes interim charge of the professional squad, assisted by Rudy Mater; both men were part of Blois’s staff. Blois is 32.

A 13-0 that carried no weight

The scoreline dates from Saturday 10 October in Arras: 13-0 against CS Habarcq in the fifth round of the Coupe de France, France’s national cup. The opposition play six divisions lower, in a departmental first division. Valenciennes led 6-0 at the break, booked their place in the sixth round, and the draw follows on Thursday 15 October. Never had the club won a match by such a margin. A score like that measures the gap between a professional club and amateur opponents; it says nothing about Valenciennes’ form.

In the league, that form sits in the table: 15th in Ligue 3, 8 points from 9 games, two wins, two draws, five defeats. The statement gives no reason, and no outlet cites an official one. I read it the same way the table does: the club judged its league start, not the cup.

Amiens next, on Saturday

You rarely sack a manager after a win, let alone after thirteen goals. That contrast carried the story around the sports media on Monday. Goethals’s interim starts on Saturday at the Stade du Hainaut against Amiens SC, on matchday 10 of Ligue 3.