Paris (AFP)

The National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) validated Thursday without restriction the balance sheet of Bordeaux yet announced deficit, relieving the club in the scapular without reassuring local players opposed to current leaders.

Adjourned on July 7 "for an agenda problem", the meeting in front of the financial gendarme of French football was expected, almost feared in the thatched cottages of Gironde in view of the deterioration of the image of the club.

There is no shortage of problems: tensions exacerbated behind the scenes by the Ultramarines in open warfare for months against President Frédéric Longuepée, whose departure they are demanding; intervention by the new mayor of Bordeaux Pierre Hurmic claiming in turn the head of this divisive leader; not to mention in early July the desire of the Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa to leave the ship before it shatters ...

The picture was alarmist, also weighed down by various compromising stories internally, the new logo criticized, and especially finances more than in the red - deficit estimated between 40 and 50 million euros - since the takeover of the club in 2018 by the funds of American investments GACP and King Street.

Last season, a letter of confidence from King Street, today alone in command, but which is not intended to manage a football club, had allowed the Girondins to pass without incident the knife of the DNCG. Bis repeats this Thursday.

"This expected decision confirms, despite the difficult economic context, the good management of the club, supported by its shareholder King Street, which demonstrates its long-term commitment, the Girondins said in a press release. This is an opportunity for the FCGB to close a streak, focus on the club's strategic development and start the new season with confidence and ambition. "

- Austerity, competitiveness, sustainability -

What will it be? And with who ? The questions are likely to fuse in the coming days because if the American shareholder has obtained the approval of the supervisory body, has he not set his conditions internally so that the mismanagement ends?

Are we not going to attend an austere transfer window, active only in the direction of departures in order to offset expenses at the risk of reducing the competitiveness of the team?

In this case, Paulo Sousa whose enmity with its president is known, will he still be the man for the job? To have. In any case, two weeks after having entrusted his moods to the executives of his locker room and his desire for elsewhere, it was he who led the training this Thursday morning - more directive than usual - blocking thus the arrival of a possible successor (Jean-Louis Gasset?) plus + Longuepée-compatible +.

Entering the dance at the end of June after his surprise victory during the municipal elections, the Green Pierre Hurmic had asked to "urgently meet" the American leaders "to be reassured about the sustainability of the presence of King Street on Bordeaux territory and the way they are looking to the future "when" there are currently rumors of the club selling ".

He who had participated, the day before the second round, in a demonstration of the Ultramarines against the American shareholder and the management, will he have to put a little water in his wine?

Finally, the Ultramarines also took note of the successful passage before the DNCG. "The club passes the test of fire, it is a relief, tweeted one of their representatives Laurent Perpigna. But it remains more than ever suspended, in danger. The important thing is not the fall , it’s the landing. There’s no question of closing anything. Nothing is finished, it all begins. "

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