Handball: HBGR coach Raphaël Geslan takes stock of the first part of the season

Les Bagnolais ont gagné quatre de leurs cinq matchs à domicile depuis le début de la saison. Midi Libre – Chloé Lopez

Le Handball Bagnols Gard Rhodanien occupe la 8e place au classement. L'entraîneur veut assurer le maintien le plus rapidement possible et pointe les axes de progression.

Handball Bagnols Gard Rhodanien closed its first part of the season in eighth place in the ranking of pool 6 of Nationale 2. "The gap between the teams is very tight. This clearly confirms that it's a complicated group where you can quickly find yourself relegated as in the top places. Everyone can beat everyone,” analyzes Raphaël Geslan, the coach and sports manager appointed last June by President Patrice Attard.

The Rouge et Noir played eleven matches during the first phase (five wins, six defeats). "It's a phase of discovery, both for me and for the players. There there are three matches where we lose by one goal as we lead at half-time. Money-time management is not good."

"There are many areas for progress"

For the second part of the season, which has already started with a home defeat against Guilherand Granges on December 16, Raphaël Geslan wants to do better than the first phase. "There are many areas for improvement.  We lack aggression and vice in defense and harassment of the ball carrier, says the coach. Managing weak times needs to be worked on because in these moments we tend to rely on individuality instead of the collective." L' The coach nevertheless highlights an evolution since he took charge of the team. "We have a more compact block, things are better than at the start of the season. On offense, relationships between players are more fluid."

Resumption of the championship on February 3

The main objective always remains maintenance. "I hope that we settle down as quickly as possible so that the guys don't have pressure at the end of the season." It will then be necessary to achieve good performances away from home where for the moment the HBGR has won only once. It will start on February 3 with a trip to Villeneuve-Loubet (9th in the standings with only two small points behind Bagnols). To prepare as best as possible, the Bagnolais players will resume training on Thursday January 4 with their sights set on a Coupe de France match on January 21.

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