Marseille fans were drooling this summer at the thought of the exciting campaign that lay ahead. Not only had former Champions League-winning skipper Didier Deschamps returned as coach, but he had succeeded in bringing in a host of established players.

Recruitment bonanza

The defence was bolstered by newly crowned French champion Souleymane Diawara and experienced Argentine Gabriel Heinze. The stylish Fabrice Abriel joined expensive recruits Lucho Gonzalez and Stéphane M'Bia in midfield, and Deschamps also brought in two trusty performers from his AS Monaco days, Fernando Morientes and Edouard Cissé.

These were exciting times on the Vieux Port, and like most of the French media, I started buying into the hype. In fact, why stop at Ligue 1 domination? This collection of stars should be going for European glory! OM fans are a particularly excitable lot. I should know. After all, I've married one. But they weren't the only ones getting carried away. Nearly 50 percent of all fans were tipping Marseille for their first title since Jean-Pierre Papin was Ballon d'Or.

Reality check

Sadly, the reality check has already arrived. Cracks emerged during the run of four defeats in five (against AC Milan, Valenciennes, Real Madrid and Monaco). The imposing Heinze and Diawara have failed to look like an effective partnership, injuries are preventing Lucho from performing, and Morientes is not getting the regular football he needs.

Bad luck or bad management? I simply don't think Marseille required an overhaul this summer. When I heard Deschamps saying he wanted to change 30 percent of the squad that had taken last season's title race down to the last day under Eric Gerets I was very surprised.

Lack of continuity?

Clearly, Deschamps wanted to bring in his own men but maybe he could have shown more flexibility. Some of Gerets' favourites like Mathieu Valbuena, Vitorino Hilton and Lorik Cana fell down the pecking order or were sold. Yet OM are badly missing the presence of Cana, Sunderland's new captain. Hilton and Valbuena have recently been offered reprieves, and are looking better than their supposed replacements.

Had Gerets stayed, Marseille, I believe, would be in a stronger position today. The Belgian was doing a superb job and the club must regret not having done more to secure his future.

Time is a rare commodity in Marseille

Deschamps nevertheless is an extremely talented coach and commands huge respect. Given time he may well succeed. Time, however, is a commodity coaches run out of quickly in Marseille, and therein lies the problem.

Seven-time champions Lyon have laid out the blueprint for all French clubs, and Bordeaux are wisely following it to the letter. Laurent Blanc has established a strong spine to his team. This summer, he focused on keeping that backbone together by ensuring Marouane Chamakh and Alou Diarra did not leave. Minor adjustments were made, with Yoann Gourcuff signing a permanent deal and Michaël Ciani and Jaroslav Plasil coming in.

OL example

Consolidation and stability have been buzzwords at OL for a decade. This year, the departures of Juninho Pernambucano, Fred, Fabio Grosso and Karim Benzema meant an unusually high level of change was needed. But Bernard Lacombe and Claude Puel worked hard to identify the replacements and spent big to get their men. Ahly Cissokho, Michel Bastos, Lisandro Lopez and Bafétimbi Gomis cost in excess of €70m but have been unmitigated successes.

Surely OM could have kept more players and brought in just four, rather than ten, new faces. Had they done that, maybe they wouldn't be sitting in seventh right now. And maybe the eight-time champions wouldn't be travelling to Stade Gerland as underdogs this weekend.

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M.Spiro for Ligue1.com