Associated forever with Michel Platini (pictured), but a yo-yo club at the best of times in the last two decades, Nancy have also found life hard in the summer transfer market. "The players we wanted to recruit didn't want to join a team who would be fighting for survival," explains Uruguayan Coach Pablo Correa. "What really bothers me is that people say we're a small club. Our stadium and our facilities are up to scratch. People talk about ASNL but they don't know us. This squad has a huge potential."

One man they have been able to sign up for the cause certainly doesn't think like that. Brazilian defender André Luiz Silva joined from Atletico Mineiro talking about playing in Europe and putting himself in line for a national call-up, but his optimism smacks more of grotesque delusion than anything else. And the unexpected departure of experienced striker Laurent Dufresne – scorer of 26 goals in the last two years – has left a hole in the side that Correa is running out of time to fill.

He and the rest of his staff have done well to pull together an outfit that was riven with disputes and divisions two years ago, but a nightmarish fixture calendar could prove fatal. First up for the Lorraine side are Monaco, Bordeaux, Lens, Lyon and Rennes – and history has shown time and again that newly-promoted teams who stagger out of the blocks have a hard time catching everyone else.

Verdict: Trouble in store for the Nancy boys

"We had trouble coping with the level of play, the stadiums and the media," recalls captain Laurent Bonnart. "But we're surer of our game now. Whereas last time we asked ourselves what we had to do to avoid defeat, now we're asking what we have to do to win. Even though we went down in 2004, the club has kept growing. Not one player said to himself 'should I leave?' and the officials have done everything to keep the skeleton of that side."

They have also made some smart investments, with 22-year-old Ivorian forward Ndri Romaric and 21-year-old Brazilian striker Tulio De Melo looking like real steals. Romaric netted 13 times in the Belgian first division last season and is due to play in a withdrawn role, but it is De Melo who has really impressed Coach Frédéric Hantz (pictured) and the club's fans with his preseason performances.

Hantz himself is a bit of an unknown quantity, having never even bossed a Ligue 2 side before he took over from Daniel Jeandupeux in December last year, and his coaching staff are the youngest in the division. Likewise, the youthful nature of the team's forward line is a slight concern, but Le Mans are riding the crest of a wave at the moment and look better placed to survive than when they came so close in 2003-04.

Verdict: Survival, just about

Troyes are nothing if not a club of outrageous extremes, however, boasting the best attack in Ligue 2 last season along with the 15th-worst defence. They shipped 48 goals in 38 games, and have failed to provide convincing proof that their rearguard won't be breached for fun by the likes of Pedro Pauleta, Alexander Frei and John Carew. So far, Coach Jean-Marc Furlan (pictured) has brought in three defenders from Guingamp – a side who were themselves relegated from Ligue 1 in 2004 with the second-worst defence – as well as Saint-Etienne's bench-warming goalkeeper Ronan Le Crom.

That's unlikely to cause Furlan too many sleepless nights, though, as he could best be described as France's own Kevin Keegan. "Ever since victories have been worth three points, it's become even more important to net one goal more than your opponents," he says. "I'd love to win all our games 4-3. I'd have the worst defence in France, but I'd be champion!

"We've changed nothing, neither our tactical approach nor our philosophy. The order of the day will be to be as audacious as possible!" Like his counterpart Frédéric Hantz at Le Mans, Furlan is untested and managed to secure promotion in his very first season in Ligue 2. But if his approach sounds a tad reckless, he does have a more measured side. "The important thing will be to progress gradually, to build something. I think everything will be decided in the spring, in the last two or three months. That's where our destiny will be written."

Verdict: More 3-2 defeats than 4-3 wins as Troyes go down with a bang