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By Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip)

With six matches remaining until the end of the Ligue 1 season, Olympique de Marseille are just six points above the relegation zone.

Dropping into Ligue 2, although still unlikely at the moment with Gazelec Ajaccio struggling to make up that six-point gap, is still a possibility if things do not turn around at Stade Velodrome. Les Phoceens have not been out of Le Championnat since their enforced relegation to the second tier back in 1994, a result of financial irregularities and match fixing under former president Bernard Tapie.

One year after winning France’s first (and so far only) UEFA Champions League crown in a 1-0 win over AC Milan in Munich, OM were demoted to Ligue 2 and they would stay there for two seasons before returning in 1996. That was 20 years ago and the southern giants were able to rebuild under the leadership of Adidas’ then Chief Executive Officer Robert Louis-Dreyfus. If the club were to suffer relegation this time though, there is no guarantee that they would be back as quickly as before.

Marseille, to put it lightly, are in an absolute state at this moment in time. The team are in decline on the pitch, the leadership appear disinterested and the supporters are livid with the players and the board. The 10-time Ligue 1 champions are 13th in Le Championnat and coach Michel has only been able to guide his men to two league victories in 2016. Les Phoceens have slipped from eighth in the table back in January to just six points off the drop with as many fixtures remaining.

Back at the turn of the year, a push for Champions League qualification through second or third place in Ligue 1 still looked possible. However, those hopes are now long gone and the most pressing objective for the club is to secure their top-flight status for next season. The Stade Velodrome crowd are unhappy and with good reason too. One of French football’s most loyal and long-suffering fanbases have only seen their team win twice at home in Le Championnat all season.

Making matters worse is the fact that OM’s bitter rivals, Paris Saint-Germain, wrapped up their sixth French title in record time and are a staggering 41 points ahead of Michel’s beleaguered outfit. In fact, the situation has reached such a level that irate fans visited the ailing southern giants’ La Commanderie training base earlier this week and set off two fertiliser bombs in protest at the sad current state of affairs.

Last Sunday, Marseille went down 2-1 away at SC Bastia and the result prompted a crisis meeting with owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus in Zurich. The result of those emergency talks was that Michel was confirmed as coach until the end of the season, suggesting that there is not even the desire at the top of the club to change things up in an attempt to make a late push for one of the last UEFA Europa League qualification spots.

Realistically, it probably would have been too little too late. However, the apathy in the boardroom at Stade Velodrome speaks volumes right now and it just feels that nobody there is really that bothered by what is happening on the pitch at present. Aside from some outstanding displays from captain and France international goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, Les Olympiens have been wretched on the pitch lately and another summer of sales beckons with players such as Michy Batshuayi and Lassana Diarra almost certain to leave.

Without European football of any form on the horizon for next campaign, the inevitable fire sale of talent this summer could be more severe than last - even if the talent that will depart is of a much lower standard than it was last year. 

What does this mean for coach Michel? After Louis-Dreyfus’ recent statement, the Spaniard appears to be certain to keep his job until at the least the end of this term. One or two results similar to the defeat away at Bastia against Girondins de Bordeaux, AS Monaco, FC Nantes, Angers SCO, Stade de Reims or ESTAC Troyes could make his position untenable though, particularly with the supporters.

Michel’s one option to perhaps save himself and earn the chance to rebuild the team over the summer, assuming that he even wants to, is by winning the Coupe de France for the first time since 1989. Marseille face Ligue 2 strugglers FC Sochaux-Montbeliard away in the semi-finals in a couple of weeks and should they win that, a date with FC Lorient or fierce foes PSG at Stade de France will await.

If Michel can manage to engineer an OM Coupe de France triumph, then that might be enough for the Spaniard to save his own skin. However, the danger with Les Phoceens actually managing to bring some silverware home after such a disastrous season is that nothing will change at the top and that the current farce will be allowed to continue.

Coupe de France success could alleviate some of the pressure on the former Olympiacos, Sevilla, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano tactician and quell some of the ill feeling around the club, particularly with the fans. In reality though, changes have to be made at he top of this once great club if it is to ever pull itself out of the malaise it currently finds itself in. Michel has also not done enough to prove that he warrants longer in his role as coach, so a new boss is arguably required.

Essentially, the club needs to start afresh and the only way that this likely to happen is for the southern giants to endure their worst Ligue 1 finish since back-to-back 15th-placed finishes between 1999-2001. Finishing that low for the first time in the best part of 20 years would be bad enough and could be sufficient to finally prompt the changes that have been badly needed in Provence for some time.

This miserable season could still get worse for Marseille and their distressed supporters though…