The crisis at Marseille gets deeper and deeper with the French giants' interminable struggles on the field leading to mockery from their own fans, who have turned on the team as well as the club's owner.

Marseille's 0-0 draw at home to Bordeaux in Ligue 1 on Sunday was played out to fan protests at the team's struggles that featured banners depicting goats and the Benny Hill theme tune being played from the stands.

But, along with the humour, the supporters also continued their theme of fury at the perceived apathy of owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, who inherited the club after the death of her husband Robert in 2009.

"Margarita rich incompetent heiress get lost!" read one banner unfurled behind the goal at the north end of the Stade Velodrome, while another read: "Margarita go back to your real job, housewife."

The game itself ended in more bad blood with around 200 supporters having to be dispersed by riot police firing tear gas.

Marseille are on a club record run of 14 home top-flight games without a win since they beat Bastia 4-1 in September.

Home or away, they have not won in nine and as a result they are not safe yet from the threat of relegation, with just six points separating them from the drop zone and five matches still to play.

"We need three more points to ensure survival. It has been a difficult season. We need to finish it as well as possible and start again next season," said goalkeeper and captain Steve Mandanda, just about the only Marseille player to avoid the wrath of the disgruntled support in recent weeks.

Marseille's season has never recovered from the disarray of last summer, when Marcelo Bielsa resigned in the wake of a 1-0 home defeat to Caen on the opening weekend of the campaign after uncertainty reigned for weeks surrounding his future.

Spanish former Real Madrid player Michel was eventually appointed as his successor but has been unable to revive the fortunes of a team who finished fourth last season but saw a host of key players depart in the close season, including Dimitri Payet, Andre Ayew and Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Marseille could yet salvage silverware from their season as they have a French Cup semi-final away to Ligue 2 Sochaux next midweek, but even if they win that their all-conquering bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain could lie in wait in the final.

Media reports in France have indicated that president Vincent Labrune wants Michel sacked but Louis-Dreyfus, with her hands firmly on the purse strings, refuses to sanction the necessary pay-off.

She stated last week that Michel would see out the season, but Marseille legend and current club ambassador Basile Boli broke ranks to speak out publicly against the Spaniard on Sunday.

"I was surprised by Michel's choices," Boli, who scored the winning goal when OM beat AC Milan in the 1993 Champions League final and later played for Rangers, told media after Sunday's game.

In particular, Boli was perplexed at Michel's decision to leave 19-goal leading scorer Michy Batshuayi on the bench against Bordeaux.

"There are experienced players you need to look to in these difficult moments and there we had a new-look team," he added before giving his backing to the protesting fans.

"The Marseille shirt is important and has a history. Marseille deserve better than that. This is a city that lives for football. The fans are going mad seeing their team like this and I understand them."