“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; RC Lens are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Allan Saint-Maximin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Words at RC Lens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Florian Thauvin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rémy Labeau Lascary will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Allan Saint-Maximin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at RC Lens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthieu Udol is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and RC Lens know it.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. RC Lens lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Anthony Bermont was at the centre of it, Dijon were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Two goals and a mark of 7.74 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Allan Saint-Maximin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Allan Saint-Maximin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadWords at RC Lens training over how hard people work
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. RC Lens lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Allan Saint-Maximin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and RC Lens know it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at RC Lens training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Florian Thauvin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Lens have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Bruno Cabrera is living that version at RC Lens, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; RC Lens are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The phone has started ringing about Rémy Labeau Lascary again, and this time the name on the line is Stade Lavallois. RC Lens are listening politely and promising nothing.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Stade Rennais will make the call about Goduine Koyalipou this week. RC Lens have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RC Lens, and 5 appearances in 26 say he has earned the hearing.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Newell's Old Boys have had the benefit of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bruno Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from Juventud for Francisco Sciarini was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ortega is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bruno Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Michael Hoyos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.15 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bruno Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Michael Hoyos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Estudiantes will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Leandro González Pírez has pre-agreed a move to Newell's Old Boys, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michael Hoyos. 1‑0 against Unión de Santa Fe, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bruno Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Newell's Old Boys the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Michael Hoyos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boca Juniors will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Agustín Heredia has pre-agreed a move to Newell's Old Boys, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ignacio Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Hoyos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Racing Club will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Matías Orihuela has pre-agreed a move to Newell's Old Boys, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Newell's Old Boys can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Bruno Cabrera has agreed terms with Lanús for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newell's Old Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Michael Hoyos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Newell's Old Boys, and 0 appearances in 26 say he has earned the hearing.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Newell's Old Boys, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newell's Old Boys is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ignacio Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Hoyos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
8 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
River Plate go through. The table said this team was good enough for months and the format does not care what the table said, which is the argument every eliminated club has had with itself since playoffs were invented.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Newell's Old Boys is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Michael Hoyos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Newell's Old Boys lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 3, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michael Hoyos and Newell's Old Boys agree another 2 years.
Ignacio Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Hoyos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Position 2, 17 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Newell's Old Boys they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fernando Cardozo and Newell's Old Boys agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Ignacio Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Hoyos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.