Marked for Thimothé David
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Oct 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match29 Sep 2029
The wait goes on for AC Ajaccio
8 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market1 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Ajaccio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thibault Campanini 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thimothé David, and the manager let it.
Match29 Sep 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Ajaccio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market3 Sep 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AC Ajaccio people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Toulouse FC is saying, and nobody at AC Ajaccio is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Window shuts: 13 in, 14 out at AC Ajaccio
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 14 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
The clock did what Monaco would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Market3 Sep 2029
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at AC Ajaccio heard it as anything else.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Stanis Idumbo 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Aug 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market27 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Ajaccio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Aug 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stanis Idumbo commits to AC Ajaccio for another 5 years.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacim Dendani 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.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
Stefan Bajić gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Ninety minutes of Stanis Idumbo at his very best
Marked 8.20. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AC Ajaccio.
Market27 Aug 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market6 Aug 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AC Ajaccio they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market6 Aug 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AC Ajaccio have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Toulouse FC is saying, and nobody at AC Ajaccio is enjoying the guessing.
Market6 Aug 2029
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Boardroom6 Aug 2029
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mohamed Berzoimi is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothée Kolodziejczak 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Late improvement for Louis Bury
At 34 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Jul 2029
Nacim Dendani is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Stefan Bajić has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad30 Jul 2029
A row about effort at AC Ajaccio
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothée Kolodziejczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
AC Ajaccio asked and Deportivo La Coruña said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
A loan move for Nathaniel Adjei is in the works
AC Ajaccio have made the call to FC Lorient. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
A loan enquiry to Grasshopper: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout30 Jul 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market30 Jul 2029
The Ayman Kari talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AC Ajaccio know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
AC Ajaccio asked and Olympique de Marseille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market16 Jul 2029
Leon Beronius hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AC Ajaccio can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mouhamadou Sall is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market16 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Ajaccio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Monaco is saying, and nobody at AC Ajaccio is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad16 Jul 2029
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Sebastian Dabrowski has, at AC Ajaccio, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jun 2029
Alexis Busin breaks a bone — 18 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Jun 2029
The offer from Stade Rennais for Stanis Idumbo 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Ayman Kari wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at AC Ajaccio hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Alavés is saying, and nobody at AC Ajaccio is enjoying the guessing.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jun 2029
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothée Kolodziejczak 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.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thimothé David, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jun 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Anthony Fosse damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Stade Rennais keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
AC Ajaccio asked and Olympique de Marseille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 AC Ajaccio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothée Kolodziejczak 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.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
A loan move for Nahuel Tenaglia is in the works
AC Ajaccio have made the call to Alavés. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to Stoke City: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Dec 2028
Red Star will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. AC Ajaccio were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
Market4 Dec 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at AC Ajaccio heard it as anything else.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match2 Dec 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between AC Ajaccio and Red Star, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothée Kolodziejczak 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 terraces4 Dec 2028
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Ninety minutes of Yann Garnier at his very best
Marked 8.48. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AC Ajaccio.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 59. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
9 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
A promise honoured at AC Ajaccio
Something was said to Thimothé David and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Nicolas Dumas after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Ayman Kari
3 goals and a season average of 7.25 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
The form table has caught Louis Bury
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Wolo Leblanc Touré, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Nov 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Nov 2028
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match13 Nov 2028
31 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad13 Nov 2028
A row about effort at AC Ajaccio
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothée Kolodziejczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead13 Nov 2028
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AC Ajaccio have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AC Ajaccio have done the hard part with Paris Saint-Germain, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marius Savidan is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad17 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A row about effort at AC Ajaccio
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothée Kolodziejczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Jul 2028
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paris Saint-Germain have kept their man, and AC Ajaccio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market17 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Stefan Bajić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Guillaume Dequaire has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AC Ajaccio they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothée Kolodziejczak 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.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Stefan Bajić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 May 2028
A fracture rules Mehdi Boussaïd out for 66 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AC Ajaccio will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 May 2028
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad1 May 2028
A row about effort at AC Ajaccio
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothée Kolodziejczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 May 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one AC Ajaccio will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout1 May 2028
Mamadou Doucouré asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market1 May 2028
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what AC Ajaccio could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Apr 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Alexis Busin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Feb 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AC Ajaccio they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. AC Ajaccio will try again when the window opens; FC Metz may not be selling by then.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market21 Feb 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AC Ajaccio has been clear about where Nicolas Borodine stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Stanis Idumbo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at AC Ajaccio will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Thimothé David has written the date down.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Alexis Busin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
Yanis Gouider breaks a bone — 20 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Mamadou Doucouré: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AC Ajaccio have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market31 Jan 2028
“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 AC Ajaccio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Ajaccio is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The paperwork begins on Fabio Gerli
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AC Ajaccio have done the hard part with Modena, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. RC Lens have kept their man, and AC Ajaccio go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
A loan enquiry to Villarreal: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Yanis Gouider out for 44 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AC Ajaccio will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 Jan 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AC Ajaccio have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AC Ajaccio can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Stanis Idumbo 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Ayman Kari runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Ninety minutes of Yann Garnier at his very best
Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AC Ajaccio.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Yanis Gouider out for 59 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AC Ajaccio will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Yann Garnier beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A row about effort at AC Ajaccio
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothée Kolodziejczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match25 Dec 2027
Three points for AC Ajaccio, 1‑0 the final word against US Creteil in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Ninety minutes of Ayman Kari at his very best
Marked 8.29. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AC Ajaccio.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Nicolas Dumas could afford to be generous.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The team sheet said everything about Thimothé David
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Thimothé David.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Yanis Gouider out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AC Ajaccio will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Stanis Idumbo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The terraces20 Dec 2027
The Nacim Dendani rumours reach the terraces
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. AC Ajaccio would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Zakaria Ztouti asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AC Ajaccio. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market20 Dec 2027
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs AC Ajaccio money.