From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Jul 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dijon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Naël Moussa 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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
A new face in his position, and Tristan Muyumba suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Dijon have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market15 Jul 2030
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Ackah-Tidiane Zoukrou arrives at Dijon with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Market15 Jul 2030
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad15 Jul 2030
James Wright 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market27 May 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dijon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 May 2030
The manager makes an example of James Wright
“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.
Market27 May 2030
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Dijon money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Feb 2030
“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.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michaël Barreto commits to Dijon for another 2 years.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Adrien Louveau 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.
Market4 Feb 2030
The window shut and Quentin Bernard is still in the building
Dijon spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Market4 Feb 2030
Dijon have made James Wright available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market4 Feb 2030
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Dijon could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Sep 2029
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match1 Sep 2029
Sochaux made Dijon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2-0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad3 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Paul Delecroix
“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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dijon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Paul Delecroix is 40, with 35 appearances behind him, and Dijon will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
Market3 Sep 2029
The window shut and Hugo Vargas Rios is still in the building
Dijon spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
Pressure builds in the Dijon boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market25 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dijon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Hugo Barbier 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
AC Ajaccio are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Dijon will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market25 Jun 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Thomas Fabre has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Dijon.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Léo Tremblay knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dijon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Feb 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bobby Yahouedeou and Dijon agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Grégoire Coudert 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Léo Tremblay
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Oct 2028
James Wright 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Noah Riskwait 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Grégoire Coudert has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
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Squad
The selectors could not leave Waly Diouf out
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Sep 2028
A hiding for Dijon
Beaten 0-5 by Chamois Niortais, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match2 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Dijon's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dijon has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Romain Amalfitano and Dijon agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Inquest at Dijon
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad4 Sep 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Grégoire Coudert knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.