The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. RC Strasbourg have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 The request is on a desk at RC Strasbourg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Mamady Diambou again, and this time the name on the line is US Orleans. RC Strasbourg are listening politely and promising nothing.
RC Strasbourg offered $1.0M; Amiens SC said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaly Sène was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
RC Strasbourg 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether RC Strasbourg can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
$1.0M on the table at Amiens SC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Kaly Sène 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Strasbourg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. RC Lens have kept their man, and RC Strasbourg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 RC Strasbourg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from FC Villefranche for Montassar Talbi 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 RC Strasbourg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have shaken hands with RC Lens; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
$13.9M on the table at RC Lens. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around RC Strasbourg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. RC Strasbourg will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
“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 RC Strasbourg hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. RC Strasbourg scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Strasbourg 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 RC Strasbourg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mervin Gbeme has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Rodez AF will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. RC Strasbourg were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Strasbourg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kaly Sène 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.
“I watch every RC Strasbourg game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Stade Rennais runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Strasbourg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaly Sène was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Titouan Thomas 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 new man at RC Strasbourg has worked with Deivid Washington before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. RC Strasbourg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether RC Strasbourg can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moussa Djitté will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Strasbourg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaly Sène was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. RC Strasbourg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Strasbourg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Roméo Lavia was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Erik López 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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. RC Strasbourg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 RC Strasbourg hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaly Sène was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The new man at RC Strasbourg has worked with Deivid Washington before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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 Montassar Talbi has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Strasbourg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Strasbourg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moussa Niakhaté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Up for the corner, and Roméo Lavia delivers — 7.96
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Roméo Lavia scored, was marked 7.96, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Strasbourg 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 RC Strasbourg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Minute 88, against Toulouse FC, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Erik López 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roméo Lavia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Strasbourg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from Olympique de Marseille for Rayane Messi 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around RC Strasbourg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The fee is $7.9M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Amiens SC drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“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 Strasbourg are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Natanaël Thio has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means RC Strasbourg have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Diego Coppola wants continental football; whether RC Lens can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Gian Marco Crespi has agreed terms with Toulouse FC for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Noah Dodeigne has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means RC Lens have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Fabio Baldé 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Demba Thiam has agreed terms with Olympique de Marseille for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Lukás Hrádecký 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at RC Lens can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 dugout18 Mar 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Maximilian Brandt was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the RC Lens dressing room was either.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Stade de Reims will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Alec Georgen has pre-agreed a move to RC Lens, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
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 Ayase Ueda.
Fabio Baldé 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.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
1 for Hianga'a Mbock, marked 7.33, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Jérémy Sebas 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.
“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 Strasbourg can pretend not to have heard.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Mamady Diambou wants continental football; whether RC Strasbourg can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at RC Strasbourg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abakar Sylla 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.
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 Strasbourg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.50 — 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.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Roméo Lavia was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.35. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I watch every RC Strasbourg game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kisvárda runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Strasbourg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Sékou Mara 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Abakar Sylla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Abakar Sylla 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hiroto Taniguchi has his answer from RC Strasbourg; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Roméo Lavia is on it.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at RC Strasbourg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Silva 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Høgsberg signs something — a contract at RC Strasbourg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hiroto Taniguchi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at RC Strasbourg, another week without a signature from Wassim Slama.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and RC Strasbourg have no good answer.
0‑0 against RB Leipzig, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
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 Strasbourg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“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 Strasbourg know it.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RC Strasbourg heard it as anything else.
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 Strasbourg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at RC Strasbourg can tell you which week it ends in.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Federico Baschirotto is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Nobody at RC Strasbourg 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.
In brief
SquadWords at RC Strasbourg training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Federico Baschirotto's mistake
0‑1 against Red Bull Salzburg. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Roméo Lavia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Abakar Sylla 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.
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 Federico Baschirotto.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Lucas Høgsberg is on it.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Lassine Sinayoko may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“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 Strasbourg can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Paris 13 Atletico waiting with a shirt. Nobody at RC Strasbourg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Westerlo for Bingourou Kamara 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Willian Pacho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. RC Strasbourg have lost him in all but the paperwork.
$3.9M was the most the club would pay and Olympique Lyonnais were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Willian Pacho 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LB Chateauroux have kept their man, and RC Strasbourg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at RC Strasbourg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abakar Sylla 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.
Add another name to the list: Honved have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Seb Huntelaar. The answer from RC Strasbourg has not changed — yet.
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
RC Strasbourg and Toulouse FC have settled on $2.2M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around RC Strasbourg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Add another name to the list: River Plate have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Willian Pacho. The answer from RC Strasbourg has not changed — yet.
The offer went to Port Vale this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. RC Strasbourg had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
RC Strasbourg asked and LOSC Lille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at RC Strasbourg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abakar Sylla 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. RC Strasbourg have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Strasbourg can pretend not to have heard.
The chase for Moussa Djitté ended with $5.1M changing hands and Montpellier HSC out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The offer went to LOSC Lille this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether RC Strasbourg can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
RC Strasbourg asked and Montpellier HSC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.4M — a club that wants Gautier Larsonneur enough to be asked twice.
Sékou Mara 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Willian Pacho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
RC Strasbourg and Olympique Lyonnais have settled on $33.0M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
$10.5M on the table at Le Mans FC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer went to SM Caen this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Quevilly-Rouen have kept their man, and RC Strasbourg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Strasbourg know it.
Abakar Sylla 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at RC Strasbourg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willian Pacho 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 2, 67 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.
Alexis Guendouz 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.
“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; JS Kabylie are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Fabio Baldé is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Billal Messaoudi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohamed Réda Hamidi signs something — a contract at JS Kabylie or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. JS Kabylie will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 2 on 67 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
“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 JS Kabylie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Seif Benrabah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie 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 JS Kabylie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at JS Kabylie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Réda Hamidi 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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. JS Kabylie lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Bradley Fink obliged against USM Alger. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is JS Kabylie.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason JS Kabylie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohamed Saliou Bangoura will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around JS Kabylie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. JS Kabylie lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. JS Kabylie will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JS Kabylie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alexis Guendouz 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Réda Hamidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 7.04 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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.
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.