The Valenciennes Post
Market7 Jun 2027
Samir Belloumou 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 Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Valenciennes agree $83.0K for Tidiane Devernois
The clubs have shaken hands with AJ Auxerre; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Mohamed Ihattaren in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Charles Abi 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hicham Khaloua 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Still no ink between Valenciennes and Samuel Loric
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Valenciennes, another week without a signature from Samuel Loric.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
$3.3M on the table at Valenciennes
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Valenciennes take the armband off Samuel Loric
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Alain Ipiélé knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alain Ipiélé trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
- Squad The formation has left Máximo Rodríguez behind
- Market Valenciennes put Abdelwahed Wahib up for sale
- The dugout Justin Lacombe has become a man the manager trusts