Marked for Thiago Taborda
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 May 2029
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Sochaux can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 May 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.
Market7 May 2029
Grégoire Coudert 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 Sochaux hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad7 May 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 May 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kapit Djoco and Sochaux agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 May 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 Sochaux, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sochaux
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Grégoire Coudert 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.
Squad30 Apr 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Benjamin Gomel: 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.” Sochaux have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Sochaux
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Sochaux is running low.
Market5 Mar 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 Sochaux can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Julien Masson and Sochaux agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Sambou Soumano 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
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Mehdi Jeannin
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Malcolm Rangon and Sochaux agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
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 Sochaux have had the benefit of it.
Market1 Jan 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 Sochaux can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Julien Masson 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
Crisis
Squad25 Dec 2028
Sambou Soumano 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.
Match23 Dec 2028
FC Metz left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad25 Dec 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“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; Sochaux are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad25 Dec 2028
The team sheet said everything about Kapit Djoco
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 Kapit Djoco.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Nov 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 Sochaux, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match25 Nov 2028
4 matches without a win for Sochaux
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sochaux are no longer polite ones.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Sambou Soumano 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
Stade Lavallois left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Joshua Frau 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 Nov 2028
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
A mark of 5.66 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Sochaux can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A season average of 7.75 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad6 Nov 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Marked 9.96 — 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kapit Djoco, and the manager let it.
Match4 Nov 2028
It needed Sambou Soumano to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Nimes, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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 Sochaux know it.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
5.14 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sochaux may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad30 Oct 2028
12 goals and a season average of 7.66. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market30 Oct 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 Sochaux can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Sambou Soumano 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.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
A performance of 9.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match28 Oct 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Sambou Soumano’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sochaux.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Ethan Nkouka 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Aug 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 Sochaux, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sochaux may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Sambou Soumano 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.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Aug 2028
Stade Lavallois made Sochaux work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Marked 8.64 — 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 ratings28 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“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; Sochaux are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jun 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The bid was some way short and Sochaux did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad19 Jun 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Apr 2028
46 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Daniele Rugani 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julien Vetro, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Apr 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“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 Sochaux know it.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mathéo Bodmer, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Sochaux
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Sochaux is running low.
Squad6 Mar 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kapit Djoco and Sochaux agree another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
111 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Daniele Rugani 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Julien Vetro
“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
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
Daniele Rugani 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 Feb 2028
“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; Sochaux are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Loan watch14 Feb 2028
“I did not go to Dijon to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sochaux and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Sochaux's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sochaux has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 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 Sochaux, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Chávez, and the manager let it.
Match22 Jan 2028
0‑1 to Clermont Foot, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Ritchy Boe Bozeme, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alpha Kubota-Sawaneh and Sochaux agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“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.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kapit Djoco, and the manager let it.
Match18 Dec 2027
Nimes left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochaux have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Daniele Rugani 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
Upbeat
Squad15 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market15 Nov 2027
“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.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aymen Boutoutaou and Sochaux agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Daniele Rugani 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.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Marked 9.49 — 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.
Match13 Nov 2027
Dijon made Sochaux work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Kapit Djoco
“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
Squad11 Oct 2027
There were 8 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.
Match9 Oct 2027
9 unbeaten for Sochaux
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Sochaux did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match9 Oct 2027
Three points for Sochaux, 3‑1 the final word against US Creteil in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Marked 8.96 — 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“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; Sochaux are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Dejan Trimmel is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.30 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Sep 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market13 Sep 2027
“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 Sochaux, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.77, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Kapit Djoco 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Sochaux had a different afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Sochaux's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sochaux has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Julien Masson 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“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; Sochaux are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad16 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Honoré Bayanginisa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Aug 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Agustín Chávez knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Match14 Aug 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Dijon leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
A mark of 5.76 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.