Marked for Jean Chrétien
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Apr 2033
“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 Apr 2033
Words exchanged at Dijon
Ben Chayeel Hamada 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.
Squad25 Apr 2033
Words at Dijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clément Michelin 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.
Boardroom25 Apr 2033
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Adrià Vilanova has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Dijon have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad25 Apr 2033
“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; Dijon are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout25 Apr 2033
Lewis O'Brien 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.
Squad25 Apr 2033
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Clément Michelin keeps the shirt for now, at Dijon's convenience rather than his own.
Market25 Apr 2033
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mathis Lainé’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market25 Apr 2033
No fee and no drama: Norbert Wojtuszek has signed at Dijon, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Apr 2033
Dijon are in real trouble now
Position 13, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market11 Apr 2033
“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 The request is on a desk at Dijon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Apr 2033
Only the photograph left for Rafa Benevides
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rafa Benevides will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dijon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Apr 2033
A row about effort at Dijon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clément Michelin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Apr 2033
A falling-out at Dijon
Agustín Ojeda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom11 Apr 2033
87% of the income goes out in wages at Dijon
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market11 Apr 2033
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Matías Salvo has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Dijon.
The dugout11 Apr 2033
Mathis Lainé 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 Mathis Lainé trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad11 Apr 2033
A wage question at Dijon
Lemar Gordon has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Mar 2033
“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.
Squad28 Mar 2033
Words exchanged at Dijon
Ben Chayeel Hamada 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.
Market28 Mar 2033
Dijon may not be able to give Agustín Ojeda what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Agustín Ojeda wants continental football; whether Dijon can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad28 Mar 2033
Clément Michelin 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 dugout28 Mar 2033
Adel Lembezat 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.
The dugout28 Mar 2033
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Román Rivarola, and the manager let it.
Market28 Mar 2033
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mathis Lainé’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad28 Mar 2033
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Market28 Mar 2033
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Dijon money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces21 Mar 2033
Anger at Dijon spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market21 Mar 2033
“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.
Squad21 Mar 2033
“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; Dijon are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad21 Mar 2033
A falling-out at Dijon
Ben Chayeel Hamada and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Mar 2033
Words at Dijon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clément Michelin 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 dugout21 Mar 2033
Adel Lembezat 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 Adel Lembezat trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Mar 2033
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
Squad7 Mar 2033
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dijon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom7 Mar 2033
An empty coaching office at Dijon
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
Boardroom7 Mar 2033
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Market7 Mar 2033
“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 Dijon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Tempers go at Dijon
Ben Chayeel Hamada 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.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Clément Michelin 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.
Squad7 Mar 2033
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mathis Lainé commits to Dijon for another 4 years.
Boardroom7 Mar 2033
news_h_severance_paid
news_b_severance_paid
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Dec 2032
The wait goes on for Dijon
20 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.
Match20 Dec 2032
Every point is an argument now for Dijon
Position 13 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market20 Dec 2032
“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.
Match18 Dec 2032
The goals have deserted Dijon
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Dijon can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad20 Dec 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2032
A row about effort at Dijon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clément Michelin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Dec 2032
The manager makes an example of Dinis Rodrigues
“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.
Player ratings20 Dec 2032
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.
Squad20 Dec 2032
“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; Dijon are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Nov 2032
No end in sight to Dijon's wait for a win
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dijon has to find a result from somewhere.
Match22 Nov 2032
Dijon are in real trouble now
Position 13, 5 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market22 Nov 2032
“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.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Jack Wint 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 Dijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Nov 2032
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.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Clément Michelin 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.
Player ratings22 Nov 2032
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2032
Lewis O'Brien 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 Lewis O'Brien trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 Nov 2032
The manager makes an example of Jean Chrétien
“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
Squad28 Jun 2032
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dijon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Jun 2032
“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 Dijon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chamois Niortais have kept their man, and Dijon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Words exchanged at Dijon
Ben Chayeel Hamada 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.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Clément Michelin 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.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Dijon are still strangers to each other
13 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
Paris Saint-Germain have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout28 Jun 2032
Paul Bellon 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 Paul Bellon trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Jun 2032
The clock does Jack Wint’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Dijon could ask drops and the wages Jack Wint can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 2032
Jack Wint puts it in writing
“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 Dijon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 May 2032
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.
The dugout31 May 2032
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Squad31 May 2032
Jean Chrétien gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jean Chrétien has just signed for Dijon, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom31 May 2032
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.
Squad31 May 2032
Words exchanged at Dijon
Ben Chayeel Hamada 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.
Squad31 May 2032
Clément Michelin 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.
Squad31 May 2032
Too much change too quickly at Dijon
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout31 May 2032
“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.