Marked for Thomas Rousseau
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
The interim tag comes off Hervé Masson
FC Metz interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Hervé Masson keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Habib Diallo 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tristan Muyumba, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Jul 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 The request is on a desk at FC Metz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jul 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at FC Metz heard it as anything else.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Jessy Deminguet 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Yannis Lawson
“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 Jul 2028
36 years old, every age group at this club behind him, and a borrowed player of much the same standard in front of him every Saturday. The parents in the stand have noticed, and so has every kid below him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Thomas Rousseau 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 May 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Wataru Endo 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.
Loan watch22 May 2028
30 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2028
FC Metz sink to position 17
17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad15 May 2028
Luke Campbell: 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.” FC Metz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market15 May 2028
Cléo Mélières has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FC Metz they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 May 2028
Wataru Endo 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 FC Metz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Jessy Deminguet
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FC Metz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Mar 2028
14 matches without a win for FC Metz
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around FC Metz are no longer polite ones.
Match20 Mar 2028
FC Metz sink to position 17
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market20 Mar 2028
“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.
Market20 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FC Metz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Wataru Endo 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 FC Metz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Jessy Deminguet
“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 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.48, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match18 Mar 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Feb 2028
The wait goes on for FC Metz
10 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.
Match19 Feb 2028
Beaten 1‑4 by RC Strasbourg, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match21 Feb 2028
Every point is an argument now for FC Metz
Position 17 and 11 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.
Market21 Feb 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 FC Metz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FC Metz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Wataru Endo 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 FC Metz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Wataru Endo
“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 ratings21 Feb 2028
Marked 8.73 — 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 ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Dec 2027
There were 6 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Rémi Roger: 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.” FC Metz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market6 Dec 2027
Jonathan Fischer 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 FC Metz hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad6 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 FC Metz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Joel Asoro
“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.
Match4 Dec 2027
Monaco left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch6 Dec 2027
Pedro Marques: I did not sign for FC Metz to play for other people
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at FC Metz and a proper look at me.” He remains Vitesse’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
The one thing Joel Asoro could not do
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for FC Metz
18 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.
Squad22 Nov 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 ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Nov 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 FC Metz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Maxime Colin 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 ratings22 Nov 2027
The one thing Joel Asoro could not do
Shots: 12, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
The terraces22 Nov 2027
The spotlight tightens on Bryan Okoh
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Fodé Ballo-Touré 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FC Metz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match4 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for FC Metz
6 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
Jonathan Fischer 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 FC Metz hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market6 Sep 2027
FC Metz say no — this time
The offer from US Creteil for Luca Pausé 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Wataru Endo 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 88 days on the sidelines for Ömer Ali Şahiner, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“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.
Match4 Sep 2027
0‑1 to Paris FC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2027
FC Metz say no — this time
The offer from Boavista for Pedro Marques 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Jessy Deminguet 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
Daniel Roșca has left for Stade Brestois in a $240.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad26 Jul 2027
18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market26 Jul 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Loan watch26 Jul 2027
“I watch every FC Metz game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Famalicao runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
Reda Khadra 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 Le Havre AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Jul 2027
Thomas Rousseau has left for FC Metz in a $820.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Abdoulaye Touré
“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.