113 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AJ Auxerre lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with AS Saint-Etienne is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Đorđe Đorđić 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.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Isak Jansson 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Lorient have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Caleb Kramer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 The request is on a desk at AJ Auxerre, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 deal with Monaco is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Add another name to the list: FC Villefranche have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Đorđe Đorđić. The answer from AJ Auxerre has not changed — yet.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evan Irene will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Đorđe Đorđić 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 Jun 2035
Isak Jansson 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Lorient have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. AJ Auxerre will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Le Havre AC keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
“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; AJ Auxerre are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
Đorđe Đorđić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jun 2035
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isak Jansson 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LOSC Lille have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AJ Auxerre has been clear about where Caleb Kramer stands, which is more than many ever get.
Add another name to the list: LB Chateauroux have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Victor Moinet. The answer from AJ Auxerre has not changed — yet.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Hans Fischer has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
AJ Auxerre have made the call to Eintracht Frankfurt. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Đorđe Đorđić 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 May 2035
Ryan Rodin 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AJ Auxerre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Amiens SC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohamed Abdelfattah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amiens SC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Đorđe Đorđić 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.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isak Jansson 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.
“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 AJ Auxerre know it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and AJ Auxerre will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Amiens SC lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amiens SC can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amiens SC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Saliou Diop 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 Abdulaziz Al-Othman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Amiens SC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Csongor Papp will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amiens SC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Seppe Valkeneers has agreed terms with Stade Brestois for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Camron Delgado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 17 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
141 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Amiens SC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 against Olympique Lyonnais, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amiens SC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Amiens SC, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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; Amiens SC are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and it is not being withdrawn.
Đorđe Đorđić 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.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Isak Jansson 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Lorenzo Depuidt has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The captaincy has been taken off Mattéo Escouflaire. AJ Auxerre will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amiens SC can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Csongor Papp will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amiens SC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Mar 2035
Words at Amiens SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulaziz Al-Othman 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 Amiens SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amiens SC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Day 39 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
“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 Amiens SC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Csongor Papp will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amiens SC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Amiens SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Words at Amiens SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulaziz Al-Othman 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.
7 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Chihab El Mehdi has just signed for Amiens SC, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 Amiens SC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Harry Hawkins will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amiens SC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Nantes have kept their man, and Amiens SC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Csongor Papp 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Amiens SC training over how hard people work
“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 Amiens SC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amiens SC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tebogo Moreri is living that version at Amiens SC, and it tends to show in the first month.
Mattéo Guendouzi 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Amiens SC have done the hard part with FC Nantes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Amiens SC are no longer polite ones.
The terraces1 Jan 2035
The mood at Amiens SC has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amiens SC can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mihai Toma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amiens SC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Amiens SC hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
11 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amiens SC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mohamed Abdelfattah has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Amiens SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2034
Words at Amiens SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Hoareau 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.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
9 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.
Position 17 and 6 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amiens SC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amiens SC can pretend not to have heard.
Zyed Beltaief 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Alessandro Lamorte is living that version at Amiens SC, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Words at Amiens SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kacper Łukasiak 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Amiens SC can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amiens SC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Amiens SC have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom4 Dec 2034
An order from above at Amiens SC: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
0‑4 against Paris Saint-Germain, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Amiens SC, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amiens SC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Mattéo Guendouzi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Nov 2034
Words at Amiens SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kacper Łukasiak 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amiens SC can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amiens SC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Amiens SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout30 Oct 2034
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Alvin Binsto
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amiens SC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Words at Amiens SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Stanojević 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.
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.