Marked for Stéphane Morin
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 May 2029
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. SM Caen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Squad7 May 2029
Words exchanged at SM Caen
Jules Gaudin 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.
The dugout7 May 2029
This is not rotation. Diabé Bolumbu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at SM Caen is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 May 2029
38 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 May 2029
A row about effort at SM Caen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gonçalo Esteves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gilberto Batista, and the manager let it.
Market7 May 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at SM Caen, another week without a signature from Miguel Tavares.
The dugout7 May 2029
Samuel Martins 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 SM Caen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Apr 2029
Stéphane Morin damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Lorenzo Rajot has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at SM Caen is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at SM Caen
Gilberto Batista 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 2029
Words at SM Caen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Tavares 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 dugout30 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Miguel Tavares
“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.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
Samuel Martins 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 SM Caen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market30 Apr 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Samuel Martins may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market30 Apr 2029
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what SM Caen could get for him.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at SM Caen would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Apr 2029
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. SM Caen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Rafael Magalhães has just signed for SM Caen, and for once the answer mattered.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Adama Diakité has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at SM Caen is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Luis Caicedo 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at SM Caen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Tavares 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.
Market23 Apr 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anthony Mandréa signs something — a contract at SM Caen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Mohamed Hafid gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohamed Hafid is on it.
Market23 Apr 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Juan Castilla may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Afonso Lee 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 SM Caen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Apr 2029
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. SM Caen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match16 Apr 2029
Full time on the season at SM Caen
Position 13 on 37 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Match14 Apr 2029
A 1‑0 win over SC Bastia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at SM Caen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gonçalo Esteves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A falling-out at SM Caen
Maxime Etuin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
7.61, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. SM Caen had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Gonçalo Esteves is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.