Marked for Philippe Roger
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Sep 2033
A fracture rules Philippe Roger out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets5 Sep 2033
Fee done, terms next for Elie N'Tamon
Valenciennes and Stade Rennais have settled on $1.7M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom5 Sep 2033
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $140.5K of what Valenciennes paid for Pablo Rigal is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
Market5 Sep 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.
Transfer targets5 Sep 2033
No thanks: Thierno Baldé rejects the move
Valenciennes had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olympique Lyonnais, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Boardroom5 Sep 2033
Window shuts: 17 in, 18 out at Valenciennes
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 18 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market5 Sep 2033
Only the photograph left for Steven Havales
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Steven Havales will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valenciennes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom5 Sep 2033
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Justin Lacombe has agreed terms with FC Nantes for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Transfer targets5 Sep 2033
Valenciennes have gone to ESTAC Troyes with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Aug 2033
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Pablo Rigal had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad29 Aug 2033
A fracture rules Philippe Roger out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
Valenciennes and Olympique Lyonnais have settled on $1.4M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
The offer went to RC Strasbourg this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets29 Aug 2033
$81.0K on the table at Angers SCO. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad29 Aug 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Aug 2033
Pau FC left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Aug 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alix Bablée was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Aug 2033
A fracture rules Philippe Roger out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout22 Aug 2033
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valenciennes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets22 Aug 2033
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olympique de Marseille is saying, and nobody at Valenciennes is enjoying the guessing.
Market22 Aug 2033
Louis Pierre hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets22 Aug 2033
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market22 Aug 2033
The offer from Quevilly-Rouen for Louis Pierre 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.
Squad22 Aug 2033
Amed Aiki 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 Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets22 Aug 2033
Angers SCO wanted more than $74.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Boardroom22 Aug 2033
8 academy graduates step up at Valenciennes
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Aug 2033
45 days out for Philippe Roger after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valenciennes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Aug 2033
Pablo Rigal hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Market15 Aug 2033
Pablo Rigal has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valenciennes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets15 Aug 2033
The offer went to RC Strasbourg this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets15 Aug 2033
Valenciennes have gone to Dijon with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets15 Aug 2033
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets15 Aug 2033
$180.0K was the most the club would pay and Le Mans FC were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad15 Aug 2033
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel da Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market15 Aug 2033
Ihlane Ali is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Valenciennes has been clear about where Ihlane Ali stands, which is more than many ever get.