Samuel Renel 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.
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.
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aimé Gaval 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Le Mans FC in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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 Marley Milord is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Yanel Zeze has just signed for Red Star, and for once the answer mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Red Star can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Saïf-Eddine Khaoui and Red Star agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The deal with Paris 13 Atletico 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Stade Rennais keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
4 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.
Samuel Renel 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.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The phone has started ringing about Gaëtan Poussin again, and this time the name on the line is Grenoble Foot 38. Red Star are listening politely and promising nothing.
$28.0K was the most the club would pay and FC Villefranche 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.
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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 easiest signature of my career.” Tidiane Dicko-Sudrot and Red Star agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Red Star told Samuel Renel something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Rafael Fernandes is in the works
The dugoutBradley Danger asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Rafael Heleno
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Red Star have gone to Toulouse FC 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.
Rodez AF have accepted the money. What Red Star do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Everything agreed with US Boulogne, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ouseynou Sow has, at Red Star, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Grenoble Foot 38 paid $150.0K and Red Star took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal with FC Metz 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bradley Danger trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mouez Hassen
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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 Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
Samuel Renel 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Paulo Romero has, at Red Star, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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 Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Samuel Renel 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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.
Something was said to Bradley Danger and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
8 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Daniel Rey left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Godson Kyeremeh's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Samuel Renel 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dylan Durivaux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Red Star game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Amiens SC runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Olympique Lyonnais 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.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and Red Star are still learning each other
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against FC Annecy in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Red Star know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Red Star would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dylan Durivaux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Saïf-Eddine Khaoui 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.
9 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Lucas Besson obliged against Rodez AF. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Red Star.
“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 Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Red Star is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alassane Kanaté Soumahoro is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Red Star can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bourg-Peronnas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Red Star is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 35 gone
That is the business done at Red Star until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Everything agreed with US Concarneau, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Abdelsamad Hachem was one of the reasons people came, and $1.2M does not replace that by itself.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Bourg-Peronnas pay $92.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Red Star asked and US Boulogne said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Josué Escartin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against FC Rouen in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bradley Danger commits to Red Star for another 4 years.
Squad17 May 2027
Dembo Sylla 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.
Something was said to Gaëtan Poussin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The name of Gaëtan Poussin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Red Star say nothing, which says plenty.
The terraces17 May 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Leonardo Buta
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Red Star would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Godson Kyeremeh 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.
The offer from Grenoble Foot 38 for Jovany Ikanga 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.
“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 Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Dembo Sylla 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Daniel Rey was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Red Star dressing room was either.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 Islamdine Halifa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.96, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Daniel Rey on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.