The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Henrijs Auseklis is living that version at Sochaux, and it tends to show in the first month.
Everybody at Sochaux saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
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.
Add another name to the list: Valenciennes have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexis Mirbach. The answer from Sochaux has not changed — yet.
Everything agreed with Olympique Lyonnais, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochaux they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Sochaux asked and Olympique Lyonnais said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
7.54, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Sochaux had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout23 Jan 2034
The manager has not finished forgetting Maissa Ndiaye'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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings26 Dec 2033
Up for the corner, and Babacar Fall delivers — 7.76
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Babacar Fall scored, was marked 7.76, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“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.
The dugout26 Dec 2033
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Sochaux dressing room was either.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sochaux could ask drops and the wages Romain Perraud can ask rise.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochaux they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alexei Savinov 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.
At 36, 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.
Stade Brestois will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Konstantinos Evripidou has pre-agreed a move to Sochaux, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mykyta Shakhmaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad28 Nov 2033
Words at Sochaux training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lilian Deville 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sochaux are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Up for the corner, and Babacar Fall delivers — 7.85
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Babacar Fall scored, was marked 7.85, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux 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 Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lilian Deville was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Sochaux, and 2 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
“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 Sochaux know it.
A mark of 7.86, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout31 Oct 2033
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yann Petit was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochaux they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Lilian Deville has agreed terms with Valenciennes for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Romann Sevagamy has just signed for Sochaux, and for once the answer mattered.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Nikoli Degtiarev has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Sochaux have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad19 Sep 2033
Words at Sochaux training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lilian Deville 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochaux have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rémi Denis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochaux the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sochaux, another week without a signature from Alexis Mirbach.
The dugout12 Sep 2033
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sochaux people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer went to Dijon 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.
The offer went to ESTAC Troyes 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.
Sochaux offered $66.0K; USL Dunkerque said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and FC Versailles waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux 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 Sochaux can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olympique Lyonnais keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Romain Perraud 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 offer went to USL Dunkerque 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.
Sochaux offered $110.0K; Paris Saint-Germain said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sochaux lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sochaux have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Everything agreed with Stade de Reims, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Sochaux offered $1.4M; Olympique Lyonnais said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
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.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sochaux lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and US Boulogne waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Sochaux, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Babacar Fall is living that version at Sochaux, and it tends to show in the first month.
The phone has started ringing about Christopher Argueta again, and this time the name on the line is Paris 13 Atletico. Sochaux are listening politely and promising nothing.
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sochaux lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
14 combined actions and 6.50. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad9 May 2033
Elie N'Gatta 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. 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.
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sochaux lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Romain Perraud 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.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.91, and 2 involvements.
FC Fleury 91 made Sochaux work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad2 May 2033
Words at Sochaux training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathis Lainé 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 particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. FC Fleury 91 tried to reorganise, Sochaux did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sochaux lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochaux have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Brahim Mokhtari has, at Sochaux, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Apr 2033
Words at Sochaux training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elie N'Gatta 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexis Mirbach signs something — a contract at Sochaux or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Sochaux will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Mylan Toty’s negotiating for him
The dugoutAndrea Cornic knocks on the manager's door
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sochaux lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑5 to FC Rouen, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“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 Sochaux, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jebryl Sahraoui will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochaux the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Markus Soomets 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.
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sochaux lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nick Mokabakila will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochaux the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everybody at Sochaux saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad28 Mar 2033
Words at Sochaux training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elie N'Gatta 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jebryl Sahraoui has his answer from Sochaux; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.27 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathis Lainé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mathis-Tony Loue trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochaux can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochaux they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Romain Perraud and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Mar 2033
Elie N'Gatta 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.
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Sochaux will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout14 Mar 2033
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Sochaux dressing room was either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mathis-Tony Loue trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nick Mokabakila will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochaux the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochaux can pretend not to have heard.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nick Mokabakila 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.
Romain Perraud 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 Nick Mokabakila 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. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Stade de Reims have accepted the money. What Sochaux do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Add another name to the list: Valenciennes have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexis Mirbach. The answer from Sochaux has not changed — yet.
Romain Perraud 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.
Olympique Lyonnais wanted more than $560.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elie N'Gatta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from AS Saint-Etienne for Nick Mokabakila 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.
Player ratings24 Jan 2033
A brace, and Mathis Lainé takes the afternoon — 8.58
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mathis Lainé provided it, and the 8.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Argueta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochaux the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer went to Olympique Lyonnais 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.
Sochaux had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at FC Nantes, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux 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 Sochaux is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochaux have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Markus Soomets 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 Elie N'Gatta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Petar Krešimir Balen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochaux the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Romain Perraud 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.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Elie N'Gatta 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sochaux can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochaux they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Romain Perraud 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.
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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochaux they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mathis-Tony Loue and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2032
Words at Sochaux training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Soomets 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sochaux can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The mood at Sochaux 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochaux can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jebryl Sahraoui will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochaux the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochaux 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. David Vassilev has agreed terms with US Orleans for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Words at Sochaux training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nick Mokabakila 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochaux is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sochaux are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.