“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Nancy can pretend not to have heard.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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. Olympique de Marseille have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Nancy people have started saying his name 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 The request is on a desk at AS Nancy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
AS Nancy had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Racing Santander, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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. LOSC Lille have kept their man, and AS Nancy 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 AS Nancy has been clear about where Nehemiah Fernandez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Yannis Lagha 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Nancy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Zakaria Fdaouch has his answer from AS Nancy; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolas Saint-Ruf trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Nancy will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A 5‑4 win over Grenoble Foot 38, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between AS Nancy and Grenoble Foot 38, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
An average of 7.00 in a first team he is several years too young for. AS Nancy have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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.
Enzo Tacafred 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Nancy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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.
ESTAC Troyes left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
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 Mathieu Da Silva to a room that had heard them before.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Dan Sinaté is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Nancy can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Braga is saying, and nobody at AS Nancy is enjoying the guessing.
The phone has started ringing about Enzo Tacafred again, and this time the name on the line is CR Belouizdad. AS Nancy are listening politely and promising nothing.
AS Nancy asked and RC Lens said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Cazim Suljic 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Elfayed Maanrifa is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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 watch every AS Nancy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Angers SCO runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Mathieu Da Silva could afford to be generous.
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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 AS Nancy 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 AS Nancy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Brandon Bokangu has his answer from AS Nancy; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
EA Guingamp next, and one man in the AS Nancy dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at AS Nancy the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Noam Obougou Jacquet is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zakaria Fdaouch, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cazim Suljic 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Nancy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Red Star in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Elfayed Maanrifa has his answer from AS Nancy; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 AS Nancy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
AS Nancy close the window on a squad of their own making
9 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Salis Abdul Samed 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Bourg-Peronnas will make the call about Nehemiah Fernandez this week. AS Nancy have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Rayan Bamba 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Victor Orakpo
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Victor Orakpo has come out of that comparison in the side, and AS Nancy have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.