Marked for Philippe Bahenda
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Apr 2030
“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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Philippe Bahenda: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stade Lavallois have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market1 Apr 2030
Only the photograph left for Jasper Judd
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jasper Judd will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stade Lavallois the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stade Lavallois may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Chidozie Awaziem 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Philippe Bahenda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Feb 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Stade Lavallois, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Afonso Machado: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Stade Lavallois have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market11 Feb 2030
Paul Diomandé has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stade Lavallois they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stade Lavallois this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“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.
Market11 Feb 2030
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Feb 2030
“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 Stade Lavallois, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stade Lavallois may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Feb 2030
Only the photograph left for Jasper Judd
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jasper Judd will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stade Lavallois the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market4 Feb 2030
The Tours deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Thomas Witsel reports back to Stade Lavallois with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fady Khatir commits to Stade Lavallois for another 2 years.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Julien Maggiotti 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Apr 2029
48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stade Lavallois this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Apr 2029
The medical room confirms 33 days on the sidelines for Philippe Bahenda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Nov 2028
“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 Stade Lavallois, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mamadou Samassa and Stade Lavallois agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Julien Maggiotti 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.
Match4 Nov 2028
1‑2 to Dijon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The month belongs to Jess Gomes
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Stade Lavallois have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.