Samuel Loric 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.
Valenciennes asked and Sochaux said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fredrik Oldrup Jensen and Valenciennes agree another 2 years.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Valenciennes will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mohamed Ihattaren 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clément Rodrigues 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.87, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutRémy Boissier asks for a word with the manager
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Valenciennes hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Romain Thomas and Valenciennes agree another 2 years.
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 new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Loïck Landre 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.
A mark of 7.58, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Charles Abi
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Charles Abi has come out of that comparison in the side, and Valenciennes have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Romain Thomas 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 Hicham Khaloua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutBryan Passi knocks on the manager’s door
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.
“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.
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.
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Martial Godo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Stredair Appuah Owusu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Bryan Passi
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Charles Abi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Charles Abi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Paris 13 Atletico next, and one man in the Valenciennes dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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 Valenciennes would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Nobody at Valenciennes 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
MatchContinental football is in reach for Valenciennes
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Valenciennes 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.
Romain Thomas 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Valenciennes have had the benefit of it.
4 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Romain Thomas 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.
A 3‑2 win over Quevilly-Rouen, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Toulouse FC have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Daou Diomandé
A brace, and Kenny Quetant takes the afternoon — 8.60
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kenny Quetant provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
3 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.
Romain Thomas 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.
A 2‑0 win over Le Puy Foot 43, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daou Diomandé 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 hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kenny Quetant did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.65, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 7.16 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Martial Godo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Samuel Loric 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Martial Godo 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.
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.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Joseph Rey was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Valenciennes dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Alain Ipiélé
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Martial Godo 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.
Romain Thomas 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.” Quentin Daubin has his answer from Valenciennes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” Joseph Rey, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Gaëtan Courtet
The dugoutBryan Passi knocks on the manager's door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Valenciennes and FC Fleury 91, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daou Diomandé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
That is the business done at Valenciennes 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $160.0K — a club that wants Nicolas Wasbauer enough to be asked twice.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
$150.0K was the most the club would pay and Toulouse 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo 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.
Valenciennes asked and Montpellier HSC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Romain Thomas 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.