Marked for Jonathan Ikoné
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Kevin Trapp 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
0‑2 to LOSC Lille, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Otávio gets it from the manager
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Paris FC told Pierre Lees-Melou something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paris FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Moses Simon’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Paris FC needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Paris FC
Kevin Trapp 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.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I watch every Paris FC game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Burgos runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Samir Chergui has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Paris FC 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Otávio knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Otávio trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against LOSC Lille in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad16 Nov 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Paris FC has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market16 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lassine Sinayoko signs something — a contract at Paris FC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market16 Nov 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Rémy Riou may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Oct 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Lassine Sinayoko scored in the 87th minute, Toulouse FC had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Paris FC took the lot.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Kevin Trapp in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paris FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Siny Guèye is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Paris FC, 1‑0 the final word against Toulouse FC in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Lassine Sinayoko at his very best
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Paris FC.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Paris FC has been clear about where Vincent Marchetti stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Adama Camara gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Sep 2026
Le Havre AC made Paris FC work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Marshall Munetsi at his very best
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Paris FC.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Moustapha Mbow, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
David Aubry: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
12 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Moses Simon wants a proper job in this side
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Moses Simon has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Paris FC know, and have known for weeks.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Chances created: 7. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Diego Coppola
Defensive actions: 10. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Paris FC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 14 gone
That is the business done at Paris FC 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Paris FC asked and FC Nantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Luca Koleosho named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Luca Koleosho is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Jonathan Ikoné has moved up it.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Le Havre AC in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market7 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Paris FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market7 Sep 2026
Paris FC have let the market know Anis Fatahine can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Paris FC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Sofia have kept their man, and Paris FC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market31 Aug 2026
Business is business: Julien Lopez goes
USL Dunkerque paid $550.0K and Paris FC took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Paris FC
Otávio 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Kevin Trapp gets it from the manager
“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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.