Position 16 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RC Lens heard it as anything else.
Florian Thauvin 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 award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. RC Lens have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samson Baidoo. 2‑1 against Le Havre AC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.91 — 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Samson Baidoo 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.
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.
Florian Thauvin 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.
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
1‑4 to Toulouse FC, 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Samson Baidoo 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.
Marked 9.21 — 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.
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Florian Thauvin 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.
“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 RC Lens, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. RC Lens have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. RC Lens have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The fee is $3.7M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. US Creteil drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Samson Baidoo 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samson Baidoo signs something — a contract at RC Lens or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Florian Thauvin 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.
Jamal Musiala 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.” Haris Tabaković has his answer from Eintracht Frankfurt; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Eintracht Frankfurt know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Robert Glatzel leaves Eintracht Frankfurt the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Samson Baidoo 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.
“I watch every RC Lens game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Monaco runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at RC Lens has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Saud Abdulhamid trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A new face in his position, and Mattia Fortin suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. RC Lens have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Mohamed Amoura 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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Peter Bergmann is back at VfL Wolfsburg, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Marco Wagner is back at VfL Wolfsburg, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Marked 8.38 — 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.
The chase for Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab ended with $36.8M changing hands and Köln out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VfL Wolfsburg 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 VfL Wolfsburg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Mohamed Amoura suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. VfL Wolfsburg have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“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 VfL Wolfsburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mohamed Amoura 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Saël Kumbedi and VfL Wolfsburg agree another 4 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at VfL Wolfsburg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what VfL Wolfsburg 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 VfL Wolfsburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Alynho Haïdara is 20, and VfL Wolfsburg have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Willem II will make the call about Robert Glatzel this week. VfL Wolfsburg have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The fee is $8.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Hamburger SV drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
A season average of 7.45 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. VfL Wolfsburg know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“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 VfL Wolfsburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mohamed Amoura 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at VfL Wolfsburg heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VfL Wolfsburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The offer from SC Freiburg for Saël Kumbedi 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.
“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 VfL Wolfsburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VfL Wolfsburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.01 — 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.