“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
5 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.
Axel Tuanzebe 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 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.
Paris Saint-Germain left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Theo Bair 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.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout1 Nov 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 Marc Lemoine to a room that had heard them before.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Something was said to Paul Joly and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rayan Mandengue was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Fredrik Oppegård is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jamal Gonzaga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nabil Bentaleb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
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.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether AJ Auxerre can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marvin Senaya’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and AJ Auxerre needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Telli Siwe is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Danny Namaso has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AJ Auxerre will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at AJ Auxerre heard it as anything else.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Something was said to Kévin Danois and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aristide Zossou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lamine Sy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nabil Bentaleb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
FC Versailles go through and AJ Auxerre go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kévin Danois. 3‑1 against Toulouse FC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Lasso Coulibaly 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Avellino have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nabil Bentaleb 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Le Mans FC for Henrique Devens 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.
The deal that would have taken Anatole Abang to RC Strasbourg has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to AJ Auxerre with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
AJ Auxerre asked and Olympique de Marseille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and FC Lorient were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by 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 AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Stade Briochin had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 17 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“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 AJ Auxerre hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
At 19 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lamine Sy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
5 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.
AJ Auxerre asked and Stade de Reims said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Paul Nardi again, and this time the name on the line is Toulouse FC. AJ Auxerre are listening politely and promising nothing.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jamal Gonzaga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Elikya Legros is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leicester City have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre 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 AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Theo Bair 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
11 new faces, and AJ Auxerre are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Stade Briochin had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Axel Tuanzebe 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 name of Lamine Sy has come up in conversations AJ Auxerre were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LOSC Lille have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Theo Bair 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AJ Auxerre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Telli Siwe is on it.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and FC Fleury 91 waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
AJ Auxerre asked and Toulouse FC 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; AJ Auxerre are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Paul Nardi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rayan Mandengue was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Theo Bair 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
AJ Auxerre offered $12.0K; FC Lorient said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
AJ Auxerre asked and Olympique de Marseille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AJ Auxerre, another week without a signature from Lamine Sy.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AJ Auxerre lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AJ Auxerre have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and it is not being withdrawn.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lionel Mpasi has just signed for AJ Auxerre, and for once the answer mattered.
AJ Auxerre asked and LOSC Lille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Danny Namaso
The dugoutJosué Casimir asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutTelli Siwe has become a man the manager trusts
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AJ Auxerre lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Valenciennes paid $5.2M and AJ Auxerre took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
AJ Auxerre have gone to Le Havre AC with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
AJ Auxerre had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Monaco, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 22 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.
AJ Auxerre have gone to RC Strasbourg with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kévin Danois was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AJ Auxerre lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and US Orleans waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from FC Rouen for Francisco Sierralta 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.
At 22 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.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
AJ Auxerre offered $12.0K; FC Lorient said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kévin Danois was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
At 19 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.
$12.0K on the table at FC Lorient. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oussama El Azzouzi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Sierralta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
“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 AJ Auxerre hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
At 21 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.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. AJ Auxerre have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kévin Danois 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. Monaco have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fredrik Oppegård and AJ Auxerre agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lamine Sy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Axel Tuanzebe and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kévin Danois 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.
Nobody at AJ Auxerre 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.
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.
Position 12, 42 points, safe from one end and out of reach of the other. The last weeks are about next season now, and the team sheet has started saying so.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Assane Dioussé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AJ Auxerre have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Axel Tuanzebe 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 Oussama El Azzouzi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AJ Auxerre, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at AJ Auxerre 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Danny Namaso has written the date down.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at AJ Auxerre and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oussama El Azzouzi 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 AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Clément Akpa signs something — a contract at AJ Auxerre or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
0‑4 to Monaco, 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.
Position 12 on 42 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Sierralta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kévin Danois 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AJ Auxerre will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lamine Sy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Danilo Cataldi 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kévin Danois 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: 18. 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.
Something was said to Clément Akpa and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 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 AJ Auxerre 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Assane Dioussé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Sékou Mara on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of AJ Auxerre and FC Nantes.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre 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 AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between AJ Auxerre and Le Havre AC, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Three points for AJ Auxerre, 4‑2 the final word against Le Havre AC in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Kévin Danois 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 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ernest Nuamah 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Ernest Nuamah was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.51. 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AJ Auxerre will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kévin Danois was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AJ Auxerre will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lamine Sy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AJ Auxerre have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sinaly Diomandé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Axel Tuanzebe and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AJ Auxerre will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 19 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sinaly 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AJ Auxerre. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AJ Auxerre will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Oussama El Azzouzi scored, was marked 7.91, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
At 21 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ernest Nuamah 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rémy Labeau Lascary was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
1‑4 against Olympique de Marseille, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Danilo Cataldi 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; AJ Auxerre are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lamine Sy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Danilo Cataldi 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A last season at home is what Donovan Léon is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lamine Sy, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Marc Lemoine chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AJ Auxerre they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 AJ Auxerre hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; AJ Auxerre are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AJ Auxerre will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
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.
A season average of 7.25 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout22 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Marc Lemoine to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for AJ Auxerre
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A brace, and André Silva takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. André Silva provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Add another name to the list: US Orleans have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sinaly Diomandé. The answer from AJ Auxerre has not changed — yet.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kévin Danois 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AJ Auxerre people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. AJ Auxerre will try again when the window opens; FC Metz may not be selling by then.
Marked 8.27 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rémy Labeau Lascary was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Marc Lemoine left the room before anybody could ask which.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Quevilly-Rouen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
FC Metz have accepted the money. What AJ Auxerre do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Telli Siwe had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
AJ Auxerre close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kévin Danois was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
AJ Auxerre asked and FC Rouen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bourg-Peronnas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AJ Auxerre is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Assane Dioussé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AJ Auxerre the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The phone has started ringing about Lamine Sy again, and this time the name on the line is US Concarneau. AJ Auxerre are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kévin Danois 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 AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AS Nancy have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AJ Auxerre have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Danilo Cataldi 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 is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Kévin Danois had AJ Auxerre level again within 4 minutes, and FC Lorient never got to play with a lead at all.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rémy Labeau Lascary 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AJ Auxerre have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Add another name to the list: Quevilly-Rouen have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sinaly Diomandé. The answer from AJ Auxerre has not changed — yet.
Everything agreed with Fiorentina, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
André Silva 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
AJ Auxerre asked and Athletic Bilbao said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AJ Auxerre can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AJ Auxerre have done the hard part with SC Bastia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Axel Tuanzebe 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 name of Assane Dioussé has come up in conversations AJ Auxerre were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SC Bastia have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: US Boulogne will make the call about Fredrik Oppegård this week. AJ Auxerre have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and it is not being withdrawn.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
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.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and FC Metz were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; AJ Auxerre are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
0‑1 to FC Nantes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sinaly 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Donovan Léon's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Donovan Léon knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Marc Lemoine after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
5 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marvin Senaya, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rémy Labeau Lascary 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: 14. 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AJ Auxerre have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rémy Labeau Lascary was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Marc Lemoine after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Clément Akpa signs something — a contract at AJ Auxerre or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Something was said to André Silva and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nathan Buayi-Kiala’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and AJ Auxerre needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Romain Faivre
André Silva 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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 6.80, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Henrique Devens, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rémy Labeau Lascary 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rémy Labeau Lascary 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Olympique Lyonnais in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nobody at AJ Auxerre 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
The dugoutThe manager makes Danny Namaso a promise
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Olympique de Marseille the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that AJ Auxerre will enjoy reviewing.
Axel Tuanzebe 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tony Mendy 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.
A 3‑2 win over Paris FC, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kévin Danois 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.
A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Josué Casimir was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. 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.
The goal that put Paris FC ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when AJ Auxerre equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Elisha Owusu has his answer from AJ Auxerre; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Kévin Danois 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.
0‑1 to Paris Saint-Germain, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Marc Lemoine left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at AJ Auxerre 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.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Successful dribbles: 9. 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.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. AJ Auxerre have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rémy Labeau Lascary was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Marc Lemoine was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the AJ Auxerre dressing room was either.
Paris Saint-Germain next, and one man in the AJ Auxerre dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
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.
Something was said to André Silva and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad12 Oct 2026
13 new faces, and AJ Auxerre are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
RC Lens next, and one man in the AJ Auxerre dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Nobody at AJ Auxerre 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.
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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AJ Auxerre lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kévin Danois 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rémy Labeau Lascary 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 words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AJ Auxerre has been clear about where Assane Dioussé stands, which is more than many ever get.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AJ Auxerre lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with FC Versailles the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that AJ Auxerre will enjoy reviewing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AJ Auxerre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Ryan Rodin 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.
A brace, and André Silva takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. André Silva provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
1 for Oussama El Azzouzi, marked 7.60, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rémy Labeau Lascary was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and AJ Auxerre are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Marc Lemoine kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at AJ Auxerre heard it as anything else.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AJ Auxerre have done the hard part with Olympique Lyonnais, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Montpellier HSC paid $1.2M and AJ Auxerre took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
AJ Auxerre asked and Pau FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sékou Mara is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at AJ Auxerre training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rémy Labeau Lascary 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.
“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 AJ Auxerre, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.44 for the rest of it.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Marc Lemoine after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Donovan Léon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aris Thessaloniki have kept their man, and AJ Auxerre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Romain Faivre. 2‑0 against Stade Brestois, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Josué Casimir was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. 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.
Marked 8.04 — 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. AJ Auxerre will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olympique Lyonnais keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Axel Tuanzebe 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Donovan Léon 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.
AJ Auxerre asked and Red Star said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Emmanuel Collet has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Squad17 Aug 2026
12 new faces, and AJ Auxerre are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A loan enquiry to Aris Thessaloniki: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
Everything was agreed with Angers SCO and then the doctor spoke. AJ Auxerre have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rémy Labeau Lascary was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. AJ Auxerre will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Henrique Devens has, at AJ Auxerre, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Axel Tuanzebe 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 Donovan Léon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
AJ Auxerre asked and Universitatea Craiova said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Clément Akpa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.