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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robert Glatzel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal and RC Lens agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Facundo Medina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at RC Lens would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fernando Calero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Lens 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.
Facundo Medina 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 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.
Marked 8.43 — 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Facundo Medina 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
38 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
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.
Marked 9.14 — 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.
“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 RC Lens, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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.
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.
Marked 9.02 — 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 45 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 RC Lens, 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Facundo Medina 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daivy Lefranc-Yeboah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
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 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 RC Lens hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
“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 RC Lens hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
“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 8 appearances in 30 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 RC Lens, and it is not being withdrawn.
Facundo Medina 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 given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and RC Lens know it.
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.
Marked 8.60 — 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samson Baidoo. 2‑0 against Tours, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.47 — 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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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.
The name of Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal has come up in conversations RC Lens were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
7 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.
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 8.32 — 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.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
6 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shots: 10. 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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Samson Baidoo could not do
“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 RC Lens hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
Marked 8.14 — 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.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
“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 RC Lens hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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 9.23 — 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.
“I watch every RC Lens game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Toulouse FC runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Mattia Fortin: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
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.
Marked 8.59 — 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.
Odsonne Édouard 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 9.34 — 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RC Lens, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RC Lens, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Stade Brestois? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
0‑4 to Olympique de Marseille, 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.
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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Mattia Fortin knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Shots: 8. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Richard Picard is 17, and RC Lens 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.
Odsonne Édouard 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 RC Lens 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 RC Lens 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 RC Lens, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Florian Thauvin suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. RC Lens have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
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.
RC Lens interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Robert Gérard keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RC Lens, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Giorgi Kvilitaia suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. RC Lens have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Majkol Luka arrives from Fiorentina with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
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.
38 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
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.
A new face in his position, and Giorgi Kvilitaia suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. RC Lens 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 RC Lens, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
The name of Goduine Koyalipou has come up in conversations RC Lens were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Toulouse FC will make the call about Mattéo Escouflaire this week. RC Lens have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens 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 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.
The fee is $4.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Clermont Foot drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Olympique Lyonnais pay $5.7M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
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.
10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at RC Lens has been clear about where Goduine Koyalipou stands, which is more than many ever get.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at RC Lens that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Ousmane Diop
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Rémi Pons clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
“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 RC Lens hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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 name of Rayan Fofana has come up in conversations RC Lens were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at RC Lens has been clear about where Fernando Calero stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at RC Lens can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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.
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.
7 goals in 32 games at Angers SCO — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at RC Lens updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jonathan Gradit will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayan Fofana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
9 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.
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.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
7 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayan Fofana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Odsonne Édouard 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. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and RC Lens know it.
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.
Marked 8.83 — 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.
Marked 8.56 — 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.
Marked 8.23 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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.
Facundo Medina 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 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jonathan Gradit will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 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.
Marked 8.88 — 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Mattia Fortin knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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.
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.
The name of Rayan Fofana has come up in conversations RC Lens were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
RC Strasbourg paid $20.7M and RC Lens took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Odsonne Édouard. 4‑3 against AJ Auxerre, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rémy Labeau Lascary will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Rayan Fofana has come up in conversations RC Lens were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Marked 9.09 — 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 offer from Stade Rennais for Mamadou Sangaré 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Olympique de Marseille paid $15.9M and RC Lens took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“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; RC Lens are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 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 8.60 — 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Lens have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
Amadou Haïdara 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ismaëlo Ganiou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 RC Lens hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
Shots: 9. 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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Abdallah Sima could not do
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 19 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Facundo Medina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A 2‑1 win over RC Strasbourg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RC Lens, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.81 — 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.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RC Lens, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at RC Lens that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and RC Lens know it.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RC Lens, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Lens have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.22 — 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.
Marked 8.48 — 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.
“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.
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.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and RC Lens will not try tonight.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rémy Labeau Lascary will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.11 — 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.
Facundo Medina 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 39 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“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 RC Lens hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
Marked 8.84 — 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.
Marked 8.39 — 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.
Shots: 13. 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.
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.
10 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.
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.
Nicolas Renault is 16, and RC Lens 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Lens have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rémy Labeau Lascary and RC Lens agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at RC Lens can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The offer from Clermont Foot for Ismaëlo Ganiou 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.
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.
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.
Facundo Medina 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vincent Aboubakar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Amadou Haïdara 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.
Add another name to the list: Stade Lavallois have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rémy Labeau Lascary. The answer from RC Lens has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RC Lens is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RC Lens can pretend not to have heard.
“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.
Amadou Haïdara 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.
“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 RC Lens, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Séko Fofana is a RC Lens player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RC Lens 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 RC Lens this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Ilan Jourdren has come up in conversations RC Lens were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RC Lens have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Facundo Medina 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 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.
“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.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mamadou Sangaré has his answer from RC Lens; what he does with it is the next window’s story.