Pablo Pagis falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. AS Nancy will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Gabriel Renault after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
AJ Auxerre next, and one man in the AS Nancy dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Monaco go through and AS Nancy go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Pablo Pagis decided nobody was going anywhere. Olympique Lyonnais had no time left to answer.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rafael Mota is living that version at AS Nancy, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Pagis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Rafael Mota 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.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Pablo Pagis was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gabriel Renault after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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 Jean-Baptiste Perrin is on it.
Pablo Pagis 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paul Nardi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Pablo Pagis was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Pape Niama Sissoko 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.
Something was said to Pape Meïssa Bâ and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Enzo Basilio
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Pablo Pagis 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.
Ilyes Housni 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 Angers SCO, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Pape Meïssa Bâ was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.73. 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adrien Julloux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 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 2‑3 Gabriel Renault left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Successful dribbles: 38. 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 Oct 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Pagis 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.
Martin Expérience 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 dugout18 Oct 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.” Gabriel Renault chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Tours defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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 Jean-Baptiste Perrin is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Adrian Dabasse’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and AS Nancy needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Celis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Nancy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Pagis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout11 Oct 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 0‑1 Gabriel Renault left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Nancy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match2 Oct 2027
Pape Meïssa Bâ wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Pape Meïssa Bâ found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Le Havre AC went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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 Adrien Julloux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Cazim Suljic
61Edition
The AS Nancy Herald
27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondentCrisis
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Pagis 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.
Mohamed Niaré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout27 Sep 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 Gabriel Renault to a room that had heard them before.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AS Nancy told Enzo Tacafred something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Le Havre AC in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 126th minute. FC Metz will replay every second of the added time for a week.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nehemiah Fernandez and AS Nancy agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Marked 8.49 — 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 whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nehemiah Fernandez is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Nancy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Pablo Pagis has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
AS Nancy asked and Muranga Seal 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 was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 14 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at AS Nancy until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
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.
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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Pagis 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
AS Nancy had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Stade Lavallois, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
Martin Expérience 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.
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Nancy can pretend not to have heard.
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.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The deal with Stade Lavallois is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Celis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Nancy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Pablo Pagis’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and AS Nancy needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Nancy will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
AS Nancy asked and RC Lens said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$410.0K on the table at Clermont Foot. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Martin Sourzac has left for AJ Auxerre in a $160.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Nancy will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Paris FC waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Nancy is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Nicolas Saint-Ruf 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 Adrien Julloux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Nancy has been clear about where Bakari Camara stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Nancy will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
AS Nancy asked and Paris Saint-Germain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Martin Sourzac has improved at 35, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Nancy 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 AS Nancy they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nehemiah Fernandez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Nancy will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
$1.5M was the most the club would pay and Clermont Foot were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pape Meïssa Bâ trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Oumar Sidibé is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Nancy will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Nancy people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Paul Nardi is a AS Nancy player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The offer went to Clermont Foot this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Pablo Pagis from Paris FC for $5.7M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
AS Nancy and Paris FC have settled on $5.7M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Nancy will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Nancy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Nancy can pretend not to have heard.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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.
AS Nancy asked and AC Milan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Nancy will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 AS Nancy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Celis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Nancy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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 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.
AS Nancy asked and Como said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Nancy will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AS Nancy can pretend not to have heard.
AS Nancy asked and RC Lens said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
AS Nancy have gone to AJ Auxerre 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.28, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
At 23 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 Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
“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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
Position 2, 54 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Martín Szumik has just signed for AS Nancy, and for once the answer mattered.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrien Julloux 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AS Nancy. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. AS Nancy had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Nancy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
13 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
Squad24 May 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy 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 AS Nancy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Walid Bouabdeli signs something — a contract at AS Nancy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Rayan Bamba
An average of 7.28 in a first team he is several years too young for. AS Nancy have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad17 May 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Nancy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at AS Nancy 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AS Nancy. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adrien Julloux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AS Nancy. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Position 2, 54 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; AS Nancy are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AS Nancy. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Nancy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Nancy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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 AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Walid Bouabdeli signs something — a contract at AS Nancy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Nancy lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
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 Oumar Sidibé is on it.
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Nancy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
Martin Expérience 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.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Nancy lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Martin Expérience 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 words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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 Adrien Julloux 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 AS Nancy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A season average of 7.28 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Nancy know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Didier Pérez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michel Maillard 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Thibault Leroy has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Raymond Henry is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Geoffrey Lembet 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohamed Niaré trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Nancy lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 AS Nancy know it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Nancy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Nancy lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Elydjah Mendy
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Nancy lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Justin Bourgault 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AS Nancy. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
A season average of 7.28 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Nancy know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Walid Bouabdeli signs something — a contract at AS Nancy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at AS Nancy 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.
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Nancy lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrien Julloux 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Nancy know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Cazim Suljic has written the date down.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at AS Nancy that is a harder question to answer.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Brunnel Tutuana is still in the building
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Nancy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Walid Bouabdeli and AS Nancy agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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.
Martin Expérience 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Nancy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
132 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Nancy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AS Nancy may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at AS Nancy until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin 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. Juventus have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nehemiah Fernandez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Walid Bouabdeli has moved up it.
A season average of 7.28 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Nancy know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
AS Nancy asked and River Plate 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.
Nobody at AS Nancy 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 Cazim Suljic has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Martin Expérience 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Mohamed Niaré.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Position 2, 54 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Nancy have done the hard part with Paris Saint-Germain, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Dijon made AS Nancy work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Jérémy Gélin 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.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. AS Nancy had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
5 matches without defeat, and then Nimes. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Victor Orakpo is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. AS Nancy will try very hard not to make too much of it.
5 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.
Marked 10.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AS Nancy.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Jérémy Gélin 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Successful dribbles: 47. 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.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
At 21 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.
Position 2, 44 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
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.
Nehemiah Fernandez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Saint-Ruf 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 3‑1 win over Bourg-Peronnas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Victor Orakpo did not need any: 8.22, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
12 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Jérémy Gélin 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.
Mohamed Niaré 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Clermont Foot tried to reorganise, AS Nancy did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Two goals and a mark of 8.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A season average of 7.14 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Nancy know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 39. 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.
Monaco go through and AS Nancy go home, 1‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A mark of 8.15 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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.
Martin Expérience 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Gabriel Renault could afford to be generous.
Victor Orakpo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.95
A mark of 7.95 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Jérémy Gélin 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.
Marked 8.33 — 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 dugout9 Nov 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.” Gabriel Renault kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Cazim Suljic
Victor Orakpo, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.87
A mark of 7.87 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Half the programme played, position 3, 29 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adrien Julloux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Martin Expérience 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.
6 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.
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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutMohamed Niaré knocks on the manager’s door
Position 2, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Pape Niama Sissoko is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Jérémy Gélin 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.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
Chamois Niortais next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adrien Julloux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Gabriel Renault could afford to be generous.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Nancy know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Zakaria Ztouti is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nehemiah Fernandez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Justin Bourgault 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pape Meïssa Bâ. 1‑0 against Nimes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jérémy Gélin 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 could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad28 Sep 2026
5 new faces, and AS Nancy 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.
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 Enzo Basilio is on it.
In brief
The dugoutAdrien Julloux is still being punished for one mistake
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Enzo Basilio: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Valenciennes spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A brace, and Victor Orakpo takes the afternoon — 8.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Victor Orakpo provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Victor Orakpo. 2‑1 against Valenciennes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Nancy and Bourg-Peronnas in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
AS Nancy asked and Cortulua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Marked 8.78 — 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.
Geoffrey Lembet 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Enzo Tacafred
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Noam Obougou Jacquet did not need any: 8.21, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 10 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
AS Nancy ran out of time with Stade Brestois. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Santander have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 21 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsPape Meïssa Bâ was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Everything agreed with Stade Brestois, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Birmingham have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Martin Expérience 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.
12 combined actions and 7.09. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
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 loan enquiry to Liverpool Montevideo: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“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 AS Nancy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Astra is saying, and nobody at AS Nancy is enjoying the guessing.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jérémy Gélin 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 AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Aug 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 1‑2 Gabriel Renault left the room before anybody could ask which.
The chase for Jean-Baptiste Perrin ended with $1.7M changing hands and Tours out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Nancy have done the hard part with Astra, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
$720.0K was the most the club would pay and Monaco were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Victor Orakpo did not need any: 9.55, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have shaken hands with Tours; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
AS Nancy have gone to Monaco 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.
Martin Expérience 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Noam Obougou Jacquet 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jean-Luc Aubert has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ilyes Housni did not need any: 8.22, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Gabriel Renault on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.