Alan Kérouédan 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Expérience 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AS Nancy, another week without a signature from Enzo Tacafred.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Enzo Tacafred trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at AS Nancy has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
“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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 6.86, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad8 Nov 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.
8 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.
“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.
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.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“I did not go to Bruk-Bet Termalica to sit and watch. I want to come back to AS Nancy and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Corentin Fatou has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
0‑2 to Le Mans FC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Expérience 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mathieu Da Silva after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around AS Nancy are no longer polite ones.
Squad18 Oct 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.
Enzo Tacafred 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Mohamed Farsi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mathieu Da Silva after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutMohamed Farsi asks for a word with the manager
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.
Squad11 Oct 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yannis Lagha, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Chafik El Hansar's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Red Star 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Boubakar Dembaga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around AS Nancy are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Up for the corner, and Hugo Barbier delivers — 7.61
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Hugo Barbier scored, was marked 7.61, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Expérience was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at AS Nancy can tell you which week it ends in.
Alan Kérouédan 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.
0‑1 to ESTAC Troyes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mathieu Da Silva to a room that had heard them before.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against SC Bastia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
The dugoutEnzo Tacafred knocks on the manager's door
US Orleans go through and AS Nancy go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
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.
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. Le Mans FC have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Cazim Suljic 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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.80, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Mohamed Farsi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mattheo Guendez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Nancy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Nancy and Rodez AF in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
AS Nancy offered $110.0K; Amiens SC said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gil Vicente have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jérémy Gélin, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Expérience is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Nancy people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with FC Villefranche; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 17 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. Olympique de Marseille have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
10 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Nancy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
1 for Boubakar Dembaga, marked 7.58, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The offer went to Amiens SC 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.
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.
AS Nancy asked and Toulouse FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Enzo Tacafred 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 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.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Walid Bouabdeli again, and this time the name on the line is Patro Eisden. AS Nancy are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
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.
Sidi Cissé 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 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.
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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yannis Lagha 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“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.
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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique de Marseille have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Nancy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
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 Toulouse FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
The name of Nehemiah Fernandez has come up in conversations AS Nancy were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yannis Verdier is living that version at AS Nancy, and it tends to show in the first month.
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 RC Strasbourg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AS Nancy can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zakaria Fdaouch trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
The offer went to LB Chateauroux 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.
The fee is $550.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. LB Chateauroux drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation AS Nancy are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tommaso Vannucchi is living that version at AS Nancy, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Toulouse FC have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Stade Brestois: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Tommaso Vannucchi is 20, and AS Nancy 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.
The chase for Corentin Fatou ended with $2.3M changing hands and US Boulogne out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“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 AS Nancy hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Bourg-Peronnas paid $410.0K and AS Nancy took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
AS Nancy spend $2.3M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $2.3M for Corentin Fatou, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
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.
32 games, 6 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at AS Nancy now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Sidi Cissé 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 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.
“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.
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.
AS Nancy had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Racing Santander, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LOSC Lille have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AS Nancy has been clear about where Nehemiah Fernandez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Yannis Lagha 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, wages agreed, and Bourg-Peronnas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Nancy is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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.
The fee is $1.1M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. US Boulogne drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
AS Nancy offered $160.0K; FC Rouen said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad21 Jun 2027
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.
Ange Lago 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.
“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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$1.1M settles it between the clubs for Azamat Uriev
US Boulogne have accepted the money. What AS Nancy do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Everything agreed with Olympique de Marseille, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Add another name to the list: Bourg-Peronnas have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nehemiah Fernandez. The answer from AS Nancy has not changed — yet.
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.
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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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. Stade Rennais have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
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.
A season average of 7.08 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
AS Nancy have made the call to Olympique Lyonnais. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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 registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Enzo Tacafred 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Cazim Suljic 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 easiest signature of my career.” Michalis Agrimakis and AS Nancy agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Brandon Bokangu has his answer from AS Nancy; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Michalis Agrimakis is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
6 goals in 32 games at Bourg-Peronnas — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at AS Nancy updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Noam Obougou Jacquet trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. AS Nancy will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
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.
Justin Bourgault 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
The dugoutCazim Suljic asks for a word with the manager
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chafik El Hansar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Nancy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
An average of 7.02 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.
Dan Sinaté 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.
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.
“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.
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 season average of 7.08 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cazim Suljic 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Enzo Tacafred trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
6 goals in 32 games at Bourg-Peronnas — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at AS Nancy updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
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.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at AS Nancy the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
“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.
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.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Zakaria Fdaouch has his answer from AS Nancy; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolas Saint-Ruf trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
An average of 7.02 in a first team he is several years too young for. AS Nancy have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Cazim Suljic 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.
Ange Lago 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 Zakaria Fdaouch trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Dan Sinaté's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. AS Nancy would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
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.
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.
Victor Orakpo had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and AS Saint-Etienne were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
“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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.08, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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.
Enzo Tacafred 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 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.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.84 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Jérémy Gélin 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cazim Suljic 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Chafik El Hansar's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Amiens SC in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pape Meïssa Bâ signs something — a contract at AS Nancy or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chafik El Hansar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Nancy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mathieu Da Silva after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A 5‑4 win over Grenoble Foot 38, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between AS Nancy and Grenoble Foot 38, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
An average of 7.00 in a first team he is several years too young for. AS Nancy have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
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.
Enzo Tacafred 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.98, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout8 Mar 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 Mathieu Da Silva left the room before anybody could ask which.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at AS Nancy pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
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.
The goal that put Montpellier HSC ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when AS Nancy equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Ange Lago 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 AS Nancy know it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AS Nancy told Zakaria Fdaouch something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.87, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Justin Bourgault, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.33
A mark of 8.33 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
A season average of 7.01 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.
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.
Jérémy Gélin 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.
AS Nancy asked and Toulouse FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Cazim Suljic falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Nancy, and 4 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Mathieu Da Silva to a room that had heard them before.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Nancy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
ESTAC Troyes left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mathieu Da Silva to a room that had heard them before.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Dan Sinaté is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
AS Nancy close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and 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. Racing Santander have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Chafik El Hansar has come up in conversations AS Nancy were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Dan Sinaté 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 AS Nancy can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Braga is saying, and nobody at AS Nancy is enjoying the guessing.
The phone has started ringing about Enzo Tacafred again, and this time the name on the line is CR Belouizdad. AS Nancy are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Cazim Suljic 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.
“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.
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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“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 AS Nancy, and 3 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
The clubs have shaken hands with SC Bastia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“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 Panathinaikos is saying, and nobody at AS Nancy is enjoying the guessing.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Enzo Tacafred is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paris FC have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Stade Lavallois the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that AS Nancy will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 9.06 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
“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.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LASK have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cazim Suljic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.74 for the rest of it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Victor Orakpo is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Walid Bouabdeli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
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.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Elfayed Maanrifa is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
“I watch every AS Nancy game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Angers SCO runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Mathieu Da Silva could afford to be generous.
2 behind and going nowhere, until Victor Orakpo decided otherwise. FC Annecy had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Enzo Tacafred is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Victor Orakpo. 3‑2 against FC Annecy, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rayan Bamba 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.
0‑3 to AS Saint-Etienne, 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.
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Enzo Tacafred is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Pape Meïssa Bâ had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Amiens SC were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
1 for Nicolas Saint-Ruf, marked 7.04, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
2‑3 to Amiens SC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
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.
Adrien Julloux 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: 16. 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Mathieu Da Silva to a room that had heard them before.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
In brief
SquadVictor Orakpo, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Victor Orakpo 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cazim Suljic is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Mathieu Da Silva could afford to be generous.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zakaria Fdaouch trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Brandon Bokangu has his answer from AS Nancy; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
EA Guingamp 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.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at AS Nancy the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
0‑3 to Grenoble Foot 38, 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ange Lago is living that version at AS Nancy, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mathieu Da Silva after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutVictor Orakpo asks for a word with the manager
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Enzo Basilio, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Cazim Suljic 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.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Justin Bourgault is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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.” Mathieu Da Silva chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Grenoble Foot 38 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.
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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mathieu Da Silva to a room that had heard them before.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AS Nancy told Amine Moussaoui something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
3 goals in 9 games at Bourg-Peronnas — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at AS Nancy updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Justin Bourgault did not need any: 8.15, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Enzo Tacafred is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AS Nancy, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mathieu Da Silva after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Noam Obougou Jacquet is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zakaria Fdaouch, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cazim Suljic 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.
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.
“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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Red Star in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Elfayed Maanrifa has his answer from AS Nancy; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Squad5 Oct 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.
Three points for AS Nancy, 1‑0 the final word against SC Bastia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Jérémy Gélin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Dan Sinaté 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 figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
14 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Salis Abdul Samed scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Victor Orakpo is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Salis Abdul Samed’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AS Nancy.
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.
21 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.
Walid Bouabdeli was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting CP have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 20 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.
“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 Atlético Mineiro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Dan Sinaté 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then US Boulogne scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Pape Meïssa Bâ
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
AS Nancy close the window on a squad of their own making
9 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Salis Abdul Samed and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Bourg-Peronnas will make the call about Nehemiah Fernandez this week. AS Nancy have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Rayan Bamba has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Victor Orakpo
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Victor Orakpo has come out of that comparison in the side, and AS Nancy have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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.
The name of Nehemiah Fernandez has come up in conversations AS Nancy were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Jérémy Gélin 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.
AS Nancy asked and Flamengo 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Salis Abdul Samed scored, was marked 7.81, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
AS Nancy asked and DAC Dunajska Streda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
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.
Rodez AF held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. AS Nancy answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
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.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
AS Nancy asked and FC Nantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Joseph Aubry 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.
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.
Adrien Julloux was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
BoardroomAS Nancy say no to the training-ground money
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Justin Bourgault did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Victor Orakpo. 3‑1 against USL Dunkerque, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and AS Nancy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Victor Orakpo 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vincent Dumas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Enzo Basilio knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Enzo Basilio is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.