From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Nimes
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Nimes is running low.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nimes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nimes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 88% of everything Nimes earn
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
He is 18, he is averaging 7.21, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A performance of 9.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.46, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Moussa Diallo
“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.
Market18 Jan 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Match16 Jan 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kévin Sitou commits to Nimes for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
106 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
Match9 Jan 2027
It needed Keba Sylla to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Chamois Niortais, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Arnaud Bodart
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Nimes
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Nimes is running low.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match2 Jan 2027
AS Nancy made Nimes work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arnaud Bodart, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.82, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad4 Jan 2027
36 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 196% of everything Nimes earn
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Valenciennes left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vincent Pirès, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
At 18, Ibrahim Mbaye is already the best thing here
An average of 7.16 in a first team he is several years too young for. Nimes have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.48 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Moussa Diallo
“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.
Match19 Dec 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ibrahim Mbaye scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Tours, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 8.73 — 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Pablo Martinez in trouble away from the ground
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jules Kalczynski. 1‑0 against US Creteil, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Training ground row involving Pablo Martinez
Tempers went at Nimes this week. Nothing a hard session and a quiet word cannot repair, though the story got out all the same.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Ismaël Dramé
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nimes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 242% of everything Nimes earn
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mouhamed Coulibaly trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Nimes know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad23 Nov 2026
36 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 9.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Arnaud Bodart
“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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.70, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Nov 2026
Honours even between Nimes and Dijon
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 8.62 — 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Keba Sylla. 1‑0 against Red Star, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 63 days on the sidelines for Mickaël Salamone, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.87 — 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 2‑0 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Moussa Diallo
“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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Nov 2026
Nimes are in real trouble now
Position 11, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“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.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Nimes's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Nimes has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 242% of everything Nimes earn
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
66 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nimes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 91 days on the sidelines for Mickaël Salamone, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.60 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Nimes had the best player on the pitch.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Othmane Benhamza, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Gino Caoki, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Keba Sylla. 2‑1 against AS Nancy, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 425% of everything Nimes earn
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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Nimes
Position 11 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Yann Boé-Kane
Defensive actions: 30. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 100 days on the sidelines for Clément Depres, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Nimes
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Nimes are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 46 days on the sidelines for Bilel Aouacheria, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.73 on the card, and the Nimes support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Sep 2026
The small margins put Nimes out
Out, 0‑1 to FC Metz, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 10 of the 32 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Nimes
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Nimes are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
122 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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 Nimes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Match12 Sep 2026
Honours even between Nimes and Tours
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nimes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 242% of everything Nimes earn
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pablo Martinez, and the manager let it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Mickaël Salamone. Nimes will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Market7 Sep 2026
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Ibrahim Mbaye arrives from Paris Saint-Germain with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Marowane Khalid asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad31 Aug 2026
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Nimes the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
152 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Yann Boé-Kane 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.86 — 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Dijon made Nimes work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evrald Loubacky, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done: Arnaud Bodart joins from LOSC Lille in a deal worth $3.4M. Now comes the harder part.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Vincent Pirès
“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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.62, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 16, and nobody at Nimes signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market17 Aug 2026
Raymond Giraud is 17, and Nimes 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 16, and nobody at Nimes signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Match15 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nimes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ismaël Dramé gets it from the manager
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Luca Dias lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Match8 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market10 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mouhamed Coulibaly has his answer from Nimes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad10 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Nimes have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pablo Martinez and Nimes agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Nimes
Pablo Martinez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Clément Depres
“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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Dramane Diaby has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Nimes.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Keba Sylla leaves them behind him
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Jules Kalczynski, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.