39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
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.
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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. KAA Gent have kept their man, and Red Star go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Théo Magnin has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Red Star have done the hard part with AJ Auxerre, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Red Star can pretend not to have heard.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leonardo Buta signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Tours in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Quentin Beunardeau is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Théo Magnin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Red Star, another week without a signature from Issac Fataki.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Red Star have no good answer.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
At 32 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
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 dugoutThéo Magnin knocks on the manager's door
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Red Star can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dylan Durivaux 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. Palermo have kept their man, and Red Star go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahamadou Diawara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leonardo Buta signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Merrick Robert is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Vincent Kany has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The offer from Olympique Lyonnais for Kévin Cabral was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdelsamad Hachem trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Red Star can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with RC Strasbourg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdelsamad Hachem 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Noah Beye Filiot 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.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Red Star have made the call to Paris Saint-Germain. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islamdine Halifa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Leonardo Buta signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marc-Olivier Kehi has his answer from Red Star; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Quentin Beunardeau is on it.
42 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Mouez Hassen has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marc-Olivier Kehi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matthieu Huard trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hacène Benali has written the date down.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islamdine Halifa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Mouez Hassen has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Red Star have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdelsamad Hachem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Islamdine Halifa 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Rayane Doucouré'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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gaëtan Poussin signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 128 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dylan Durivaux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mehdi Chafii has his answer from Red Star; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Quentin Beunardeau is on it.
Position 4 on 42 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marc-Olivier Kehi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Gaëtan Poussin has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Mathéo Robert on the training pitch
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gaëtan Poussin signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Kemo Cissé
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdelsamad Hachem was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdelsamad Hachem has his answer from Red Star; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dylan Durivaux trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Islamdine Halifa signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Rudy Thalmensi are not good
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islamdine Halifa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Quentin Beunardeau is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star 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 Dylan Durivaux was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kévin Cabral signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gaëtan Poussin signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Red Star spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Red Star asked and Utrecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthieu Huard, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Théo Magnin
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Théo Magnin has come out of that comparison in the side, and Red Star have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Nobody at Red Star will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Red Star 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Red Star asked and Inter said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Red Star ran out of time with Sochaux. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islamdine Halifa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Werder Bremen have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Junior Eto’o trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Red Star asked and Montevideo City Torque 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
Kemo Cissé 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.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gaëtan Poussin signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Damien Durand was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.63. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Junior Eto’o was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Kévin Cabral was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.88. 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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Werder Bremen keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Red Star asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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.
Ferro Carril Oeste have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kemo Cissé 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Damien Durand
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Damien Durand takes the afternoon — 8.66
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Damien Durand provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mahamadou Diawara did not need any: 7.62, 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: Damien Durand. 2‑1 against AS Nancy, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 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 dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Matthieu Huard
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Red Star can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 64 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.99 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Kévin Cabral scored in the 89th minute, AC Ajaccio had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Red Star took the lot.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
In brief
SquadWords at Red Star training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 71 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑3 to Chamois Niortais, 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.
“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 Red Star, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Vincent Duval left the room before anybody could ask which.
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 86 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Red Star 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: Saïf-Eddine Khaoui. 2‑1 against Valenciennes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
19 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Vincent Duval, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The words a physio says slowly. 93 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Islamdine Halifa, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99
A mark of 7.99 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Islamdine Halifa has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 1‑0 win over Clermont Foot, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Damien Durand 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.
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kemo Cissé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Red Star has been clear about where Pierre Lemonnier stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Vincent Duval to a room that had heard them before.
The words a physio says slowly. 110 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Red Star will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.03 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Vincent Duval could afford to be generous.
120 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Red Star will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marc-Olivier Kehi is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kévin Cabral signs something — a contract at Red Star or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Red Star will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 128 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Abdelsamad Hachem 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 135 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Red Star, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Rayane Doucouré'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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 22 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
143 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
LOSC Lille go through and Red Star go home, 0‑6 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It finished 0-6. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Gaëtan Poussin 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Red Star and LOSC Lille, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A 3‑1 win over Bourg-Peronnas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
In brief
SquadWords at Red Star training over how hard people work
152 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Red Star lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdelsamad Hachem 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.
0‑1 to Sochaux, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 Sep 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 Vincent Duval to a room that had heard them before.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
159 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Red Star lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Flamengo is saying, and nobody at Red Star is enjoying the guessing.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Vincent Duval left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Théo Magnin
Two goals and a mark of 7.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Gaëtan Poussin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kemo Cissé 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Red Star can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Udinese is saying, and nobody at Red Star is enjoying the guessing.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AZ is saying, and nobody at Red Star is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Red Star this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Red Star
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Julien Bonnet has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sébastien Chevalier is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Paul Morel has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Julien Le Roux has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A mark of 7.69 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.
Gaëtan Poussin 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makan Traoré is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Red Star go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Still no offer on the table, and Leonardo Buta’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Red Star training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Durivaux 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Squad5 new faces, and Red Star are still learning each other