From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Nov 2029
“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.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
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.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
A performance of 9.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.81 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match3 Nov 2029
Valenciennes made Red Star work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Marked 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Oct 2029
Only the photograph left for Nolhann Bélise
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nolhann Bélise will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Match27 Oct 2029
2‑3 to Clermont Foot, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.65, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“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.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Red Star will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Oct 2029
“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.
Market22 Oct 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evan Diamalunda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“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 ratings22 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Oct 2029
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.
Match20 Oct 2029
Stade Lavallois left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
There were 7 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Giovanni Haag 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 ratings15 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match13 Oct 2029
Three points for Red Star, 2‑1 the final word against AC Ajaccio in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.69, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“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.
Market15 Oct 2029
Red Star shop where it costs nothing
Alexandre Llovet signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Oct 2029
There were 7 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 ratings8 Oct 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad8 Oct 2029
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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Quentin Beunardeau and Red Star agree another 1 years.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.39, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Giovanni Haag was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Oct 2029
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match29 Sep 2029
Nimes left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Buniotto, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Oct 2029
One booking too many, and Giovanni Haag sits out. Red Star lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
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 ratings1 Oct 2029
A mark of 5.49 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Sep 2029
Nowhere to hide for Red Star
1‑5 against AJ Auxerre, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match19 Sep 2029
The small margins put Red Star out
Out, 0‑2 to Monaco, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market24 Sep 2029
“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.
The terraces24 Sep 2029
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 39 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market24 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evan Diamalunda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match22 Sep 2029
4 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Squad24 Sep 2029
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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“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 Red Star know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Sep 2029
There were 6 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 ratings17 Sep 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hacène Benali and Red Star agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Sep 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Sep 2029
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.
Match8 Sep 2029
Sochaux left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pape Meïssa Bâ, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match1 Sep 2029
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Giovanni Haag 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 ratings3 Sep 2029
Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad3 Sep 2029
43 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.95 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Marked 8.91 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Marked 8.70 — 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“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.
Market3 Sep 2029
Ray Robert is 20, and Red Star 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evan Diamalunda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Tommy Iva: that is not what I was promised
“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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Aug 2029
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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“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.
Match18 Aug 2029
4 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Giovanni Haag 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 ratings20 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
A performance of 8.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandre Issanga, and the manager let it.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Marked 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
Red Star are making the ground bigger
Work is signed off on a capacity of 7196. It is the sort of decision a club is judged on twenty years later, by people who were not there when it was taken.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Aug 2029
Beaten 1‑6 by Paris FC, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad13 Aug 2029
There were 7 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom13 Aug 2029
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Aug 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market6 Aug 2029
“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.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Quentin Beunardeau and Red Star agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Aug 2029
The medical room confirms 71 days on the sidelines for Ryad Hachem, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
A performance of 8.77 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Red Star, and it is a cruel one.
Match4 Aug 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Valenciennes leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Jul 2029
“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.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad30 Jul 2029
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.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jibril Rajil commits to Red Star for another 5 years.
Squad30 Jul 2029
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Red Star will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Théo Magnin 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Red Star
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market23 Jul 2029
“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.
Market23 Jul 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Red Star they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Red Star would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Jason Meerstadt
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 2029
Red Star say no — this time
The offer from FC Nantes for Quentin Beunardeau 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
The medical room confirms 99 days on the sidelines for Ryad Hachem, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad9 Jul 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Red Star would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Squad9 Jul 2029
A new face in his position, and Pape Meïssa Bâ suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Red Star have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market9 Jul 2029
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Red Star money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Red Star
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market25 Jun 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Red Star they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill has his answer from Red Star; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Red Star would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandre Issanga, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Red Star will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market18 Jun 2029
No fee and no drama: Mattia Buniotto has signed at Red Star, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Giovanni Haag 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 Jun 2029
The medical room confirms 127 days on the sidelines for Ryad Hachem, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Émile Laine has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Red Star can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
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.
Market4 Jun 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Red Star have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jun 2029
The captaincy has been taken off Saïf-Eddine Khaoui. Red Star will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Market4 Jun 2029
Still no offer on the table, and Quentin Beunardeau’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$11.7M taken back off the Red Star table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Squad4 Jun 2029
The captaincy goes to Guillaume Trani. It is not a job that wins matches, but a dressing room always notices who is given it.
Market4 Jun 2029
Red Star have let the market know Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Red Star boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad28 May 2029
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.
Squad28 May 2029
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Théo Magnin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 May 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad21 May 2029
“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.
Squad21 May 2029
The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Diaby Doucouré, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 May 2029
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 May 2029
25 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jason Meerstadt, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 May 2029
“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.
Market7 May 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Red Star they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Saïf-Eddine Khaoui commits to Red Star for another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Giovanni Haag 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 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Quentin Beunardeau, and the manager let it.
Squad7 May 2029
The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Noah Beye Filiot, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
Pressure builds in the Red Star boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Apr 2029
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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Noah Leembruggen and Red Star agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A new face in his position, and Giovanni Haag suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Red Star have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market30 Apr 2029
No fee and no drama: Noah Leembruggen has signed at Red Star, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Berger and Red Star agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
The medical room confirms 54 days on the sidelines for Quentin Beunardeau, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Apr 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Apr 2029
“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.
Market9 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Red Star is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
Pressure builds in the Red Star boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad2 Apr 2029
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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Emile Samyn and Red Star agree another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Théo Vermot, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Tommy Iva 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Mar 2029
“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.
Market12 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayane Doucouré will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Red Star
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Red Star is running low.
Market5 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jovany Ikanga and Red Star agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2029
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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Tommy Iva
“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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
$11.7M taken back off the Red Star table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Market26 Feb 2029
He is 18, and nobody at Red Star signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Feb 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Feb 2029
“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.
Market12 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayane Doucouré will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandre Issanga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“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.
Market12 Feb 2029
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jason Meerstadt commits to Red Star for another 4 years.
Squad5 Feb 2029
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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market5 Feb 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Giovanni Haag 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
37 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2029
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.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad22 Jan 2029
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.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A defender's afternoon for Giovanni Haag
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match20 Jan 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Saïf-Eddine Khaoui. 2‑0 against US Creteil, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Théo Vermot, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Jan 2029
The unthinkable, invoiced: Kévin Cabral sold
OGC Nice arrived with $12.0M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Red Star lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. 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
Crisis
Market1 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
69 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
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.
Match30 Dec 2028
AS Nancy left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Pape Meïssa Bâ
“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 ratings1 Jan 2029
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Red Star deserved better, and so did he.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Saïf-Eddine Khaoui
1 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
29 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match23 Dec 2028
Three points for Red Star, 2‑1 the final word against Bourg-Peronnas in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.77 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.63 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandre Issanga, and the manager let it.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jason Meerstadt, and the manager let it.
Match16 Dec 2028
Sochaux left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A season average of 7.27 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Kévin Cabral 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 ratings11 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“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 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Kévin Cabral
8 goals and a season average of 7.34 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Shots: 14. 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Damien Durand 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.
The terraces11 Dec 2028
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 ratings4 Dec 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 39 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad4 Dec 2028
102 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Quentin Beunardeau and Red Star agree another 1 years.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
A performance of 9.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Théo Vermot, and the manager let it.
Match2 Dec 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Guillaume Trani. 1‑0 against AC Ajaccio, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 18, 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
Crisis
Market27 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Jason Meerstadt, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad27 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 58 days on the sidelines for Matthieu Huard, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Nov 2028
“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
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market20 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match18 Nov 2028
Three points for Red Star, 2‑0 the final word against Nimes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Marked 8.77 — 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 ratings20 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad20 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Abdel Kader Mekrous Mdjahri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Nov 2028
Kévin Cabral hands in a written request
“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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
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.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Nov 2028
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.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Marked 9.01 — 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 ratings13 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.42, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Théo Magnin, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Nov 2028
6 goals and a season average of 7.24. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
130 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Théo Magnin commits to Red Star for another 3 years.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Théo Vermot 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.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Stade Brestois left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Dylan Durivaux
“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 ratings30 Oct 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.68, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Marked 8.41 — 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 ratings30 Oct 2028
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Red Star needed to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Marked 9.16 — 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.
Match21 Oct 2028
US Creteil made Red Star work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.94, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“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 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.54 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Kévin Cabral
5 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Oct 2028
“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.
Match7 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Saïf-Eddine Khaoui commits to Red Star for another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Market9 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“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 ratings9 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match7 Oct 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Bradley Danger 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Oct 2028
“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.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Saïf-Eddine Khaoui and Red Star agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Théo Vermot, and the manager let it.
Match30 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“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.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
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 ratings2 Oct 2028
A mark of 5.68 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Sep 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match20 Sep 2028
Red Star bow out of the cup
Monaco go through and Red Star go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market25 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Giovanni Haag 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 ratings25 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.74, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Damien Durand
“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 ratings25 Sep 2028
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
Upbeat
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Defensive actions: 31, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market18 Sep 2028
“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.
Match16 Sep 2028
Nobody wants to play Red Star right now
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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pape Meïssa Bâ, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Sep 2028
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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Kévin Cabral 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 ratings11 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Marked 8.94 — 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Jason Meerstadt
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
The one thing Jovany Ikanga could not do
Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Match2 Sep 2028
AC Ajaccio made Red Star work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“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 ratings4 Sep 2028
A performance of 8.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Marked 8.57 — 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 ratings4 Sep 2028
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Dylan Durivaux knocks on the manager’s door
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Red Star
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market28 Aug 2028
“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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“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 Aug 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Match26 Aug 2028
Dijon left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dylan Durivaux, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Bradley Danger knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bradley Danger trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Aug 2028
Diaby Doucouré is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Red Star has been clear about where Diaby Doucouré stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Red Star
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Red Star is running low.
Match19 Aug 2028
9 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Market21 Aug 2028
Yasir Mouh hands in a written request
“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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Match19 Aug 2028
Nimes left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“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.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
Red Star board go back on their word
Something was promised, a deadline passed, and it did not arrive. Trust inside a football club is built over years and spent in an afternoon.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
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.
Market21 Aug 2028
He is 16, and nobody at Red Star signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Market14 Aug 2028
Dan Cohen puts it in writing
“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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“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.
Market14 Aug 2028
Business is business: Kemo Cissé goes
Stade Brestois paid $940.0K and Red Star took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“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 Aug 2028
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match12 Aug 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Kévin Cabral knocks on the manager's door
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Aug 2028
“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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match5 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Red Star
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Pape Meïssa Bâ
“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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Quentin Beunardeau and Red Star agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.81 on the card, and the Red Star support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Shots: 12. 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 ratings7 Aug 2028
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jul 2028
Kévin Cabral hands in a written request
“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.
Match29 Jul 2028
6 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Match29 Jul 2028
Stade Brestois left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Kévin Cabral
“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 ratings31 Jul 2028
Marked 8.82 — 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 ratings31 Jul 2028
A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
The terraces31 Jul 2028
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
Crisis
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Red Star
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Red Star is running low.
Market24 Jul 2028
“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 Jul 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adrian Van Rumst and Red Star agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad24 Jul 2028
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Saïf-Eddine Khaoui keeps the shirt for now, at Red Star's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jul 2028
Damien Durand hands in a written request
“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.
Market10 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dylan Durivaux and Red Star agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Dan Cohen 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Dylan Durivaux knocks on the manager's door
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jul 2028
“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.
Market3 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: Nimes have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Damien Durand. The answer from Red Star has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Kévin Cabral 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 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marley Milord commits to Red Star for another 3 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Dylan Durivaux knocks on the manager's door
“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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Bradley Danger. Red Star will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Red Star
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market26 Jun 2028
Aleks Zeković hands in a written request
“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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Market26 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Karim Aïdoudi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karim Aïdoudi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Minkyu Chea and Red Star agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diaby Doucouré, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Jun 2028
“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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Red Star they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Ryad Hachem, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market19 Jun 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Damien Durand has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Red Star.
Market19 Jun 2028
He is 20, and nobody at Red Star signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Jun 2028
$3.6M from Dijon for Gaëtan Poussin. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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.
Market12 Jun 2028
The fee is $630.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. US Creteil drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Market12 Jun 2028
Bradley Danger wants to know where this is going
“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 Red Star hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Red Star would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
It is over: Red Star are relegated
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Émile Laine has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market5 Jun 2028
Dijon come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Red Star did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market5 Jun 2028
Kemo Cissé hands in a written request
“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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Kévin Cabral wants to know where this is going
“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 Red Star hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Angers SCO have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Théo Magnin. The answer from Red Star has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Jun 2028
No hiding place for Dan Cohen
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dan Cohen, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“I want to play”: Dan Cohen speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 May 2028
Aleks Zeković hands in a written request
“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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Red Star
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad29 May 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Market29 May 2028
Karim Aïdoudi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Red Star they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market29 May 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market29 May 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 May 2028
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market22 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Red Star they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 May 2028
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad15 May 2028
Kévin Cabral knocks on the manager's door
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 May 2028
Every point is an argument now for Red Star
Position 18 and 19 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.
Market8 May 2028
Kemo Cissé hands in a written request
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 May 2028
“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.
Boardroom1 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Red Star
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Red Star is running low.
Squad1 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad1 May 2028
Nathan Ngoy 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.
Market1 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Karim Aïdoudi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karim Aïdoudi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Red Star the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 May 2028
The medical room confirms 81 days on the sidelines for Samuel Souprayen, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Apr 2028
“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.
Market24 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Red Star they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yasir Mouh, and the manager let it.
Market24 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gaëtan Poussin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Aleks Zeković 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Apr 2028
Damien Durand hands in a written request
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Théo Magnin: that is not what I was promised
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Nathan Ngoy 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2028
Every point is an argument now for Red Star
Position 18 and 19 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market10 Apr 2028
“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.
Match8 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Red Star
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Olympique de Marseille left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Apr 2028
50 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Apr 2028
Nowhere to hide for Red Star
0‑6 against Paris Saint-Germain, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market3 Apr 2028
Aleks Zeković hands in a written request
“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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Red Star
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Hacène Benali: that is not what I was promised
“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.
Match1 Apr 2028
4 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diaby Doucouré and Red Star agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Apr 2028
111 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Red Star is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
Match25 Mar 2028
1‑3 to RC Strasbourg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Marked 8.47 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Damien Durand, and the manager let it.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Mar 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Red Star pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Shots: 12, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
There were 6 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 ratings20 Mar 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Nathan Ngoy 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 ratings20 Mar 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A season average of 7.30 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Damien Durand will call it something else in private.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2028
Red Star sink to position 17
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match11 Mar 2028
Nowhere to hide for Red Star
0‑3 against Toulouse FC, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Kévin Cabral was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pape Meïssa Bâ, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad13 Mar 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gaëtan Poussin knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
“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.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Defensive actions: 29. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Pressure builds in the Red Star boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Saïf-Eddine Khaoui and Red Star agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Nathan Ngoy 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 ratings6 Mar 2028
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.42, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match4 Mar 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Saïf-Eddine Khaoui. 1‑0 against Stade Brestois, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
23 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Feb 2028
There were 10 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Aleks Zeković hands in a written request
“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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Théo Magnin: that is not what I was promised
“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.
Market28 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Red Star is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
Match26 Feb 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islamdine Halifa, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Feb 2028
There were 10 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
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 ratings21 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bradley Danger, and the manager let it.
Match19 Feb 2028
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Evan Diamalunda will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Feb 2028
21 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 21, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Match14 Feb 2028
Every point is an argument now for Red Star
Position 18 and 14 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Feb 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.73, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“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
Crisis
Match5 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Nathan Ngoy 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
The name of Pierre Lemonnier has come up in conversations Red Star were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match5 Feb 2028
Paris FC left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
The medical room confirms 36 days on the sidelines for Helder Oliveira Da Silva, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Damien Durand will call it something else in private.
The terraces7 Feb 2028
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
Crisis
Match29 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Market31 Jan 2028
Aleks Zeković hands in a written request
“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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Kévin Cabral 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.
Match29 Jan 2028
RC Lens left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Gaëtan Poussin
“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 ratings31 Jan 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad31 Jan 2028
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.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jan 2028
The wait goes on for Red Star
18 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Jan 2028
There were 7 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The phone has started ringing about Islamdine Halifa again, and this time the name on the line is Dijon. Red Star are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Nathan Ngoy 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The shirt still fits. Quentin Carpentier is back at Red Star, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market24 Jan 2028
As if he never left: Nolhann Bélise returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Nolhann Bélise is a Red Star player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Match22 Jan 2028
AJ Auxerre left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Jan 2028
The wait goes on for Red Star
17 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.
Match17 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for Red Star
Position 17 and 14 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 ratings17 Jan 2028
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The shirt still fits. Madine Abdeldjabar is back at Red Star, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad17 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Diaby Doucouré
“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 Jan 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.80 on the card, and the Red Star support went home talking about one name.
Market17 Jan 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Jan 2028
16 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Match8 Jan 2028
Nowhere to hide for Red Star
0‑3 against FC Lorient, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market10 Jan 2028
AC Ajaccio come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Red Star did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Red Star may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Kévin Cabral in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Pape Meïssa Bâ
“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.
Boardroom10 Jan 2028
Nobody left the Red Star dressing room in a hurry
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.
Market10 Jan 2028
Red Star have let the market know Gaëtan Poussin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Jan 2028
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Market3 Jan 2028
AS Nancy come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Red Star did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Marco Speelman: that is not what I was promised
“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.
Market3 Jan 2028
The name of Islamdine Halifa has come up in conversations Red Star were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Nathan Ngoy 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.
Match1 Jan 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Damien Durand, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Dec 2027
14 matches without a win for Red Star
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Red Star are no longer polite ones.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market27 Dec 2027
Aleks Zeković hands in a written request
“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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Dylan Durivaux
“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 ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match25 Dec 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Saïf-Eddine Khaoui
3 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Dec 2027
The wait goes on for Red Star
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match20 Dec 2027
Red Star sink to position 17
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market20 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
There were 6 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
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.
Match18 Dec 2027
OGC Nice left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Dec 2027
No end in sight to Red Star's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Red Star has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad13 Dec 2027
There were 11 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Nathan Ngoy in a row with a teammate
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.
Match11 Dec 2027
0‑2 to Olympique de Marseille, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Matthieu Huard
“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 ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.