Samuel Loric and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Joseph Rey kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutAlexandre Coeff back under a manager who knows him
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Quentin Daubin scored, was marked 7.69, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Samuel Loric 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.
500 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Mabrouk Rouaï’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Valenciennes.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Mabrouk Rouaï was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hicham Khaloua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Joseph Rey kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.69 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clément Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Daou Diomandé’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Valenciennes needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Valenciennes that is a harder question to answer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Valenciennes hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Romain Thomas and Valenciennes agree another 2 years.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Loïck Landre and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A mark of 7.58, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Charles Abi
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Charles Abi has come out of that comparison in the side, and Valenciennes have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clément Rodrigues is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Bryan Passi is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Paris FC go through and Valenciennes go home, 0‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
0-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.33 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. RC Lens have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Quentin Daubin before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The deal that would have taken Baptiste Nouchet to FC Rouen has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Valenciennes with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
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.
$63.0K was the most the club would pay and Montpellier HSC were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Clément Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Clément Rodrigues is living that version at Valenciennes, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valenciennes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Valenciennes close the window on a squad of their own making
11 in and 11 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Mohamed Ihattaren was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The offer went to Montpellier HSC this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clément Rodrigues is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Valenciennes asked and Olympique Lyonnais said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A brace, and Mabrouk Rouaï takes the afternoon — 8.32
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mabrouk Rouaï provided it, and the 8.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Valenciennes asked and Montpellier HSC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
Player ratingsCharles Abi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
SquadWords at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
1 for Quentin Daubin, marked 7.84, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Napoli have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Denis Blanc is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hicham Khaloua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hicham Khaloua has his answer from Valenciennes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valenciennes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The new man at Valenciennes has worked with Alexandre Coeff before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Quevilly-Rouen in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and FC Rouen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Valenciennes is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Samuel Loric was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade Rennais have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hicham Khaloua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yakine Said M'Madi and Valenciennes agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Valenciennes have made the call to Albacete. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Valenciennes have made the call to Genoa. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutBryan Passi is still being punished for one mistake
The dugoutMabrouk Rouaï knocks on the manager's door
The clubs have shaken hands with Montpellier HSC; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Valenciennes had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Albacete, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Valenciennes asked and Paris Saint-Germain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: SC Aubagne Air Bel have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Justin Lacombe. The answer from Valenciennes has not changed — yet.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Valenciennes, another week without a signature from Samuel Loric.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Valenciennes has been clear about where Loïck Landre stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Valenciennes offered $63.0K; Montpellier HSC said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Metz have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $430.0K — a club that wants Nordine Kandil enough to be asked twice.
Mohamed Ihattaren and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The fee is $120.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. FC Annecy drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Valenciennes offered $410.0K; Amiens SC said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Valenciennes have gone to Montpellier HSC with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. RC Lens have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hicham Khaloua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valenciennes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Valenciennes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Valenciennes have done the hard part with FC Annecy, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Sinaly Diomandé and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade Rennais have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Valenciennes know which stage they are at.
“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 Valenciennes know it.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Bryan Passi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valenciennes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at FC Metz is saying, and nobody at Valenciennes is enjoying the guessing.
The fee is $5.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. AJ Auxerre drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Valenciennes, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
FC Villefranche wanted more than $88.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Valenciennes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Valenciennes asked and AS Saint-Etienne said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadHicham Khaloua falls out with a teammate over standards
AJ Auxerre have accepted the money. What Valenciennes do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Valenciennes, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Valenciennes asked and AS Saint-Etienne said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hicham Khaloua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
The dugoutCharles Abi asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Valenciennes offered $850.0K; FC Lorient said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Samuel Loric and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade de Reims have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stredair Appuah Owusu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valenciennes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
$850.0K on the table at FC Lorient. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Samuel Loric was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hicham Khaloua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
AS Saint-Etienne have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
The dugoutRémy Boissier knocks on the manager’s door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with AJ Auxerre; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Jun 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hicham Khaloua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Valenciennes, another week without a signature from Samuel Loric.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alain Ipiélé trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Olympique Lyonnais will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ibrahim Halilou Mouhaman has pre-agreed a move to Valenciennes, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stredair Appuah Owusu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Valenciennes. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Romain Thomas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hicham Khaloua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutBryan Passi knocks on the manager’s door
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdelwahed Wahib was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samir Belloumou, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Bryan Passi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jean Louchet signs something — a contract at Valenciennes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutHervé Boua Dié has become a man the manager trusts
“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 Valenciennes, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Charles Abi and Valenciennes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Valenciennes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Valenciennes know it.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Martial Godo in the middle of it, and Le Puy Foot 43 unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hicham Khaloua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Mabrouk Rouaï will call it something else in private.
Samuel Loric and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
6 matches without a win, and then this, against SC Aubagne Air Bel. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
6 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.
Mohamed Ihattaren and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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 Rémy Boissier.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Joseph Rey was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Valenciennes dressing room was either.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valenciennes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.98 for the rest of it.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Valenciennes and SM Caen in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valenciennes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Martial Godo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Stredair Appuah Owusu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Bryan Passi
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Samir Belloumou and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Hervé Boua Dié is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rento Takaoka is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Loïck Landre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Joseph Rey after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valenciennes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Valenciennes has been clear about where Abdelwahed Wahib stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valenciennes told Abdelwahed Wahib something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Mohamed Ihattaren was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Valenciennes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Valenciennes know now that the thought has arrived.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 7.12 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kenny Quetant did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Mohamed Ihattaren and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A 1‑0 win over Paris 13 Atletico, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Charles Abi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Charles Abi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Paris 13 Atletico next, and one man in the Valenciennes dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Valenciennes would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Nobody at Valenciennes will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for Valenciennes
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Valenciennes asked and Olympique de Marseille said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Valenciennes will try not to make too much of it.
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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Joseph Rey left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Kenny Quetant
The dugoutCharles Abi knocks on the manager's door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Valenciennes until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Romain Thomas 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
1 for Mabrouk Rouaï, marked 7.85, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.15, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Samuel Loric and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valenciennes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
$3.1M on the table at Angers SCO. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“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.
Match16 Jan 2027
After 5 games, Valenciennes finally taste it again
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against US Orleans; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
In brief
SquadWords at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have shaken hands with FC Metz; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Valenciennes have done the hard part with Toulouse FC, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ylan El Hadary is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Valenciennes have had the benefit of it.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Romain Thomas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A 3‑2 win over Quevilly-Rouen, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Toulouse FC have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Daou Diomandé
A brace, and Kenny Quetant takes the afternoon — 8.60
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kenny Quetant provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
Romain Thomas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A 2‑0 win over Le Puy Foot 43, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daou Diomandé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kenny Quetant did not need any: 9.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Joseph Rey could afford to be generous.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kenny Quetant did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.65, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 7.16 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Martial Godo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
17 combined actions and 6.95. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Samuel Loric 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rento Takaoka is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
0‑1 to SM Caen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Daou Diomandé falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Charles Abi, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Joseph Rey to a room that had heard them before.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valenciennes told Abdelwahed Wahib something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Gaëtan Courtet
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Samuel Loric and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Martial Godo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Joseph Rey was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Valenciennes dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Alain Ipiélé
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valenciennes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 combined actions and 6.81. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martial Godo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daou Diomandé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valenciennes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutJustin Lacombe has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 38 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Martial Godo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Romain Thomas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Quentin Daubin has his answer from Valenciennes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Joseph Rey, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Gaëtan Courtet
The dugoutBryan Passi knocks on the manager's door
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valenciennes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1 for Rémy Boissier, marked 7.73, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Up for the corner, and Mabrouk Rouaï delivers — 7.98
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mabrouk Rouaï scored, was marked 7.98, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandre Coeff and Valenciennes agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alexandre Coeff and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Valenciennes and FC Fleury 91, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daou Diomandé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Valenciennes is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
A 1‑1 draw with Paris 13 Atletico leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Joseph Rey was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Valenciennes dressing room was either.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kenny Quetant is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Samuel Loric 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 Oct 2026
Martial Godo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Paris 13 Atletico in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Mohamed Ihattaren and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rento Takaoka is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Daou Diomandé falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gaëtan Courtet has come out of that comparison in the side, and Valenciennes have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alain Ipiélé trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Maxence Derrien is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.89, and 2 involvements.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Loïck Landre, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Valenciennes are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Rémy Boissier was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martial Godo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Stade Briochin were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
$140.0K was the most the club would pay and SC Bastia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Bryan Passi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daou Diomandé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Joseph Rey to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Quentin Daubin
That is the business done at Valenciennes until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $160.0K — a club that wants Nicolas Wasbauer enough to be asked twice.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
$150.0K was the most the club would pay and Toulouse FC were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martial Godo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Valenciennes asked and Montpellier HSC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Romain Thomas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“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 Valenciennes, and it is not being withdrawn.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $160.0K — a club that wants Joseph Kalulu enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to Toulouse FC this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
$160.0K was the most the club would pay and Stade de Reims were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Valenciennes asked and FC Nantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hicham Khaloua is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Hicham Khaloua
2‑5 to FC Villefranche, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Rento Takaoka, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.06
A mark of 8.06 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valenciennes can pretend not to have heard.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $160.0K — a club that wants John Patrick enough to be asked twice.
$160.0K on the table at Stade de Reims. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Rento Takaoka on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Valenciennes and FC Villefranche.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and Valenciennes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $350.0K — a club that wants Kabangu Alex Teixeira enough to be asked twice.
$330.0K on the table at Le Havre AC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Mohamed Ihattaren 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.
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mathieu Gautier is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Gauthier has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Everything agreed with Werder Bremen, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Valenciennes asked and Le Havre AC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Valenciennes will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Still no offer on the table, and Alain Ipiélé’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
A loan enquiry to Spezia: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Martial Godo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
The dugoutCharles Abi knocks on the manager's door
Rémy Boissier and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daou Diomandé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Charles Abi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A decision that decides nothing on the pitch and everything in the room. The manager has said, without saying it, whose voice he wants heard when his own is not there.