I read about French football every day.
-
The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...
Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports
I hope Isidor gets more minutes. It is really draining watching two strikers (Yedder and Volland) who have got no pace.
...or a bit of the Janssens about 'em.
Lille only received half of fee from Victor Osimhen's transfer to Napoli - Get French Football News
L'Équipe have broken down the much-scrutinised transfer of striker Victor Osimhen from Lille to Napoli in the summer of 2020, revealing that the current title
www.getfootballnewsfrance.com
L’Équipe have broken down the much-scrutinised transfer of striker Victor Osimhen from Lille to Napoli in the summer of 2020, revealing that the current title holders only received around €36m out of the €71.3m fee.
Former Lille president Gérard Lopez had explained to RMC after the transfer that the transaction was set at €71.3m along with €10m in potential bonuses. Speaking to La Voix du Nord, current president Oliver Létang reported the fee to be only €68m, with the current club management indicating that only €10m has been brought in by the Nigerian’s move.
According to the documents read by L’Équipe, the €10m bonus brought up by Lopez is dependent on Napoli reaching the Champions League quarter-finals over the next four years – €2.5m for every time the Italians reach the last eight.
Part of the €71.3m fee includes €20m made up of four players which went the opposite way, a transaction which allowed Napoli to ease their Financial Fair Play obligations by registering incoming transfer fees. Gérard Lopez had accepted the offer as a result of the immediate cash injection it would provide, contrary to offers from other teams who would have paid in instalments.
One of these players is goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis, who is currently injured and has played one match so far with Les Dogues. The three others are Italian players whose contracts have been terminated and currently play in the lower leagues – Ciro Palmieri, Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi. All three young players were evidently sold for far beyond their worth, having been earning between €5,000 and €10,000 a month at the time of their sales.
LOSC were also made to pay out €3m of the transfer fee to Osimhen’s previous clubs in compensation, under FIFA’s recent scheme. An additional €8.3m was paid out to Charleroi as a signing-on fee. €6m are to go towards agents’ fees, although these are currently blocked by the club, who are investigating the legal nature of these.
Finally, Lille also paid interest on a loan from Banca Ifis, who billed the payment of the transfer fee in return for an interest rate of 4%. Lille received €40m from Banca Ifis. According to an internal souce, Osimhen brought in €36m to the club, which greatly relieved its financial issues during the summer of 2020.
Jean-Kévin Augustin suffered from depression, long COVID & Guillain-Barré syndrome - Get French Football News
Ouest-France have revealed that 24-year-old French attacker Jean-Kévin Augustin's absence from professional competition was due to a bout of long COVID and
www.getfootballnewsfrance.com
Ouest-France have revealed that 24-year-old French attacker Jean-Kévin Augustin’s absence from professional competition was due to a bout of long COVID and subsequent diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome. The regional paper have tracked the striker’s 14-month recovery which culminated in his return to the professional side this month.
Having signed for Nantes in October of 2020, by December he had made two short Ligue 1 appearances and had been separated from manager Christian Gourcuff’s training sessions to be put on a individual plan. The club’s physio had scheduled two sessions a day for the forward to return to fitness, but Augustin’s physical condition meant that any efforts were difficult, which also meant his mental health took a hit.
Reserve team manager Pierre Aristouy explained that for the forward, “Everything was very difficult – running, making efforts, controlling a ball, finding his bearings. He had motor functions problems. We were under the impression that everything was going by too quickly for him. He was very sad and it was difficult for us”. After a litany of tests, it was discovered that the former Leeds man was suffering from long COVID and had contracted Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition causing muscle weakness. In Augustin’s case, this acted in particular on his calves and feet. Nevertheless, having identified the issue he was able to begin proper treatment.
During this time, Augustin acted as a “big brother” in the reserves team, picking up younger players on the way to training to avoid them being late. He would give the young players advice, asking them to be patient and listen to their manager. His teammates during this time explain that the forward sought to downplay his achievements so far and never acted as if he were above the reserves. He bought the training room’s portable speakers, bought the team breakfast and called up teammates who had been transferred elsewhere to ask them how they were settling in. Aristouy concludes that “he was very classy”.
The road to recovery was long – he would improve with every training session, but every time the workload increased he would end up back in the physio’s hands. On returning with the reserves last summer, his level was still far below what was required. New reserve manager Stéphane Ziani nevertheless noted that although Augustin was “nothing“, he was “leading by example” and “taken things in hand“.
The striker had hired a personal trainer and chef, and with no set return date in sight – although all eyes were fixed on January – the next five months would be series of steps forwards and setbacks. He would eventually be given 15 minutes of playing time in November against Trélissac, before another three hour-long appearances. Slowly, his explosiveness and positioning returned. By January, he was tracking back and closing down spaces – tasks which he previously hadn’t had to do at PSG. Aristouy noted that “he is light-years away from what he was doing in April, he’s become a football player again”.
Augustin made his long-awaited return to the first-team squad last week, as Antoine Kombouaré included him in the squad to face Nice and gave him a ten-minute cameo. It was a short spell that saw him take a shot, but nonetheless a major step forward. Ziani, on watching him play against Andrézieux, noted that “behind the player, it was the man that needed to be saved, and football was just a means to that”.
Former reserves teammate Charly Jan explains that “he always told me that he had something to do here”. “He works hard, he never let go. He has real force of character as well”.
"We sing with passion for players with no motivation": PSG ultras protest during the game against Rennes - Get French Football News
During the game against Stade Rennais at the Parc des Princes last night, the Parisian ultras protested against a number of issues they deem to be affecting
www.getfootballnewsfrance.com
During the game against Stade Rennais at the Parc des Princes last night, the Parisian ultras protested against a number of issues they deem to be affecting the club, including results, kit and branding and the players.
Having been absent in protest for the first 25 minutes of the game, then silent for the remaining 20 of the first half, the Collectif Ultras Paris presented around 20 banners.
The most overarching protest read: “Disrespectful managers, players without desire, tops without our colours. The only triple for PSG this season,” making reference to their home kit without the central stripe designed by Daniel Hechter, president of the club between 1974 and 1978, and the club’s elimination from the Coupe de France.
This protest comes at a time when PSG have won 6 of the last 7 Coupe de France competitions, 7 of the last 9 Ligue 1 campaigns and sit 16 points clear at the top of this season’s league table.
One banner read: “We sing with passion for players with no motivation.” While targeting the attitude of the players, Marquinhos alone was spared from criticism, with another banner reading: “Marquinhos, the example to follow.”
In the second half, this criticism continued. Yet another banner targeted the players, saying: “They also choose their matches. We’ll do the same.”
This criticism comes just days before PSG’s home Champions League fixture against Real Madrid.
PSG reorganise staff to ease internal tensions with coaches - Get French Football News
As reported by Le Parisien, for several weeks PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino has been complaining of internal friction between his coaches and the club's
www.getfootballnewsfrance.com
As reported by Le Parisien, for several weeks PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino has been complaining of internal friction between his coaches and the club’s performance team, with the medical staff caught in the middle.
The coach has become frustrated with the processes by which players return from injury. To pick a player for a matchday squad, Pochettino must gain the approval of the performance team beforehand but, given his regular conversations which each recovering player, the Argentine coach has become irked by the time between a player’s apparent recovery and him being allowed to return to the pitch by the performance team.
With this in mind, the club are set to make personnel changes. Gian Nicola Bisciotti, head of the performance unit, will be reassigned and will no longer be in direct contract with the senior team on a daily basis. He is to be replaced by Nicolas Mayer, a fitness coach and member of Pochettino’s staff, in a bid to improve communication and ease tensions between club coaches and the performance team.
This reorganisation is not meant to affect the medical staff, who Pochettino recently defended at a press conference over Sergio Ramos’ repeated injury issues amid reports in Spain that Ramos was unhappy with club doctors over his long running fitness problems.
PSG dressing room is starting to fracture after Real Madrid loss - Get French Football News
As reported by L'Équipe, the already fragile harmony at PSG is under threat following the dramatic loss to Real Madrid and subsequent exit from the Champions
www.getfootballnewsfrance.com
PSG dressing room is starting to fracture after Real Madrid loss
As reported by L’Équipe, the already fragile harmony at PSG is under threat following the dramatic loss to Real Madrid and subsequent exit from the Champions League last week.After rumours of a bust up between Neymar and Gianluigi Donnarumma in the aftermath were denied by all concerned, the sports daily report utter silence in the PSG dressing room at the Bernabéu and on the plane back to Paris, as players stared into space. It took nearly an hour for some to get up and shower having returned to the dressing room.
PSG captain Marquinhos’ lack of leadership has not gone unnoticed by the Paris squad say the paper. Some have complained to those around them that the team lacked a leader capable to stabilising the game at 1-1 or 2-1. The Captain’s lack of calmness during the game has worried his teammates, with some thinking he may not be up to the task of leading the squad despite his popularity.
Lionel Messi’s failure to deliver, after he was given extra holiday this winter, and Neymar’s swift return to posting whimsically on Instagram over his sister’s birthday after the defeat has irked some in the squad who have been concerned by the “7+3” style of play under Pochettino. One club source told L’Équipe last week: “I don’t remember ever having experienced such a heavy atmosphere at the training ground as I have over the last two days.”
Pochettino was reportedly seemingly on the verge of tears at his presser before the Bordeaux game this weekend, throughout which Messi and Neymar were whistled repeatedly. The former Tottenham coach has never seemed so downtrodden and defeated.
PSG have made itself toxic. I’m sure they have built the narratives that surround them, of a Club that accepts nothing but “winners” that they have pushed this mantra so hard that winning the CL is the only measure of success.
Pause on that for a moment, is Pep Guardiola a failure? Is this how he is seen, a man who has managed Barca, Bayern and City hasn’t won the CL in 11yrs!
This is a hole they have dug themselves, a Club that will still attract players and managers like fly's dose to shit but given the choice of another elite club you just feel they would opt for the other.
There is no football soul at the club.
Pause on that for a moment, is Pep Guardiola a failure? Is this how he is seen, a man who has managed Barca, Bayern and City hasn’t won the CL in 11yrs!
This is a hole they have dug themselves, a Club that will still attract players and managers like fly's dose to shit but given the choice of another elite club you just feel they would opt for the other.
There is no football soul at the club.
Last edited:
They would be better off giving them both back to Barca. Just rip up the contracts, clear their lockers, and kick'em in the asses on the way out.
Neymar has been offered to Barcelona and others by PSG - Get French Football News
In contradicting other reports from France this week, Foot Mercato have reported that PSG forward Neymar has been offered to other European clubs following
Lyon President Aulas wants reform to 1st professional deal length - Get French Football News
Speaking in a French government organised conference on the future of French football, Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas discussed the need for reform of the
www.getfootballnewsfrance.com
Lyon President Aulas wants reform to 1st professional deal length
Speaking in a French government organised conference on the future of French football, Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas discussed the need for reform of the length of the first professional contracts for players, which currently runs to a maximum of 3 years.“Talks are ongoing for the first professional contract to be, not 3 years, but 5 or 6 years, and to make it so that clubs produce youth prospects with the certainty that they will not see them leave for free. A player who comes to the end of his youth contract in France has the possibility, even if he does not sign a professional contract, to leave for free to go abroad, there is therefore an obvious loss.”
For once he says something that makes sense...Lyon President Aulas wants reform to 1st professional deal length - Get French Football News
Speaking in a French government organised conference on the future of French football, Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas discussed the need for reform of the
Lyon President Aulas wants reform to 1st professional deal length
Speaking in a French government organised conference on the future of French football, Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas discussed the need for reform of the length of the first professional contracts for players, which currently runs to a maximum of 3 years.
“Talks are ongoing for the first professional contract to be, not 3 years, but 5 or 6 years, and to make it so that clubs produce youth prospects with the certainty that they will not see them leave for free. A player who comes to the end of his youth contract in France has the possibility, even if he does not sign a professional contract, to leave for free to go abroad, there is therefore an obvious loss.”
The problem nowadays is that greedy, cunning agents now control players from a young age and dictates their career moves.
Well, it's clubs and not the agents who are investing time, money, and energy into these players; so it's fairer that the clubs have some control of their players rather than greedy agents whose only interest in making money does it.
You seem unaware of the contracts young players sign with agents - who "catch" players as young as, at least 10-11 years old.
Why is it less dangerous to be in the hand of a scrupulous agent?
Besides, Aulas was not talking about those who didn't play but the big talents who simply care about money and not their respective clubs. It takes lots of money to run academies and the clubs do invest a lots of money in each player, so why shouldn't the player "owe" something to those clubs...?
I do agree fully with you that agents need sorting out. They are as menace and should not have that level of influence over young players who are still children. I just don't think they way to deal with that is to hand the balance of power to the clubs. 3 years is plenty I think, as frustrating as that is for clubs. Even seasoned professionals would probably think twice about signing a 6 year deal. It's why our own Harry finds himself in a career pickle.
If they aren't compensated then I have a lot of sympathy for that.
They have many players in the midfield , Tchou / Fofana / Lucas / Fabregas
Fofana didn't play during their last match . It was lucas and they lost vs shaktar
Badiashile was poor xD
I know. I just finished watching it (Monaco v Lens). They created nothing.
I don't understand why they bought him, unless it was for squad depth or they expect Tchouameni to leave in this window. They need a #10.