Ready, steady, Go ! Err, wait : go, OK, but to where? With what looks like a new Lyon on the cheap, where is the club heading to, what can we aim for this season?
What exactly can we expect from this low profile transfer period, or rather absence thereof? It looks like it’s too early to tell; but it shouldn’t. We’re still trying to digest the painful end of last season, yet the new season already started: training resumed on June 29, first in Lyon, then in Austria, and even a friendly already took place. But indeed, the club has kept unbelievably quiet until now, so it’s difficult to know where we stand and what exactly happened so far; so here’s a quick roundup.
- The Puel story goes on…
Puel is now suing OL in court, and asking for 5.4 million € in forgone salary, bonuses and compensation for moral prejudice. Thank God he didn’t win anything in his 3 year tenure, I can’t imagine how much more he would claim otherwise. On July 27 we will know whether the court accepts his request for a quick judgement, or whether (as should normally be the case) this goes under a normal procedure, which would leave OL’s treasurer fairly quiet for a couple of years until he eventually has to pay Puel anything.
- A new staff is now in place
So in came Rémi Garde, along with old pal and teammate Bruno Genesio. Joel Bats also, to take care of the keepers, as well as to provide the legal coaching diploma to Garde (who doesn’t have it yet).
The former Puel staff has been sent packing, and some adjustments are still to be made, some old Lyonnais staff being sent elsewhere as well.
But the historical Lyonnais staff doesn’t just stay or leave. At least one of them is coming back, and this could be the second most important nomination of the summer:
Duverne back in charge : OL soon to again be the physical monster of the last 10 minutes-
Yes, Robert Duverne, the fitness coach of OL’s golden era, is back from Aston Villa. He brings his experience and passion back at the service of the club’s new project. And one anecdote tells it all: 2 days ago, after a motivating speech to the players on the training ground, he got applauded by the group. Looking at the scene, Rémi Garde was silently smiling, conscious that gelling was taking place.
- A wind of change
What Garde also brings is the promise to better exploit the reservoir of young talent nurtured at the club. Take a look at the group, and count the fresh faces :
Clearly, a new atmosphere is being felt at the club. Just look at the following pictures, unseen under Puel :
A Lyon coach smiling to the media, clearly enjoying himself : disgusting.
And look at this one :
Historical OL symbol and prolific striker Bernard Lacombe no longer persona non grata on the training ground, but even welcome! This Garde guy must be completely nuts…
Another sign that the players feel a page has been turned, and a new breeze is blowing : the key players who could have requested to leave didn’t; and those who might do so do not seem so keen anymore:
Interviewed two days ago, Hugo explained that he was a bit down last year due to all that was going on – and all that wasn’t-, but that he is well in Lyon, in and off the pitch, and now that he got assurances as to the club’s project, he is fully into the new season. And of all the pictures I could find of him since training resumed, I couldn’t find one where he wasn’t smiling.
Another reassuring start is that of Lisandro. Unlike last year, he came back from Argentina in good shape, motivated (by Puel’s departure?) and happy because he enjoyed Garde’s training methods much more than Puel’s last year : No more endless running, but fun and ball exercises since day 1.
Also, the fact of not having to face the dreaded Tignes camp and its exhausting high mountain treks anymore added to Licha’s pleasure. Instead, gentle mid mountain biking and ball training in a beautiful Austrian scenery seemed much more to his liking and that of his fellow teammates.
It’s a tough life, but you got to do what you got to do
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Hardly any moves so far
Beyond Hugo and Licha who could have asked to leave but didn’t, we have two cases who looked sure transfers out, but for whom the certainty turned into a mere above average probability.
Announced for months as a sure Juventus player next season, it seems Bastos has a true motivation to stay and have a good season. That’s what he explained to Rémi Garde, and also what he showed in the friendly against Salzburg, even if accuracy wasn’t there. He might still leave before the end of the transfer window, but Garde sure won’t cry if he doesn’t.
Aly Cissokho also was supposed to leave and may well stay, even if the transfer period is not about to close yet. If he does, Tremoulinas might be targeted to replace him.
Now did the club only act towards selling players? Yes, but we got a few players back from loans, like Abensoar, but also a higher profile one who failed to impress during his Lyon stay and who people seemed to have forgotten (apart from OL’s medical staff, that is):
Easy, John, easy with stretching. Avoid violent moves like that or you may well return to see your mates at the infirmary with a broken ankle, a torn knee ligament or a damaged hamstring; and probably all of that, actually.
Yes, the Rock of Gilbraltar turned Glass Ghanean is back, and that’s a headache for Rémi Garde who was looking for a central defender (a good and reliable one, that is). Now that Sunderland sent him back with a polite refusal to exercise the option they had on him, what can we do with him? Sure, at his best he is as good a central defender as Lyon can probably get in the current state of their treasury, so if he can play they claim they won’t need anyone else; but the long injuries he seems to pick up repeatedly are a major risk on a central defense who doesn’t exactly need that.
That why Garde submitted him to “stress tests”, heavier physical challenges to gauge his current form. He seems OK so far, so Garde even had him start the friendly against Salzburg:
So Mensah started, and boy did he make an impression : As he still wasn’t injured after 24 minutes, having missed a ready made goal with the cage wide open, he found a clever way to go off : a hand ball, which earned him a straight red. So down to ten men for the remaining 65 minutes, the Lyonnais finally lost 0-1 . So yes, look no further Jean-Michel, I think THE solution at CB just came to you. Our defensive worries are over, I’m telling you.
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