…aka Let’s Not Talk About Lyon’s Shitty Performance Against Bordeaux.
EDIT: French Football Weekly will be giving away a free Juninho or Lisandro T-Shirt this week. All you have to do is guess how many goals will be score in Week 25 of Ligue 1. Go here.
The transfer rumor mill has fired up. Word on the street is that Kim Kallstrom secretly met with Rubin Kazan, who are offering to triple his salary. However, the €5m they offered for him had Jean-Michel Aulas say “LOLZ, eff that.” Interesting to note is that Lyon haven’t ruled out a Kallstrom departure. While Remi Garde considers him an important part of Lyon’s midfield, he also admitted that there were economic factors to consider. Bottom line is that the club will let Kallstrom go if the price is right.
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These three will most likely not be at Lyon next season.
Aulas also revealed that Ederson could have left the club on January 31st as a free agent but chose not too. He hasn’t ruled out extending Ederson’s contract, but if he does, it would be with a decreased salary and fewer incentives, which would be tied in to the number of games he plays. Ederson responded by saying that he could deal with a lower salary, but he wants some guarantees on playing time. Bernard Lacombe responded harshly, saying that if Ederson were as good as he thinks he is, he’d obviously be playing more, but that he’s only been a decisive player a handful of times during his three and a half years at Lyon. Ouch.
Bernard Lacombe didn’t just stop at Ederson. He’s criticized all the players for performing below their level, saying that they should be more critical of their own performances. The club has done everything it can for them, giving them the best medical and training facilities, but at the end of the day, it’s the players who need to perform on the pitch.
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So who does Aulas want to keep? He’s listed Lisandro, Yoann Gourcuff, Hugo Lloris, Bafetimbi Gomis, and Dejan Lovren. He does want to sell off at least two other players, so my guess would be Kim Kallstrom, Aly Cissokho, or Michel Bastos. The first earns a really fat salary while the second two have a high market value right now.
Aulas has also said that he plans to open negotiations to extend Remi Garde’s contract. As most of you know, Garde was given a one year contract, partially because the club wanted to avoid the mess they got into with Claude Puel (who was on a four year contract), and also because Garde himself wasn’t sure how much he’d like coaching. If Garde is offered an extension, Aulas says that it will not be contingent upon a top three finish. Time will tell if he’s being sincere or facetious. Personally, I’ve been satisfied with Remi Garde overall. We might not be dominating the league like we used to, but he’s been picking up the pieces left by Puel pretty well. One of the columnists at Sports Illustrated, Ben Lyttleton, wrote a nice little blurb on what Garde has accomplished this season.
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What are they plotting now?
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In a breath of fresh air, Cris spoke frankly about his drop in performance. He said that while he feels it’s unfair that he’s always blamed anytime Lyon loses, he also knows that at his age, he can’t be putting in performances like he did in seven years ago. He’s okay with not being a regular starter, as he just wants what’s best for the team, both on and off the pitch. I think that his attitude is very inspiring, and a lot of the younger players could learn from his loyalty and dedication even with reduced playing time.
On the injury front, both Dejan Lovren and Yoann Gourcuff will not make the bench for the match against PSG. While Lovren has been participating, albeit gingerly, in training, Gourcuff is still completely grounded. To make matters worse, John Mensah returned from the African Cup of Nations with another injury. Raise your hand if you’re surprised by that. No? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
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Lyon, who’s financial losses last season skyrocketed to €6.8m, reported that this year, it had dropped to €4.6m. While the figure is still higher than some would like, the overall improvement is a good sign as work finally begins on Lyon’s new stadium.
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Laurent Blanc revealed the list of players to be called up for France’s friendly against Germany, which will take place on February 29th. Only two Lyonnais made the team, Hugo Lloris and Anthony Reveillere. While it would have been nice if some of Lyon’s other players made the team, their recent performances haven’t merited a call up. Blanc did mention that he’s still paying close attention to Yoann Gourcuff’s performances, so if he improves, we may see him in blue again.
Blanc also announced that Hugo Lloris will be one of three possible captains during Euro 2012, the others being Phillipe Mexes and Eric Abidal. That’s very exciting for Lloris, who probably still has a Zidane poster hanging in his bedroom.
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I said I wouldn’t talk about last weekend’s game against Bordeaux, but I can’t help it. Remi Garde has chastised the team for playing too cautiously against Bordeaux while Hugo Lloris was flat out angry at his teammates. Lyon seem to be in a four way race for 4th place – the Europa League place. Considering that Lyon haven’t played that league since 2001, it will definitely be weird if they end up there next season. Then again, Manchester United seem to be making the best out of it, so who knows.
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And some random articles just for fun:
Vikash Dhorasso talks about how PSG is not a great club. Not Lyon related, but PSG dissing is always welcome.
New arrival Hamdan Al Kamali discusses his first month at Lyon. He also says that even though Lyon could have denied him permission in playing for his country’s Olympic qualifiers, they let him do so anyway.
Here’s a video interview of Alou Diarra. He talks about Gourcuff for a bit. I guess he’s forgotten about the fact that two years ago, he was drinking the Yoann Kool-Aid too.