Fred is “Injured” and Other News
By: Inara | December 6th, 2007~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently, Fred still hasn’t recovered from the slight knock to his muscle from last Friday and won’t be part of the squad that travels to Caen. He might not even travel to Glasgow. Raise your hand if you didn’t see that one coming.
Fred and Baros: Unwanted and Unloved.
Hmm. Does this seem a little bit shady to you guys? I mean, how is it that he and Milan Baros always get injured so conveniently…that is, when they aren’t wanted? After all, of the 59 goals Lyon have scored in all competitions, Baros has scored only two and Fred none. No wonder Lyon haven’t even noticed they aren’t around.
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Irritated that Rangers had their match postponed, Aulas pouted and asked the LFP for a postponement too, except it was unsurprisingly and very rightfully refused. Not that anyone was expecting otherwise. Lyon only asked for a postponement so that it could be refused, and then if Rangers do win next Wednesday, Lyon can blame it on the unfair advantage Rangers had over them. Because you know we French are all about being sore losers.
At any rate, Marseille also have a game on Saturday but must face Liverpool on Tuesday. So Lyon should be glad they have that extra day of rest. Additionally, Alain Perrin doesn’t seem very upset at not having the weekend off. According to him, while postponing a match would prevent surprise injuries, those can happen at training too (in fact, that’s how Gregory Coupet, Jeremy Toulalan, Milan Baros, Sandy Paillot, and Fred picked up their injuries this season).
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Despite that “setback,” the LFP do seem to have a tender spot for Lyon. Last weekend was the 20th anniversary of Lyon’s biggest supporter group, Bad Gones, and so they celebrated by lighting flares and “pyrotechnical devices” left and right during the home game against Strasbourg. For some reason, the LFP didn’t fine them a single euro, but they did fine all the other teams. Nice.
See pictures here, here, here, and here.
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In what must be a strange twist of fate for Fabio Santos, he is apparently being watched by AC Milan, who are looking to replace the seemingly nonexistent Emerson. Of course this is only if Milan fail to lure over Jeremy Toulalan. And those rumors of Valencia’s interest in Fabio Grosso are still around.
And speaking of crazy, Arsene Wenger has been singing praises of Karim Benzema’s in the English press. Like we don’t see through that ploy.
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Horror of horrors, Lyon have been linked with Arsenal’s aging midfielder Gilberto Silva. To make matters worse, Lyon are also linked with Real Madrid reject Julio Baptista. If there is a God, he will make sure that those two players stay the hell away from the Gerland. Also, Goal.com keeps on saying that Lyon are interested in Mancini.
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I know I’m being mean, but I can’t help myself. WAKE UP, FRED!
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Pointed out by alert reader Storm, if Rangers make it into the knockout stages, each of their players will have earned £100,000. Coupled with their £40,000 bonus from making it past the qualification rounds, and additional £10,000 bonuses for notching wins against Lyon and Stuttgart, each player will earn an additional £40,000 if they beat Lyon next Wednesday. If that’s not motivation to make Lyon eat humble pie, then I don’t know what is. And say, how much do you think they’ll earn if they make it to the finals? The GDP of a third world country, perhaps?
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South Korea can consider themselves fortunate that Gerard Houllier turned down the opportunity to be their manager. Actually, what is it about Houllier that have people falling all over themselves to offer him a job? And they aren’t bad jobs either – he’s been offered the posts of both the Austrailian and Korean NT and is shortlisted for the English NT post.
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Woohoo! For the first time in a long time, Lyon don’t have any players nominated for the France’s prestigious award, the Ballon de Plomb (The Lead Ball). I think you can guess what that award celebrates.
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The Offside’s Facebook group is growing by the day, but I’ll pimp it here once again.
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Category: 
Tags: AC Milan, Arsenal, Bad Gones, Fabio Grosso, Fabio Santos, Facebook, Former Lyonnais, Fred, Gerard Houllier, Gilberto Silva, Jeremy Toulalan, Julio Baptista, Karim Benzema, LFP, Mancini, Marseille, Milan Baros, Player News and Rumors, Rangers, Real Madrid, Roma, South Korea, Team News and Rumors, ValenciaSubscribe
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Comments
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Barthez is so going to win the lead ball. All the others are mere pretenders.
(Dammit, Fabien! Why did you have to go out by skipping town after getting beaten up by fans?!?!)
Posted from
United States
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i humble pie reference………..your Boston Colors are showing. As far as Goal.com is concerned, i wouldn’t take anything they say seriously, most of there stories run as Follows ; ” Dinho’s Departure to Chelsea ( Again )” , ” Drogba unhappy ( but becomes happy again ), ” Ramon Calderon speaks ( About nothing )”, ” Arsenal player on the move ( cause they like their player 26 and younger )”
As far as players for Lyon, i too don’t want to see Emerson or Silva play for us. I would love it if Thiago Motta was linked to us, or better yet a young South American player like Matias Fernandez
i wish Gerard Houllier would have an Opportunity to turn Ecuador down or not, but thats just a distant dream ( sorry, my national colors are showing )
Posted from
United States -
Interesting about Lyon applying for postponement. I’m glad they didn’t get it, and wish that Rangers hadn’t gotten it either, since both requests were ridiculous. Ligue 1 has preserved its dignity by treating the request the way the SPL should have, but you Lyon fans lose a little of that high ground about asking for the postponement. I suspected you’d take it if you could (who wouldn’t?), so hopefully now we can concentrate on the match itself and leave the talk about postponement behind.
Posted from
United States -
I don’t know, I honestly think ten days is too much. I would prefer the match be shifted back by a few hours, at most moved to the day before. But ten days without playing is too much of a gap.
To be fair, Lyon wouldn’t have asked if Rangers hadn’t gotten a postponement. It does set Lyon back a lot in their preparations, and considering that Rangers already have one foot in the knockout rounds, the extra week was a blow to them, especially since until a week ago, both teams were on the same page.
People were correct when they said the LFP would never allow it, and Lyon must have known what the outcome of their request would be – they might as well ask UEFA for one. Knowing Aulas, his asking is to have an excuse ready in case we lose. His attitude has always been that when Lyon lose, it’s not their fault. So should Rangers win next Wednesday, Aulas will raise up a stink about how the Scots have poor sportsmanship, how UEFA should ban situations like that, and how the LFP has a conspiracy to see Lyon fail in Europe (I’m not kidding – we go through this every year). And if Lyon win, he’ll be ready to say how Lyon came out fighting when everyone was against them. He’s a great president to have, but not if he’s not your president.
Still, I am disappointed in Aulas because he’s making Lyon look like a mafia-esque club which demands special favors, and it’s especially bad because he’s the VP of the league. He’s pretty much universally hated outside of Lyon.
Ian, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what are the chances that Rangers are over exaggerating the injuries to Darcheville and Nacho Novo? Last year with Houllier, sometimes Lyon would do that before big matches just to confuse our opponents and lull them into a false sense of security.
Posted from
United States -
Wow, that’s weird about the Bad Gones bit. I’m surprised I haven’t heard more about that. And thanks for reminding me about le ballon de plomb: I just wrote a post about it.
Posted from
Canada -
I’d say its possible, as I think just about all teams try to exaggerate injuries to play with their opponents before big games. I expect both of them to be available, but whether they’re at their best … that’s one Walter Smith is keeping to himself. I’d be more afraid of Novo if I were you – I don’t rate Darcheville. He lives offside, and you really have to hand him a ton of chances before he converts one. I really prefer Cousin in the lone striker role, if anyone has to be. But I hate one-striker football, and so I hope Boyd, Novo and Cousin all get their chances.
Posted from
United States -
inara aren’t you part of the facebook group?
Posted from
United States -
Sam: I was surprised too. I honestly thought Lyon would be slapped with a huge fine. You know how fine happy the LFP guys are.
Ian: Thanks for the info. It’s funny, but I never rated Darcheville or Cousin when they were in France. In fact, Cousin especially sucked – when he was sold for money, I thought Lens were robbing Rangers. About Novo – it’s the pace thing that scares me because Lyon seem very weak when it comes to counters. Our full backs are happy to go up the field, so that essentially leaves the 2 CBs alone, and at the moment, the communication between the two suck.
Bryan: Yup, I’m there.
Posted from
United States -
fred being injured is bad news because he needs the time and benzema needs the rest. baros may very well start in caen, or at east play a half.
fabio santos achilles still hurts him, hopefully he’ll be redy for rangers, even though källström is the more likely starter after his great match against strasbourg.
Posted from
France -
Bad news. I really wish Fred could be fit and reach his potential. Him being so injury prone lately may lead to him being the great Brazilian striker who never was.
Posted from
Ireland -
Lyon are playing mind games with Rangers, maybe making them think that Lyon are scared about coming to Ibrox. Its obvious Lyon’s match would never be moved, so they’re trying to act like they’re scared and lull them into a false sense of security and superiority.
Posted from
United States -
jim: I spose that was the idea behind letting them beat us 3 nil at home then!
Posted from
Ireland
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