SUMMER CLEANING: OUT WITH THE OLD IN WITH THE NEW?
By: John | May 26th, 2009
Five veteren players who might be on the way out this summer.
Lyon reached a turning point in this season in that there was an influx of youth during their summer mercato which, coupled with their aging core, signaled that the rebuilding of the squad was underway; whether intentional or not, something had to give. There was the departure of our iconic keeper and guardian of Lyon’s gates Gregory Coupet -who let us in on the tiny “culture” war that was going on in the dressing room between veterans and the youngsters- and his subsequent replacement by the post-pubescent Hugo Lloris, Fred missing his family and therefore acting like a duplicitous scumbag just to be able to leave on a free transfer- which I’m sure OL would have obliged him with anyway; Juninho’s aging legs, and a flood of a new, young, ambitous crop of midfielders in the summer foretoled what was to come.
Now, the end of this season may see one of Lyon’s greatest icons- Juni’s having a conference at 1830 CET today- and several veterans on their way out. Juni is most certainly retiring, Sidney Gouvou is threatening to leave again, for the millionth time; Kim Kallstrom is finding playing time hard to come by and will find it even harder in the future, and Fabio Grosso longs for his homeland, is possibly bored at not winning any trophies this season, has possibly fallen out with Puel or all three, who cares.
Anyway, the point is this: OL’s undergoing a transition, and what I want to now is, who do you guys think should/will go/stay and why? What has each of these players meant to the club and what will their departure/staying mean to Lyon?
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Tags: Claude Puel, Cris, Fabio Grosso, Fred, Gregory Coupet, Juninho, Kim Kallstrom, Lyon, OL, Olympique Lyon, Olympique Lyonnais, Player News and Rumors, Sidney Govou, Team News and RumorsSubscribe
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Comments
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I dont see OL releasing Cris, even with Paillot set to return next season. Between Cris, Mensah, Boumsong and Paillot you should be all set with center backs, which was not the case the past two years with injuries.
As for the release of Juni, that seems inevitable. Govou wont leave, so I wouldnt worry about that, because no one wants his enormous contract and sub-par play, while Fabio Grosso wont fetch much of a fee.
Kallstrom could be the only big amount to be received this summer, with Tottenham interested for sure. Looks like most of the rebuilding is going to have to come out of pocket for Jean Mimi and Puel. If he is still around….
Posted from
United States
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Corey: I agree about Cris. I just put him in there as part of the old guard. He’s the only leader left and Puel seems happy with him.
No one will pay Govou’s wages, and I doubt he’ll take a pay cut to go play for some lesser rate premier league club, unless he’s ready for a final adventure, but he’s too young to retire just now anyway.
Shame we don’t have a place for Kallstrom. Hopefully he can fetch somethin near to what Seville were rumored to be willing to pay last year, bec this may be one of the worst mercatos for JMA in terms of income from sold players; it’s seemed to be headed that way from last leason.Posted from
Costa Rica -
We cannot let Jun. Govou every season same fuc…. story. For Cris, honest, I don’t know. He is really bad. I know that he was injured during the season, but he really sucks. But again he is a back bone of our squad, and who will buy him. Grosso. That man played superb this season. But if Lyon buy Mathieu and Bastos, we can say goodbye to El Fabio. Kallstrom. We have bunch of middlefielders. Bodmer, Juni ( if he don’t leave ), Kallstrom, Toula, Makoun. Ederson and Delgado, Sideny as well, like offensive middlefielders, and Kallstrom is offensive middlefielder, and that is the worst thing. Sorry I didn’t put Bodmer in offensive middle… because he, most of the season, was injured or play CB.
Posted from
United States -
I think Puel should look to the youth teams for some replacement to these players. Yanis Tafer should be promoted on a permanent basis, while Clement Grenier can replace Govou if needed. At left back, either Thomas Fontaine or Kolo should be involved in the first team duties soon, but they are still young of course. And for Juninho, I believe that the time has come to use Said Mehamha in the first team. The kid is a spark plug, and he will be the inspirational leader of Lyon for years to come.
Posted from
United States -
We need to sign Gignac too, but I don’t know if Lyon will ever switch to a 4-4-2. I think if we get Bastos or Boussoufa, sign Remy and keep Govou, Mounier and Delgado will probably be out, either sold or loaned.
Posted from
Costa Rica -
I think it’s past Kim’s time to leave..there’s been rumours of the departure for two seasons now, and I really thought he would go last summer. I don’t think he suits Lyon and Lyon doesn’t suit him either.
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United States -
It’s official, Juninho was released from the last year of his contract and will leave June 30th.
http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/20090526_184318_juninho-partira-le-30-juin.html
Posted from
United States -
whats with italians being home sick
Posted from
United States -
Ronan, this one’s for you: http://www.francefootball.fr/FF/breves2009/20090527_131705_mancini-lyon-toujours-interesse.html
Posted from
Costa Rica -
some croatian newspapers wrote that lyon is interested in buying darijo srna and danijel pranjic
Posted from
United States -
^^^Those are pretty realistic buys. I just hope we get rid of Keita. And supposedly Ederson is wanted by Bayern Munich and some other clubs. No way Ederson should leave.
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United States -
Bad news if true: http://www.goal.com/en/news/90/france/2009/05/27/1289648/toulouses-jeremy-mathieu-admits-just-details-separate-him
Who else is available?
Posted from
Costa Rica -
Abidal won the CL. That’s an extra 500,000 euros in our pockets. It’s in his contract.
Posted from
United States -
I hear Lyon are looking into Aly Cissokho of Porto for an LB.
Posted from
Costa Rica -
Champion’s league final: what a game! And what a fantastic player Iniesta is! For me he was the element that transformed Barcelona in the second leg against Lyon, and here he really put in a terrific performance.
Posted from
United States -
Here are some players lyon could buy:
armand traore(arsenal have clichy and gibbs)
martins(newcastle is now in the championship)
pogrebnyak,jo,Keirrison or a.frei(a good sub for benzema)
arteta or misimovic(for juninho)
briand(if lyon would play with two forwards)
loic remy(better then delgado)
lulinha(a very big talent)
Kjaer or naldo(if cris leave)
semir stilic(a very good sub)
Barnetta(he doesnt play to much in leverkusen)
and Dzeko(scored 26 goals;wants to leave VFL)Posted from
United States -
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts.
You have a great Blog!!! I just added you to my Google News Reader.
Look forward to reading more from you in the future.Next month I will go to Paris on Vacations and visit Europe for the first time.
It´s my first adventure!!! I will update my blog soon!Keep up the good work.
Posted from
Portugal -
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! i’m back bitches!!!! hahahahhaha, rotflmao!! karma has come calling to lyon. bet you hateful, spiteful, and bitter bitch fans wish fred had stayed on after all. i warned you. he could’ve helped lyon retain the title, but noooOOOOOOoo, alus had to act a stone fool and send him packing, with the equally supportive fan base, most said company (fred – haters), included, along with a crappy coach, who if he had been at a club the likes of alus’ beloved psg, real madrid, or anywhere else that posses a board with any kind of sense, would’ve also been sent packing on his ass, mid-season, especially had they been about to willingly surrender their record holding title run. congrats to bordeaux. hope they keep it even longer. later bitches, especially Inara. hahahahahahaha!!!
Posted from
United States -
wth is your problem? you are incredibly immature.
Posted from
United States
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