The reconstruction starts

New post is up!
http://lyon.theoffside.com/tea...

Govou back in Ligue 1 :)

I am so sorry that I am a visiter.

does any1 have links to the salzburg friendly?

http://www.laola1.tv/en/int/so...

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news...

Too late... Garay is gone. To Benfica.

Yer its a bit of a piss take really,why persue 10/11 mill Britos,when you could of had Garay for 6,Piatti as well for 7.5 mill...Piatti for 7.5mill,Garay for 6 mill and Ndinga for 7.5mill and take cuts on bastos,ederson etc,and our squad would have been complete,its seems to me every other club but for Lyon gets bargains and can conclude deals twice as quick,dont get it.

An article making your last point: http://www.football.fr/footbal...

I like this article, how it says that Cris' salary for one month is equal to Britos' yearly salary. Don't know if that's true anymore, since Cris was supposed to have taken a salary cut, when he signed his new one year deal.

http://www.footmercato.net/pre...
Hopefully Abromovich breaks-out the check book.

Garay's release clause is somewhere between 4-6mill and they can't even put that together. Hugo going to have another overworked season.

http://www.foot01.com/equipe/l...

Looks like there is a rumor that young Croatia striker is going to Lyon. He is talented but I doubt he would make us a better team
link: http://www.index.hr/sport/clan...
its on a croatian, sorry. I just wanted to give it to you, so you can see I'm not making it up :)

Another Real Madrid fan! Zidane needs to be taken-out: http://www.foot01.com/equipe/l...

http://www.footmercato.net/lig...
Looks like there will be alot of unhappy fowards this season, and this just confirms more that we may be looking at just one recruit this summer. If your policy is "sell in order to recruit," we are in big trouble. Seems the only thing anybody wants to buy from us, at a fair price, is Pjanic- maybe. Unless Mensah breaks a foot in the coming weeks, we may be looking at just a DM brought in, if we are lucky.

What is going on ? Nobody wants to leave the club,very strange...hmm

Yeah, and unfortunately the names of those who don't want to leave aren't Essien, Benzema, Malouda, Abidal etc.

A couple of players don't want to leave, bec they have one year left on their contracts and will leave on a free next year, and there's just no interest in any of our players, at least at the prices we expect. Teams know that OL are looking to unload players and they are willing to wait and see if they can pick-up some bargains. It doesn't help when all management talks about is the need to raise liquidity from sales, in order to purchase players, and the need to massively decrease the payroll. When you're selling your house or car or whatever, you don't tell the buyer you desperately need the cash.
Anyway, I'm kind of coming to terms with Bastos possibly staying. At first , I wanted him out for the 15mill, the chance for Lacazette/Pied and Briand to get more PT, and the fact that he's a merc. But know I'm thinking it may not be a bad thing: Garde may need all the help he can get this year, and Bastos is a valuable asset. Anyway,  we still have alot of time to go, so I hope things will pick-up towards the end of the window.

What you dont think Britos will come ? Trouble is the deal seems easy to make-Britos wants to come,Bologna want to sell at the moment Lyon are the hold ups,its imperative someone like Ndinga comes to replace Toul...trouble for lyon is guys who were at the start of the mercato gone without saying(Bastos,Ederson,Mensah)now seem happy to stay,only bastos staying would be good really,and even him id like to see replaced by Mounier or Piatti etc.

I think the Britos thing is dead, and you're right: it's OL who hasn't pulled the trigger. I had the worst feeling when Mensah said he wouldn't mind staying at OL. I knew right then, that management would try to patch our CB problem up with Cris and Mensah. And then Garde confirmed my suspicion when he said that he would try Mensah out to he if he could hold-up during the season. The only hope is if the Glass Ghaneaen goes down hard with an injury-not that I'm wishing that upon the guy- during training camp.
I think, the only addition we will see is possibly N'Dinga- if somebody else doesn't get him first. I just can't possibly see OL playing with Kallstrom and Gonalons in front of the CBs. What I can't figure is why, if management says they have to sell first in order to recruit, have they not picked-up N'Dinga yet? They sold Toulalan. That's 11mill, and Delvin costs like 7-8mill. Are they waiting for the check from Malaga to clear?
And it's amazing how these vultures back-track and go back on their statements at the first sign of trouble. I guess they are coached by their agents. I remember Mensah saying he "would never come back to Lyon." Bastos already had his bags packed for Turin. Anyway, Bastos staying is'nt all that bad. He's a veteran and a dangerous weapon on offense. We will need all the help we can get this year: new, rookie coach and Lille, OM, Rennes and PSG all ready to make serious runs for the top spots.
Don't know if I agree with bringing Mounier back: we would have to pay 3x his sale price and we would have shift Lisandro- who really is the starting left winger- to the right side, or bench Gomis. Laca/Pied/Briand would also get less PT and they get he job done anyhow. Briand had five goals and six assists last season.  Mounier had three goals and ten assists. But AM had much more playing time. Anyway, it's really a mute point if Bastos stays.

Regarding the transfers of N'Dinga and Britos : I feel these two deals could be concluded fairly quickly but l'OL will not pull the trigger unless they sell at least one more player (Pjanic, Bastos, etc.)
As for Mensah : at this point we are not going to get any money for the guy, we might as well pay him his salary and hope for the best...

Pjanic will be wrapped-up with a nice red ribbon, if this offer is true: http://www.footmercato.net/lig...

Finally, I don't have to cringe when I see the OL away kit: http://www.foot01.com/equipe/l...

is this the champions league away jersey?

Just the domestic-away jersey, it seems.

79 euros though!

it's not the all-black, ca 06, but it's a great improvement.

re:  payet.  too bad we couldn't have picked him up, but we can't recruit ALL the great young talent in L1.  and we've got a lot of talent coming through the ranks -- OL's yassine benzia scores a brace yesterday after france goes down 0-2 to ivory coast at the U17 WC. final france 3 - 2 ivory coast. 

see:

http://tinyurl.com/3tdluqn 

lille sign payet ...

My favorite young player. Too bad we have so many wingers, and so little funds.

I have been following Payet since he was only 16 GolTV had a television show that documented the life of young footballers in the Nantes Academy and it was really neat to see the growth and development of the players not only on but off the pitch as well and Payet was the undisputed stand-out of the show. Hes an extremely talented footballer who would have looked great down the flanks-perhaps we should have gone for him over Briand 

oof

If we could get this guy for 8-10mill, I think we'd def have Toule's replacement, for a good price:  http://www.goal.com/en/news/11...
The problem is that Sadran's a pain.

Britos wants out of Bolonga and declares his ardor for his only real suitor:
http://www.olympique-et-lyonna...

Looks like we may have locked-up Britos. The Pres of Bologne FC, said that he will certainly depart, but not to Napoli, the only other club seriously interested in him.
http://www.le10sport.com/Merca...

This guy does an in-depth take on what OL might look like next year, and analyzes every position, covering possible transfers as well; includes a chart with players he'd like to see, as well as what the actual line-up, including back-ups may look like. Think he's off suggesting Pjanic and Lovren will be out, and he goes off the deepend suggesting making Cris a DM, but the rest is pretty good:
http://lichabomba.football.fr/...

Boy-oh-boy. I never learn to never-say-never. Looks like Mensah is having selective amnesia about his horrible time at Lyon, and is very willing to come back, especially since no one else will take him. Looks like might have to broken-down backups at CB next year.
http://www.foot01.com/equipe/l...

looks like Mensah is staying... is this good?

We will have a two "broke-back" back-ups in Cris and Mensah, and Mensah can play really well at RB, maybe it can't hurt. It could if either of those two start whinning about playing time and disrupt the team, especially with a young, inexperienced coach at the helm.  Hopefully OL don't lose their minds and think they can depend on these two and not bring in someone to play along side Lovren. The best thing would be for OL to loan Mensah out; hope that he has relatively injury-less season, and that someone makes a bid for him before his contract runs-out. I would also make the option-to-buy clause relatively cheap.

for what it's worth, mensah did just captain ghana to the WC quarterfinals last summer, and was very solid on the pitch while doing so.  if (the big "if") he stays completely fit the entire season, i think he can be a very solid addition to the back line, either backing up CB and RB, or even starting with lovren.  yes, it would be nice to get another great CB to compete for the starting position with him and lovren.  i'm glad he's back, though. 

Did Mensah get through the entire WC without getting hurt? Anyway, if he gets no other opportunities, he will have no choice but to stay, but if anything else comes up, he will take it. Looks like Britos is a sure thing, and Mensah is a seasoned vet who won't sit on the bench, especially when he has to compete with Cris as well.

ha ha!
mensah played every minute of every game.  he was very solid.  i have no idea what his form was for sunderland this past year, but if he plays the way he did at the WC, he'd been an excellent asset coming back.
good news about britos, though.

I remember he was excellent. For some reason, I had the notion in my mind that  he missed the last match bec of injury.
I saw him play once or twice at Sunderland. He was solid.

He played very good on WC !

The docs will earn their money :D!

He says he will only stay if Lyon promise him more playing time,well he need first to promise us more playing time :D

http://www.google.fr/#hl=fr&am...
Do they want to put Gourcuff on the bench? Or play Boudebouz on the RW?

Spending 25M€ for Boudebouz and Martin would be completely unnecessary. With that kind of money we could get ourselves a DM and a CB of really good quality which essentially I believe money will be invested in.

20mill is all it would take. But if Lacombe has an erection for these two, then it might just get done, if they are able to raise enough cash from sales and slash enough payroll.

is Tafer going back to lyon?

His loan is up, and he's been sent back to Lyon. No new news on whether he will be loaned out again. I imagine in the next couple of months we will know what will be his future.

Yes! see http://lyon.theoffside.com/tea...

whoops

http://www.footmercato.net/lig...

http://www.goal.com/en/news/59...

lyon needs him the most!

http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-s... 
Always nice to see a headline like this, when a player comes from one of the more popular leagues. Promising news.

 Im very hopeful that he puts a serious stake in the youth system. The players coming through right now are a very strong generation, and it would be a shame to dismiss them the way Remy and Mounier were. Between the use of youth team players, the acquisition of the best of France's younger players, and a key signing at center back or in the center of midfield, I do think the team will have what it takes to compete next year.

It look's like Miguel Britos is on the verge of signing with L'OL. Opinions?

Where did you establish Lyon were "close" to signing him ?

who's going to captain the team next season?

Pape Diakhate,he deserved it :D

Cissokho-20 mill,Ederson-9/10 mill,Toulalan-12 mill,Bastos-13 million euros OUT

IN- Garay-10mill,Ndinga-8mill,Mbengue-7mill,Mounier-8/10mill.

Lloris
Reveillere-Garay-Lovren-M bengue
Gourcuff-Ndinga-Kallstrom
Lisandro-Gomis-Mounier

Looks good business to me especially getting M bengue for Cissokho-12 mill difference.

Take Kallstrom out and put Pjanic or Martin in. Kallstrom has to go. Pjanic, Grenier, and Reale need to play.

Doesnt seem likely in OLs current finances to take 4mill Kallstrom out and replace him with 16mill Martin..Can a Gourcuff-Ndinga-Pjanic midfield work defensively ? Besides while Lyon would love Kallstrom to sod off,Kims thinking im playing for a cl club,being paid a mint for doing jack all,i may as well see out the contract..i think hell stay sadly.

4mill + the money from Toulalan is just one mill short, but I won't happen, and I wouldn't spend more than 10mill on Martin, anyway. I don't see OL paying any more than 10mill max, for a player in the future. JMA even made some comment that he would in the future, sell two top-notch players every season, until the stadium is ready.
Kallstrom hasn't always played alongside Toulalan, and we've won a few games with two offensive midfielders on the pitch. The question is, can Ndinga patrol the back by himself. Will Ndinga even come, now that Auxerre is claiming they won't let him go, in a probable attempt to jack the price up. But does it really matter, if we get a top-notch CB and the backline stabalizes? But I agree with what you said about Kim: he will stay till he can leave on a Bosman. OL will take 3-3.5 or maybe less to get rid of him.

If Man City buys Cissokho for the reported 21M pounds (!) we can pretty much afford whoever we want.

Their General manager must be smoking crack

Doesn't mean they will spend the money.

Change M'bengue with Tremoulinas ;)

Britos has apparently been the subject of a bid for Lyon, according to the net (sorry, I read it last night and have slept since, so I have forgotten where). Ndinga could be a goods move.

Megame - I agree with your point about being offered the job a couple of years ago, but there is no doubt the job now is a lot harder than it was a few years ago, and on top of that the financial position worse. I think a lot of people will view this as an economic move rather than the correct (hopefully!) coaching appointment. If he gets hios old job back as you say, then he has nothing to lose. I wasn-t aware of that to be honest with you, so thank you for the information.

Britos and Ndinga hmm. These names don't really sound promising to me. Are those two any good?

Remember that the best players we had came as pretty unknown players. Let's hope they will be good.

Bernard Lacombe confirmed they're following Britos.. but that richer clubs might well do so, too!

Delvin Ndinga is openly keen to join Lyon. The focus is on his club now : will they let him go?

I don't like this Garde appointment because it looks like the only two reasons he got the job are: 1) He comes cheap; and 2) The management can't find a good enough replacement for Puel. If this is not correct and Aulas wants Garde simply because of his qualites - then I greet this move and support it's logic. However, experience has taught me not to expect anything when a guy from the club gets the coaching position. Red Star Belgrade has done it a few times and it always proved to be a complete disaster. With the players we (still) have, I think we need a coach with authority and experience. All the best to Garde, though, may he last a decade in Lyon! :)

I agree with Nikola. I'm not a fan of this appointment. I don't think he is going to do better than Puel, in fact, I don't think we'll get through our CL qualifying round, let alone win the league or qualify for CL next. Academy is one thing but dealing with players' egos, i.e. Licha, is not easy. I hope he does well but not looking forward to this season.

I think Garde gets more esteem from the club than the two reasons you mention.
If you read here http://lyon.theoffside.com/tea... you'll see that he had already been offered the job in 2007 when there were no money problems at OL.

so pep guardiola didnt work out for barca?

It was probable, it's now clear: Varane goes to Real.
PSG couldn't compete, and as I was mentioning yesterday, Lyon wasn't in the final race.

A varane-Lovren partnership more than likely wouldnt have worked,far to young...No what we need to do is sell Bastos,sell Ederson,toulalan sold,and sell cissokho for someone half his price who can do the same job- bring in Garay/Britos,Ndinga,LB and Mounier.

Buy back Mounier for 3x his sale price. I don't know why they didn't just loan him, knowing Bastos could take off any minute.

Finally - my letter to Jean Mimi worked! Our prayers were answered and is proof that God does listen!

But I have to say this is an interesting appointment. I can see the logic - sack Puel, pay the large amount of money he's owed and for a year or two promote from within and have to pay a lot less. Economically a sound move....

The question is, is Messr Garde being set up....I'm not being negative about this, but seriously folks, think on it for a moment. OL don't appear to be the financial powerhouse it once was, so who could it have brought in - Leonardo for example. Without doubt, but that costs...Jean Fernadez...but agian, it would cost. Remi Garde knows the club, and would come a lot cheaper than the aforementioned and others. He clearly can handle the younger players and integrate them, and he has the experience to call on people he knows (i.e. Wenger) but I just hope he can settle the bigger players.

The preoblem he has is that he has to builde not just a squad, but coaching staff as well, and morale, because lets be honest, it was sh*t last year, and also the confidence of one or two sensitive ones.
@0c5acb7623a1947961c6af1f8c7e253d:disqus 
This is a lot to ask of someone who hasn't managed in Ligue one before, but he will get my full support. He will need some time, and I think we should give him all the support he needs befoe we judge (so no "we cr*p" comments after 3 games!). Rome wasn't built in a day, and we need to rebuild, I hope Remi can do this...for OL and for himself.

First move of the season - do not go after Varane. Let Madrid etc go after him and pay through the nose. How about Sloan Privat at Clermont Ferrand. Hit a lot of goals in Ligue 2 (20 I think) at a small club (no offence) and has experience from his time at Monpellier. Use this year to adapt to OL and learn from LiLo....do not sell Lovren, but instead add a decent Center Back to learn alongside Cris...the problem is who?
@b3950d64ce68e63c666f5b3a91655e88:disqus 
Allez Lyonnais!

I don't think Garde is being set up. It's only a one year contract, everyone (starting by Aulas) says the expectations are much lower than last year, and it is agreed between the parties that if it doesn't work out he'll get his previous job back. So it looks much more like an opportunity than like a trap to me...

does anyone know how the new jerseys will look like i hope they bring back the black away jersey

agreed.

let's hope they're wearing those kits when a lisandro back-heel against real - a la carew above - sends lyon through to the semis.

Hahaha

He's never been a Ligue 1 manager before but he knows the squad well, especially the youth players, and he knows the OL organisation. I think he will do well. He's apparently pretty intelligent and Emanuel Petit talks highly of him from their time together at Arsenal. Lets not forget that he was Arsenal's first foreign captain under Wenger. 

thanks for initiating a new thread, and your observations above, megame.

My pleasure. There wasn't much to comment on so far (besides transfer rumours, that is) until today and this nomination, so the previous article was still very much relevant.
And hey, it was good to see 154 comments for one article ;)

We can sign John Carew again,he is free agent :) :D

Sure, if we are to meet Real again in the later stages, it would be good to have an anti-Real talisman as our Karma against them dropped significantly this season...

(I don't have particularly fond memories of him, except against Real where had been amazing. Remember (sorry for the crappy quality) : http://www.metacafe.com/watch/... )

Quality is good but sound is killing me! :)

This is insane too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
I'm sure we will play against Real this year again,so we better sign him :)

He can't be worse than Puel

 I'm glad to finally see Puel out the door;however, I am now filled with questions as to what to expect. With no previous managerial experience, what exactly is a reasonable expectation of Remi Garde as head of L'OL.?

Minimum expectations should be CL knockout stages and top 3 in the league - He doesn't want to achieve worse than Puel did.
The club expects him to integrate more youth players into 1st teamers.
I expect him to get more out of the players then Puel - he can start by not playing unattractive defensive football against the leagues bottom-dwellers and by not parking the bus with 40 minutes to go to protect a 1-0 lead. The other keypoint to address is our set-piece defense.

Good luck and congratulations Mr. Garde. I hope you bring us success.

+1
I would add that these expectations (knockout stages + top3) are reasonable considering our squad even with the aforementioned departures.

The thing
to really look forward to is to have a much younger squad of homegrown talent by
the end of the season. This is what will impact future success and not some
random transfer happening this summer.

i agree with these analyses.  even with the expected exodus, with the addition of a couple of solid players rumored about there will still be tremendous talent on this team - more than enough for top three and the perennial CL knockout phase trip.  i'll bet the first thing garde is shooting for is to win the ligue back. 
i very much hope Jvilladieu is correct, and garde's appointment signals a 'back to basics' move, developing all the tremendous young talent in OL's system, giving them every opportunity to integrate into the team, and continuing to bring in top flite people to complete the team.  probably won't happen, but my fingers are crossed for sissoko and garay, this summer (mvila in my dreams).

It is clearly a "back to basics" call, you're right, and a return to historical Lyon values, too.
Now regarding your transfer expectations, you're likely to be disappointed as Sissoko is not on Lyon radar and M'vila is out of reach.