Transfer Rumors, Transfer Folly, and Me Ranting.

By: John | August 14th, 2009

Just when you thought the door of the Lyon’s transfer season had been locked until December- at least if you believe Puel- with the arrival Bafetimbi Gomis, OL still have some unfinished business to attend to, though it’s all “out-bound” traffic, in their minds that is. Really, Puel needs to have his head examined: his minimalist approach to recruiting is really irking the crap-out-of-me.

Management has known all along that a couple of players were still on the way out- I’m thinking of Mounier and Mensah specifically- no-matter-what, way before Puel “slammed” the door shut on the summer recruitment drive. And if OL don’t plan on correcting the erosion of depth that the departure of at least two players will cause, with new recruits, then it will truely be a continuation of a transfer philosophy that does nothing more than weaken the squad e.g., last year’s blunders of not bringing in a RB after both Clerc and Reveillere went down; not getting-cover for Fabio Grosso at LB; and not replacing Fred with a legitimate striker, instead allowing Piquionne to slide into the #2 spot with no legitemate 3rd striker to name.

Incoming:

Gaby Mudingayi: Mudingayi is a Congo-born Belgium International who plays for Seria A side Bologna FC. He is a box-to-box midfielder, mostly featuring at DM, and can even play on either of the midfield, prefering the right. Gaby has had stints with Lazio and Torino as well. There is a slew of clubs interested, too many to mention. Asking price: 6mill.

A weak rumor, but since Makoun will be off to the ACN this year, it kind of makes sense, although I say just pair Ederson or Kallstrom with Toulalan, but we still won’t have a back-up DM, unless Beynie developed some massive skills I don’t know about, during his loan spell last season.

Out-bound:

Francois Clerc: This rumor has floated around for a while, but it’s back again like the annoying moquito that it is. The thing that has me worried is that Clerc hasn’t signed a contract extension- has turned down at least one prior extension offer, I believe – and the contract expires in June of next year. He’s said in the past that he’d like to play outside of France and Juve might be to inviting to turn-down.

Fabio Grosso: The “Praying Mantis” has to make his move and spring-off the Lyon bench in order to get what may be his last contract. The twilight is upon Fabio and although in this economy alot of players are sitting tight and collecting their salaries, Grosso has to make a move. The handful of potential suitors that were rumored to be interested in Grosso, no less than several weeks ago have dissapated, but now, a new exit seems a real possibility: it’s rumored that Zenit are interested in Fabio, now that Grosso’s former coach at Inter, Roberto Mancini, is set to take over the Russian outfit.

Anthony Mounier: Negotiations for Mounier’s tranfer to Nice- of all clubs!- are ongoing, with coach Didier Olle-Nicole saying that the negotiations are dragging. JMA has said that Mounier was definetely moving this summer and that managment was looking for the “best possible club.” I guess Jean-mimi is paying Maurice Cohen an early admission fee to the upcoming production next summer: “Raping Aulas’ On the Sale of Loic Remy,” coming to theaters near you, summer 2010.

Aside from my aversion to extorsion, I have a problem with this deal: That we aren’t exactly swimming in wingers. With Mounier gone, we have two starters: Govou, and Bastos; then Ederson- who isn’t a winger, and Cesar Delgado who seems to be more injury-prone than Mensah lately. Oh, we can throw Lisandro Lopez on the right in a squeeze, but that’s like using your Ferrari to haul groceries. Why didn’t we get Richard Soumah or some other cheap back-up as cover?

John Mensah: And then there’s Mensah! A good move to shed the “Glass Ghanaian” IMO. With his failure to adjust at Lyon i.e, racist tuants by a Le Havre fan and racist cops; his desire to leave; his incessent injuries, and the up-coming ACN and World Cup- the first requiring his absence for a long stretch of this season, and both the former and the latter increasing his chances of injury- altough they are already at 100% before going-in to these competitions- it’s a smart move.

According to which source you read, he is either very close to leaving or the deal has fallen apart. Le Progress claims that a loan deal with an option to purchase, that would see Mensah go to Sunderland, has fallen through. Sky Sports claims the deal is moving foward full steam. We’ll see.

Again, and many of us have been screaming about the need for a starting CB- forget about back-ups- why haven’t they gone after any CBs, knowing all along that Mensah would either be leaving for another club, injured most of the year, or gone for a great stretch of the season to the African Cup? Our best center back- Boumsong- is slightly injured, Cris has been abominable and seems to get worse every game, we have a converted midfielder as a starter and possible second or third back after Boumsong returns, and Anderson Cleber as our fourth. Frightening. This definitely will be our achilles heal this season, the first match was proof of that.

It seems that OL have developed a denial mentality vis-a-vis their strength and depth at positions, seems to me, since Puel arrived. Since I’ve started following OL, I’ve always seen JMA either replace out-going players with comparable established or younger talent with lots of potential from outside or youthful talent already waiting in the wings. M. Diarra-Toulalan; Coupet-Lloris; Juninho-Ederson; Abidal-Grosso( ok bad example); Cacapa-Squillaci-Mensah(JMA’s heart was in the right place); Carew-Benzema; Malouda-Ben Arfa, etc. And we’ve all seen that he’s definitely not been stingy when it comes to purchasing players.

But what I can’t figure-out is this “put-a-piece-of gum-in-the-leaking-hole-in-the-dam,” mentality that it seems to me, Puel has brought with him, especially, for a new coach who is in a precarious position in terms of his job security. I would think he’d reinforce all those holes in the hull of a Lyon ship that seems to be taking-on water. I mean it’s not as if he doesn’t have the funds at his disposal, but he still goes and tries to “put ducktape” on last year’s LB and striker problem, while completely disregarding the CB weakness this year. Why do we spend tons of money on a few players and leave some of our most pressing deficiencies unadressed? Just look at how OM methodicaly went about remedying almost all of their deficienies. Seems to me that it’s Puel believing that he can make-do with what he has, when he clearly can’t, and it’s this conservative, turn-a-blind-eye approach to this problem, that simply won’t do for a club that plays at the level and has to live-up-to the high level of expectations that OL and it’s fans demand. I guess the captain is content to go down with his ship.
What do you guys think?

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Team News and Rumors

« Goodbye Umbro. Hello Adidas. | Home | Lyon vs. Anderlecht Preview »

Flash

If Clarc leaves we should give Gassama more playing time, he could be our second RB behind Reveillere. Fanni would cost too much and is not a real improvment to our squad IMO
John

http://www.goal.com/en/news/17...
Claude: We are all hoping to see a "more efficient" Puel the against Anderlecht and the rest of the season.
John

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10...
We should move for Fanni if this happens or if it doesn't. It's clear he's leaving no-matter-what.
Minal

Whoops here's the link.

http://videos.tf1.fr/telefoot/...
Minal

Deux choses:

First, Anderlecht is a quality side, but OL's match should go like Arsenal's today. Although the faces on Lyon's squad may be different this year in terms of who we picture getting it done when it counts, there is no reason why they should not still come out and play its best in a big game, on a big stage- an internationally televised night game (and AT Gerland). I assume Puel will play 4-4-2 and perhaps it will be sloppy and we will all be commenting about how much Puel sucks in the first half, but at some point we'll get a goal and win hopefully along the lines of 2-0ish like Arsenal. That's what good teams do.

I think that in CL games, current form is not nearly the factor it is in league games, be it the Premier League or a really small league, because the pressure of the stage takes that away and makes the games about who is ready to focus for 90 minutes and get the job done. Lyon has better talent, and finally now a few dangerous goalscorers up front in the big games, so they have what it takes to beat a team that "is not to be taken lightly". Circa Arsenal over Celtic today!

Second point, off topic and fun, for the Francophones amusement here is an interesting little season preview Telefoot put together for Les Gones. From the video there are also links to a video on Marseille and a video on what the Ligue 1 coaches predict the season will bring.
John

Yes, and Anderlecht also have already played two CL matches and three league games. They are 4-1 so far this season in both league and CL matches. They seem to be in much better form than us. I'm also hoping Boussoufa isn't out to prove something and tears our defense to bits out of spite, bec of OL dropping his recruitment. They say Boumsong may start, paired with Cris, but I hope this doesn't happen. Bodmer and Cris should start since this would be a bad time for Boumer's first match.

Theo: Inara is supposed to be taking care of the preview.
Theo Walcott 14

I already said that this wont be easy.Anderlecht has won their first 3 matches in the Belgium league(as far as I know).Also,If we dont qualify for the CL I believe that JMA will fire Cruel Puel.We are maybe the clear favourites but werent we the favourites also against LeMans and Valenciennes.I am really worried about our team we didnt play bad against Valenciennes but we just didnt used our chances and at the end we almost lost the game because of that.It will be very tricky against RSC and I really dont know what to expect.

Aleksander;The game is on the 19th August at 20:45.
John;Will we have a game preview?
John

We couldn't beat Le Mans- altough we could thank one/two defensive players for that- nor could we handily put-down Valenciennes, altough we had a lot of chances, which was encouraging. But I'm terrified of this Anderlecht match. If it were a couple of weeks more into the season, I might feel some inkling of confidence. I just don't know that they have it together and are able to play in a game that "really matters."
John

I'm watching Toulouse and I'm crying that we didn't get Gignac. The man's a monster. APG paired with LiLo- if they had chemistry- would have permanently traumatized every defense in L1.
Shadow

Im with you Nikola, i actually went on record and said in a PES forum that Lyon wouldnt make it to the group stages. The way our defense is and how uncertain the midfield is, i wouldnt be surprised with anything that goes down in that match.
Aleksander

The tie is tomorrow right?
Nikola

This Anderlecht is not a joke. Don't think it will be easy, I won't be surprised if the Belgians kick us out of the CL sooner than anyone has expected. But let's not be so pessimistic and say we are in fact favourites to win the tie and just need to be on a higher level than we have been so far in the season. I think we can.
Theo Walcott 14

Shadow;I also hope that we get a Preview but we also didnt have a preview of the Valenciennes game.I hope that Inara dont forget that we play against Anderlecht,LOL.
kubi

http://www.goal.com/en/news/15...
Shadow

hopefully we get a preview for the game against Anderlecht
Ian

let him move..ederson..delgado..and pjanic can all fill that void..i also see it helping these young players reach there potential..which for pjanic and ederson could be better than govou
Flash

http://goal.com/en/news/11/tra... :D
kubi

Yes Ian you are spot on.. and ya we played very well, not at our best though. Many chances and at times the players completely clicked together. We just needed to incorporate the strikers a little bit more instead of keep the ball in the midfield. If only clerc could play CB haha. Its a shame that we have two of the best LB's but only one can play at a time, they are solid
Aleksander

Did we actually play good yesterday?? Saw a highlight, seemed like we had tons of chances, high pressure, and some nice play, Gomis, and Lisandro i think looks good.
Aleksander

Did we play 4-4-2 against Valenciennes? Does any1 know somewhere to watch full highlights including chances, play etc?
Ian

i have a few thoughts about the team..first in any important match we should play a 4-4-2 this year. it fits our personal way better..Gomis and lopez can really be a force up top in my opinion. they compliment each other well..kubi i also tend to agree with you about ederson starting over govou. i do not know if its just me but Govou for quite some time has not lived up to his form of around 2 or 3 years ago. Ederson can fill that role.

i also think 2 DMs are to many against the majority of the competition we face during the season. i hope and this pjanic should get a chance to play along side either toulalan or makoun for a good amount of games this season.. when we play against the big clubs 2 DM is something we might and probably will do.

Lastly bodmer should start with boumsong when he is healthy. Cris looks old and technically inefficient

our goalie is france's best :)

feel free to comment on my thoughts..
kubi

ya i dont know whats up with govou, but he just isnt the same player he was 2seasons ago. I want Delgado or Ederson to start on the right instead
Jao

lefutur, Puel only made that decision in order to preserve Toule's match fitness for Anderlecht this week. No way he turns down starting two DMs without a BIG reason. LOL
lefutur

Puel made the right choice by starting kallsrom and makoun together in midfield and leaving toulalan on the bench. 1 DM proved to be the tactical solution to giving the team the necessary firepower going forward. OL looked much more attractive and attacking then they've looked in a long time...maybe since Puel took over. I just wish Domenech would also figure that out.

highlights:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9...
lefutur

it was actually a really good game although i missed the first 15 minutes and the game didnt really pick up tempo wise until after govou was subbed off for ederson in the first half. after that the team really lit up and scored the goal from a nice exchange between revelliere to bastos who flicked it to the head of gomis.nice stuff.

the second half showed a lot of promise because the team had a lot of good opportunities. the forwards were really exchanging well and once the team gets used to the 4-4-2 formation the goals should come.
John

Michael he does get healthy for about a day or two from time to time, so OL just have to schedule it during one of those windows, although there is a chance that he could get injured when the Dr. hits him on the knee with that little rubber mallet to check he reflexes.

Who does Sunderland's scouting? I can't believe they want this guy, with his injury history- he's inured at the moment- and he's off to the ACN this year during which he'll probably get hurt again, if he's healthy enough to play to begin with.
Michael

Mensah will never pass a medical.......hahahahahahahaha
mrCham

The game yesterday was lovely, beautiful and so important for the moral... even though the results might not agree.

I love the Bastos-Gomis relationship. It's just, wow!
John

Nikola, good point about the 3rd stiker, I forgot to bring that up in the post. We basically have to move to a single striker late in the game if we start with a 4-4-2, otherwise we have to play with an SS- either Delgado, Ederson or maybe Pjanic; a 4-4-1-1.
I think Paillot wanted to leave after getting a taste of first team football,
Jao

I think Puel subbed in Toulalan for Gomis to increase the defense. As the game waned, it was obvious Puel was content on holding a 1-0 lead.

Anyway, Mensah to Sunderland seems like a done deal. Everyone one is reporting that its done and Mensah just needs to be granted a work permit and pass a medical (ha).
Nikola

I'm watching the game on delay, and what I saw in the first half isn't so bad at all. We played well and could've scored many more goals, but it seems like the players haven't peaked their goalscoring form yet. The reinforcements seem to do what they've been brought for - Cissokho seems capable of some good crossing, Bastos makes excellent assists and takes effective free kicks, Lopez makes me forget we sold a certain French-Algerian star this summer and Gomis looks like a capable goalscorer that we desperately needed last year.

But can I rant a little? We need another striker, what is the management thinking of? Judging by the football sites, Puel subbed Gomis for Toulalan and left us with no strikers on the pitch! That's what I feared, if any of our two forwards gets injured or subbed, there's no material for a 4-4-2 that we're trying to build. I doubt Puel is going to use Tafer much and I doubt Govou, Ederson or Delgado could be properly used in a 4-4-2. It seems like nothing has changed since the day we released Fred - instead of Benzema and Piquionne we now have Licha and Gomis, perhaps an upgrade in terms of player quality but it definetely represents the VERY SAME PROBLEM we had in our team after Fred's departure.

And the centre-backs? If we sell Mensah, I really don't know why on earth did we sell Paillot, an excellent promising young defender by all accounts. He's definetely better than Anderson, and if someone "up there" really thinks we'll do good with Cris, Boumsong and Bodmer for the entire season, then I fear this season will be a deja vu of the 2007/2008 season in the terms of centre-back problems. Oh, and, I ain't given up hope on Cris - he may be starting to look like a Newcastle-era Boumsong lately, but I still find him capable enough to be given a chance. But if he continues making these errors and if Bodmer doesen't turn out to be a real defender, we'll be a team with only one capable defender - Boumsong - and that is a fact that is so hilarious that is should be well kept from other football fans for us not to be mocked on a daily basis.
Smile

Well, we've won, and Valenciennes played really good defensive game.

I'm positive that Marseille or Bordeaux wouldn't have won by far more goals against this Valenciennes.
Theo Walcott 14

Thanks inARA.
Theo Walcott 14

I havent watched the game so if someone could write a short overwiev of the game or John or Inara could write a post about the game with the player ratings.
Michael

How can you forget Lyon game ? hahahahaha
kubi

solid game. we ruled possesion and only one scare from the opposition. the squad just needs a day or two of shooting practice haha. stop being so pessimistic, we won...
Michael

Only 1-0 ! Puel is pathetic
Michael

Gomis is very good
Michael

Gomis ! ! !
mrCham

OMFG what a beautiful GOAL!!!!
mrCham

http://myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?...

Try the TVAnts or TorrentStream links ...
mrCham

Govou out - Ederson in
David

Does anyone have any working streams besides TVU? My computer can't run it
mrCham

WTF Chris .. 2 terrible headers ..
mrCham

Best stream :
tvu://79525

Download TVUPlayer if you don't have it:
http://pages.tvunetworks.com/d...
mrCham

FINALLY Källström on the pitch!!!
Michael

Is there any working links ?
mrCham

No blog for the game?
David

Looks like we're going to be playing 4-4-2 today, hopefully it'll be what we need...

According to L'equipe: LYON : Lloris - Réveillère, Cris, Bodmer, A. Cissokho - Makoun, Källström - Govou, M. Bastos - Lisandro, B. Gomis.
David

We're going to start 4-4-2 today, hopefully that'll be good news

LYON : Lloris - Réveillère, Cris, Bodmer, A. Cissokho - Makoun, Källström - Govou, M. Bastos - Lisandro, B. Gomis. (http://www.lequipe.fr/Football...
John

I was thinking that we just need a back-up DM once Mak is off to the ACN and just pair Eder or Kim with Toul for more offense, but the way our central defense is/will be playing this year, we need to play with two DMs and alot of 4-5-1 in order to keep goals allowed down, so Viera would actually be a blessing now, plus some leadership would be most welcome.
John

Jao: You are exactly right when you say that Puel is afraid to take chances, but there's a difference between taking chances when you really don't need to and when you absolutely must, which is right now! I was one of the ones who kept quiet and didn't rush to judgement on Cris. I was hoping he needed more time to recover from his injury, especially due to his age. I know it's diffficult to give-up and bench one of your captains and leaders of your team, especially right after losing our backbone Juninho, but Cris' constant progression in the wrong direction has gone too far. Right now, Cris could have Vidic or Terry next to him and it wouldn't make a difference. Not only has he made colossal mistakes that have cost us several goals, but at times it seems like he doesn't care. That's not the behavior of a veteran leader. He's done. And I'm for bringing in one CB to play along side Boumsong, who I don't know why everybody keeps ragging-on because I haven't seen him make any costly mistakes. All he seems guilty of is a lull in intensity in concentration towards the end of last season, which most of the team showed after the Barca loss. I've always said Bodmer has potential, but he's still coming along, and he's not going to be able play vs. the better teams at the CL level effectively yet. Cleber is a joke, and I'd rather have the teenagers in reserve, although I think they are still too young to play in league games. All I'm saying is that if you know Mensah is going and Cris might have to be benched, why not bring in at least a Ciani or someone on that level who can step-in? It's not bec of money. It's the blindness of the shepard.
Sportboy

According to L'Equipe, Patrick Vieira is still in the picture and will sign after the Champions League qualifiers are over right before the transfer window ends. Apparently the club doesnt have concerns about his health anymore.
Theo Walcott 14

John;I blame JMA becuase he didnt fired Cruel Puel,LOL.
Jao

Man, you guys panic too much? First off, regardless of how talented or world-class a defender may be, he is nothing without the guy standing next to him and Cris hasn't had a stable centre at the back with him since Squillaci. And it's not that we need another defender. It is just the ones we have simply haven't worked out for various reasons. Mensah's always injured, Bodmer is slowly transitioning to the position with slowly not being the answer right now, Anderson, from my first impressions, is unworthy, and Boumsong is simply Boumsong. The youngsters (Fontaine, Seguin, Faure) have potential, but Puel is too afraid to take the chance. Until I see Cris literally hit the wall, then I won't start questioning whether his skills are deteriorating. Anyway Creteil won today and they are in 1st place in National. A win tomorrow against Valenciennes and my weekend will be perfect.
John

Theo: I'm wondering if JMA can be blamed though? I don't know that any of this is his fault, since Puel supposedly has power in terms of all transfers- which I think is BS. JMA went out and got us an offense- first striker(comparable to Benz), second striker(big upgrade over "what's his name?"), left winger(role that's been empty since HBA left), and tried hard to get us Remy and Gignac which were out of his control, lest he give-in to obscene demands. He also got us a left back-massive upgrade over the Praying Mantis- that we did overpay for IMO. With the price of Cissokho, we could've gotten two top quality CBs. Now, why not get these other smaller/cheaper pieces and replace them? Throw third striker and back-up DM in there as well. I know it's a difficult situation with Cris in that he's a captain and respected veteran, but they have to be seeing his deterioration even more than we do, and they don't try to bring-in someone in view of replacing him, and shed Mensah without replacing him either? I'm wondering how much he had to do with this summer's incoming group players' acquisitions. I have a feeling that Puel's transfer "coups" have been: 1). bringing in a ragged Piquionne and 2). Acquiring TK, a CFA player as a "replacement" for our only starting LB last year who was injured. I guess what I'm wondering is,is JMA really just going out with a shopping list that his coach is giving him an strickly sticking to it, or are they both complicit. Seems to me to be the former.
Theo Walcott 14

I think that Gaby will not come here.The transfer activities of OL for this summer are over.Mudingayi is not a bad player and would be a good back up for Toule and Makoun but it is hard to believe that this will happen.As Xavier wrote,Gaby is very close to sign for Napoli.We all know that our defence is SHIT.If we decide to buy this summer,our priority should be a CB.But this wont happen.The worst thing is that Aulas still thinks that we dont need a CB and is fine with Cris,Boumsong and Bodmer and when Cruel Puel gets fired it will be to late for the new Coach to buy someone.I dont know what you guys think but in my opinion Seguin has to play and with him Boumsong or even Bodmer and Cris should be in the stands.I liked Cris before and thought that he will be great this season.But he disappointed me in the pre season and in the match against Le Mans but I will give him another 3 matches before I finnaly stop liking him.

P.S.;Johnny you finnaly wrote a new post,I already thought you stoped writing,LOL.
Xavier

Johnny I think Gaby Mudingayi is headed to Napoli this week. Its a shame for Lyon because that guy is an M'bia type tough guy in the middle. And I hear you about a club president sitting on his ass while his ship sinks. But it could be worse. You could have Gervais Martel for example! Talk about a club with high expectations going to hell. No better example than Lens my friend. Go look at my latest post to see what disasters are taking place with the staff. I will be shocked if they survive the proverbial drop once again. I'm telling you that club is headed for obscurity. And though Lyon might not win the title this year they will surely get the Champions League money and they also boast one of the best youth systems in France so they are set for a long time to come.
lefutur

When you listen to the OL-TV broadcasts for the pre-season games and even against Le Mans, the Lyon commentators kept going on about how Cris was back in form and "imperial" and playing great again after his surgery last season. Even during the Le Mans games, after the goal that Cris was sort of responsible for, the commentators kept going on about how Cris was having a great game (!!?) I know that OLTV commentators are supposed to be positive and supportive of the team, but I honestly think that a lot of Lyon fans and possibly the staff are kind of in denial about Cris. I know that personally, I wanted to beleive that he was possibly going to have a great season and was pulling for him in the pre-season games. But reality set in and I quickly realized that his Policeman days were over.
Aditya

Cris was horrible against Le Mans. On that first goal he was at fault twice. He seemed lazy and overconfident. This won't do in Europe.

Plus Puel seriously needs to think about his tactics. Long balls won't work!