Paris is perhaps the most productive city for player development in the world. But could you beat one of the richest, most global clubs in football using only players from the City of Lights? Martin Vert has been set that challenge.
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Christmas in Paris is always a magical time. The Christmas market goes up along the Champs Elysees, the Eiffel Tower is covered in lights, and the bells of the various churches and cathedrals ring out. I can hear Sacre-Coeur from my office, when I’m around the Bauer.
I’ve got Steve for Secret Santa this year. He’s getting coal. And he should be grateful. He’s rejected my request for a Senior Affiliate yet again, and Stephane Paganelli and Shay Given both have to talk be down from shitting in a bag and lobbing it at him. Bastard.
It might be too much to hope that Patrice is going to give me a shiny, world class striker for Christmas. I don’t want much, just a Kylian Mbappe or, if that’s a bit far-fetched, a Jonathan Ikone. But the budget’s tight, and our reputation hasn’t yet caught up with our league position. Speaking of which, Nantes are next up.
They are inconsistent, capable of the sublime and the ridiculous, and sit in mid-table, seven points below us. In Alban Lafont they have a very good goalkeeper, probably not much worse than Fofana, and the jewel in their crown is summer signing Billy Gilmour. But the quality isn’t spread around the squad, and they both score too few and concede too many. Time to get back to winning ways. Farrugia and Camara come back in, and Brahimi drops into the midfield.
Defensively, we are a shambles. Nantes scythe through us time and again, and this time not even Yahia Fofana can do anything to stop the firepower of Uros Durdevic. But, strangely for us, we are making chances at the other end to. I encourage them at half time, and Tattevin gets his first of the season right after the restart. Durdevic restores the two goal lead and I think it’s over, but a defensive mix up lets N’Goura break through, and he finishes well. In the last minute, Sissoko hits a hopeful cross toward the far post, and it loops over everyone except for Tattevin, who equalises. There’s even time for him to hit the post for what would have been the winner and his hat trick.
Next up is a big occasion; my 100th game in charge of Red Star. It seems like a long way away, that first 2-1 win away at Boulogne, but we have progressed magnificently. We want it to be a celebration, and the fixture computer has given us the best chance of that with the visit of rock bottom Strasbourg to the Pierre-Brisson.
They have won just one game all season, and are five points from safety. They don’t concede as many as you might think, but they can’t score at all, finding the net just seven times in their 15 matches. Summer recruit Noah Okafor, signed from RB Salzburg for €2m is the standout, but there isn’t a whole lot of quality in the squad. I move Doukansy into the backline – we seem more solid when he’s there – and shuffle accordingly. Let’s get another clean sheet, with a Tattevin performance like last time, and have a proper win.
Well, they don’t go down quietly, but they go down eventually. We get a let off when Okafor fires past Fofana on half an hour, only to find himself offside, and we use their disappointment to our advantage when Tattevin wins a penalty, which Doukansy fires into the top corner like a vintage Alan Shearer. Strasbourg keep us at arm’s length through the second half too, until Tattevin turns on the edge of the box and also fires home. 2-0 is a landslide in these parts, and I’m delighted.
Brest are up next, and they represent a couple of milestones. Firstly, the are the final team we play this year, and will mean we have played exactly half our games. Which wouldn’t mean a lot, except that I think anything over 30 points keeps you up in this division, and we’re on 29. It would be a massive confidence boost to get over that number before Christmas. Alongside that, Fofana needs just one more Man of the Match performance to overtake Damien Durand-Durand’s record from our first season. Again, to do this before Christmas would be a great achievement, but regardless of when it comes it underlines the big man’s importance. They sit in mid table, so we’ll stay as we are and hope to build on the Strasbourg performance.
They make us work for it, and take an early lead through Honorat, and I think we’re in for a long afternoon. But despite being a consistent threat on the counter, that’s about as good as it gets for Brest. We get in at half time just the one goal down and I impress upon the side how much better we need to be in their box, and they listen. I bring on N’Goura alongside Tattevin, and he opens the scoring just past the hour. Barreto finds Traore to give us the lead with a few minutes left on the clock, and then Tattevin makes it safe, turning home from close range. A lovely way to go into Christmas.
Ligue 1 has some strange end of year shenanigans, and I don’t mean that suspicious looking “coal” Steve found under the giant communal Christmas tree. For some reason, there are awards to be handed out midway through the season, and Yahia Fofana is named the Revelation of the Year. Which he richly deserves. My present is slightly more in the “Steve’s coal” variety, as Jason Tre, Mamadou Tounkara, Rosario Latouchent and Tristan Muyumba form a queue outside my office to complain about their playing time. Tre and Muyumba throw their toys out of the pram and force loans to the third tier, and Tounkara just seems to have decided to hang around and sour the atmosphere. Latouchent is the only reasonable one who accepts that the club have developed, and accepts they he is now just a squad player. We’ll need some replacements in January.
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