Weekend Reading Material as We Wait for the Lille Match
By: Martha | August 2nd, 2008
Given the expression on Chouf’s face, I’m going to guess Ospina’s French is still pretty bad.
Could someone please explain what’s going on with Cedric Kanté? Last week, he was complaining about how the club weren’t interested in extending his contract beyond its current 2009 end because of all the central defenders in the team. Now, though, it turns out they’ve offered him a two-year extension, and he turned it down. He also refused to go to to ASSE earlier this summer (allegedly) because he wasn’t their first choice (he is not a “fallback solution”), hints at interest in him from PSG, and then hastens to add that he is not unhappy at Nice. Well, hell, I should hope not — I think he played more matches than anyone in the team last season, so it’s hard to understand where all this is coming from. Anyone? Is it just that he wants to make more money, and knows he’d have to move to do that? Or is he an egomaniac who wants the armband and a statue outside the new ground? I’ve love to hear what everyone thinks and/or knows, cos I’m almost entirely ignorant about his history.
Away from Kanté, there’s been a lot of talk about Rémy in the press lately, since he played at Lyon and is about to start his first season EVAR as a first-team regular. In interviews, he comes across as very focused and entirely realistic about the amount of pressure he’s under, and how high the expectations for him are in Nice; it’s nice (haha) to see a young player willingly taking on challenges rather than laughing and pretending they’re not there. And he’s a realist in other ways, too — among the reason he came to Nice were a)the weather, and b)the fact that, out of all his suitors, Nice “responded most to [his] demands.” Gotta love the honesty, right?
Also:
•The team trained at the Ray in front of supporters yesterday. There are pictures, and the official site insists that Yahia scored twice on bicycle kicks, but I’m not sure I believe it.
•Latest rumored transfer target: Bobô (the Brazilian at Besiktas, not the Italian one at Atlanta, or the guy who plays at Celtic) — Foot Mercato claim Nice are interested but haven’t made an offer.
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Reading the Kante interview in the original, my sense is that he’s rather upset at all of the departures over the summer, and doesn’t want to be stuck there as the one left to turn out the lights (or turn them on in L2). At the same time, he knows that he will start at OGCN, and doesn’t want to sit on the bench somewhere else (unless there is a lot of money in it, which is likely not the case chez les Verts).
One of those “prove your love” situations, then.
Sounds like Lloris had a blinder in the Trophee des Champions today. Sniff.
Posted from
Italy
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Thanks, Ursus. Being upset by the departures makes sense, but he can’t possibly be surprised by them — Rémy’s only just arrived and is already talking about the team as a launching pad to Bigger Things.
And he saved two PKs, too! Sigh. Just need to get Ospina one of those Matrix (the movie, not the slow-moving Italian)-style plugs in the back of his neck to learn a bit of French, and maybe everything will be fine …
Posted from
United States -
What’s he surprised by is that they haven’t been accompanied by the kind of signings he was led to expect.
On verra.
Posted from
Italy -
BTW, in case you (or anyone else) missed it on the Girondins blog, here is a link from which one can download issues of Issa Nissa, the unofficial OGCN magazine.
http://www.issanissa.com/Magazine/
Being Nicois, they haven’t produced an issue since last season (it’s summer after all), but “watch this space” for more homegrown goodness (not in the Humboldt County sense).
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Italy
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