French fancies

French Fancies: PSG demand an early bath from football for Butting Brandão

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Steed's pre-match warmup?
Steed’s pre-match warmup?

Any day now, we may hear from some football official in Sao Paulo, having taken lessons from the Uruguayan FA following the Luis Suarez biting scandal, that Europeans just don’t understand Latin American footballing traditions.

There are clues as to what possessed Bastia’s Brazilian Evaeverson Lemos da Silva, commonly known as Marlon Brandão, to lie in wait as the teams walked towards the dressing rooms after PSG’s 2-0 victory at the Parc des Princes on Saturday night.

He then butted another Brazilian-born player, Thiago Motta, breaking his nose (NB to sub-editors the English-speaking world over: headbutt it tautologous) before scampering off with Motta and bloodied nose in pursuit. See the clip below.

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French Fancies: the first dive of the season? Arise Ibrahimovic

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Monsieur Salut wondered whether to drop the diving question from the coming season’s Who are You? interviews.

Arise Sir Zlatan. Well, arise from the ground once your early-season spot of cheating is over and one with.

Tell me convincingly Ibrahimovic was truly fouled, didn’t dive, “was entitled to go down”, “isn’t that kind of lad” and I’ll reconsider my decision that the question stays.

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French Fancies: Steed marches on and Nancy fans show Sunderland the way

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This week, we combine a very brief Salut! Sunderland’s Week with an even briefer French Fancies …

No need to rely on the French speakers in the Sunderland squad – Sess and Mig for starters but who knows what other linguists lurk in the dressing room? – to get the message of this photo, taken at the home ground of the French Ligue 1 side (for now) Nancy, across in time for the Britannia. We’re not talking A level or degree stuff.

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French Fancies: a day that broke some hearts in Monte Carlo

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First Lewis Hamilton got himself into trouble with Formula 1 race stewards after his misfired gag – “maybe it’s because I’m black …That’s what Ali G says,” he said with a smile about being penalised in the Monaco Grand Prix – and then Monaco went down. And this, to the relief of those without the least interest in le football, is the last French Fancies of the season …

Patrice Carteron

Well Patrice Carteron’s Dijon were already up, and yesterday Eric Roy’s Nice survived the dramatic final day of Ligue 1 despite losing at Valenciennes, so once-mighty Monaco joined once-mighty Nantes in France’s Championship equivalent, Ligue 2. There was nothing much at stake at the top, of course, because the title was already Lille’s.

Monaco’s fate was in their own hands, but the fixtures list left them a tough last game, against Lyon at home, and they lost 2-0. That meant they could stay up only if Nancy stumbled at home to already-relegated Lens. Nancy 4 Lens 0 soon snipped that lifeline.

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French Fancies: hail Lille and – nearly – Patrice Carteron’s Dijon

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Image: FC Lille

Lille’s 2-2 draw at Paris Saint-Germain last night was enough to bring them the cup-and-league double – they had already beaten PSG in the final of the Coupe de France – and a promise by the club president Michel Seydoux to throw a “huge party in this marvellous city”.

That’s a great achievement for a relatively unfashionable club that will do well to hang on to its better players. It is only their third Ligue 1 title, though their second double (look back to 1946 for the first). I did help a little by predicting a comfy late cruise to the championship for Marseille but the record books are unlikely to acknowledge this contribution.

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The curse of Chamakh: Bordeaux tears = Salut! smiles

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Jean TiganaImage: Nicksarebi


Another edition of French Fancies and another irresistible pop at Bordeaux. And vote for Salut! Sunderland in the EPL TALK Club Blog awards by clicking here …

No football manager, or anyone else for that matter, should have to complain that his 16-year-old daughter was made to suffer verbal abuse from some low-life “fan” or “fans” during a match, the episode distressing or worrying enough to cause the girl to leave the stand at half-time.

So for that, Salut! Sunderland offers sympathy and support to Jean Tigana, until last night the boss of les Girondins de Bordeaux. And we’d add that we have absolutely nothing against him in any case, since he was not even at the club when the events involving Sunderland AFC occurred.

That is where sympathy ends and gloating begins. Bordeaux 0 Sochaux 4, all the goals coming in the first half, indeed the first half an hour, is a deeply satisfying result that adds a little spice to the weekend’s other gratifying scoreline of Bolton 1 SAFC 2.

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