Friday Ramble: Changes
Who will be the new France coach? ACLs and Retirements. Plus, I answer your questions...
Interesting week. I’ve been following various stories pretty closely and I guess off the back of Corinne Diacre finally being removed as France head coach, the story has now moved on to who replaces her.
To be honest, the names heavily linked intrigue me. I don't know what the FFFs plans are, but they seem to be going out and targeting people who have little to no experience in the women's game.
Former Lille head coach Jocelyn Gourvennec seems to be the favourite, with Eric Blahic to return as assistant head coach. Blahic was one of many who left after becoming disgruntled under Diacre's leadership, but I believe the players like him, and Gourvennec in general did a good job in Lille, so it could be a fruitful partnership.
I don't know if they want the job, but there's some very good French managers in D1F, like Amandine Miquel at Stade de Reims, who doesn't have seem to have been linked at all, while Lyon were quick this week to announce Sonia Bompastor has signed a new deal, and links to PSG's Gerard Precheur seem to have gone quiet.
Sadly, the three letter term 'ACL' was also in the news again this week. When isn't it? We all hate seeing it, and if I don't know about anyone else, but I hate it more months before a World Cup. We've already likely lost the likes of Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema from the tournament, and this week we've lost one more, maybe two.
Brazil's Ludmila, who is a really exciting player to watch, even if maybe we haven't seen it as regular for Brazil as we have Atletico Madrid, has ruptured her ACL, while Canada's Janine Beckie went off with a knee injury for Portland Thorns earlier this week. Nothing confirmed on that yet, but you fear the worst.
I was really sad to see Carly Telford retire this week too, but unsurprised. She's had a fantastic career and I always felt went slightly underappreciated with England. Many know I wrote a column for her for four years between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups and we formed a really close working relationship, you have to when discussing topics such as that 2015 heartbreak, her serious shoulder injury in 2016, Mark Sampson's sacking in 2017 and her mum's tragic passing in 2018, which is still one of the hardest things I've ever written, and listening to Carly go through it was even harder.
Dzsenifer Marozsan also hung up her boots, from international football at least. What a player. I've only seen her live a couple of times but she always stood out as someone who was special, particularly when I watched her for Lyon against Manchester City back in 2017. Her in that midfield trio with Amandine Henry and Saki Kumagai is still the best midfield three I've watched live in my 10 years covering the sport.
I've had a fun week creating more content. I'm really fortunate, but have also worked hard, to be able to ring various people up at times to discuss things and do interviews. I had a great chat with former Barcelona director Maria Teixidor on Monday for an upcoming feature, as well as a hotshot international striker you probably haven't heard of.
It was also nice to get a message off one of Mary Fowler's ex-teammates at Montpellier about the interview I published with her at the end of last week. She only had good things to say about Mary and it's nice when fellow players take notice of what they're saying.
It's FA Cup weekend this weekend. Sadly, I won't be able to get to a game, but I'm putting it out there, I'm backing four away wins, but I'll be watching Aston Villa vs Manchester City in particular with some intrigue.
Check out over 100 more unique stories in WFC’s Premium section, available for just £45 for 12 months, paid in one go, or a £6 a month rolling subscription.
All subscriptions come with a 7-day free trial to allow you to explore our full archive.
Plus, guarantee you everything that is to come over the next 12 months…
Answering your Questions
Anne-Marie Batson - Is it time for professional referees in the women’s game?
It probably has been for a while, but it’s going to take time (and money) to a) train them and b) make sure they're ready for this level. But it does need sorting, from my experience in the Championship, it’s getting worse.
Ona Express - Do you see Skinner getting the sack if United fail to secure UWCL football for next season? If yes, then who according to you can help United in making that next step?
Not so much sacked, as technically his contract is up and they can just part ways. I think if they don’t make UWCL they could consider a change, but they also need to invest in-keeping with what the other three big teams are doing.
I think Skinner has done a good job this season and they’ve been in the top three the whole time, but he’ll be judged on whether they are there in May.
John D'Oh - Do you think that Thierry Henry is a good fit for the French WNT?
No, personally. But it does seem it won’t happen anyway. While a nice idea, his managerial record in the men’s game wouldn’t fill me with confidence.
ross - The hype around Leicester and Spurs being a potential relegation decider yesterday and a genuine "big match" in the season of the WSL has been overshadowed by the humiliating level of the broadcast as shown via the FA player. is there anything being done about improving the state of that? any acknowledgement from the FA that the FA player is not an acceptable standard for top flight football in 2023?
I asked this a while back and there are limitations on what they’re able to spend on the FA Player. It’s a great idea and one we shouldn’t take for granted because few other countries have anything similar, but it does need work and further investment, but I think they know that.
What you missed
An eclectic mix of articles this week, all of which I enjoyed delving into for different reasons, and one more big interview to come tonight!
Consider a paid subscription to get FULL access to the whole site…
FFF now has a chance for a fresh start