Philippe and Fabien, They’re Watching You!

Raymond Domenech announces his selections this Friday for the France-Argentina game on Feb. 7, so this is the week when the rumors start to fly.

Fabien Barthez performed this weekend under the watchful eyes of Bruno Martini, the keeper coach for Les Bleus. Nantes lost this weekend for the first time since Fabien came aboard, 2-0, which I believe drops them back into the relegation zone. Of all the games for him to pick, eh, Fabien?

Bruno was also at Gerland for Wednesday’s Lyon-Bordeaux match, which Lyon lost 1-2 without a still-injured Grégory Coupet. Was he there for Coupet, or for backup Lyon keeper Rémy Vercoutre? Poor Rémy has to be kicking himself, because this was not his finest hour. (Or hour-and-a-half.) Bordeaux went ahead in the first two minutes when they “were awarded a penalty following a rash challenge by Rémy Vercoutre.” Ooh. A seriously bad day… It’s too bad, too, because I watched a Champions League game last October or November where Rémy played an awesome game. But on the bright side, if I saw it, chances are that Bruno did too.

Also observed this week was AS Roma centerback Philippe Mexès . I guess it pays to be the squeaky wheel, since our Philippe was just whining pointing out last month that nobody from Les Bleus ever came to visit. I probably shouldn’t complain about Philippe though. Les Bleus are going to be hurtin’ in back this game, with both Gallas and Thuram probably out. (I think I just read that Thuram suffered a reinjury this week.) If Philippe can be our saviour… Well, I’ll be happy to put aside my frequently-mentioned bias against pretty blond players with fanzines.