Sagnol’s Not Happy

November 27th, 2007 | by: Laurie |

So who else besides me thought that rightback Willy Sagnol would die with “Bayern Munich 4 Life” tattooed across his body?

He’s played there forever, and he was scheduled to become captain once Captain For Life Ollie Kahn finally retired. (Think that will ever happen?) And when he convinced his buddy Franck Ribery to join him, I figured Willy would go happily off into the sunset and retire as a Munich boy.

Apparently this won’t be the case. Willy is none too happy with Bayern management and is asking for a transfer in the winter window. And management is saying okay.

Bayern’s general manager Uli Hoeness said he and Sagnol had talked recently and that the Frenchman had expressed the desire to leave unless he could play.

“If he still wants to go four weeks from now, we’ll have to sit down together and discuss it,” Hoeness said Monday. “If he really comes up with a (new) club, we’ll have to consider it. We have too many players anyway. If one wants to leave, the club will not break apart,” Hoeness said.

Ouch.

Last I checked Willy wasn’t discussing the reason, but that quote pretty much says it all, and rumor has it he’s extremely unhappy with how he was treated during his injury recovery. And it also has to feel good that teams like Manchester United are expressing an interest in a player who’s turned thirty and is just coming off a seven-month injury.

I can’t say I blame Willy, but this gives me the same feeling I get when I learn two friends are getting divorced. I just wish it wasn’t happening. But at the same time, don’t we all want him somewhere he’ll feel cherished as a player?

Think that could happen at ManU?

UPDATE: The most recent rumor showing up in the French press is that OM is interested. A bit ironic to see Ribery going out and Sagnol coming in.

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http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/ Jan

According to the tabloids the true reason why Willy seeks to leave the club is: a woman. A woman that stalks him to be more precise and the easiest way for Willy and Gwen to find refuge is to leave the country. Makes more sense than this ‘no longer first choice in the team’ argument?

Anyway, with Valerien Ismael also leaving Munich in the winter, Ribery is slowly running out of translators. Only van Buyten is left, and he isn’t first choice in the team either…
Laurie

Ooh, interesting. I suppose the tabloid links are all in German?

Dammit, why can’t the French sensationalize like the rest of the world?!?(And I’ll take that back if somebody provides me with a link in French.)
Jean-Michel

I think Sagnol has a few good years left in him. Just hoping that he can bounce back from this injury and regain his rightful place on the NT. After comments like that from the coach, I’d be on the first plane to England.
Laurie

I’m updating the post with the latest rumor: Marseille.
http://lyon.theoffside.com Inara

As fantastic as it would be to have Sagnol back in France, I don’t see it happening. He’s too young for a “retirement” move, and unfortunately, that’s what L1 means to players in bigger clubs. Especially if he has other suitors interested in him.
http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/ Jan

Laurie: this was second-hand knowledge I picked up somewhere, but I scanned the webpage of the major tabloid paper and found the original article. If you dare you can check out this Google Translate version of it:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A//www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/sport/bundesliga/vereine/bayern/2007/11/26/liebes-chaos/sagnol-wechsel%2Cgeo%3D3062744.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8
http://lequipemoustache.blogspot.com L’Américain

I love Hoeness’ other quote on this matter:

Hoeness said: “You cannot take it all that seriously.

“I know Willy and he is a very emotional person. Yesterday he wanted to leave, today he wants to stay and tomorrow he will want a new contract.”

good ol’ German pragmatism.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/26112007/58/bundesliga-hoeness-believes-sagnol-stay.html

I hope he stays, my sister would be devastated if he left and I would have no one on Bayern to refer to as “a poor man’s Orlando Bloom”.
sandrahn

Damn! I want him to stay at Bayern! I love this Bayern team with Toni, Klose, RIBERY!RIBERY!RIBERY!, Ze Roberto, Lucio, Altintop, Podolski, Schweinsteiger, that kid Roos something or other. I’ve been anxiously awaiting Willy’s return to make this team even better! I’ve been watching nearly all their games this season. I hope he stays.

But PLEEEEEEEEEEZ, wherever you go, Willy, DON’T GO TO THE MANCS!!!! Don’t you dare! They’re already full of world class players (I’m terrified they’ll somehow finally get their hands on Anelka) and I’m sick to death of their arrogant belief that the English PL title is theirs by divine right and that no one else should dare to believe they deserve to have it. I wish Wenger weren’t so down on players who turn 30, I’d love to see him at Arsenal.

And Laurie, I have plenty of articles from sensationalistic French tabloid papers and magazines (from last summer) going on about a supposed secret affair between zizou and a French-Algerian singer whose name escapes me. You can find some good gossip in the French press.

On another subject entirely….I’ve finally understood why it is that there are always discrepancies between reports about call-ups for French players before a match. For years now I’ve tried to figure out why the call-up lists are different on the Arsenal website, the FFF website and on some other sites. Maybe you guys already knew this but I didn’t.

This month on the Arsenal.com online video page, there’s a two-part interview with Gael Clichy, whose ambition it is to become France’s #1 leftback (his model being Lizarazu). He’s already taken over the #1 spot in that position at Arsenal, replacing Ashley Cole so well that we gooners don’t miss Cole at all. If you’re willing to pay the equivalent of US$6 for one month, you can access the site’s videos to see the interview — there are interviews and press conferences with players including Gallas, the Flamster, Diarra and of course Le Boss.

Anyway, the interviewer asks Gael several questions about the French NT, including what it means when the FFF says a player has been “pre-selected.” Gael says it really means nothing — that many many players are “pre-selected” and never get on the bench, let alone the pitch. For him so far all it’s meant is that he gets some time off to relax and rest. It means that in a broadly official way, he’s a member of the NT but not in any really meaningful way.

It’s why there are always different lists published, the two get confused with the “pre-selected” players sometimes getting mixed up with the selected ones.
http://marseille.theoffside.com Massaer

In most cases, they called you pre-selected when the nt staff had called your club or yourself to ask about your suit size and global mensurations.
basically it means you’re in a short list of 40 for the nt coaches.
BUt normally the pre-selected ones are only leaked sometimes by clubs wanting to get the player’s value up. In no way was it supposed to be official.
Now the FFF does whatever they want