Oh Jean-mimi. How you love to find new ways to make people hate you (outside of Lyon, that is).

This morning, in a rather long interview in which Jean-Michel Aulas touched upon various subjects such as Laurent Blanc, the title race, and Hatem Ben Arfa, he also spoke about his regrets at being unable to sign Yoann Gourcuff two years ago from Rennes.

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If any of you read my match preview of yesterday's Coupe de la Ligue game against Metz, you can see that I was expecting a comfortable win for my team. Not champagne football, but a solid, no-nonsense victory. But it turns out that I, along with the entire squad of Olympique Lyonnais, am now being punished for such arrogance.

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Fred was very pissed yesterday when, as he was walking off the pitch during a substitution, he was booed rather voraciously by the home crowd at the Gerland. Sayz Fred:

"It's very difficult. Every time, it's the same thing - the fans are angry with me and whistle at me.

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Remember how I said that China were becoming Lyon's new best friends? Well, it looks like Aulas takes this BFF business seriously because today Lyon launched a Chinese version of their official website, thanks to a partnership with TitanSport, a Chinese sports media giant.

Pretty soon OL will be signing token Chinese players a la Manchester United.

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It looks like the threats of Jean-Michel Aulas to quit if the city continued to deadlock Lyon's plans for a new stadium have finally forced the city leaders into committing to Project OL Land, now scheduled to be completed on June 2013.

The agreement was signed by six parties: Olympique Lyonnais, the State, the department of the Rhone region, Grand Lyon (the greater agglomeration of Lyon), the city of Decines, and Systral (in charge of transporation in Lyon).

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It's international week, so things are rather quiet on the Lyon front. Here's what's been going on:

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Fabio Grosso is back in training and is expected to play against Lille on October 18th. This is good news because if he does well, he play against Steaua a few days later.

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These 3-0 losses are starting to turn into a yearly ritual. A humiliating one.

The game was so bad that Lyon's official website posted a highlight video that was only three minutes long - usually they are around twenty minutes. Watching it, I realized why. Apart from Mickael Pagis's three goals, not much else happened.

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According to L'Equipe, this is Lyon's best league start to a season since 2001/2002. Unbeaten in all their games, with five wins and a draw, they are already four points ahead of second placed Marseille. And despite having a defense that would make even the bravest of people whimper with fear, Lyon conceded only two goals so far, giving them the best defense in the league.

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I wasn't planning a post on Lyon's supposed interest in Samuel Eto'o because I thought that these rumors would have blown away by now, but with my inbox flooded with over thirty google alerts in four different languages - in just one day - I guess I need to be more proactive about it.

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My second favorite signing of the season- and I'm sure Cris' favorite- was realized on Monday. John Mensah is officially Lyon's new left-center back. After weeks of waiting for Sebastian Squillaci's transfer to FC Sevilla to be finalized, Mensah is Lyonnais.

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Disclaimer: I know that it's been a week now since Hatem Ben Arfa left Lyon for Marseille. Both John and Magnusson have covered this topic very thoroughly, so most of you are probably tired of hearing about it.

But I just can't let this go.

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In a recent interview in L'Equipe, Alain Perrin spoke about his relationship with Jean Michel Aulas and certain members of the Lyon coaching staff during his tenure as manager. Perrin described the internal and external pressures- JMA and two members of the coaching staff- which created an atmosphere of hostility and the eventual scapegoating that marred his term as coach.

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The latest news from this week...Due to the amount of material covered, I didn't post links to the original sources like I normally do, but if you want them, let me know.

OUTGOING:

FRED: Is it just me, or does Fred spend an inordinate amount of time making life difficult for the rest of us?

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After several weeks of waiting, one of the least suspenseful signings of the summer has been realized. Former Lille LOSC and Monaco manager Claude Puel is officially the new manager of Lyon. The contract is said to be for 4 years and JMA has agreed to a compensation package with Lille for the manager's signature.

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Lyon have officially announced that they are "reorganizing" the management of the club.

From the press release on the official website:

The Board of Directors of OL Groupe convened this morning to review the 2007/2008 season of Olympique Lyonnais' men's team.

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I'm not a fan of Alain Perrin, but I'm starting to think he's getting the raw end of the deal.

Here's a guy who finished the year with 79 points, who led Lyon to their first ever domestic double, who - after an admittedly bad start to the Champions League - resurrected Lyon's European campaign admirably well, who helmed Lyon during one of the worst injury crises in their history, who put up with the overbearing pair of Jean-Michel Aulas and Bernard Lacombe, who takes crap from everybody, and who, despite all this, remained discrete and never once mouthed off in the press.

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I'm not a fan of Alain Perrin, but I'm starting to think he's getting the raw end of the deal.

Here's a guy who finished the year with 79 points, who led Lyon to their first ever domestic double, who - after an admittedly bad start to the Champions League - resurrected Lyon's European campaign admirably well, who helmed Lyon during one of the worst injury crises in their history, who put up with the overbearing pair of Jean-Michel Aulas and Bernard Lacombe, who takes crap from everybody, and who, despite all this, remained discrete and never once mouthed off in the press.

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If any of you are keeping up with the U17 Euro Championship, France defeated Ireland 2-1 in the tournament opener, thanks to goals from Lyon players. Four of them started the match (Clement Grenier, Yanis Tafer, Enzo Reale, and Sebastien Faure), and the fifth, Alexandre Lacazette, was brought on in the second half.

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Normally, a rumor like this aren't worth the paper it's written on. But when L'Equipe gets involved, that means that something is afoot between the Rhone and the French Riviera.

Word is that Marseille would be willing to exchange Samir Nasri for Hatem Ben Arfa.

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Fabio Grosso's week isn't getting any better. Last weekend, he was verbally abused by Strasbourg coach Jean-Marc Furlan for being a "piece of macaroni shit." Today, during Lyon's 2-2 draw against Caen, Grosso was sent off, the third Lyon player to be red carded this year.

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Alain Perrin on the atmosphere surrounding him at the moment:

"It doesn't stop me from sleeping. We'll see what happens at the end of the season. The president said he'd make a decision after the last league match (against Auxerre on May 17). Regardless, my departure has been the main topic all season.

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I admit that I have a rather unhealthy obsession with Raymond Domenech. Even if his decision making is suspect, his tact is nonexistent, and his best quality is his amazing ability to piss people off, I just can't help liking him. Maybe it's because everyone else hates him, or maybe it's because he's a Lyon legend.

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Remember the game that Lyon barely won against Valenciennes? Well, two weeks and three games later, Lyon prove that they can play even more fantastically shitty. Hell, they make it look easy!

So if you've been wondering why I haven't been around the last week or so, it's because Lyon have been embarrassing themselves lately, and I didn't want to associate myself with that.

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This has got to be the worst year for Lyon in terms of injuries. Important players keep dropping like flies, right when things are getting crucial.

Last weekend against Marseille, Jeremy Toulalan and Fred were both carried off the pitch within the first half hour.

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This is it, guys. The clash of the titans, the SuperClassico, the game of the year. But whatever you call this match, it's France's two biggest teams facing off against each other in what is sure to be an electric encounter.

Marseille vs. Lyon may lack the history and passions of a derby or the desperation of a title/relegation battle, but if you want to see the best L1 has to offer, this game would be it.

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This morning, Forbes published a list of the top ten "Super-Stadiums" that are in the process of being built. Of the ten, four of them will be football stadiums, and only two of them will be located outside the United States, the home to all things grand and excessive.

The mother ship has landed.

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At least the ladies team isn't. OL Féminines, UEFA Women's Cup debutants, are currently the only French team - male or female - that are still in Europe.

Jean-Michel Aulas has thrown all his considerable weight behind Lyon's ladies team, who have the weight of an entire nation on their shoulders.

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Let's get something straight. Almost everyone hates Raymond Domenech. He says outrageous things, pisses off players and managers alike with his antics, and has so many enemies that he ought to look into hiring a bodyguard. But he brings a smile to my face, and dammit, I like the guy.

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Now that Karim Benzema and Jeremy Toulalan have extended their contracts, Jean-Michel Aulas is turning his attention to another one of Lyon's young talents.

Hatem Ben Arfa has endured a tough couple of weeks since behind relegated to the bench.

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France Football magazine, Lyon's #1 enemy, recently revealed the fact that Jean-Michel Aulas had offered Jose Mourinho the coaching position at Lyon.

Apparently, Aulas approached the Special One with the offer of heading Lyon's long term project, which is to win the Champions League within two to three years.

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Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas is boiling hot at the endless speculation by the British press that Manchester United are certain to launch a multimillion dollar bid for their 20-year old French international striker Benzema. Aulas has hit out at the typical British tabloid section who keep in splashing such speculations which are often without any [. Click to continue reading...

Normally I do an extensive post match review of all Champions League games, but lab has been crazy. Forgive me? In lieu of a review though, here is an assortment of news related to the game:

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This is worse than a laser attack if you ask me.

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You would think that Lyon have reincarnated versions of Pele and Maradona the way clubs are acting these days. It's honestly getting ridiculous and downright tiring.

I'm sure by now many of you have heard of the latest rumors about Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa.

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After months of fighting negotiating, the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) have finally struck a deal for Ligue 1's broadcasting rights for 2008-2012. You can read my previous updates here and here, which explain the situation in some detail.

The last deal, worth €600m (well, actually €653m) with Canal+ being the main buyers, was at the time of its signing the most expensive TV deal in the footballing world.

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On allegations that Milan Baros might be making a January move...

"I have not received an approach. But I am a little bit deaf right now and there are some instances when I don't hear everything...I have still not met the player but [sporting director] Bernard Lacombe and [general manager] Marino Faccioli have seen him and they explained to him that the best way to show that he is indispensable to us - or for anyone else if that is the case - is to deliver the goods on the pitch.

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