Unless you've been living under a shell this past week, you'll have heard the drama going on regarding the timing of Lyon's match with Grenoble. Here is a recap of the situation:

Two days after the game in Real Madrid, the LFP decided to grant Lyon's request that they be given an extra day of rest in order to prepare for the first leg of the quarterfinals.

This week's rumors.

IN:

ADIL RAMI: Rami's the hotest rumor going around this week. After Bernard Lacombe's first choice for CB Bruno Alves has fizzled out. OL are said to be in direct contact with Lille for Claude Puel's prefered candidate to replace Boumsong, Adil Rami.

This is a very, very odd kit one might even say ugly so the only possible thing to do for Lyon was to host an open air gala with circus performers enjoying dinner vertically, amongst many other things you will never see at a kit release. To be honest, it looks like a vaudevillian ode to adidas; or perhaps Cirque du Aulas (is that a Lyon nickname?

This July has had to have been the slowest transfer month in OL history, but have no fear: JMA says that things will definetly pick-up soon. Aulas says that he wants the squad to be trimmed down to twenty-five players from the current twenty-eight, so that will mean at least four to five players will have to leave: Boumsong, Kallstrom, Anderson, Mensah, and Piquionne being the prime candidates for departure.

Saturday, August 07, 2010
Stade Municipal de Gerland, Lyon
21:00CET, 20:00 GMT, 3EST

Saturday, Lyon welcome AS Monaco FC to Gerland, to kick-off the first match of the '10-'11 season. After two seasons away from the top spot in the league, Lyon is heavily favored to regain their crown this year, and the staff and players are rearing to go.

This afternoon, Lyon's newest acquisition took center stage at a press conference at Gerland. Gourcuff reportedly put pen-to-paper on a five year deal, and his purchase price was said to be 22M€ + an eventual 4M€ commision, payable to Bordeaux upon Yoann's eventual sale.

After a hectic week that will have seen crowd-pleasing Yoann Gourcuff finally join Lyon, welcomed by 12.000 supporters, a fresh wind of hope seemed to blow on the club. From Aulas (presenting this transfer as one in a president's career) to Lisandro (with the morale at an all time low due to the persistance of his injury), everyone seemed revamped by this long expected arrival, hoping for a collective boost.

After a hectic week that will have seen crowd-pleasing Yoann Gourcuff finally join Lyon, welcomed by 12.000 supporters, a fresh wind of hope seemed to blow on the club. From Aulas (presenting this transfer as one in a president's career) to Lisandro (with the morale at an all time low due to the persistance of his injury), everyone seemed revamped by this long expected arrival, hoping for a collective boost.

I think it's time we talked about the coaching situation. I know many of you no longer have confidence in Puel, and it looks like the players don't either. Many questioned why Puel was kept on despite staying trophy-less for two seasons while a guy like Alain Perrin were forced to leave after winning more trophies than any other OL manager.

*Apologies for the quality, best one I could find at the time

The history between these two teams is a tale of two eras. Historically, Bordeaux have dominated the matchup, winning 20 and drawing 15 of the past 45 Ligue 1 matches. The more recent history tells a different story.

Did I just witness a key moment in Ligue 1 history? I guess we won't know until the end of the season, but that won't stop Saint-Etienne fans from celebrating like they just doomed their local rivals, Olympique Lyonnais, to relegation in Ligue 2. To the more objective observer, it's a long way from that.

Just view the images of Laurent Battles at the 61st minute of yesterday's game, knocked out by a full blow free kick from Michel Bastos and you'll imagine how I felt after this derby. I needed to sleep (or at least try) over the game to sort out my thoughts. Today I gave up trying to make a synthesis and decided to share the four facets of this game that are still revolving in my post-game thoughts.

This picture (of Marseille President, Jean-Claude Dassier) makes *so* much more sense now!

Le Parisien has revealed the salaries pocketed by the French league's reigning Presidents. As always, money in sports is always an interesting topic.

I know where Zeus will be in a few hours : On Mont Olympus, in front of his TV watching the epic encounter of the two Olympiques.

Football lovers will remember the OL-OM of last season, a crucial game gone crazy that ended with a 5-5. The ball was going from one side to the other, there was tension, there was joy, then anger, then joy again.