[Nacho]

Los Chicos de Boulogne!

28.6.08.
When I quit the Brazilian national side back in May, I promised both myself and my family that I'd take a year out of football. I'd relax, I'd take it easy and I'd be stress-free, football-free for one whole year.

Well, that went out of the window earlier when Rámon, my agent, contacted me today regarding the Paris Saint-Germain job.

Apparently, Paul le Guen had quit for personal reasons and the club's chairman, Sébastien Bazin, had myself at the top of his list to replace the Frenchman. Despite the fact that I'd never managed a club, day-to-day, Mr. Bazin made it clear to Rámon that a contract in the French capital was awaiting my signature.

Against the wishes of my wife Donatella, I've agreed to travel to Paris with Rámon tomorrow for a meeting with Mr. Bazin where we'll talk football.

Until then, I'll make the most of this Cyprus sun...



1.7.08.
Wow. Just a few short days ago, I was enjoying a relaxing holiday with my family in Cyprus, soaking up the sun on our yacht.

Now, I'm officially the head coach of Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain.

Myself and Ramon met with Mr. Bezin, or 'Séb', as I've been asked to call him, the other night in a luxury French hotel not far from the city centre. The meeting went very well, everything felt right and Séb really made me feel wanted. I had no hesitation in signing a one-year contract the following afternoon.

PSG, as Séb revealed, had gone through a tough couple of seasons and, despite winning the Coupe de la Ligue last season, spent the majority of the time fighting relegation. Through success in the domestic trophy scene, a UEFA Cup spot had been secured and I was expected to simply give the Parisian fans a sign that things were improving, nothing spectacular.

Today, we visisted the stadium and the training centre, where I met both players and staff.

The Parc des Princes is stunning, a real modern stadia in which has a capacity of 48,500. I can't wait to see it full.

At the training ground, which is up there with some of europe's elite, I met the players the first time. Some I knew through the international scene; Makélélé, Kezman, Rothen, whilst I was also in the know with most of them, the youth players were of course new to me.

Oh, myself and Donatella (Still not happy about my bailing out of a family holiday) also agreed the rent of a beautiful apartment on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, it's €1,500 per-month which is ideal considering Séb is throwing €7,250 in my direction at the end of every working week.

OUR NEW APARTMENT

4.7.08.
I had the players in for the first session of pre-season training this morning, some trained like they'd never been on holiday whilst a few quite visably had one too many Coronas over the summer.

Along with Stéphane Wiertelak, our head of fitness, we've created a very effective training programme in which should whip the players right back into shape. This will be applied to our training until the final pre-season friendles.

Speaking of which, Séb made me aware of our pre-season friendlies schedule;

We'll kick-off with a trip to local club Moissy-Cramayel on 10th July before we travel to our Italian based training camp on the 14th July for five days, taking on Italian sides Potenza (16th July) and Arezzo (18th July). Then, we'll travel to Portugal for an away game at Vit. Setúbal. Finally, we end pre-season with two games at the Parc des Princes - Italnan outfit Parma on 29th July and Hertha BSC of Germany on the 2nd August.

I'm known all over the city already, it's crazy. Myself and Donatella decided to take a walk through Paris the other day, taking in the Eifell Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and such. Everywhere we went, PSG fans stopped me, the attention was unreal.

The plan is to make them proud to be Parisian fooball fans, once again.

[Nacho]

Los Chicos de Boulogne!

7.7.08.
Séb and his wife, Penelopé, treated myself and Donatella to an evening in Paris last night; We dined on the second tier of the Eifell Tower, enjoyed some of France's finest wine on board a small boat on the river Siene before taking in the famous Moulin Rouge show.

I didn't see Séb release one euro, either. A simple shake of the hand, a wink and we were covered. Clearly, he's a figure in Paris.

Football-wise, we made our first signings of the season this morning. Both Alex Teixeira and Dani Parejo arrived from Botofogo and Real Madrid, respectively. I know Alex from the Brazilian under-21's and was made aware of Parejo through Alain Roche, our chief scout.

Also, our head of youth development, Jean-Luc has arranged the transfer of a young Czech from Prague who's name I can't remember, but who's ability and potential has been highlighted.

MOULIN ROUGE, WHAT A SHOW!

9.7.08.
The players didn't train this morning, but I had them in for a meeting at the training centre where both myself and Yves, my assistant, made tha squad aware that we'd be favouring a younger side for tomorrow's game against Moissy-Cramayel.

The logic behind that is fitness. Stéphane has made it clear that our top players, after a grueling season last term, are more suited to intense training right now as opposed to match practice, so we've decided to go with that.

I also have the great news that my close friend and ex-Brazil coach Rogério Lorenço has arrived in Paris to take on the role of first team coach. Rogério is a superb coach, the players will really benefit from his presence.



10.7.08.
We won 6-1 earlier in Moissy, a solid performance in which we managed to entitle match time to a more than fifteen players which was ideal.

Our passing was accurate and, in attack, we were clinical. However, conceding was a huge down point.

Young Bafodé Diakhaby, a nineteen year-old wing-back, was a stand-out and managed to get himself on the scoresheet. As did Alex, but Dani Parejo missed a penalty.

I loved being back in the dugout, it's amazing to believe that I was planning on walking away management for a while in little over one week ago.



15.7.08.
We arrived in Italy this afternoon for our training camp along with two friendlies against local opposition.

The camp is stunning, situated right under a mountain in the middle of nowhere, but with facilities that some of the world's biggest clubs can only dream of. Our hotel, a five-star Victorian mansion, is only half-a-mile down the road which is handy.

OUR ITALIAN TRAINING CAMP... STUNNING!

16.7.08.
We had another successful outing today, taking victory from our game against Potenza with a 3-0 win.

Sessegnon, a new arrival prior to myself, netted twice whilst Clément Chantóme, a young midfielder with huge potential also scored.

More than twenty of our players took to the park which was ideal, the main priority of pre-season friendlies is to increase match fitness and awareness.



18.7.08.
Another 3-0 victory in our second and final game of our time in Italy. Our opponents Arezzo pushed us before we grabbed the game by the neck, kept the ball on the ground and started playing some decent football.

Arnaud, Kezman and Bourillon netted in front of 6,800 fans which we didn't expect. Yves and myself were shocked at the turn-out, some first division sides struggle to attain those sort of attendance numbers.



22.7.08.
We arrived in Setúbal this evening in preperation for our friendly with Vit. Setubal tomorrow night, the flight took no longer than an hour.

However, it wasn't without drama as Jéróme Rothen, one of our senior players, took major advantage in the all inclusive flight plan and indulged in one too many shots of vodka.

I don't wish to go into too much detail, but words were exchanged between Rothen and my coaching staff and, from his end, they were of an unacceptable nature. I won't tolerate that, so Jéróme was on the first flight back to Paris and I'll deal with that matter when we return.

In other news, our nineteen year-old midfielder Anthony Buon has joined Sedan on loan for the season. Buon impressed me in Italy, so I felt that first team experience could really develop him and when Sedan enquired, I had no hesitation.



23.7.08.
Four out of four in pre-season. We won 2-1 tonight, showing character as we came from behind.

The quality of opposition increased significantly tonight and that seemed to rock us at first as we conceded in under ten minutes, but we settled and made them play our game, a patient, passing game in which worked.

We levelled though Ludovic (Guily) and took the lead thanks to an own-goal which, to be fair, was going whether the defender got the touch or not.

ESTÁDIO DO BONFIM, HOME OF VIT. SETÚBAL!

29.7.08.
Tonight saw our first appearance at the Parc des Princes against Serie B outfit Parma and, despite just a 12,100 crowd, I was as proud as you can be to lead the side out into such an arena and call it 'home'.

The fans were right behind us from the word go and Parma seemed intimidated as we took the game 1-0 thanks to Éverton Santos.

I invited Leonardo to the game as my guest, I know him through the Brazil set-up and was amde aware of his availability by an old friend in the Ajax scouting department. I'd like to think that we can bring him in, Séb's working on a deal with the Dutch club whilst I sell the club to the player.

Regarding Jéróme Rothen, I've suspended the player for two weeks and fined him those wages for that fortnight. His attitude regarding the whole issue isn't that of a sorry man and that'll cost him, I have no place in my squad for a character as such.



30.7.08.
Today, Éverton Santos, last night's goalscorer, left the club in a loan deal at FSV Frankfurt where he'll spend the season.

First-team football is a must for the twenty-one year-old Brazilian and the German side have offered the lad that, I'll be keeping an eye on him.

[Nacho]

Los Chicos de Boulogne!

2.8.08.
We completed our final match of pre-season tonight against Bundesliga side Hertha BSC who held us to a 0-0 draw, we dominated and should have taken something from the game.

I fielded the strongest side since I've arrived with players such as Makélélé, Kezman, Sakho, Pancrate and Armand in the starting line-up. Hertha coped, though, and hung on.

Our first Ligue 1 game of the season is next, Caen travel to the Parc des Princes. I'm confident, we've looked good in pre-season and the players are ready.

I've given the lads the next few days off, they've trained hard over the past month and Stéphane believes that a rest period would do them good.



6.8.08.
I decided to splash out on a car this morning, I had a feeling that Séb was coming tired of paying for limos to transport me from A to B, so I headed down to the the local dealership and coughed up €75,000 for a Porsche 911. Stunning, it is.

MY NEW WHEELS!

9.8.08.
Our Ligue 1 campaign got off to a great start this evening with a 1-0 win against Caen tnaks to some superb build-up play which lead to Sessegnon netting on his official debut for the club.

Sadly, there were still a number of empty seats within the arena like in pre-season. The lads need the full-backing from the support this season and, athough last season was tough for Parisian fans, I'm sure that we can turn it around.

Myself and Yves agreed on 4-4-2 for the first game, the same formation in which served us well in pre-season. Up top, Hoarau played as our target man, knocking the ball down to Mateja Kezman.



10.8.08.
We brought in Prince Oniangue today, Alain had another scout, Pierre, have a look at him because the boy's from the Paris area. The deal was €625K with Rennais, I've yet to see him play. Though, at nineteen, he's one for the future and can cope both in defence and in midfield.



17.8.08.
In our second Ligue 1 fixture of the season, we drew 1-1 away to Toulouse.

In all fairness, we didn't turn up and waited until they scored before getting our act together which, if we're to make anything of this season, we can't afford to make a regular pattern.

Ludovic equalised for us after Pentecóte, who's speed cause us problems all evening, had put the home side ahead.



21.8.08.
Sunday will be my first derby as PSG boss and it's the big one; Olympique de Marseille at the Parc des Princes.

I'm new to club management and have never personally been involved in such a crazed media build-up. It's insane, every sports page in every magazine has this game all over it. It's unreal.



24.8.08.
What a game!

Thanks to an outstanding showing and a double from Makélélé, we took the game 2-1. It was such a quick game, fast and flowing football in which we looked at home playing.

The Parc was buzzing from the second we entered the arena, flares and chanting could be seen and heard throughout the match in an unbelievable atmosphere. It was a packed house, too.

After the game, the PSG support sang my name. That was a proud, proud moment for me.



25.8.08.
The morning 'papers were a joy to read today; "El campeón de París!" which translated to 'Champion of Paris'.

One issue brought to front, however, was the Boulogne Boys.

The Boulogne Boys are far-right, white nationalists who stand in the Boulogne end of the Parc. They promote football violence, racism and sectarianism in Parisian football and their antics even lead to the death of a Nantes fan in 2006.

On this occassion, a banner in which they revealed, directed at the Marseille support, cause the uproar. It read; 'Paedophiles, unemployed and inbred - Welcome up north'.

THE BOULOGNE BOYS BANNER FOR THE MARSEILLE END!

26.8.08.
The French FA have issued the club a warning about controlling the support after the issue regarding the Boulogne Boys banner against Marseille.

Séb wasn't happy at all, I met with him in his office this morning and, after being on such a high the day before, he was absolutely raging.

In turn, he's decided to kick-start a campaign against inappropriate behaviour at the Parc and each season card holder shall recieve a booklet covering this campaign.



31.8.08.
Off-field issues clearly haven't affected the squad, we collected another three points in Lille tonight thanks to a 3-2 win.

It was another excellent game, filled with quick football and some superb link-up play on our part.

We took the lead through Ludovic who, after they equalised, regained the lead for us. They, once again, pulled level before Sessegnon netted both the match winner and his second of the season.

With that win, we're joint-top with both Lyon and Bordeaux. It's early, though, and we can't afford to get ahead of ourselves.

This post has been edited by Nacho: 11 June 2009 - 03:22 PM

[Ana_Garcia]

Really interesting story! I like the diary type style. Good going

[Poe]

Dunga would be playing 4-2-2-2

Good stuff, none the less - I like the diary format.

[Nacho]

Good to see some feedback, lads. Always a good thing.

I've been away for a few days, so I should have this updated tonight.

Poe, on Jun 17 2009, 02:12 AM, said:

Dunga would be playing 4-2-2-2

That's what I'm playing. :ball:

[Nacho]

Los Chicos de Boulogne!

2.9.08.
We had a surprise visitor at training centre this morning; UFC heavyweight fighter and native Parisian Cheick Kongo!

The fighter's in Paris this week for some promotional work and, being a big PSG fan, arranged a visit through his agent. He joined the players for lunch and took part in some training, but no-one'll be worrying about their place in the team after the Kongo put his football skills to the test.

He was cracking guy, too. My French isn't quite there yet, but we spoke for a short while and he was wishing me luck for the season ahead.

CHEICK KONGO, IN PARIS FOR PROMOTIONAL WORK!

7.9.08.
What a farce the whole Boulogne Boys matter has become, almost every newspaper and magazine in France is portraying them as the world's worst, the type of attention and disgust that a murderer would expect.

I don't approve of their banner, but I do believe in freedom of speech and am of the opinion that not everything has to be taken to heart, certainly not a joke banner.

It's the two week-long break for the international fixtures, the first break for World Cup qualifying of the season, so a number of the players will spend the next week or so with their respective national sides.

Those who aren't on international duty will par-take in light training with the intention of simply keeping fitness levels at a height.



10.9.08.
We've managed to bring in Brazilian left-sided winger Leonardo today, he's arrived for a fee of €1.1M from Ajax of Amsterdam.

An old friend, Rodrigo Santos, who I know through the international scene made, me aware of his availability and, after having a look him in training for a few days, we made an official approach which was successful.

Séb recieved a call from Bordeaux this morning, their chairman Jean-Louis Triaud made an enquiry regarding the availability of our left-back Sylvian Armand.

Instantly, they were informed that our vice-captain was not for sale.

Of course, the wonderful French media has been tipped-off about the enquiry and L'Equipe, the country's leading sports magazine, has revealed that Armand had already met Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc for talks. Absolute nonsense.

LEONARDO AND SÉB TOASTING HIS ARRIVAL!

12.9.08.
With Rothen now up for sale, Bernard Caíazzo, Saint-Ettiene's chairman, has been in talks with Séb regarding a transfer. The chairman told me that he doesn't expect a deal to be struck as our valuation and their's is quie some way off, but he's been made aware, through Rothen's agent, that both Italian side Palermo and Sunderland, an Emglish side, are interested.

Also, we've drawn Rennias in the Couple de la Ligue Thrd Round. The game will be played at the Stade de la Route de Lorient, their place.



14.9.08.
We drew 0-0 with Le Mans tonight, neither side deserved to take anything more from a boring, poor game in which lacked quality.

Leonardo, on his debut, Ludovic Guily and Pancrate all picked up niggles. The latter was a second-half substitute, so we ended the game with only ten men.

Yves and myself will evaluate the match this evening, we didn't possess that edge to our game in which was evident in previous matches.

As it stands, after five games and three wins with two draws, we're third in the league behind Lyon and Toulouse.



17.9.08.
We arrived Portugal for the second time this season. In pre-season, we took on Vit. Setúbal and, now, we're here for the first leg of our UEFA Cup First Round tie against Marítimo.

It's been only a few days since we played Le Mans, so we arrived this morning which will allow the players a day and-a-half to relax in preperation for the game itself.



18.9.08.
In an immediate and superb return to form, we secured the win and a couple of away goals in a 2-0 victory.

Leonardo, in his first start for the club, opened the scoring before Chantóme secured the win with ten minutes to go. Our end was rocking and the few thousand Parisians who'd made the trip were on cloud nine, making noise from the first to the final whistle.

Mamadou Sakho had to come off on the half-hour after picking up an ankle niggle. He was able to return and watch the remainder of the game from the bench with an ice pack, but Pascal will have a look at him when we return to Paris.

CHANTÓME, CLÉMENT AND SAKHO RELAX AFTER THE MARÍTIMO GAME!

20.9.08.
This morning, we completed a deal that will see Vojvodina's eighteen-year old Serb Slobodan Medojevic join the club in January for a fee of €400K.

Alain, our chief scout, had been out to see the midfielder play a few times and was impressed with what he'd seen. Despite being right-footed, Medojevic can play on either wing which isn't common in a young player in this daye and age.



23.9.08.
Showing an excellent level fight, we've progressed in the Coupe de la Ligue thanks to a 2-1 victory in injury time against Rennais.

Mateja gave us the lead through a penalty before they equalised shortly before half-time, but Hoarau netted the winner in extra-time with a thunderous header in which left the 'keeper rooted to the spot. They seemed to lose it after that, though, and lost Mbia to a red card late on.



28.9.08.
After a two-game break from Ligue 1 action, we climbed to second in the table thanks to a 1-0 win at the Parc against Nantes.

Once again, Leonardo netted to continue his fine form since arriving at the club. He scored thanks to some brilliant build-up play in which Sességnon was a vital part of. Leonardo executed a stunning volley from a bouncing cross, giving us the lead just a few minutes before half-time.

Lyon dropped their first points of the season, drawing away to Grenoble and Toulouse, away to Marseille, were victim to a loss. So, a decent weekend as our two closest contenders dropped points.

This post has been edited by Nacho: 19 June 2009 - 09:49 AM

[Nacho]

Los Chicos de Boulogne!

2.10.08.
So, we're through to the UEFA Cup group stage after a neat 2-1 over Marítimo at the Parc this evening, we've progressed from the First Round tie thanks to a 4- aggregate win.

In taking the Man Of The Match award, Alex Teixiera scored his first goal for the club and was joined on the scoresheet by Kezman, our two goals were split by a bundled goal from their wing-back Miguelito.

In another matter, the Boulogne Boys were in full voice this evening and made their hate for the Frenc media crystal clear with some strong-worded chanting. The Parc was like a misted scene from a movie due to the red flares that had been released from the Boulogne end, but it added an edge to the atmosphere which, oddly, was quite good.

The UEFA Cup group stage draw will take place on Friday afternoon in Monaco, so I'm looking forward to that.

THE BOULOGNE BOYS, CAUSING A SCENE AGAINST MARÍTIMO!

4.10.08.
The UEFA Cup group stage was drawn this afternoon, we've been drawn in Group A along with La Liga side Valencia, Ukranian side Dinamo Kiev, Standard of Belgium and Denmark's FC Kobenhavn.

We can progress from that group, we have the ability to do so. Valencia, without doubt, are the top side and the one's to beat, but we're good enough to finish in a progresive place in the group, no question about it.

Myself and Yves watched the draw from out hotel room, we've travelled to the city of Rennes for the second time this season, but for Ligue 1 action this time.



5.10.08.
It wasn't to be tonight and the european hangover seemed evident, we regstered our second goaless draw of the season as Rennais held us 0-0 in a match that we really should have won.

There wasn't a stand-out, no-one excelled and, from the bench, it looked like a game of chess and I stressed to the players after the match that we cannot afford to drop points in this manner if we're to keep up our brilliant start to the season.

On the bright side, both Toulouse and Marseille were beaten this evening, Yves reported.



3.10.08.
We've got another break due to the World Cup qualifiers and don't have another fixture until the 19th when we'll visit Auxerre in Ligue 1.



10.10.08.
Myself and Yves took in the France vs. Serbia match tonight, thanks to Séb. He had two hospitality tickets for the game, but was in the Maldives with Penelopé, so offered them without need.

The French ran-out three-one winners and, at times were sensational with their build-up and link-up play. I'm talking one touch stuff, easy as.

There were no players representing PSG in the France side, but Mateja Kezman came off the bench to grab his 50th cap for the Serbian national side.



13.10.08.
I'd never been right up the Eifell tower, only had a meal on the first tier with Séb and his wife.

So, after having a lovely meal at the well known Palais de Tokyo restaurant, Donatella and I went up it this evening and had an excellent session of sight seeing. You get an absolutely stunning view from the top, it's actually quite terrifying.

A PHOTO FROM THE EIFELL TOWER ON DONATELLA'S CAMERA!

19.10.08.
We drew 2-2 tonight at the Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, dropping another two points, this time against Auxerre.

It was a much better performance than the Rennais game; We were quicker, more accurate, stronger in the tackle and, most importantly, more confident as we bounced back from a first minute Auxerre goal to going two-one up within twenty minutes thanks to Hoarau and Kezman.

Sességnon picked up a knock, though. He complained that his hamstring had gone tight and Stephané, our physio, delivered the news that he's looking at around three weeks on the sidelines after having a look at the leg in the hotel earlier.

Lyon, again, were victorious, sweeping past Bordeaux this evening to go five ahead. Nancy, surprisingly, are one behind us.



22.10.08.
It was only three days ago that we were away to Auxerre, but we returned to winning form with a 2-0 victory against Nice.

Hoarau netted late in half-time before Ludovic Guily sealed the win the a cracking volley towards the end.

We've got three games in a week, going from Auxerre to Nice before we host Harve at the Parc, but the players showed endurance this evening and I'm proud of that.

23.10.08.
After training this morning, I watched the Under-19's take on Nantes youth side in a three-nil win.

We've got some exciting prospects at that level, most notably the front line of Jérémy Corbera, a seventeen year-old Frenchman, and Vaclav Kadlec, our sixteen year-old Czech, who complimented one another well.

I spoke to Cédric, our head of youth, after the game and he was over the moon with progress of the side. They top of the Youth League - Group 3 with forty points, six ahead of second placed Le Mans.



26.10.08.
For the second game running, we won 2-0. This time, at the expense of Harve.

Staring relegation in the face, they offered very little and the win was straight forward. Both Camara's and Pancrate's goals were created through gradual and pin-point passing.

Once again, the Boulogne Boys were involved in drama. This time, a banner was on show which stated; "Le Harve, The Wart Of Normandy". I'm not aware of any hatred between ourselves and Harve, but the Boulogne Boys are brutal and careless with regards to who they target.

The media reaction should be interesting...

'THE WART OF NORMANDY', ACCORDING TO THE BOULOGNE BOYS!

29.10.08.
In Nancy this evening, we conceded afer just a few minutes like in Auxerre, but were able to bounce back and equalise through Hoarau to secure a 1-1 draw despite Chantóme being sent-off for a poor tackle after just half-an-hour.

Considering the circumstances, the draw'll do the job. I've warned Clément about his future conduct on the field, he deseved to go and his presence for the whole game could have been the difference between one and three points.

The newspapers, as expected, have made an absolute mountain out of a mole hill regarding the banner in the Bulogne end. In turn, the French FA have reacted and placed the PSG support under a five game probation period with the threat of a €5K fine if it's breached.

Understandably, Séb is seething.

[Ana_Garcia]

Nacho, on Jun 18 2009, 05:26 PM, said:

Good to see some feedback, lads. Always a good thing.

Lol, I'm not a lad!

But good luck, I really like this format