The Comeback kids…

By: Magnusson | October 17th, 2007

A few days away from the keyboard. We’re back. A lot happened in the meantime.

First of all, I’m happy to announce - well, happy is not really the word I was looking for. Surprised is more like it.- that Marseille is counting a new offenseive midfielder since last week. Eric Gerets said that he was counting on EVERYBODY. Well, I was dismissing it as a new coach trying to get his troops mùotivated but I really didn’t think he would actually do it. Eric Gerets made some changes in the lineup for the friendly against Bastia (coached by legendary marseille ex-captain Bernard Casoni) but none as eyebrow-lifting as the starting midfield and the presence at the right wing of Fabrice Fiorèse. Yes, THAT Fabrice Fiorèse. And the most shocking of all is that he played great, scoring one goal and giving an assist. Plus he seemed genuinely happy and integrated with the group, smiling and tirelessly running around. A sight to see really. Eric Gerets seemed himself quite happy that his “find” turned out such a great performance. Let’s hope that atmosphere of constant competition among players will help us in the drought we’ve been knowing…

Another great news is that we may have found a great replacement to ex-captain Habib Beye in Hassoune Camara. The kid gave us a great outing and eimpressed everybody on the right side. So did Ronald Zubar replacing Jacques Faty and Julien Rodriguez in the centre-back. Zubar played the position he had last year and proved to be quite hungry. He may be the biggest winner of the coach switch. Don’t take my word for it, Gerets said: “Zubar is a beast, an athlete. He’s a freak of nature …”. Let’s bet he’ll be seeing some more playing time this season.

The best news of the day is that Cedric Carasso took his leg splint out yesterday morning and will be able to start running mid-nivember. He started physical therapy a few weeks back and is apparently making a lot of progress. But the official news is that he’s not planning on coming back any sooner than already planned. It’s understandable for carasso to want to come back this early given the performances his sub has been giving. Mandanda may be a lock for the position if he keeps playing like this with the new coach.

Last but not least, President Pape Diouf will have surgery on his back today since his july surgery doesn’t seem to have been enough. He will not be at the stadium this saturday to watch Jean-Pierre Papin’s comeback at the Vélodrome. Speaking of which, JPP declared this monday how his ultimate goal was to finish on the marseille bench someday after having been the most legendary player we’ve ever had.