French gaffer puts his foot in it once again

Thanks to his possessing an incredible, almost slapstick, level of incompetence, Raymond Domenech doesn’t have a lot of friends amongst the footballing community. Especially in his own country. He could have even less today, after making a rather ill-judged faux pas during Friday’s pre-playoff press conference:

People can say what they want, when they want. I stopped listening to them a long time ago, otherwise I would have committed suicide.

Meanwhile, 45,000 turned out in support at Robert Enke’s memorial service over the weekend…

[spotted over on Dirty Tackle]

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French captain doesn’t hate manager as much as we thought

French daily Le Parisien this week claimed Thierry Henry stood up during a French team meeting on Friday and berated Raymond Domenech, labelling his training sessions as boring and complaining that the team didn’t know what to do on the pitch. However, the Barcelona star has now denied the quotes and the apparent rift between the French national team and its manager.

Henry appeared on French station TV1 clear up the situation:

“No. Nothing happened on Friday.”

“We had a discussion, as often happens between a team and their coach, but it was a rather constructive discussion.

“I’ve been saying for some time now. But when you do not win the game it is much more complicated to get this message across. There is a great atmosphere in this squad. I can say I see it every day.”

We have little doubt that the original quotes in le Parisien were fabricated - this could represent the first time a newspaper has been found to make something up since the last time The Sun published a transfer rumour - but judging by the contemptuous glare in the picture above, there’s clearly no love lost between Henry and Domenech.

Titi lays into his national manager in front of whole French squad

After helping France reach last place in their group at Euro 2008 - an embarrassment that was compounded by an awfully-timed post-match marriage proposal - it it highly surprising that Raymond Domenech has managed to cling onto his job. The pressure on the national team coach has intensified once more, as Les Bleus’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Romania on Saturday was preceded by a barrage of criticism from team captain Thierry Henry.

In a press conference last Friday, Henry raised a few eyebrows when he claimed the team have “always had problems” during Domenech’s reign. According to a report in French paper le Parisien, Domenech then gathered the players and staff into a meeting room, where he offered the following:

“I hope today you’ll be better in training. So far, I have not seen guys who wanted, who were fully prepared for the important meeting on Saturday.”

After an awkward silence, the tense atmosphere is said to have been broken by captain Thierry Henry, who replied:

“Coach, we too have something to say. I speak for the entire squad.

“We are getting bored during your training sessions.

The First Lady of French football

Shortly after he guided the France to last place in Group C and a humiliating early exit from Euro 2008, national team manager Raymond Domenech performed a spectacularly mistimed marriage proposal live during a press conference. The focus of his request was Estelle Denis, the popular French sports TV presenter with whom he has two children.

Despite their lengthy relationship and shared offspring, the 32-year-old journalist said no. Ouch.

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Frenchman holds head high in Paris

It’s hard to know how to get over a bitter blow to the heart. Some people head silently to a nearby field to weep undisturbed into the night, pausing only to punch the ground and shout “why” over and over again at the heavens. Others take out their anger with a series of good old fashioned street brawls.

Raymond Domenech - the most unbelievably French human being since Rene in Allo Allo - likes to take a calmer approach to soothing his addled nerves and broken dreams. No rambling madness, no blood shed, just a casual Parisian bike ride followed by a gentle wash, cut and blow dry (below). Good for you, sir.

French find themselves up baguette creek without a croissant

After Franck Ribery dropped to the ground in agony, clutching those around him as if he were frantically uttering his final words, the Italians were destined to control last night’s Group B match. Still, France boss Raymond Domenech considered the defeat a ‘beautiful moment’ and found time to propose to his girlfriend live on French TV straight after the final whistle. Maybe he can put his impending payoff from his employers towards the wedding.

Despite Adrian Mutu’s attempts at covering every position on the pitch, the Romanians couldn’t break down Holland’s B team.