Pamplemousse

The first matches are today 3 games at 5pm and one at 7.45pm. In terms of our seeding, the only team playing in the First Qualifying Round that has a higher co-efficient than us is Maccabi Tel Aviv, so ideally we'd like them to get knocked out (and any other teams with a higher co-efficient) to ensure we are in the highest pot possible in the group stages. Some matches to look out for: St Patrick's Athletic v Jeunesse Esch (play Tuesday) Play on Thursday Midtjylland v Sūduva Marijampolė Hearts v Infonet Tallinn Connah's Quay Nomads v Stabæk Linfield v Cork City IFK Göteborg v Llandudno KR v Glenavon Shamrock Rovers v RoPS Aberdeen v Fola Esch AIK v Bala Town Differdange 03 v Cliftonville

1.9 out of 10 is my verdict. If you're lucky, trousers may give you a more generous rating.

That adds a bit more to the asking price

That's Guy Mengual. Let's hope the club shop starts selling wigs in his honour.

I posted this yesterday His assistants at Nice were Frédéric Gioria, Guy Mengual and Alexandre Dellal, but it seems to me that they are still employed at Nice (if wikipedia is reliable), so no idea if they would necessarily move with him. Gioria was at Nice before Puel arrived so not necessarily him. Guy Mengual was in charge of the U19 team and played with Puel at Monaco, so he could possibly come with him. Alexandre Dellal was the physical coach, and also worked with Puel at Lyon. With Jan Kluitenberg going, it is a role that needs filling. Mengual left Nice when Puel did, but was the only one who did, the others were all kept on. But if I was to hazard a guess, I'd say Guy Mengual and Alexandre Dellal will come with him.

I was giving an approximation since the sound doesn't exist in English

Like Cruella but with out the la bit at the end. Poo-el

Talk about meltdown. We will will sign good players this summer and we will probably have another good season. Again. Stop whinging and look forward to what will be a great season with 6 guaranteed games of European football

I bet there are further performance-related clauses involved. No reason for us to budge down from £40M.

Who cares, he's a good player but far too inconsistent. For that money we can do better, and we will.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Un-nouvel-adjoint-avec-lucien-favre-a-nice/691785 OK, according to this article, every one apart from Guy Mengual was kept on at Nice.

Any word about his assistants? At Nice, they were Frédéric Gioria, Guy Mengual and Alexandre Dellal, but it seems to me that they are still employed at Nice (if wikipedia is reliable), so no idea if they would necessarily move with him. Gioria was at Nice before Puel arrived so not necessarily him. Guy Mengual was in charge of the U19 team and played with Puel at Monaco, so he could possibly come with him. Alexandre Dellal was the physical coach, and also worked with Puel at Lyon. With Jan Kluitenberg going, it is a role that needs filling. So if I was to hazard a guess, I'd say Guy Mengual and Alexandre Dellal will come with him.

Yes, Prost left Lyon in 2010 and Puel was there from 2008-11. Another man he worked with was Remi Garde, the director of the training complex, who ended up succeeded him after he was sacked.

Puel fell out with the board at Lyon, due to an unspecified reason

He's right though. Sky are very rarely the first for any breaking news.

Of course, a manager who got a team to the semi finals of the Champions League is no good for us

Terrific news, he was my number 1 choice. He will be brilliant for us

Some of these jokes about Puel are rather cruel

Je suis Claude Puel

It isn't true until Jack Schitt confirms it

If our home kit is red/white and the away kit is black, what kit will we wear at Bournemouth?

Slowly, yes poo-el but maybe a bit like pwel as well. If you say it quickly it sounds like pwel. It rhymes with the first part of Cruella

To be fair, Villa were a dreadful team. Not sure you can really judge Garde based on that.

Callum Slattery?

This is old news from a few days ago. All it says is that Puel met with the club and held talks, which we already knew