It was decided to appoint Valérian Ismail as technical director of Le Havre, on Friday, until the end of the current season, at a time when the club is currently at the bottom of the French Football League Championship standings.
The former French defender (51 years old) takes over as coach, succeeding coach Didier Dijer, and faces an extremely difficult task if he wants to maintain the club’s position among the elite French clubs.
Le Havre has not achieved any victory so far in its career in the French League during the current season, contenting itself with obtaining only two points in its first ten matches in the competition.
Ismail has a long coaching career, having previously led teams in Germany, Greece, Austria, Turkey, and England.
In a statement issued late Thursday evening, Le Havre Club indicated that Ismail had previously dealt with “emergency situations,” something that “may be very useful to him in the coming weeks.”
It is noteworthy that Le Havre Club, which was founded in 1872 and is considered the oldest club in French professional football, was acquired by the Blue Crew Group in July 2025.
The club's fans hold this group, which is based in Houston and operates several clubs, responsible for the team's troubling sporting situation, and earlier this month, groups of fans demanded the owners' departure.
Jack Grealish, loaned to the English football team Everton, apologized for his absence from participating with the team, due to his violation of the club’s disciplinary rules.
Grealish, the English Manchester City player, who is spending a second loan period at Everton, missed the team’s last four matches, as his last participation was on October 17.
The English player returned to participate in a match held without fans against Derby County on Thursday, and subsequently posted a message on his account on the Instagram application in which he touched on his recent absence.
Grealish wrote: “Great to be back on the field with my teammates today after a good few days of training. “I would like to apologize to the fans and everyone at the club for my inability to help the team over the past few weeks.”
Grealish added: “I love playing for this club, and I am looking forward to returning again to play in front of you in an Everton shirt. "See you soon."
For his part, Scottish coach David Moyes, Everton's coach, expressed reservations about revealing precise details related to the behavior of Grealish (31 years old), as the club merely said that the veteran winger "was not fully physically ready" before the match that took place against Newcastle United on November 2.
It is noteworthy that Grealish, who is considered one of the most controversial and talked-about players in English football, was previously the most expensive player in the history of British football, after his transfer from Aston Villa to Manchester City in 2021 for 100 million pounds ($139 million).
Grealish contributed to Manchester City achieving the historic treble (the English Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League) in 2023, but he stayed away from the team’s accounts during the past two years.
Portuguese Bruno Fernandes, the star of the English Manchester United football team, sent a message to Michael Carrick following the coach’s departure from the team.
Although there was a public disagreement between the two over the team's tactical direction in recent weeks, the Manchester United captain was at the forefront of saying farewell, at a time when the club's management appointed Argentine Mauricio Pochettino to lead the first team.
Manchester United ended its relationship with Carrick on Thursday, following the team's 4-4 draw with its guest, Aston Villa. This decision comes after a disappointing start to this season, which put an abrupt end to the young coach’s career at Old Trafford.
Despite the strong performance at the end of last season, the club’s management saw that a change in leadership had become necessary to achieve the team’s ambitions. This departure comes after a period characterized by tension behind the scenes, with fluctuating results and internal disputes that received extensive media coverage.
Through the “Story” feature on Instagram, and after the club confirmed the news of his departure, Fernandez contented himself with a brief farewell message to Carrick. He posted a picture of himself shaking hands with his former coach, and accompanied it with the phrase: “Thank you for everything, coach.”
Fernandes (32 years old) was not the only prominent figure to comment on this departure, as Harry Maguire was the first United player to comment publicly on the news, writing: “You will always remain a legend.” All respect. Thank you".
This gesture from Fernandez comes despite the dispute that recently broke out between him and his former coach. Last month, the player who won the PFA Player of the Year award publicly criticized Carrick's tactical approach, following United's 4-1 defeat against Italian host Como in the Champions League.
This dispute led to Fernandes being excluded from participating in the next Premier League match against Bournemouth.
Although the two parties held a frank session at the Carrington Training Center to settle the matter, Carrick was relieved of his duties after only a few weeks, after the team continued its poor results. It is in eighteenth place (third from the bottom) in the English Premier League this season.
