Lemerre on the Way Out: It’s Officially Almost Official

According to Jawhara FM report, a closed meeting happened today between Tahar Sioud, the president of FTF, and Roger Lemerre in which they decided to “part amicably.” Frankly, I’ve been kind of confused about this whole situation as it has not been very transparent and most places I usually get my information aren’t really going into much depth about the situation. I just assumed where there’s smoke, there is fire. Sure enough, this time I think the information may be more reliable as one of the interviewees on the show was the treasurer of the FTF. I usually believe the guys who monitor the money, because they like to know when they need to stop writing checks for people.

Amongst the other revelations of this report from Jawhara FM is that the next coach is almost certainly going to be a foreigner. The treasurer says in passing that this is something that 90% of the FTF members agree on. They even have coaches in mind which is reassuring because after watching the this sundays edition of Dimanche Sport, I was sure that these people had no clue what to do next. No news on who is on the shortlist but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Once this news is on the front of La Presse, Le Temps, and other Tunisian newspapers we will be able to put this matter to rest. For now I’m just glad we’re starting to turn the page (maybe). Morocco, the Emirates, and Senegal are said to be lining up bids once this is all finalized.

What do you guys think about our next coach likely being a foreigner? I know that from my Tunisie-Foot readings it’s a hotly contested issue. Some believe that we need a Tunisian who knows the environment already and needs no adaptation time while others worry that a Tunisian will be biased towards his former club in his selections. I honestly don’t know how I feel. I worry that a Tunisian coach would not be taken seriously by some players and staff members. Plus the pressure on him would be so immense that he could crack under it. Sometimes it’s better not to understand what they write in the newspapers I think! That’s not to say that nobody can do it… It’s just so far we haven’t done much with our countrymen. If we’re looking to model ourselves after Egypt though, this wouldn’t be the correct way to go about it right?

Update! Update! Lemerre Staying After All?

Just to make things more confusing. There’s a report out of Mosaique FM and Infosfoot saying that Lemerre is staying until June to finish out his contract. This is getting annoying.

Tunisian Internationals Gearing up for UEFA Cup Action

Lots of storylines in the UEFA Cup this week as Karim Haggui is likely to return from the injury that forced him out of the Cameroon game (glad it’s not serious) while Yassine Chikhaoui will be out to impress the onlooking Hamburg recruiters who are already rumored to be highly interested (who isn’t?). Another compelling dynamic to that match will be the Egyptian wonder Zidan coming back into the squad. He wanted to take some time off but Hamburg wasn’t having any of that.

We haven’t heard much from Tijani Belaid since he left for Paris after the nightmare that started on New Years Day but I hope he is doing better and that we maybe catch a sighting of him on Thursday. I still have high hopes for that kid. Let’s not forget that he’s the first Tunisian to score in the Champions League.

Jawhar Mnari hasn’t been getting consistent first team action this season so I’m wondering how much he will figure in his match but it’d be nice for him to get some run. I thought he had an average African Cup of Nations. His work rate has dropped a little and he just didn’t seem the same to me. You could blame this on him getting a little older but I think some more playing time with his club will go a long way to bringing him back to 2004 levels.

Wednesday February 13, 2008

Galatasaray – Bayer Leverkusen (Karim Haggui)
Anderlecht – Bordeaux (David Jemmali injured)

Thursday February 14, 2008

FC Zurich – Hamburg SV (Yassine Chikhaoui)
Slavia Prague – Tottenham (Tijani Belaïd)
Benfica Lisbonne – FC Nuremberg (Jawhar Mnari)

Tunisia-Cote d’Ivoire?

Rumblings of a Tunisia vs. Cote d’Ivoire game on March 26. The source they list is Dimanche sport but I watched it and don’t remember them mentioning it, perhaps it was towards the end or I somehow skipped over it. Also, I’ve been skeptical of our announced friendlies for reasons that have been well documented on this blog (Morocco, Egypt, Iran all falling through at the last minute). We’ll wait and see. In theory it’s a great matchup. I’d love to see it actually happen.

Some More Tidbits

Saber on Jawhara FM before leaving for France: The ending is priceless

Soiree CAN ridiculousness: This has caused outrage amongst a lot of people who found it to be in bad taste. I think some of it is funny but he definitely crossed the line on a lot of issues.