EUROPE NEWS
Lyon president "shocked" at Govou quit rant
Lyon presidential advisor Bernard Lacombe is "shocked'' at Sidney Govou's announcement that he wants to leave, insisting the winger "does not have the right'' to attack the club.
GettyImages
Sidney Govou has stunned Lyon by saying he intends to leave the club this summer
Govou, who has spent his entire career at Lyon, stunned fans on Wednesday morning when he launched a scathing attack on the club and Claude Puel, revealing he has no relationship with his coach.
And Lacombe has been left stunned by the 30-year-old's comments. "Sidney's comments are regrettable. When you know the lad like I know him, you can't be anything but shocked,'' said Lacombe.
"In this interview he gave to L'Equipe he attacked the club. I think we have certainly done a lot for him, more than for the others. It's a bit uncalled for that he's making these type of comments. He does not have the right, I repeat it, to touch the club.
"He has achieved superb things and won everything with the club. But these different victories do not allow him to speak no matter what. It's a bit surprising, he was tactless.
"I don't understand what he wants to get from this. If I remember rightly, it was Claude who chose him as captain at the beginning of the season and the club offered him a two-year contract extension because they had confidence in him.
"Then, after certain events that everyone is aware of, we simply explained to him that we would keep this offer on the condition that his behaviour remained exemplary."
Govou, 30, was stripped of the captaincy following a drunken incident in October. "Sidney Govou is a lad who is out of the world. He is out of the world on the pitch and out of the world off the pitch,'' Lacombe added.
Govou revealed this morning that he will leave the Ligue 1 giants when his contract runs out this summer after his relationship with the club broke down. "I don't see what could make me want to stay,'' Govou told L'Equipe. "I made my decision a while ago.
"I don't have any relationship with Puel. I regret the lack of communication. I don't like this way of human management here. This way of controlling everything, that's not me. I feel less happy inside.
"They took away the armband from me and, when the team aren't doing well, they want to put me forward in press conferences because I have experience and I would know to say what you have to. They have some nerve. There were people and things that I didn't want to defend.''
Govou, who has played over 300 matches in ten years at the club, also revealed he would be interested in a move to Paris St Germain. Roma are also believed to be following the France international.
