Marseille: Paixão apologises after the Genesio snub

On 11 October at the Stade de l’Aube, Igor Paixão walked off in the 87th minute of a match Marseille would win 2-0, their first league victory since 21 August. On his way, he slapped the hand of Faris Moumbagna, his replacement, and ignored Bruno Genesio’s. The coach tried to grab his arm; the footage did the rounds on social media.

“Nothing serious”, says Genesio, with Sunderland in the background

That evening, Genesio closed the incident. “For me, it’s nothing. It can happen. Maybe frustrated to come off, maybe frustrated with his game,” he said, adding: “There is nothing serious.” During the week he placed the outburst in context: a move to Sunderland collapsed at the end of the summer. “Maybe that frustration hasn’t fully been digested,” the coach explained before hosting Olympiakos. “He is going through a period of doubt and it is up to us to show him our confidence. Sometimes it doesn’t take much, a small click, a goal.”

The dressing room moved too: “he apologised to us straight away,” said Himad Abdelli on 14 October. Paixão himself dismissed the idea of a January exit on the Canal Football Club show (“more chance of me leaving next summer”) and said the club had never discussed a pay cut with him, an option he says he would consider.

The handshake is closed, the goal still isn’t

The Troyes scene is behind them; the problem ahead. Paixão has not scored in Ligue 1 this season and Marseille sit on two wins in eight matches after Thursday’s 1-0 defeat by Olympiakos at the Vélodrome, conceded from a set piece. On Saturday, on the eve of the trip to Angers, Genesio’s tone changed: “It’s frustrating, even annoying”, then “We are desperately short of commitment in both boxes.”

On Sunday at Angers (3pm), Paixão is expected to start, with Weah back from suspension. The confidence is there; only the goal is missing.