Toulouse FC completes the first block of matches at the top of Ligue 2: what do the supporters think?
Through Quentin Marais
Published on
After 11 league games, Toulouse Football Club is the leader of Ligue 2. A position that Philippe Montanier’s troops have occupied since the 5the day, and a resounding victory in Dijon (2-4). While the international break follows the first big block of the season, what do the supporters think the start of their proteges?
Toulouse news interviewed three of them. Jean-Baptiste Jammes, founder of the LesViolets.com site, Laurent Maffré, communications officer for the emblematic “Chez Mamie” and Alexandre Roux, President of the Tolosa Indians Support Group.
Start of the season, club dynamics, coach, Stadium… They cover all subjects.
News Toulouse: After 11 days, the TFC is leader. What to remember from this first block of matches?
Jean-Baptiste Jammes: “It’s nice, but we don’t expect it. You have to remember that in mid-July, we had no recruits, the championship was going to start ten days after a change of coach … We weren’t necessarily very optimistic. Or, the mayonnaise immediately taken !. There have been some very good things, some less good things, but the leadership position is, I think, deserved. “
Laurent Maffre : “As a supporter of TFC, it’s weird to see your club win, scare, and be respected at this level, and to see others talking about Toulouse as if it was FC Barcelona. Even if it’s in Ligue 2, it’s a great level! It allows us to experience new emotions so it’s funny. “
Alexandre roux : ” The results are very positive. If we had been told that after 11 days we were going to be a leader, we would have signed right away. Not many people were waiting for us there before the first day of the championship. The team has a good margin of progress in the game because we have seen matches where it can be improved. There are many reasons for satisfaction. “
Toulouse news: TFC has had two difficult last matches, including the first loss of the season against Caen. Has the truce come at the right time?
JB.J: “Of course the last two results are not positive. After, a point in Amiens, it’s not bad. Against Caen, on a match saw a beautiful. We won games on the snatch, even at home: against Bastia, Valenciennes and Ajaccio… The last two results obtained that there is still work for the TFC, which has everything to go up: the workforce, the qualities, the infrastructures, the desire, the budget. We will have to translate it in the field. “
What strikes me is that the opposing coaches say that Toulouse will finish 1st, roll in the championship … Me, I do not see a TFC compressor roller. We are maybe one or two shades above, but not ten. We are first because we had a superb first part of the season. I haven’t seen a team where I thought the players were really stronger. Last year, we could say it with Clermont and Troyes.
LM: “When you’re a TFC supporter, it’s not two bad results in a row that are scary. The goal, everyone knows, it’s back to Ligue 1. These latest results emit a little spice in this season. If we ended a season unbeaten, we would hardly recognize the club we all know, so it sometimes feels good to get our feet back on the ground! “
RA: “It surely comes at the right time because the team was starting to stall. We experienced the first defeat against Caen at the Stadium. You don’t have to be a playwright either, you can’t win every game. This first defeat was going to happen very sooner or later. Now it’s up to the team to bounce back immediately after the break and face Auxerre at the Stadium. “
News Toulouse: The departure of Patrice Garande had some regrets. How do you judge Philippe Montanier’s first 3 months at the head of the club?
JB.J: “The departure regretted, yes because there is a story that was created last year. Afterwards, if he left, there were reasons. We don’t change coaches like that when there was still a contractual deal… Montanier was able to ensure that the mayonnaise set quickly. We see a difference compared to Garande, it’s a tactical alternation : we started at the start of the season with a central defense at 3, we went to 2, we know how to adapt. Against Caen, maybe his coaching was not efficient. This is the lot of all coaches, and it sometimes happens to be wrong! “
LM: “We can only think good about it… If Mr. Garande is gone, there are good or bad reasons, but it is a fact, it is recorded, we can not go back on that. For Philippe Montanier, the results speak only for him. In football, we often talk about results, and they are very positive. I’m sure he’s a great man, so it’s okay, plan to make it last! “
RA: “It’s satisfactory, we see that it’s different compared to Patrice Garande, who has more possible systems of play for the team than last year, and better collective defensive rigor on the ground. Last year, we took a lot of goals, that’s what meant that at the end of the season, we didn’t go up. This season, most of the time, we have been solid, we have done a lot of clean-sheet, the team defends together. “
News Toulouse: This year, the TFC can rely on very good elements, like Healey, Onaiwu or Van den Boomen …
JB.J: “Van den Boomen made a statistically rather exceptional start to the season: 6 assists and 4 goals! There is variety: when we bring in Ngoumou, Bangré, when Genreau has become a holder … But the players who are too often replaced, you have to know how to manage them. Before the match against Caen, TFC was one of the teams with the starting 11 that changed the least in Ligue 2. The case will also have to be managed. Ratao, bought 1.2 million euros and who is no longer injured. At this price, he did not come to play bench… ”
LM: “Everyone was a little afraid of this very dated recruitment. It is clear that it is bearing fruit and so much the better for the club. What I remember above all is more the pitchoun part, training of the TFC which, as a long-time supporter, bringing balm to the heart. This is what was lacking in Toulouse: players, young and old, who are proud to bring emotions to the supporters and to the city. “
RA: “We feel that there is a greater depth of workforce than last season. There are incumbents who have taken on a new role like Healey or van den Boomen, they are on a whole new level. “
We see that there are young people too, who are ready to bring at the end of the match when it is necessary to come into play and score goals, like Ngoumou, who scored a lot of goals off the bench. It bodes well for the future.
News Toulouse: This return of the public to the Stadium, it feels good! How do you feel about your home team?
JB.J : “At the Stadium, there is a real atmosphere, a newfound peace, an established dynamic. To talk about the public, I was traveling to Amiens, there were still a lot of people for a match played on Saturday afternoon… Bravo to the supporters present. We performed extremely well outside. At home, we fell against highly motivated teams against us. But when we call ourselves the TFC, we have to perform at home and away. It is an obligation. “
LM: “The return to the Stadium, for me, it went badly: I had not been there for two years and I went there for the defeat against Caen. Maybe I am the black cat of TFC… But for having lived, as a somewhat active supporter 15 years ago, great joys with the European Cup and other long crossings of the desert with Stadiums empty, obviously that feels good to see the public again and this fervor. “
It’s nice to see that the club is followed, despite Ligue 2.. We see the quintessence of the passion that there is around the club.
RA: “The absence of an audience last year also played a role. There are some games that we might not have lost if there had been an audience to push the team. On sent that the stadium public wants to see their team shine, people are motivated to encourage TFC. He can make real differences during matches. At the end of the season, that’s what will bring in a few points that were missing last year. “
Sacred atmosphere at the Stadium for this # TFCGF38 and experimentation with smoke in the stadiums! Supporters of #TFC the
Go them !! #Toulouse pic.twitter.com/h5YSeocMy9– Guillaume Laurens (@guillaurens) September 18, 2021
Toulouse news: After the break, Auxerre (3rd) will come to the Stadium. It will be an opportunity to strike a blow …
JB.J : “Auxerre is a first big test. It will be without two key pieces of the 11 since Spierings and Dejaegere will be suspended. We will have to be very good against a team from Auxerre who is performing well with Gaëtan Charbonnier, a striker broken in Ligue 1 games, and top scorer. This club will fight to the end to be in the top 5. See you at the Stadium, let’s be behind the TFC. It will be a very important, very interesting meeting, and I hope very spectacular and which will obviously end for the TFC… ”
LM: “The season is long and I don’t think it will be played on the Auxerre match. In Ligue 2, I have the impression that the level has remained consistent so far, we want to believe that the TFC is above everything and that we are unplayable. You have to know how to remain modest and humble. If we win against Auxerre, it will be good and it will send a message to our direct competitors. If things go less well, we will have other games to catch up… ”
RA: “The match against Auxerre is a top of Ligue 2. We will have to do everything in our power to bring back the victory. In the stands, we will do everything to provide maximum support to the team. We hope people will come, that we will have a better attendance than in the last matches and that the atmosphere will be there to push the team and bring back the three points. “
Has this article been useful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Toulouse in the Mon Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.