Between the Sang et Or and the Violets there has been a special connection since the dawn of time which has seen a number of players – and not only that – move from one club to another. Radioscopy as the two teams face each other in the North this Tuesday April 21 (9:10 p.m.) with a ticket for the Dame Coupe final at stake.
Assadourian, Aubey, Bédimo, Jules Bigot, Y. Cahuzac, Chantôme, Dalmat, Édouard, Momo Fofana, Fortes, “Coco” Jean, Guy Lacombe, Machado, Malm, Marek, Michelin, Rudy Riou, Saïd, Jacques Santini, Sénac, Tiéhi, Tisserand… Say 40 if we mentioned them all. According to our research, since the beginning (the first movement found dates from 1940!), at least 40 footballers – we are not immune to an oversight – have worn the jerseys of the two clubs or sat on the two benches.
Who looks alike… brings together
TFC-RCL or RCL-TFC, the connection works at full tube. Like the bridges in the more or less recent past with OM or the Girondins. Surprising? “Yes and no, says former TFC recruiter Jérôme Fougeron (member of the unit between 2011 and 2015 then responsible from August to the end of October 2020). Yes because in total the figures are quite substantial – it is true that we are not necessarily in the habit of stacking them up season after season.”
“No, because for me there are several rational explanations. Firstly, if we refer to a few years ago, Toulouse and Lens were more or less clubs with a similar economic curve: that of an average L1 team. Hence the two were interested in the same profiles, in the same players: it is the law of supply and demand. Secondly, after what I will call a combination of circumstances, there are affinities which come into play. line of account – of people.”
Also read:
He scores his first professional goal in front of his family at 18: the beautiful story of Seny Koumbassa, quiet force and future of TFC who will have a big role to play in the Coupe de France
“Clearly: the quotas reached (around forty, let’s remember) prove that the leaders get along well. Have always appreciated each other. That relations are in good shape. No rocket science, it’s like in everyday life: when things go well between two parties, it’s always easier to start working together again. One transaction goes off without a hitch, with flying colors, we’re tempted to move on to the next one.”
Also read:
Lens has “a psychological advantage” before the semi-final of the Coupe de France, believes Pierre Sage: the TFC will have to perform to turn the tables
If the departures and arrivals between the two residents of L1 have been legion in the 2020s, one of the most notable transfers dates back fourteen years: to the winter transfer window in January 2012, with the signing of Serge Aurier for TFC from the RCL then playing on the lower level.
A recruit, no crampons!
Jérôme Fougeron opens for The Dispatch the memory box. “We were looking for a versatile defender, with the qualities of speed and power. We had targeted the player who, from memory, did not have any chemistry with his coach. Alain Casanova, who coached Tef at the time, had immediately approved [contrat de 4 ans et demi, montant estimé 1,5M€]. I picked him up from the airport on a Friday so he could play the next day. He hadn’t moved yet, naturally. He had just grabbed a bag in a hurry, he didn’t have any crampons! Well, we found some for him urgently…”
Also read:
Lens – TFC: without Yann Gboho, suspended, what solutions and what composition for the semi-final of the Coupe de France on Tuesday?
The Ivorian will explode on the banks of the Garonne before flying two and a half years later to PSG for €10 million.
And the coaches…
In recent years, the late Rolland Courbis was the first to open the ball between the two clubs between July 2000 and February 2001 – after having been at the helm on the banks of the Garonne from June 1994 to November 1995. Ephemeral coach at Tef (13 matches, 11 defeats between precisely October 14, 2019 and January 5, 2020), the Kanak technician Antoine Kombouare On the other hand, there will remain three full years in Artois between 2013 and 2016, punctuated among other things by a rise to the elite in its first year. It is… Alain Casanova who succeeds him and it will be… Kombouaré who will replace Casa in Toulouse! Football is crazy, right? Otherwise, of course Philippe Montanier (07/2018 – 02/2020 at RCL) was L2 champion with TFC in 2022 before winning the Coupe de France a year later.
Leave a Reply