Football Season Guide

Toulouse enjoyed a long association with Ligue 1 that ended last term as they comprehensively finished bottom of the standings. There were failings throughout the club and in a bid for a new start former Caen boss Patrice Garande has taken over. Despite relegation, at the time of writing TFC had managed to maintain a strong core of the players who had suffered the drop – only a few merited interest from stronger clubs – with some disappointing big earners such as Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Dossevi departing, as well as the regularly injured Corentin Jean. While few additions have been made, most eye-catchingly Vakoun Bayo from Celtic on loan, Toulouse boast a playing pool bristling with talent compared to those around them at this level, augmented by Maxime Dupe, who arrives from Nantes after a successful season keeping Clermont’s goal. Certainly, TFC have looked very sharp offensively in pre-season, with the likes of Aaron Leya Iseka, Efthymios Koulouris and Wesley Said in good form. Max Gradel’s recent departure highlights that it is unlikely that Toulouse will be able to retain that amount of talent, though after being taken over by American owners in the middle of the summer, they have promised president Damien Comolli the means to keep many of their best players. Similarly, there is a good volume of talent in the centre of the park, although it seems impossible to see Ibrahim Sangare hanging around to play second-tier football as his career threatens to take off. While the defence was full of holes at Ligue 1 level last season, this was partly caused by regular injury issues, particularly for the centre-backs. At a lower level, TFC would hope to fare better, though the evidence from pre-season suggests that might not be the case.