Le TFC- Overthrowing the Giants

JasonRM

Toulouse hire Jason Hunt as new manager!

After just 5 days of searching, Le TFC, better known as Toulouse, have found a new manager with direct ties to the French Club. Jason Hunt, a 38 year old American, is the new manager at Toulouse. Hunt is a former Toulouse player. After a promising start at the New England Revolution Academy, Hunt joined Ligue 2 side Angers SCO at the end of the 1993/1994 season for 500K pounds. However, the recently relegated side found little use for the promising American and Hunt decided to leave at the end of his contract for Toulouse. At Toulouse, Hunt was in and around the first team and was a solid role player for the club. When he retired after the 2006/2007 season, Hunt had amassed 74 starts for the club, scoring 6 times and setting up double that. While Hunt was never a standout performer for the club, Elie Baup, manager at the time, constantly praised Hunt's knowledge of the game and work ethic. Now Hunt, who obtained a Continental Pro Licence two years ago, will get a chance to prove Baup right, and his doubters wrong. The hiring has certainly been met with mixed opinions. Didier Deschaps, manager of France, has praised Toulouse's chairman for appointing Hunt. Popular football pundit Marcel Desailly and former Toulouse legend Johan Elmander have both expressed their doubts about the hiring and the latter blasted Toulouse for taking a chance when their future is hanging in the balance. Hunt will have some great talent at his disposal, with Serge Aurier, Steeve Jago, and Uris Spajic all being touted has stars of the future, but many doubt whether Toulouse will be able to retain their talent before they leave but greener pastures. Toulouse open up their season at Valenciennes before the home opener at Bordeaux, a fixture Hunt will need to win to win the fan's over. More on the appointment will be coming tomorrow, when Hunt speaks to the press for the first time as Toulouse manager. Stay Tuned!

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Jer

10 years

Btw, Aurier's a midget, don't use him as a CB.. FIRST COMMENT

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JasonRM

10 years

Welcome back to Canal's continuing coverage of the Ligue 1 preseason. It's about 2 months until the first kickoff of the season, but that time will fly for Jason Hunt, new manager of Toulouse FC. The American was appointed yesterday following the departure Alain Cassanova, and he meets with our experts here at Canal to discuss his appointment and the future of Toulouse. Let's welcome Jason Hunt!

JH: Hello France, I'm Jason Hunt, the new manager of Toulouse FC.

CP: Glad to have you here Jason. First of all, what does being Toulouse manager mean to you, a former player?

It obviously means a lot! I never was a superstar at Toulouse and was constantly moving between the reserves and the first team, but I'm thrilled I could come back here and hopefully have a bigger impact than I did as a player. I'm very happy with all the support I've received already from legends of the games, such as Dider Deschamps! I just hope I can live up to the lofty expectations of our supporters.

Jason, how do you feel about those criticizing your lack of experience, such as Marcel Desaily and Johan Elmander?

With all due respect to both Marcel and Johan, I feel that experience should not be the judge of a manager's quality. To be successful in football, you need innovate and change the game. Those who try and imitate other's successes will never lead their team to greatness. That's what matters. Not experience, but adaptability and innovation.

Where do you think you're side will finish this year?

I think with the right signings and the right tactics, we can easily finish upper mid table. We have a really solid defense, highlighted by Serge down the right flank, and we also have some classy finishers, such as Eden Ben Basat. Some critics don't see all the quality we have and that's fine, we're a team that's content with not being in the limelight, but you all can expect us to be up their come the end of the season.

Who exactly might the right signings be?

I can't say exactly, but I have a couple of wingers in mind, players who can singlehandedly create chances. It's not that I feel that we don't already have quality at the wing positions, but some depth is definitely needed?

How much money do you have available for transfers?

Again, I can't tell you the exact figure, but somewhere between 3-5M pounds. I would of liked more, but we have to be realistic here and realize that we're not in the best financial situation at the moment, especially when it comes to wages, but I think with the right management we can add more to the coffers so next year we'll have a little bit more to spend?

What formation will you be using?

I can't be sure as of right now, but knowing the players, I feel the 4-2-3-1 will suit the team pretty well. Again, none of this is set in stone, but the 4-2-3-1 looks like the formation that fits the players the best.

We hear at Canal have heard rumors about the departure of Etienne Didot, can you confirm or deny these rumors?

Didot is a great player but we've received interest from Montpelier, PSV, and FC Porto when it comes to selling him, and I'm not sure if it's in our best interests to keep him. Raising funds for transfers is very important at this stage, and if a good offer comes in we'll take it. He's still a rotation player, and he's behind Abel Aguilar and Clement Chantome in the rotation.

Lastly Jason, what do you think about transfer reports linking you with Eric Tie Bie?

Eric is a great player, and the club has talked extensively to Evian about a possible transfer. Anything could happen when it comes to this transfer, and hopefully we'll be able to add another classy player to the side.

Thanks for your time Jason!

Tune in for more Toulouse coverage soon, as they take on Valenciennes for the first match of the season. Also, don't miss the start of the season on August 9th, when Montpelier take out PSG at the Mondial 98.

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WeAreFev

10 years

Nice start, Been past the TFC ground its a nice little stadium.
be nice for a little team overcome PSG etc Good Luck

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pompeyblue

10 years

Good start and good luck

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JasonRM

10 years

Two in, One out for Jason Hunt

Welcome back to our continued coverage of the Ligue 1. Today, we've received news of not 1, not 2, but 3 deals by Jason Hunt.

Hunt's first signing was from Kaiserslautern, and he goes by the name of Kostas Fortounis. Kostas joined Toulouse for 3 million pounds, and Hunt will undoubtedly be delighted with that deal. Fourtounis is a right winger with good dribbling and the pace to get around players and create something out of nothing, something that Toulouse has lacked so far this preseason. Valued at 4.4M, Kostas is one of the most promising Greek players in the world, and at just 20 years old, he has lots of room for improvement. Fourtounis spoke to Canal about the transfer just a few minutes ago. He told our staff that he was delighted to move to such a reputable club and that he looked forward to playing under such an exciting new manager. Fourtounis will certainly need to improve on his last season, as he scored just 2 goals, but he's shown flashes of the brilliance that Jason Hunt expects, and it certainly will be intriguing to see how he does this season.

Toulouse's next signing was talented winger Roman Alessandrini. He'll play on the left wing, and like Kostas Fourtounis, he is a huge talent with great pace and dribbling. At 24, Roman is one of the top french wingers in the game and after a great season at Rennes last year, new manager Jason Hunt will be expecting big thing. Alessandrini, who joins as a key player for 6.75M, a club record, scored 10 goals in 22 appearances last year, and that kind of finishing is exactly what Toulouse need. Like Fourtounis, Alessandrini was please to join a club that was going in the "right direction". Whether the club can improve from last season's 10th placed finished is yet to be seen.

Lastly, Jason Hunt sold Etienne Didot to FC Porto for 2.7M pounds. The CM was a great servant to the club, as he made 150 appearances for the club, scoring 8 times, but he was not needed this year and the deal was to good to pass up.

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Josh_MU

10 years

Great update man, looking forward to seeing how you do this season.

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InvertedWingbacks

10 years

great update and some good signings: hopefully they'll do well for you

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Jer

10 years

Good signings, they better be good for you

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MJK46

10 years

Good luck on this man. Ill be following

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pompeyblue

10 years

Good signings!

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JasonRM

10 years

Preseason Results

Toulouse

Starting XI: Ahamada, Aurier, Yago, Spajic, Moubandje, Furman, Didot, Ben Yedder, Aguilar, Ben Basat, Trejo

Oscar Trejo (40)

Wissiam Ben Yedder (57)

Oscar Trejo (7.1)

Slovan Liberic

Starting XI: Rampacek, Hynek, Rajnoch, Kovac, Bohac, Henjy, Laga, Coufal, Navratil, Prasek, Lukes

Michal Lukes (15, 17, 68)

Michal Lukes (9.5)

Stats

Shots: Toulouse 13-10 Slovan Liberic
Possession: Toulouse 52%-58% Slovan Liberic
Clear Cut Chances: Toulouse 1-3 Slovan Liberic

Toulouse

Starting XI: Ahamada, Aurier, Yago, Spajic, Moubandje, Siriex, Furman, Regattin, Chauvet, Ben Basat, Soukouna

Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro (69)

Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro (7.3)

Cruz Azul

Starting XI: Corona, Flores, Perea, Dominguez, Castro, Pinto, Torrado, Formica, Emana, Gimenez, Pavone

Gerrado Torrado (6.8)

Stats

Shots: Toulouse 8-12 Cruz Azul
Possession: Toulouse 56%-44% Cruz Azul
Clear Cut Chances: Toulouse 1-0 Cruz Azul

Toulouse

Starting XI: Blondel, Ninkov, Yago, Veskovac, Sylla, Furman, Aguilar, Benali, Castaing, David, Trejo

Youssf Benali (27)

Florian David (88)

Florian David (7.7)

FC Basel

Starting XI: Sommer, Degan, Sauro, Ivanov, Safari, Diaz, Die, El Neny, Delgado, Stocker, Streller

Matias Delgado (26)

Matias Delgado (7.2)

Stats

Shots: Toulouse 11-5 FC Basel
Possession: Toulouse 46%-54% FC Basel
Clear Cut Chances: Toulouse 4-2 FC Basel

Toulouse

Starting XI: Blondel, Ninkov, Yago, Spajic, Moubandje, Furman, Chantome, Regattin, Aguilar, Ben Basat, Trejo

Ali Ahamada (7.3)

Hoffenheim

Starting XI: Grahl, Beck, Verstergaard, Thesker, Braafheid, Polanski, Hamad, Firmino, Rudy, Johnson, Schipplock

Andreas Beck (7.4)

Stats

Shots: Toulouse 9-9 Hoffenheim
Possession: Toulouse 56%-44% Hoffenheim
Clear Cut Chances: Toulouse 0-0 Hoffenheim

RC Strasbourg Alsace

Starting XI: Aurielle, Donzelot, Golliard, Sikimic, Momha, Oliveria, Bah, Genghini, Noro, Sabo, Ribas

Gauthier Pinaud (76)

Milovan Skimic (7.3)

Toulouse

Starting XI: Blondel, Aurier, Yago, Spajic, Sylla, Siriex, Chantome, Braithwaite, Furman, Fourtounis, Ben Yedder

Issagia Sylla (7.2)

Stats

Shots: RC Strasbourg Alsace 13-15 Toulouse
Possession: RC Strasbourg Alsace 41%-59% Toulouse
Clear Cut Chances: RC Strasbourg Alsace 1-1 Toulouse

Toulouse

Starting XI: Vidal, Aurier, Yago, Spajic, Moubandje, Aguilar, Chantome, Ben Yedder, Chauvet, Braithwaite, Soukona

Adrien Regattin (67)

Adrien Regattin (7.3)

Juventus

Starting XI: Storari, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Isla, Pirlo, Asamoah, Vidal, Pogba, Tevez, Osvaldo

Leonardo Bonucci (10)

Andrea Pirlo (7.9)

Stats

Shots: Toulouse 13-5 Juventus
Possession: Toulouse 53%-47% Juventus
Clear Cut Chances: Toulouse 1-3 Juventus

Ferrol

Starting XI: Camacho, Vasquez, Antonio, Chupi, Dopico, Rey, Forte, Villar, Pinto, Barreio, Alvarez

Ioso Villar (6.7)

Toulouse

Starting XI: Blondel, Yago, Zebina, Spajic, Moubandje, Siriex, Chantome, Fourtounis, Furman, Alessandrini, Soukouna

Wissiam Ben Yedder (82)

Stats

Shots: Ferrol 2-9 Toulouse
Possession: Ferrol 43%-57% Toulouse
Clear Cut Chances: Ferrol 0-1 Toulouse

Analysis

We had a pretty poor preseason in all honesty, but seeing as it's the first time the team has played the 4-2-3-1, I'll write it off as that. The biggest worry for me is the clinicality of our strikers. In the Basel match, we had 4 Clear Cut Chances as well as 11 shots, but we scored just 2 goals. In the Juve game, we had 13 shots and the majority of the possession, but we only found the back of the net once. Our possession stats have been pretty good though, we've managed to dominate the possession in all but one game. That's all fine, but if we don't finish, it means nothing. The defense has been fantastic, with Yago and co. conceding just 6 goals in 7 games, and despite having 3 different keepers, it didn't have that great of an effect on our defense. With Valenciennes, Bordeaux, and Monaco coming up in the league, I think 6 points out of 9 shout be our target. If we played like we did against Juve, we can get a result against any team.

Notable Performances