Marked for Robert Mathieu
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Aleix Febas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Rubén Alves gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match9 Oct 2027
It needed Enol Rodríguez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Almería, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market11 Oct 2027
Experience through the door at Córdoba
Robert Mathieu arrives at 36 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mamadou Samassa and Stade Lavallois agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stade Lavallois this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.82, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Trévis Dago, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
31 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match4 Sep 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Bourg-Peronnas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market6 Sep 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Dro arrives from Paris Saint-Germain with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Market6 Sep 2027
The market said no: Trévis Dago stays put
Stade Lavallois opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Trévis Dago stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 32 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A defender's afternoon for Nathan Ngoy
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stade Lavallois this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 Aug 2027
A 1‑0 win over Dijon, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 62 days on the sidelines for Robert Mathieu, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market9 Aug 2027
Kévin Diogo is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stade Lavallois has been clear about where Kévin Diogo stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Tours
Sofian Bahloul was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad26 Jul 2027
77 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tours is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Denis Henry
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Tours release $173.6K for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Market5 Jul 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tours, another week without a signature from Fabio Domingos.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tours can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Tours
Sofian Bahloul was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
112 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market28 Jun 2027
Fabio Domingos is 19, and Tours have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Denis Henry knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tours, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tours can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Tours
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Tours are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Sofian Bahloul was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Shots: 12, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Match12 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Tours do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Leonardo Marson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Stade Lavallois to sit and watch. I want to come back to Tours and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Aug 2026
Tours say no — this time
The offer from Dijon for Emmanuel Barré was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tours can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Denis Henry gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match22 Aug 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market24 Aug 2026
Robert Mathieu is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tours has been clear about where Robert Mathieu stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Tours would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.