Marked for Frédéric Perrin
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Sep 2026
Tours refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market28 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tours, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Both of them Yves Jean's — 8.88
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.88, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Frédéric Perrin, 34, rolls back the years — 8.16
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.16 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Frédéric Perrin 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaud Lacroix is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yves Jean. 3‑2 against AC Ajaccio, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Yves Huet
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match16 Sep 2026
Tours out of the cup
Olympique Lyonnais ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Jean-Luc Perrot out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tours will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.24 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad21 Sep 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Rémi Roche 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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Tours dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Sep 2026
No mercy from Tours
Nimes will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tours were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Both of them Yves Jean's — 8.80
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.80, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match12 Sep 2026
Nobody wants to play Tours right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market14 Sep 2026
Crotone come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Tours did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Frédéric Perrin, 34, rolls back the years — 7.96
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market14 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Laurent Da Silva to Red Star has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Tours with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arnaud Lacroix is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match12 Sep 2026
Tours are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
One of those days for Yves Huet
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.53, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 2026
Tours say no — this time
The offer from Sochaux for Rémi Roche 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Tours make it 5 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tours have 5 straight wins of it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Roger Dupuis, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market7 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Édouard Da Silva has come up in conversations Tours were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Alexandre Boyer reports back to Tours with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Arnaud Lacroix falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Yves Huet in a row with a teammate
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Yves Huet
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 Aug 2026
LOSC Lille come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Tours did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Roger Dupuis at 18 — 7.94
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Roger Dupuis did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Frédéric Perrin, 34, rolls back the years — 7.86
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market31 Aug 2026
Bruno Dupuy hands in a written request
“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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Tours make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tours have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Frédéric Perrin 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Tours have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Tours, 2‑1 the final word against Clermont Foot in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match22 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑1 against AS Nancy, and it could have been more.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Yves Jean scores twice — 9.22
Two goals and a mark of 9.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Frédéric Perrin, 34, rolls back the years — 8.13
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tours, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match22 Aug 2026
Tours make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tours have 3 straight wins of it.
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Yves Huet
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 Aug 2026
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market17 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tours, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Charles Gaillard takes the afternoon — 9.08
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Charles Gaillard provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Yann Gérard takes the afternoon — 7.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yann Gérard provided it, and the 7.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Frédéric Perrin, 34, rolls back the years — 7.86
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Frédéric Perrin 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Jean Girard has left for Nimes in a $530.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
In brief
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Boardroom
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Tours
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Squad
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
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Market
Salernitana are about to pick up the phone
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
Tours say no — this time
The offer from AS Nancy for Frédéric Perrin 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Édouard Da Silva has come up in conversations Tours were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yves Jean and Tours agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Frédéric Perrin 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Frédéric Perrin, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yves Huet is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Yves Huet runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 46. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match1 Aug 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A day Yves Jean will not forget
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market3 Aug 2026
Palermo come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Tours did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Aug 2026
Arnaud Lacroix wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Tours hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Arnaud Lacroix falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
One of those days for Yves Jean
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Charles Gaillard was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.