Marked for Marcel Ménard
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Oct 2028
Arnaud Collet breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market23 Oct 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Tours, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Vito Rosané: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tours have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Oct 2028
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.
The terraces23 Oct 2028
Tours supporters have found a favourite in Marcel Ménard
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Marcel Ménard has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad23 Oct 2028
At 37 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.60, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match21 Oct 2028
A 2‑2 draw with Stade Brestois leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2028
A European night to remember for Tours
2‑1 against AIK, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Match20 Sep 2028
The small margins put Tours out
Out, 0‑1 to FC Metz, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Arnaud Collet breaks a bone — 49 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
A brace, and Pierre Moreau takes the afternoon — 8.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pierre Moreau provided it, and the 8.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market25 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces25 Sep 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 9 of the 36 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad25 Sep 2028
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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Pierre Giraud 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Sep 2028
Arnaud Collet breaks a bone — 71 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Sep 2028
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Squad4 Sep 2028
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Pierre Giraud 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.
Match2 Sep 2028
It finished 3‑1, and it was Pierre Moreau’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tours.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Pierre Moreau was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. 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.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces4 Sep 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Aug 2028
Arnaud Collet breaks a bone — 78 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Aug 2028
Tours throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with AJ Auxerre the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Tours will enjoy reviewing.
Market28 Aug 2028
“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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Tours
François Berger 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 Aug 2028
Thomas Renaud has improved at 32, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Raymond Sanchez is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
A performance of 8.54 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match26 Aug 2028
A 2‑2 draw with AJ Auxerre leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Aug 2028
Arnaud Collet breaks a bone — 94 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marcel Ménard is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Tours
François Berger 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Market14 Aug 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Thomas Vannoye has his answer from Tours; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jul 2028
Arnaud Collet breaks a bone — 108 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Jul 2028
Marcel Ménard 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jul 2028
Tours say no — this time
The offer from Angers SCO for Guillaume Noël 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 Jul 2028
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Josh Robinson is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad24 Jul 2028
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 Jul 2028
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Pierre Giraud 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emmanuel Blanchard will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tours the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marcel Ménard is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Tours
François Berger 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pierre Giraud 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
Uneasy
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market3 Jul 2028
Tours spend $1.2M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.2M has been paid because Facundo Lemos is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Tours
François Berger 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pierre Giraud 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
$2.3M on the table at Tours
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Pierre Moreau has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tours will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Tours are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Pierre Giraud has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tours will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Idris Bounaas, and the manager let it.
Market26 Jun 2028
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Tours could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 May 2028
Continental nights are coming to Tours
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
Market29 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad29 May 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Tours will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad29 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tours may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 May 2028
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.
Squad29 May 2028
François Paul 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
A fracture rules Briar Bateman out for 18 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.
Market1 May 2028
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
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
Steady
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.21, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tours may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market21 Feb 2028
Luquinhas puts it in writing
“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 ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
Match19 Feb 2028
Guillaume Noël among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Guillaume Noël on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Tours and Stade Brestois.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Pierre Giraud 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 ratings21 Feb 2028
Pierre Moreau was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.42. 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Marcel Ménard
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Feb 2028
Nobody wants to play Tours right now
3 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Tours
François Berger 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Pierre Moreau
“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.
Match12 Feb 2028
A 2‑1 win over Chamois Niortais, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Ninety minutes of Pierre Giraud at his very best
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tours.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Marcel Ménard was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Tours know it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Market14 Feb 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Feb 2028
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Tours rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Le Havre AC had no answer to any of it.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.
Match5 Feb 2028
Three points for Tours, 4‑3 the final word against Le Havre AC in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Pierre Giraud 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.
Loan watch7 Feb 2028
“I did not go to Leiria to sit and watch. I want to come back to Tours and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.
The terraces7 Feb 2028
Tours supporters have found a favourite in Marcel Ménard
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Marcel Ménard has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Blanchard, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Marked 8.77 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Tours
Tanguy Nianzou 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pierre Giraud 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.
Match29 Jan 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pierre Giraud. 2‑1 against OGC Nice, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to François Berger, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Pierre Moreau has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tours will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The terraces31 Jan 2028
Everybody has an opinion about François Berger
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Market31 Jan 2028
Marc Rey linked with a move away
The name of Marc Rey keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tours say nothing, which says plenty.
Market31 Jan 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
In brief
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Player ratings
Marcel Ménard runs at them all day
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Boardroom
Tours were not finished after all
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Boardroom
Tours keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match27 Dec 2027
Tours up to position 3
39 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Tours
Emmanuel Blanchard 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tours and AJ Auxerre in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pierre Giraud 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.
Squad27 Dec 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.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
One of those days for Marc Rey
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match25 Dec 2027
3‑3, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad27 Dec 2027
8 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 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.
Squad19 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Marc Rey knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marc Rey trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Nobody at Tours will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad19 Jul 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.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
The stands have heard the Marc Rey talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Tours would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
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.
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
Pierre Giraud 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Tours release $149.6K 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Pierre Moreau is still paying for one afternoon at Tours
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market5 Jul 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Tours signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Pierre Giraud has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tours will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Tours academy
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
The stands have heard the Marcel Ménard talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Tours would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Mouhamed Souare
“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 Apr 2027
Pierre Moreau is still paying for one afternoon at Tours
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“I watch every Tours game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Stade Lavallois runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Marcel Ménard 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Marc Rey may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
In brief
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Market
The Hervé Roux story refuses to die
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Boardroom
The Tours board choose calm
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Dec 2026
No mercy from Tours
Valenciennes will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tours were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match5 Dec 2026
Tours cannot stop winning
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match5 Dec 2026
Tours are at home on the road
6 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Emmanuel Blanchard 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.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
The crowd has taken to Marc Rey
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
François Berger was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marc Rey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Issa Maréga
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Gabriel Adam 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.