Gooner96

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Toulouse. A city in the south of France, famous for it's Rugby, as opposed to football. Stade Toulousain, or Toulouse, as they are usually called, has won the Heineken Cup 4 times, and have the best record in European Rugby. They have also won the French Championship 17 times, and the World Rugby Club Championship once. They are among the most successful and famous Rugby teams in the world. But that's Rugby.

There are another team in Toulouse. Toulouse FC are a mid-table team in Ligue 1. They play at Le Stade Municipial, a bigger stadium than the Rugby stadium, although it's used in the bigger games by the Rugby team. It's time for Football to fight back.

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Reports from Toulouse indicate that coach Alain Casanova has left following arguments with the board. He appears to have been replaced by coach Patrick Hughes.

Casanova played for Toulouse at the end of his career, after moving from Marseille, where he made no appearances, but was on the bench for the 1991 European Cup final.

Patrick Hughes himself also played at Toulouse for a year, and has been a coach under Casanova and with Toulouse struggling money wise, it's probably no surprise that the appointment has come from within.

But there is a surprise in the Casanova situation, a possible rift between him and the board causing the sacking. Speculation is rife that Hughes will be on Casanova's side, having worked under him.

Fans of the club are disappointed at the manner of the loss of a manager, a frightened that an untested manager will be taking the helm, but some are looking at this in a positive light.

A user on an unofficial forum had this to say: "It's a shame that Casanova's gone, but I think Hughes can do well. He knows this club relatively well, and he could invigorate the side with his youth."

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It was a shame that Casanova left. But every cloud, eh?

I'd quickly got myself a suit, and I drove to the ground for the press conference. When I got there, I was surprised by the number of media members. I sat down and drank from a glass of water that had obviously been put down for me, and the media started their barrage.

"Mr Hughes, I am Jean-Pierre Mignolet from the Midi Pyrenees Times. Could you comment on the situation with Casanova?""
"It's a real shame that Alain left, but that's in the past, and I plan to bring rich future here."
"You played here for a year, and you've worked here for a few years. Will this knowledge of the club help you?"
"I don't think it's possible that extra knowledge will hinder me. I am sure that I will be able to bring this town glory."
"This is a town dominated and captivated by Rugby. How do you intend to popularize football here?"
"I think that it's already quite popular, but I will try to bring more support in through our footballing style, and of course, success. But if people want to support people chasing eggs, I won't do anything to stop that."
"What was relationship with monsieur Casanova?"
"I don't want to talk about the past, I want to talk about the now and the future."
"If you want to talk about the future, how far can you go?"
"All the way. I think I'm quite a good manager."

The press officer stood up urgently, and said that the conference had finished. I walked out, following the press officer. He frowned at me.
"Jesus, do you want to big yourself up anymore? The media will pressure you like **** now."
"I don't care."
"What?"
"I couldn't give a flying ****. I meant what I said."

That was the start of my Toulouse Adventure.

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I hope you enjoy my story.
 
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