does anyone care what's happening at TO ?

isn't anyone concerned about the recent exodous of top notch players like Nathan,Martin & Mathieu to name but a few ?

we have signed Craig Cook - and that's it ?

speaking to one of the senior players who has been retained by the mighty Carlos and he is very downbeat (that's being ultra polite) about what's happening or,not happening at the club

looks like the club is doomed the way it's going...

can anyone say something positive about TO and next season ?

They can sign any players "lost" to the LER at the start of the championship season.

As to their lack of ambition, can't add anything to what I said last year, they didn't put the effort into getting the squad or coach to win what they needed to apply for SL. Had they made the GF they would have made SL by a country mile, as it is they have no chance of SL for three(ish) years, so won't even put in that amount of effort next year. Chances are FCL will beat them to it at this rate.

The one thing TO have going for them is that they play out of sync with the other French clubs, so any French player wanting to try themselves at a higher level can sign for them in the Championship outside of the LER season. Oh, and St-Go/TO are doing better this year.

They have the most potential out of probably any club in France.

Carlos seems to be moving in the wrong direction.

they have the biggest budget that's for sure tho' Carlos likes to plead poverty - he knows the SL is at least three years away so he's trying to keep in the Championship and build for 2014 - 2011 will be a lower to mid-table season again with the usual lack of serious ambition - is it even worth forking out for a season ticket ? 2011 will be a unevenful and unambitious season with the push for SL starting in 2012
FCL would trounce TO as it stands and would not look out place in the Championship - their problem is their stadium which is unsuitable at a higher level
Hopefully some of the FCL (& other LER players ?) would be eligible to play for TO - let's hope so...

[url=http://www.sang-et-or.net/viewpage.php?page_id=602011 squad list[/url

Thanks John_D

looking forward to seeing the new recruitsplus glad to see the back of Mr Varela

did you hear about the problem with Rory ? sounds pretty bad ! wonder who will fill in at FB ?

Usual lack of ambition or a brave decision to develop the academy and achieve SL status off their own back, as opposed to buying in success?

any team with SL aspirations will have to buy in talent - SL quality will not come from the lower ranks - for example,how many of this present squad would get into even the poorest SL team ? answer : two or three maximum.

Tricky. The club are proud of the Centre de Formation and with good reason. At this stage, producing your own players is a bigger factor than buying in. Obviously any step up would involve bringing in more quality, but that's at least three years away, so there's time to build and be strong when that comes around.

Looking through the squad, I don't think it's that bad. They seem to have accepted that Villegas is just too timid to play in the halves. Josh Lewis comes on Nathan Wynn's recommendation, Corcoran and Cook caused numerous problems for the side over the last couple of years, so if you can't beat 'em, sign 'em.

No I haven't. What's happened to him?

Would think Villegas would go to full-back, maybe Seb Planas

I heard from somewhere last week (I honestly can't recall where) he suffered an injury in training and requires surgery which will put him out for thre or four months

overall the squad looks pretty good - looking forward to seeing the new boys along with the rest on the 29th

Quote ="John_D"No I haven't. What's happened to him? Would think Villegas would go to full-back, maybe Seb Planas'" www.ladepeche.fr/article/2011/01 ... omley.html try this link - it's in french,do you wish me to translate John ? basically it's a reoccuring achilles tendon problem which now needs an operation - Gilles D is worried that he doesn't have another FB of he same quality as a replacement - he's scheduled to be out for three months according to the article.He should have had the op on the 5th,the same day that Tim Wynn & Josh Lewis were due to arrive at Toulouse.

Quote ="John_D"No I haven't. What's happened to him? Would think Villegas would go to full-back, maybe Seb Planas'" www.ladepeche.fr/article/2011/01 ... omley.html try this link - it's in french,do you wish me to translate John ? basically it's a reoccuring achilles tendon problem which now needs an operation - Gilles D is worried that he doesn't have another FB of he same quality as a replacement - he's scheduled to be out for three months according to the article.He should have had the op on the 5th,the same day that Tim Wynn & Josh Lewis were due to arrive at Toulouse.

Merde alors

excactement,sacre blue et zut alors !!!

His replacement is 21yr old Gregory White. Apparently French who played Union last season for Warringah in the Sydney 1st div.

according to the Warringah website he's a winger ! a competant FB would be useful maybe ?

Something by way of a [url=http://www.sang-et-or.net/readarticle.php?article_id=791season preview[/url from Mark

as per report on sang et or he played the second half for TO v Catalans - first 20 mins on RW and second 20 at FB and did ok in both roles - was standing next to his dad at the game and he says it as his first RL game in 2 years so well done to him - saying that,Rory is a difficult act to follow....