There are birthdays we don't want to celebrate and this is one: in a month, it could be a year since Toulouse haven't won a single match.
The last victory for Toulouse dates back to October 30, 2019, in Niort (2-1) in the Coupe de la Ligue.
Since then, Toulouse has chained the draws but especially the defeats: 20 out of the last 23 meetings.
For 11 months, the TFC has not won anything.
No Ligue 1 match last season, no Ligue 2 match this season, nor in the Coupe de la Ligue or even the Coupe de France, beaten in January among fans of Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Hilaire (4th division).
23 games without winning.
And we do not even count the 4 friendly matches played in August: 3 draws and 1 defeat (against Sète, Pau, Bordeaux, Niort).
Toulouse, often mocked for its almost virgin record (a Coupe de France in 1957), and its name synonymous with defeat in the English language ("to lose"), now battle not to be considered the worst team in history modern pro football.
"I warn you that we will not celebrate a year without a victory, grumbles the new coach Patrice Garande.
We're not going to bake a cake anyway!
The Toulousains receive Auxerre this Saturday then Troyes the next weekend.
The end of the famine?
"Things are a little better, we remain on two draws: we went from red to orange, wants to believe Jean-Baptiste Jammes, one of the most active supporters via his site lesviolets.com.
When you are a TFC supporter, you know that you are not going to win all the matches, but from there not to win any… We do not live it very well but we are in a way vaccinated.
And the sale of the club made it possible to buy back some time with the supporters.
"
Toulouse may have bought a little time but continue to row, despite profound changes in the offseason: new owners, new managers, new staff, and a few new players.
But on the pitch and on the scoreboard, nothing changes.
"It's a toxic dynamic that haunts people's heads," explains Denis Troch, former trainer, now mental coach via his company H-Cort.
The recruits, who arrive in such a context, tend to immerse themselves in this collective dynamic.
It is very difficult to get out of it because you feel the fear in your teammates.
It is a real gangrene.
Fear is spreading at breakneck speed.
"
"We must remember that we knew how to win"
A few players have been present since the start of the series.
Like Manu Koné, young midfielder (19).
"We have it in mind, because it's been almost a year," he admits.
But I am sure that a victory will be a click.
»A success and everything changes?
In recent football history, brutal falls have rarely been followed by dramatic awakenings.
In 2007-2008, Derby County went on one year and 39 games without a win (32 in the Premier League, 3 in the Cup and 4 in the Championship).
The team, now coached by Philip Cocu and Wayne Rooney, are still not back in the Premier League.
"I hear a lot of supporters also mention the example of Sunderland", adds Jean-Baptiste Jammes.
This popular club from the north of England had had two runs in a row, in 2017 and 2018, moving from the Premier League to the 3rd division in a few months.
Immortalized by Netflix cameras, this season had been a long way of the cross.
How can the TFC get back up?
“We have to say to ourselves that at no time do we deserve this,” says Denis Troch.
We must remember that we knew how to win.
We must drive out all black cat or cursed type beliefs.
I experienced this with ASM (
Editor's note: Clermont-Ferrand rugby club which lost almost all of its finals
).
And everyone needs to bring something to the team other than their skills or knowledge, something from the depths of their guts.
At the start of the season, the Toulouse coach encouraged the players to talk, to open up.
"We cannot set out again on a goal without having mourned the past", explains Patrice Garande.
So far without success.