Pascal Dupraz (Toulouse): French Ligue 1's Record And Uprising Tactician .

Pascal Dupraz (Toulouse): French Ligue 1's Record  And Uprising Tactician.

By Ewah Chika.

"This is a resignation decided In full consultation, there is no plan B for the time being," were the words of Oliver Sadran President of Toulouse Football Club following the resignation of Dominique Arribage as the club's head coach in February. Under Arribage, Toulouse were 19th in the table, ten points away from safety with ten games to play.
In stepped 53-year-old Pascal Dupraz who had a mild heart problem with no spectacular thing in his resume apart from saving Evian from relegation in the 2012-2013 season having  finished 16th after taking over from Pablo Correa while the club was 18th. The following season, Evian would finish 14th although this did not continue as they were relegated in 2014/2015 season leading to Dupraz's sacking in June 2015.

Dupraz's appointment was not greeted with the slightest of excitement as even the club's most positive fans felt Toulouse was destined for Ligue 2. Dupraz will immediately make his presence felt at the club drawing his first game with 1-1 Marseille  , although he was not in the dugout as he was recovering from a mild heart attack far away in the hospital at the time of the game. Things took the turn for good In his second game in charge as Toulouse effectively beat Wily Sagnol's Bordeaux 4-0, leading to the sacking of the former French and Bayern Munich's right-back. Such was Dupraz's immediate grasping impact at the Stade Municipal that Toulouse would  escape relegation with a game to spare, finishing 17th (breaking the relegation escape record) recording five wins, three draws and only two losses in his first ten league games which kept the club safe.

This season, Dupraz's magic is on the rise as Toulouse sit fourth in the table, two points behind champions PSG who are on 16 points. Les Violet have also lost only four times since March, making them league contenders which is in stark contrast to their Ligue 2 form before Dupraz's appointment on February 27th. This season, Les Violets have already beaten Unai Emery's star studded PSG, a game Dupraz departed the Stade Municipal Stadium with a lap of honour. Dupraz is quickly taking Toulouse to the echelons of French football considering their effective and attacking style with 17-year-old goalkeeper  Alban Lafont making waves in the league with an impressive calmness, composure and reflex uncommon with players of his age having won the Man of the Match in the home win against PSG before the international break. The goalkeeper isn't alone as the then inconsistent Danish forward Braithwaite has stepped in impressing and scoring at the same time seamlessly replacing already departed Wissam Ben Yedder who scored ten of his last season's 17 goals under management of the former Evian coach.  This is not all as youngster Issa Diop (18) has also impressed In defence for the club having being promoted last season by Arribage. The French U21 defender  has everything needed to excel at the top as his intimidating aerial ability and on the ball prowess are beyond his age coupled with his good decision making.

Dupraz has been able to achieve all these in Toulouse mainly due to his ability to control the mood and emotions of his players which he uses to great effect, often getting the best out of them, psychologically pushing them to their limits while not ignoring his quick and spot on tactical set-up and choices. Under Dupraz, attendance at the Stade Municipal Stadium has risen astronomically from 9,000 during their struggles last season under Arribage to the present 30,000 under Dupraz. Another of Dupraz's attributes that has made him the darling of Toulouse fans, directors and players alike is his old school principle of sticking with what he has at the club rather than buying unnecessarily in the transfer market which is a rare attribute in modern football which has been overtaken by excessive inflated fees being paid for average players . Dupraz's has also proved he is not one reluctant to take difficult decisions which is illustrated by the fact that he declared Alex Pesic and Uros Spajic surplus to requirements at the club this season and then stripping Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro of the captain armband before moving him to the right-back position from his preferred midfield position and subsequently taking him out of the starting eleven.

For now , Pascal Dupraz has been nothing but exceptional but if he is to write his name in gold in Toulouse, then it is important that he  keeps his head up and maintains this early season form until the end of the season.