Franck Tabanou

Franck Tabanou
Personal information
Date of birth30 January 1989
Place of birthThiais, France
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Saint-Étienne
Number27
Youth career
1998–2002Choisy-le-Roi
2002–2005Le Havre
2005–2006CFF Paris
2006–2009Toulouse
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2009–2013Toulouse138(15)
2013–Saint-Étienne36(3)
National team‡
2009France U203(1)
2009–2010France U2112(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 August 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 November 2010

Franck Tabanou (born 30 January 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays for Saint-Étienne, as a left winger or attacking midfielder.[1] Tabanou is a French youth international having starred at under-20 and under-21 level. He played with the under-20 team at the 2009 Mediterranean Games.[2]

Club career

Early career

Tabanou began his football career at AS Choisy-le-Roi, a club located in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. Growing up in the greater Paris area, he supported Paris Saint-Germain during his childhood. After four years at the club, in June 2002, he signed with professional club Le Havre.[3] While in the club's youth academy, Tabanou was supervised by club coaches Thierry Uvenard and Luc Bruder.[4] After three years at the club, he departed and returned to Paris joining the Centre de Formation de Paris, a youth sporting club designed to cater only to football players under the age of 19.[5]

Toulouse

Upon his arrival to the club, Tabanou was inserted onto the club's under-18 team for the 2006–07 season and had a successful campaign. Midway through the season, he was called up to the club's Championnat de France amateur team in the fourth division. Tabanou appeared in five matches with the team.[6] Ahead of the 2007–08 season, he was promoted to the reserve team on a permanent basis and featured in 20 matches.[7]

In the ensuing season, Tabanou began training with the senior team under manager Alain Casanova. He appeared in several pre-season matches, but endured criticism for some of his performances as the pre-season wore on. Tabanou, himself, admitted that the criticism was justified stating that he relied too much on his technical skills.[3] As a result, prior to the start of the season, he was demoted back to the reserve team. In January 2009, Tabanou was called back into the senior team by Casanova who was impressed by the player's performance with the reserve team. After appearing on the bench in several matches, he made his professional debut on 2 May 2009 in a league match against Marseille.[8] Tabanou appeared as a substitute in the match, which ended 2–2. Two days later, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a one-year deal with the club. Tabanou, subsequently, appeared in the final four matches of the season. One of those matches including his first professional start against Saint-Étienne.[9]

Tabanou was officially promoted to the senior team for the 2009–10 season and assigned the number 27 shirt. He featured as a substitute in the first two matches of the season and, by mid-September, had permanently took over as starter on the left side of midfield. In January 2010, with the player's contract due to expire in June, Toulouse signed Tabanou to a three-year contract extension.[10] On 16 January, Tabanou rewarded the club's decision to extend him by scoring a double in a 3–1 victory over Valenciennes.[11] On 10 April, he repeated this feat by netting another two goals in a 4–0 home win over Grenoble.[12]

Due to injuries to incumbent left back Cheikh M'Bengue, Casanova tasked Tabanou with the job of deputizing for him for the 2010–11 season. Tabanou started in the position for the majority of the fall campaign and assisted on his first two goals of his career in a 2–0 win over Nancy and a 3–1 loss to Rennes.[13][14]

Saint Etienne

On 28 July 2013, Tabanou trains with French Ligue 1 club AS Saint Etienne, on the verge of signing a new contract with them following a transfer from Toulouse. He scores his first goal against Esbjerg in Europa league.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Franck Tabanou, sans complexe" (in French). 20 Minutes. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Franck Tabanou en équipe de France" (in French). AS Choisy-le-Roi. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Franck Tabanou: "Je me suis cru arrivé trop vite..."" (in French). Foot 31. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "Biographie: Franck Tabanou" (in French). Toulouse FC. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  5. ↑ "Histoire du CFFP" (in French). Centre de Formation de Paris. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Toulouse Effectif CFA 2006/2007" (in French). Stat 2 Foot. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  7. ↑ "Toulouse Effectif CFA 2007/2008" (in French). Stat 2 Foot. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  8. ↑ "Marseille v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  9. ↑ "Saint-Étienne v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  10. ↑ "Tabanou jusqu'en 2013" (in French). L'Equipe. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  11. ↑ "Valenciennes v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  12. ↑ "Toulouse v. Grenoble Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  13. ↑ "Nancy v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  14. ↑ "Rennes v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 3 October 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  15. ↑ "Franck Tabanou est arrivé à ses fins" (in French). Le Progrès. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

External links