Amadou Jean Tigana (born 23 June 1955) is a French former football player and manager. A central midfielder, he was renowned as one of the best midfielders in the world during the 1980s.[3] He spent his entire playing career in France, and made 52 appearances and scored one goal for the France national team. Following his playing career, he became a manager, coaching clubs in France, England, Turkey and China.

Jean Tigana
Tigana in 2000 or 2001
Personal information
Full nameAmadou Jean Tigana[1]
Date of birth (1955-06-23) 23 June 1955 (age 68)[2]
Place of birthBamako, French Sudan[2]
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[2]
Position(s)Central midfielder
Youth career
1965–1972ASPTT Marseille
1972–1974SO Les Caillols
1974–1975Cassis
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1975–1978Toulon76(10)
1978–1981Lyon104(15)
1981–1989Bordeaux251(11)
1989–1991Marseille56(0)
Total487(36)
International career
1980–1988France52(1)
Managerial career
1993–1995Lyon
1995–1999Monaco
2000–2003Fulham
2005–2007Beşiktaş
2010–2011Bordeaux
2012Shanghai Shenhua
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
FIFA World Cup
Third place1986 México
UEFA European Championship
Winner1984 France
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Tigana started his professional career as a player at Toulon, having been spotted fairly late playing part-time while employed in a spaghetti factory and then as a postman. He moved to Lyon in 1978 and then to Bordeaux in a $4 million transfer. In Bordeaux's midfield for eight years, Tigana helped them to three league titles and three French cups, as well as taking them close to European glory on two occasions, losing in the semi-final of the European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup in 1985 and 1987 respectively.

He moved in 1989 to Marseille, and ended his career there following the 1990–91 season, winning two consecutive league titles,[4] and reaching the European Cup final during the latter season, only to be defeated by Red Star Belgrade on penalties following a 0–0 draw.[5]

International career edit

Tigana was born in Bamako, French Sudan (now Mali) to a Malian father and a French mother.[6] He represented France, and as an international Tigana joined Michel Platini, Luis Fernandez and Alain Giresse in what was termed "the Magic Square" (le Carré Magique) – one of the greatest midfield foursomes of all time.[4] He was part of the France national football team that won UEFA Euro 1984 on home soil, defeating Spain in the final.[4] Tigana's single international goal came against Hungary in the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals, in which France managed a third-place finish.

Playing style edit

Tigana was a world-class box-to box midfielder, who usually played in the centre, and who was noted for his great movement, teamwork, pace and tireless stamina. Although Tigana was mainly responsible for his team's defensive duties, he also often ventured forward to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. His work ethic and expansive range of passing, from both long and short range, made him an excellent distributor which, when combined with his close control and simplistic yet efficient dribbling technique, made him a world–class midfielder. He was also well known for his contributions in the more advanced areas of the pitch, due to his ability to spot and execute defence-splitting passes.

Managerial career edit

For his first managerial role, Tigana returned to Lyon, coaching them from 1993 to 1995, before moving on to Monaco replacing Arsene Wenger, where he remained until 1999. They were French league champions in 1997 and Champions League semi-finalists a year later, beating Manchester United in the quarter-finals.

He took over as manager of English club Fulham in April 2000[4] and helped them to promotion from Division One to the FA Premier League as champions in his first full season. They finished 13th in their first top-flight season for more than 30 years and qualified for the UEFA Cup (via the Intertoto Cup), but he was sacked in April 2003, even though Fulham were in no danger of going down at this stage.[7] The club later took him to court, claiming he had wrongly overpaid for certain players such as Steve Marlet, but the charges were dropped. Tigana then took Fulham to court for wrongful dismissal and won, winning a payout of over £2 million.[8]

In October 2005, after a two years plus game hiatus, he signed a two and a half-year contract with Turkish side Beşiktaş. During that same season, Beşiktaş won the Turkish Cup following an eight years hiatus.

Immediately after winning the 2007 Turkish Cup, Tigana announced that he was to leave Beşiktaş at the end of the season. He left Beşiktaş with two games to play, after a contract termination agreement with club board.

On 25 May 2010, Tigana returned to Ligue 1 coaching joining Bordeaux, replacing Laurent Blanc.[9]

On 7 May 2011, after a severe defeat against Sochaux (0–4) and a verbal aggression from Bordeaux team fans against his daughter, who was in the stadium, he announced that he was to leave Bordeaux.[10][11]

On 18 December 2011, it was announced that Tigana would coach Shanghai Shenhua from the 2012 season. On 15 April 2012, Tigana resigned as manager of Shanghai Shenhua after a run of poor form, leaving the Chinese club in the bottom five of its domestic league.

Career statistics edit

Club edit

[12]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupEuropeTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Toulon1975–76Division 2231231
1976–77273273
1977–78266266
Total761000007610
Lyon1978–79Division 1363363
1979–80335335
1980–81357357
Total10415000010415
Bordeaux1981–82Division 12711[a]0281
1982–833225[a]0371
1983–843212[a]0341
1984–852836[b]0343
1985–86322312[b]0373
1986–87370308[c]0480
1987–883015[b]0351
1988–893316[a]0391
Total251116135029212
Marseille1989–90Division 1370208[b]0470
1990–91190105[b]1251
Total56030131721
Total487369148154438
  1. ^ a b c d Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. ^ a b c d e Appearances in European Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup

International edit

France
YearAppsGoals
198040
198150
1982120
198340
1984100
198540
1986111
198710
198810
Total521

Managerial record edit

As of match played 7 April 2012
Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamFromToRecord
PWDLWin %
Lyon1 July 199330 June 199585422023049.41
Monaco1 July 199531 December 1998170923741054.12
Fulham9 April 200017 April 2003145673741046.21
Beşiktaş31 October 200515 May 200782431623052.44
Bordeaux25 May 20107 May 201138121511031.58
Shanghai Shenhua1 January 201215 April 20125122020.0
Total525257127141048.95

Honours edit

Player edit

Club edit

Bordeaux

Marseille

International edit

France

Individual edit

Manager edit

Club edit

Monaco

Fulham

Beşiktaş

Individual edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Entreprise Canelle à Cassis (13260)" [Company Canelle in Cassis (13260)]. Figaro Entreprises (in French). Société du Figaro. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
    "Jean Tigana". BFM Business (in French). Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Tigana: Jean Amadou Tigana: Manager". BDFutbol. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  3. ^ Europe's best Player of the Century - IFFHS
  4. ^ a b c d "Tigana named as Fulham boss". news.bbc.co.uk. 9 April 2000. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  5. ^ O'Connor, Robert (5 June 2015). "The Team Dismantled by War: Red Star Belgrade's Final European Triumph". www.vice.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Dévoué à la cause du Mali".
  7. ^ "Tigana sacked by Fulham". The Scotsman. UK. 18 April 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  8. ^ Milmo, Cahal (13 November 2004). "Fayed must pay £2.5m to ex-Fulham manager". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  9. ^ "Jean Tigana appointed Bordeaux coachdate=2010-05-25". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  10. ^ "Tigana – " J'arrête "" (in French). FC Girondins de Bordeaux. 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Jean Tigana steps down as Bordeaux coach". Goal.com. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  12. ^ Jean Tigana at National-Football-Teams.com
  13. ^ "France - Footballer of the Year". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
  14. ^ Courtney, Barrie (14 August 2004). "European Championships - UEFA Teams of Tournament". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Eric Batty's World XI's – The Eighties and Nineties". Beyond The Last Man. 10 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Fulham force draw". BBC Sport. 13 August 2002. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
    "Fulham clinch Euro glory". BBC Sport. 27 August 2002. Retrieved 16 June 2020.

External links edit