Got aveuglant from Babelfish as the word on its own, but that was their translation for the whole sentence!
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Got aveuglant from Babelfish as the word on its own, but that was their translation for the whole sentence!
Matt the Shrimp
aka Harry Potter
I wouldn't rely on Babelfish!
That said, I doubt the French say, literally, "he played a blinder" - I'm sure that they have other phrases. I'll ask my mate who's an OL seaso...
:)
That said, I doubt the French say, literally, "he played a blinder" - I'm sure that they have other phrases. I'll ask my mate who's an OL seaso...
:)
HUTTON
Guest
Just reading on the BBC, apparently we played Fulham in a friendly last Tuesday, which he scored in. Tilson says he has only seen him in one game, so is taking a gamble on him!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/7587562.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/7587562.stm
Birri
Manager
As for him not speaking English yet... <<bof>>. How many English footballers speak French? Not many, I'd wager.
Matt,
How many English players have been & played in froggie land. I only remember waddle & hoddle (imagine waddle speaking frog with a geordie accent) other than for a booze cruise or hols in the sarf of france they probably would never need to learn it.
Matt,
How many English players have been & played in froggie land. I only remember waddle & hoddle (imagine waddle speaking frog with a geordie accent) other than for a booze cruise or hols in the sarf of france they probably would never need to learn it.
seany t
President
OlvisIII
Coach
I'm sure most of the team will have listened carefully in GCSE French and communicate excellently during matches with helpful footballing advice suc as:
Tournez a droite...tournez a gauche......ou est la gare?.......je voudrais un sandwich de fromage.....je ne comprand pas, je suis anglais!
All useful phrases that have always helped me navigate my way across France so will needless to say be of great help at 3pm on a Sat!
All he needs is that Gallic shrug that Thierry used to do so well that says, "but I didn't do anything"!
Irish_Shrimper
Ant from across the Pond
Whilst I was also surprised he needed a translator, bit harsh people getting on his back for not knowing English. Most do learn it over there at school, but from what I see when meeting friends of my missus in Paris, they don't give a toss about knowing the English language, or are just bad at learning languages in general.
Anywhoo - I know it was only amateur leagues, but I played in Belgium a couple years back for a team, and spoke no French, and it worked out fine. Training is a tad more difficult, but if someone wants you to pass the ball on the pitch, i think a shout of "HEY" is universal enough to get the drift.
Allez Laurent!
Anywhoo - I know it was only amateur leagues, but I played in Belgium a couple years back for a team, and spoke no French, and it worked out fine. Training is a tad more difficult, but if someone wants you to pass the ball on the pitch, i think a shout of "HEY" is universal enough to get the drift.
Allez Laurent!
Southampton Shrimper
Team Eggheads
Matt, I have been wondering the same thing myself, so have been trawling t'internet for any stories or information I can find out about him from French and German websites. I couldn't find much, to be honest, but he only spent one season at FSV Mainz 05 last year, then had a trial at French club FC Chamois Niort this summer, before his trial at Barnet.
However, I did manage to find this article from the Rhein Zeitung (Rhine Newspaper) from almost exactly a year ago, 5 September 2007.
I have translated it myself, to avoid the need for any of those nasty computer-translator thingys:
Francis Laurent belongs to the Mainz 05 First Team Squad
MERCI FOR EACH NEW SET OF GOOSEBUMPS
Mainz: Francis Laurent has made two substitute appearances for FSV Mainz 05 in the Championship so far this season. The Frenchman remains an unfamiliar face in Mainz’s professional squad. That could soon change though, as this newspaper met him for a chat yesterday.
Francis Laurent is experiencing a swift rise up the ranks. In order to help further his career and to prevent any feelings of loneliness, the religious Frenchman often receives visits from home. Yesterday, on his day off, “Maman” came over. “She keeps saying to me that I should just make an effort,” explains the 21-year-old, although he is just as insistent that he always tries to give his all. The lightning-paced right-winger has so far made two appearances in the Championship and has already scored his first goal for Mainz, in the German Cup against Wormatia Worms. “I would be pleased if things carried on like that,” said Laurent.
With a merci here and a merci there, Francis Laurent gives off the impression of being very keen to thank everybody. With those big eyes and that broad toothpasty grin, Laurent’s face only ever beams with happiness. The young footballer has only been with FSV Mainz 05 for barely two months, yet he already looks like he never wants to leave. “I’m just so happy to have been given a chance here. For that I must thank Jürgen Klopp. And I really want to pay back his faith in me,” said the 21-year-old Frenchman. “That is very, very important to me.”
Last Sunday, in the away game against Carl Zeiss Jena, the lightning-paced attacker made his second substitute appearance of the season, and he almost caused an own goal by Jena with brilliant acceleration down his favoured right flank. “That would have been great, of course. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who scores. I just want to help us have a great season,” said Laurent. Mainz 05 has a young rough diamond, an “extremely eager to learn” talent in its squad, according to manager Jürgen Klopp – but what’s the story behind this Francis Laurent?
He began club football at the age of nine at Pont Saint-Maxence in his home town of Paris. During his youth in the French capital, Laurent often went to the Parc des Princes to watch Paris St Germain, who at that time had a certain Ronaldinho in their team. At 15 he went to the training club Beauvais Oise, where he had a couple of “great years”, and three years later Laurent moved to the football academy of Premier League club Sochaux FC.
Bt this time, the 6’4” player, whose role models are the French strikers Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka, had already received offers from AJ Auxerre and RC Lens. “I learned a lot at Sochaux from the manager there, Philipe Anziani. But when my contract expired, I wanted to move to Germany, because I love German football, it’s fast and physical,” said Laurent. “I knew that I could fit in here.” The right-winger eventually came to Mainz via League One club Eintracht Trier. “He developed so quickly at Trier that we just had to snap him up straight away,” said Jürgen Klopp.
The fact that Laurent played well last season in a League One match against the Mainz 05 amateur team “was a happy coincidence,” he says looking back. Amateur team coach Peter Neustädter was left with almost no other choice than to get in contact with the tall Frenchman. “I am very grateful to Peter Neustädter. I chat to him before every training session with the professionals. He’s already helped me a lot here,” said Laurent, who makes himself understood with the Mainz coaches “half in German, a bit in French, otherwise with hands and feet.” He has one-and-a-half-hour German lessons twice a week. “I already understand quite a bit, but I need to improve a bit more before I can speak it myself.”
On the subject of improvement, Laurent has already earned many plus points for his speed and robustness. “But he must become more variable. His enormous strengths are in one-on-one situations. But that on its own isn’t always enough,” said Klopp. During his time in France, Laurent got used to always storming forwards on the outside. But the model athlete has a lot to catch up on in terms of defending correctly. “I want to learn and to play games. Because the kind of feeling I got when I came on against Koblenz I want to have again as soon as possible,” said Laurent. “Because then all of a sudden I really got goosebumps.”
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