Laurent Batlles

Laurent Batlles

Batlles as a Saint-Étienne player in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Laurent Batlles[1]
Date of birth	(1975-09-23) 23 September 1975 (age 49)[2]
Place of birth	Nantes, France[2]
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Clermont Foot (manager)
Youth career
1992–1994	Toulouse
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1999	Toulouse	158	(10)
1999–2001	Bordeaux	70	(3)
2002	Rennes	28	(2)
2003	Bastia	38	(4)
2004–2005	Marseille	49	(11)
2005–2008	Toulouse	84	(8)
2008–2010	Grenoble	70	(2)
2010–2012	Saint-Étienne	68	(8)
Total		565	(48)
International career
1991	France U16	1	(0)
1996–1997	France U21	4	(0)
Managerial career
2015–2016	Saint-Étienne (assistant)
2016–2019	Saint-Étienne (reserves)
2019–2021	Troyes
2022–2023	Saint-Étienne
2024-	Clermont Foot
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Laurent Batlles (born 23 September 1975) is a French former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder, and current manager who manages Ligue 2 club Clermont Foot.

Playing career

Batlles was born in Nantes. In 1993, he emerged from the Toulouse academy into the senior squad, playing his first game in Division 1 on 2 April 1994 in a 1–0 away loss against Lyon.^[3]

In 1999, after scoring ten league goals in six seasons, two spent in Division 2, Batlles signed with Bordeaux, where he took part in exactly half of 1999–2000's league fixtures, adding eight appearances in the side's run in the UEFA Champions League, netting once.^[4] The following campaign he scored three in 32 matches, featuring in 19 league games in 2001–02 – six in the UEFA Cup – before completing the latter season at Rennes.^[4]

In January 2003, Batlles moved to Corsica and Bastia. He played the remaining 19 fixtures for his new team, a figure he repeated in the first half of 2003–04 (without scoring)^[4] before joining Marseille, in another January transfer window move.^[5]

Batlles contributed eight matches in l'OM's runner-up run in the UEFA Cup^[4] including the final, lost 2–0 to Valencia.^[6] The following season he scored eight goals in 30 games^[7] and, after starting 2005–06 at the Stade Vélodrome, rejoined Toulouse following problems with manager Jean Fernandez.^[8]

Batlles joined permanently in the 2006–07 campaign after a successful loan spell, although he had a contract with Marseille until June 2008.^[9][7] Again, he was an undisputed starter, as Toulouse finished third in the league and reached the third qualifying round of the Champions League, eventually bowing out to Liverpool.^[10]

In 2008–09, the 33-year-old Batlles joined newly promoted club Grenoble on a two-year deal,^[11] being first choice as it eventually retained its top-flight status. In June 2010, after being relegated, he was released, quickly signing for Saint-Étienne – the first team placed above the relegation zone – at nearly 35 years of age.^[12]

Coaching career

Batlles retired from football in May 2012, with a total of 473 French top-tier games and 41 goals.^[13] He continued working with his last club, as a technical supervisor.^[14]

In June 2019, Batlles was announced as the new coach of Troyes, joining on a two-year contract.^[15] He led them back to the top flight in 2021 after a three-year absence, as champions.^[16]

Batlles left on 30 December 2021, after falling out with owners City Football Group.^[17] He agreed to a two-year deal at recently-relegated Saint-Étienne on 3 June 2022.^[18] On 6 December 2023, following five consecutive Ligue 2 defeats, Batlles was sacked.^[19]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 5 December 2023

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Ref
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Troyes		14 June 2019	30 December 2021	89	43	17	29	114	94	+20	048.31	[20]
Saint-Étienne		3 June 2022	6 December 2023	57	23	15	19	83	75	+8	040.35
Total				146	66	32	48	197	169	+28	045.21

Honours

Player

Marseille

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005^[21]

Manager

Troyes

• Ligue 2: 2020–21^[16]

References

1. "SOLAUBAT" (in French). Verif. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
   "Laurent Batlles" (in French). BFM Business. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
2. Laurent Batlles at L'Équipe Football (in French)
3. Pronzato, Jean-Paul (13 January 2007). "TFC Laurent Batlles. «Battre l'OL, c'est possible»" [TFC Laurent Batlles. "To beat OL, a possibility"]. La Dépêche du Midi (in French). Retrieved 28 December 2022.
4. "La fiche complète de l'ancien Vert Laurent BATLLES" [The complete profile of former Green Laurent BATLLES] (in French). Anciens Verts. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
5. "Bastia lose Batlles to Marseille". UEFA. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
6. "Valencia 2–0 Marseille". BBC Sport. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
7. "Batlles contract boost for Marseille". UEFA. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
8. Vitalis, Arnaud (26 April 2020). "Laurent Batlles: "C'est très fort de jouer pour l'OM"" [Laurent Batlles: "To play for OM is something else"]. La Provence (in French). Retrieved 28 December 2022.
9. Zito, Julien (12 March 2009). "Entretien avec... Laurent Batlles: "Je regrette encore d'avoir quitté l'OM"" [Interview with... Laurent Batlles: "I still regret leaving l'OM"] (in French). Foot Mercato. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
10. Bevan, Chris (28 August 2007). "Liverpool 4–0 Toulouse (5–0)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
11. "TFC. Battles [sic] signe pour deux ans à Grenoble" [TFC. Batlles signs with Grenoble for two years]. La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 2 July 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
12. "Batlles joins St Etienne". Sky Sports. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
13. Trentesaux, Rémy (24 May 2012). "Laurent Batlles dit adieu à sa carrière de footballeur" [Laurent Batlles sees out career as footballer] (in French). 24 Matins. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
14. "Laurent Batlles attaché à l'ASSE" [Laurent Batlles attached to ASSE] (in French). AS Saint-Étienne. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
15. "Troyes: Laurent Batlles nommé entraîneur (off)" [Troyes: Laurent Batlles named manager (off)] (in French). Foot National. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
16. "Troyes de retour en Ligue 1!" [Troyes back in Ligue 1!] (in French). Goal. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
17. Maymon, T.; Tanzi, L. (30 December 2021). "Ligue 1: Batlles-Troyes, les raisons du divorce" [Ligue 1: Batlles-Troyes, the reasons for divorce] (in French). RMC. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
18. "Official | Laurent Batlles named manager of Saint-Étienne". Get French Football News. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
19. "Communiqué officiel: Laurent Batlles retiré de la gestion de l'équipe professionnelle" [Official announcement: Laurent Batlles removed from professional team management] (in French). AS Saint-Étienne. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
20. "Troyes AC: Matches". Soccerway. DAZN Group. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
21. "Marseille 5–1 Deportivo (Aggregate: 5–3)". UEFA. Archived from the original on 31 May 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

External links

• Laurent Batlles at L'Équipe Football (in French)
• Laurent Batlles – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)