Jean Tigana

Club career 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, 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.

International career Tigana was born in Bamako, French Sudan (now Mali) to a Malian father and a French mother. 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. 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.

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.

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.

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

Club

International

Managerial record

Honours Player Bordeaux Division 1: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87 Coupe de France: 1985–86, 1986–87

Marseille Division 1: 1989–90, 1990–91

France UEFA European Championship: 1984 FIFA World Cup third place: 1986

Individual Division 1 Rookie of the Year: 1980 French Player of the Year: 1984 Onze d'Argent: 1984 Ballon d'Or runner-up: 1984 UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1984 UEFA European Championship top assist provider: 1984 World XI: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 Onze Mondial: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1986 Onze de Bronze: 1987

Manager Monaco Division 1: 1996–97 Trophée des Champions: 1997

Fulham Football League First Division: 2000–01 UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2002

Beşiktaş Turkish Cup: 2005–06, 2006–07 Turkish Super Cup: 2006

Individual French Division 1 Manager of the Year: 1997 French Manager of the Year: 1997

Orders Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2021