Fulham misfit edging closer and closer to the drop... with 26 Ligue 1 games still to go!

By Alessandro Schiavone at Toulouse

LIGUE 1: Toulouse 4-0 Metz

Goals: Magri, Dønnum, Gboho, Cresswell

A forgotten Fulham flop's aim to revive his career back in his homeland is not exactly going to plan after he and his Metz teammates suffered a 4-0 spanking at FC Toulouse.

Like aliens in a foreign land, Fodé Ballo-Touré was an impotent spectator as winless Metz shipped two goals within six minutes courtesy of a deflected Frank Magri effort and a well-executed Aron Dønnum penalty.

Habib Diallo tried to reopen the game by letting fly from distance but Guillaume Restes showed why AC Milan are keeping an eye on him by spectacularly tipping the curler over.

Les Messins levelled up in the dying stages of the first period but Sané's red card for a two-footed challenge in injury-time spelled the end of any hopes of a comeback.

Mentally and technically, Téfécé had sealed the deal long before Gboho's cracking goal on the twist and Cresswell's header.

Defender Ballo-Touré, who totalled six cameos in his time with the Cottagers two seasons ago, is barely making a case for himself after yet another tame show.

No wonder that his name barely lacks resonance with Premier League fans.

The left-back showed promise at Lille and Monaco in his early 20s. Last summer he brought in by Metz in a bid to inject experience into a young side.

But after going through the mill in recent years at AC Milan and in west London, his top-level career is taking further dents by flickering into animosity.

Going forward, for him and yoyo club Metz points will ben the only currency if they want to avoid an immediate return to Ligue 2.

Yet as a reporter we often have a good gauge of when things have reached the end of the road- and albeit it's early in the season all the signs suggest that Ballo-Touré and Metz will drop down again after taking two points from eight games.

More than the absence of points it's their lack of heart, soul, personality, game plan and confusion on and off the pitch that leads us to think about the worst.

And of course their lack of quality throughout.