Before the trip to Bastia, where the Gym will meet Corte this Saturday in the 32nd final of the Coupe de France (6 p.m.), Franck Haise spoke to the press.
With which group can you go to Corsica?
With 2 players less, 3 including Hicham (Boudaoui) who is suspended. Tom Louchet was injured on Sunday in Montpellier and Pablo Rosario had calf discomfort at the end of the session yesterday (Wednesday), and in all likelihood, he will be absent. That makes 13 absent. There are 8 regular players and the young players left.
To Tom, it doesn’t seem too bad. I hope he will be one of those we will recover when we resume at the end of December. Of the 13 absentees that we will have this weekend, I hope that we will recover a good half of them by the start of January. Morgan (Sanson)? He has been in individual training for a while now. It’s going pretty well. I know that he will not be 100% at the end of December when we resume, but I hope that he will be able to participate, at that time, in some of the collective training. Which would already be another step forward and a good thing so that we can see him again in the weeks that follow.
Which goalkeeper will play against Corte?
It will be Maxime Dupé who will play. My thinking is quite simple. Max is also very good in training. He works very well, he has a great behavior. He is a goalkeeper who has the level to play in L1. He proved it. And then Marcin plays a lot, between the Europa League, the championship and the selection. I will even give him the opportunity to cut on Saturday. We will leave with Teddy and little Bartosz in the group.
Are you expecting a trap match?
The Coupe de France, whether there are injuries or not, that’s its charm. There are exploits that are being created. We’re happy when we make one. All clubs are happy when they do one. There is always caution to be had. We will have to perform at the level that should be ours, because even if we have absentees, we remain favorites in this match. We’re not going to hide behind that. There is no choice to be made between competitions. We’re just going there for one thing: to qualify and be in the round of 16 in January.
Furiani? I have been there several times. It’s a stadium with energy. There will be people to support Corte. I just hope that we will all be in the best conditions to play a football match. That’s just my interest. And for now, I prefer that we play on a traditional pitch rather than on a synthetic one, because Corte plays on a synthetic one in the championship. Bastia playing the day before? From what I have seen of Sporting’s last matches, the pitch is of rather good quality. There will be a Coupe de France match the day before but Bastia still has half a season to go at home. So I think that most current lawns are capable, with maintenance, of playing two matches.
What are your expectations in terms of the winter transfer window?
They are very simple: I want to recover as many players as possible from the squad and if that is the case, I will be very happy. Young people forced to leave? When we have 13 absentees and not even half the workforce available, and we are already at the end of December… The start is in 9 days. So today I have no perspective. There will perhaps be things that will be done anyway, with 1 or 2 player(s). I am thinking in particular of Rares who made his first minutes in Lyon and Montpellier, who has very little playing time. A boy like him, who already has a certain number of professional matches behind him, may have other expectations. But apart from this specific case, there are not many players for whom a loan can be considered. At least as we speak. Maybe on January 15 or 20, if I don’t have 10 but 20 players in the squad, the question will arise and the answer will be different.
Diop: “It’s up to us not to fall into the trap”
Sofiane Diop was also in front of the media before the duel against Corte. Like his coach, the number 10 of the Gym underlined the importance of the last meeting of the year 2024, insisting on the fact that he hoped that it would take place in the best conditions: “It’s like all Coupe de France matches,” explained the Gym number 10. A little thumb against a big L1 team. We are focused and we know the objective, it is up to us not to fall into the trap and to do what it takes to leave there with a qualification. I never went to play in Bastia, only in Ajaccio with Nice. I learned that there was a certain rivalry, but we won’t be playing against Bastia so I hope everything goes well and that the supporters will make sure it’s a great party. There will be a winner and a loser, I hope we will be the winners and that everything will go well organizationally. »
