With an eighth place in the championship at the winter break and the status of an (almost) untouchable team at home in the pocket, Christophe Pélissier presented himself on Friday December 20, 2024, smiling, facing six readers of Republican Yonne. For around fifty minutes, the technician answered their questions.
Talking about his past in the amateur world, his future, the evolution of the AJA, his vision of the coaching profession, the Ajaist coach spoke without filter. And his first season concluded with a cruel relegation did not escape his frankness. Arriving on the banks of the Yonne on October 26, 2022, the weight of the past quickly imposed itself on the man who had until then only known two adventures in the professional world: Amiens, then Lorient.
“When we arrive at Auxerre, we are marked by the history of the club. We have all seen and we all remember the exploits of the AJA on the European scene. Then there is fervor. I particularly remember the match against Toulouse, because I come from there. The one where we take the 0-5 at home, he remembers while looking at Raphaël Besancenot, former president of the Ultras Auxerre 90 and supporter of the AJA since the 1990s. There is 3-0 for Toulouse at the half-time, we come back for the second period and the public pushes us. We didn't get a whistle. It made an impression on me and I said to the players: “You don’t realize how lucky you are!”.
This unity around the club, this fervor, left an impression on me.” However, the Haut-Garonne technician experienced “this atmosphere during several climbs”. The one with Amiens on the pitch of Auguste-Delaune in 2017 to reach Ligue 1, the title of Ligue 2 champion with the Merlus at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Without forgetting the feat with Luzenac. The club from a small Ariège village had obtained its promotion to the green rectangle in 2014, before losing it to the DNCG.
An atypical journey
Enough to question Éric Fremion, 63 years old and an AJA fan since a match against Laurent Blanc's Montpellier in 1990, about the evolution of Christophe Pélissier since his debut. “I think where I have progressed the most is in delegating. I had trouble at first. When you trained on your own, it's hard to see people joining the staff. You have to give space. And now, in the morning, when I have a meeting with the staff, medical or technical, there are around fifteen people. Before managing a group of 25 to 30 players, there is already this small group. »
