While ASSE was recently acquired by the Kilmer Sports Ventures group, Olivier Dall'Oglio's squad is slowly regaining its place in Ligue 1. After a long period of scarcity, the Forez club has started an ambitious project with Ivan Gazidis at its head. Passed by Saint-Étienne from 2019 to 2020, Claude Puel has a particular vision of football. The former Stéphanois coach spoke about the ASSE situation at the microphone of Peuple Vert.
Amputated by Jean-Louis Gasset who allowed the Greens to regain their color, ASSE relies on its deputy Ghislain Printant in June 2019 to perform. Without success. Claude Puel takes over as general manager and coach to lead ASSE into the elite. But weighed down by meager financial resources and a utopian project, the adventure turns sour. After 88 matches on the Stéphanois bench, Claude Puel was dismissed from his duties. Since then, the native of Castres has not found a base.
“I'm still passionate about football, even if I'm a little less passionate than before.” He admits. At the age of 63, the former AS Moanco player (600 matches) focuses on his family life. “Today, I have other interests, whether family, sporting or other, and I receive a lot of requests to which I have not yet responded. I will see about next season, but 'Here, I stay calm.'
An ideal new project for Ligue 1?
If Claude Puel has not set foot in Étrat for several years, the former coach of the Greens has not forgotten the ten-time French champion club.
Claude Puel: “I continue to follow Saint-Étienne as well as all the young players I helped launch. It is very positive for Saint-Étienne to have new owners, with a different vision and, above all, financial means. Like any club that wants to evolve in the elite, Saint-Étienne will need these resources to hope to maintain itself and even aim for top positions.
Returning to the first division is an important step, but we must now ensure that we maintain ourselves with Ligue 1 level players. This is one of the challenges of the project put in place. Recruitment will be crucial. From now on, it must come to fruition to obtain maintenance.
It's not easy. They almost start from a blank page, but the advantage is that they seem to have the financial means necessary to properly recruit, train, and develop the potential of the team in order to maintain themselves. Selling the club at that time, to buyers with a solid financial base, was a very good decision. Now, everything is based on judicious and targeted recruitment, depending on the project they wish to implement: focusing on experienced players or young people with high potential, while aiming for results to maintain the club.
“You have to know how to be patient.”
But if Saint-Étienne made its return to Ligue 1 this season, Olivier Dall'Oglio's men are focusing on maintaining their position. A new project, which needs to be improved, according to Claude Puel.
Claude Puel: “At Saint-Étienne, they lack experienced players to supervise them. But on the other hand, these young people will undoubtedly have more freedom to express themselves than in my time. It is essential to find a balance between youth and experience. To only take players who are used to maintenance is to be completely wrong. We cannot perform afterwards. I had certainties about the young people we launched, and they were able to confirm them afterwards.
You have to know how to be patient. I have already experienced similar situations. In Lille, for example, we fought for two years to maintain, finishing 14th and 10th. And with this same group, we finished 2nd and 3rd the following years, and we played in the Champions League. (…) We define a project, we fully commit to it and we defend it, whatever the obstacles or the results. In Saint-Étienne, everyone was scared when we were in 20th place, with around twenty matches to play. We know that young players often perform better during the second half of the season. But leaders reacted out of fear and activated a lever that ultimately did not bear fruit.
I only wish to maintain it, for its supporters, for what Sainte-Étienne represents. It’s a heritage of French football, it was magical to see these people behind the team. It’s something quite unique.”
Unique supporters in Ligue 1
The Saint-Etienne fervor no longer needs to be demonstrated. Best atmosphere in Ligue 2 despite a complex sporting situation, the ASSE supporters left their mark on Claude Puel during his visit.
Claude Puel: “My visit was aligned with the supporters and with the managers. Everyone was aware of the club's situation and agreed on the project: training young people to save the club and aiming to maintain it at the end of the season.
The Saint-Étienne supporters are extraordinary. If the club manages to survive this year, it will be largely thanks to them, as they support the team tirelessly. They are one with the team. Towards the end of my tenure there was some friction, but that does not negate the positive impact they have had and the unique energy they bring to the club.”
“Mickaël Nadé has great potential”
Renowned for his ability to launch young players, Claude Puel placed his trust in the Saint-Etienne team throughout his career. Saidou Sow, Mahdi Camara, Etienne Green: the names pile up. But today, it is Mickaël Nadé's turn to earn his place in Ligue 1.
Claude Puel: “I'm not surprised to see Mickaël Nadé performing at this level. He reached new levels very quickly. I insisted that we keep him, I fought to extend him. When German clubs expressed their interest , I worked with the managers and the agents to extend it.
Mickaël Nadé has great potential. He is powerful and solid on his supports.
When I first saw him with the reserves, he was still very naive, without reading the game, and he often got caught behind his back. Today, this is no longer the case: he anticipates trajectories well, reads calls behind his back and is solid in duels. He progressed with the ball too. And he can still continue to work. Nadé and Sow held the house together.”
Puel worried by the situation in Ligue 1
Claude Puel: “There are reasons to be worried. We are experiencing an enchanted parenthesis with a few clubs which are performing well in Europe. But we have a two-tier championship. It is a shame that the League has increased to 18 clubs, supposedly for share the cake. But in the end, we realize that it didn't change anything, quite the contrary. It put many clubs in difficulty, with repercussions even in amateur football.
I am worried about the future, particularly in relation to training centers. There are many clubs that have been bought by foreign funds who want results, do trading and no longer care as much about training. You have to know how to balance things: obtaining immediate results while developing the financial resources of the club, and young players are part of that.”
