Fabien Lemoine, the former ASSE midfielder, spoke about the current events in Saint-Etienne in the columns of Poteaux-carrés. Excerpts.
“Luckily Sainté is winning at home because away from home, the Greens are having a lot more trouble” (Fabien Lemoine, former ASSE midfielder)
“At the start, I was a little afraid. The first match in Monaco was encouraging despite the defeat, the second match lost at Geoffroy against Le Havre upset me and the third, heavily lost in Brest, worried me a little. said: “it's going to be hard.” Fortunately Sainté has kept the points counter ticking since then thanks to his 4 victories in the Cauldron. Fortunately Sainté is winning at home because away from home, the Greens have a lot more trouble. still had the merit of snatching a point from Beaujoire even though they were off to a very poor start during this meeting.”
“For several matches, the midfielder has done a lot of good for the team. Each in their register, Pierre Ekwah, Louis Mouton and Benjamin Bouchouari are interesting. Bouchouari, I like a lot. He reminds me a little of Verratti With his profile, his size, his somewhat risky style of play, he brings a lot to the ball in his possession and the tempo he sets in the game. I like Mouton's energy and I find myself a fan. little in him, he is not stingy with his efforts, has a lot of volume I also like Ekwah, I admit that I did not know him, he is a modern sentinel, a top profile, with a great foot. left. He knows how to play long or short. He's someone who wants the ball. Since the Greens have this trio, it weighs in the balance.
“ASSE has a huge asset that many clubs envy: Geoffroy-Guichard”
“I see Sainté holding on, I'm not going to say easily, but quite easily. I don't see them still trembling with two matches remaining, one point away or counting on the results of others. I see the Greens finish between 11 and 14, quite comfortably installed, not to be scared As the club was bought by a billionaire, supporters expected the club to directly recruit big names but did not. been the case. It’s been a long time since Sainté recruited a guy where you say “wow!” Afterwards, they recruited good players, eh! But when you see the squad, you say to yourself that it’s going to be a fight. are capable of playing good football, we saw it against Auxerre in particular.”
“ASSE has a huge asset that many clubs envy: Geoffroy-Guichard. When you have more than 30,000 fervent supporters supporting you, that helps. At the very beginning, perhaps some players were trembling a little when they played in the Cauldron but there, they took on the atmosphere of Ligue 1. The public knows very well that it is a pivotal season and that we must maintain ourselves to undoubtedly have better players in the years to come. It is very important to stay in the elite, it would be catastrophic to go down to Ligue 2. The public is aware that we are not playing for European places this season but they will play their role as 12th man to the fullest. . A stadium like that wins points.”
His opinion on the new Kilmer project
“I think it's good that Kilmer didn't change everything. They brought their guys but still kept the people who know the club. I don't know if it's going well internally but from the outside it seems to me seems interesting. I don't know if the current organization will last but I find it good that the new managers take the time to know the club and its environment. If they bought this club, it means that it speaks to them and. that they want to rely on the institution, on the strength of the Saint-Etienne supporters if things go badly, we have to have guarantors of the boat who can contain everyone a little. But there is no reason for things to go badly.
“Afterwards, you have to find the balance. When you're going to recruit lots of foreigners, you have to see what identity you want to give to your team, to your club. It's good to import because people open you up to other things, other mentalities. Foreigners really have other mentalities. Brandao for example, when he arrived, he brought something that we didn't have. by small touches, you still have to maintain a certain percentage of your team with this reliability, this knowledge of the level, of the division. Loïc is aware of this.
“We realize that today, only clubs under foreign flags manage to exist” (Lemoine)
“Rennes, €20 million, that doesn't make them move. ASSE is not in these envelopes even though the club is now the property of a Canadian billionaire. But the Greens still put close of 10 M€ on Stassin I have the impression that Kilmer wants to go step by step It's probably not bad After all, it's absolutely necessary for you to keep up this year, otherwise you'll lose time. your development It would be painful But I think that the new owners of the club are aware of this and will not hesitate to put their hands in their pockets during the transfer window if they believe that it can strengthen the squad with a view to strengthening it. “A calm maintenance. The sale of the club was essential. We realize that today, only clubs under foreign flags manage to exist.”
