The Greens return to the Robert-Herbin Sports Center this Sunday and will discover a new man at the head of the team: Eirik Horneland. Landed last week from SK Brann, the 49-year-old Norwegian technician will be the coach of the first team until June 2027, with an optional year if he achieves the objectives set by the Kilmer group. He will be the first ASSE tattooed coach, Canada version, after a six-month marriage of convenience between the new leaders of the Greens and Olivier Dall'Oglio, warmly thanked for having brought the club back to Ligue 1 but whose differences in the philosophy advocated by Kilmer and the poor results hastened the end of his adventure in the Loire, a year after his arrival to replace Laurent Batlles.
Presented before the Coupe de France match against Marseille (0-4), Hornland spoke at length about the project and its philosophy without, yet, going into too much detail about its animation. On paper, a total football, energy-intensive, forward-moving and very ambitious in the game in order to develop an identity specific to ASSE. Present in full during this first Norwegian press briefing, the Saint-Etienne board unanimously agreed, observers and supporters, more skeptical, are waiting to see.
Far from the idea that a revolution in the game of the Stéphanois displeases but in view of the first 16 outings of the Greens this season (editor's note, 11 defeats, 38 goals conceded and 12 goals scored), this desire for total football is almost frightening for a team incapable of defending well and which completely abandoned itself to the opponent with an average ball possession of 38.5% at the start of the season. If Hornland manages to succeed in this transition, he will score big points. Disinterested in the transfer window subject during his presentation, guaranteeing that the current team already had elements to carry out its game project, the Norwegian undoubtedly quickly revised his copy after having witnessed the defeat of the Greens against Marseille (0) -4).
In this sense, three recruits are expected in Forez this winter. One per line. Behind, it is a versatile full-back who is targeted, ASSE could draw on the foreign side to strengthen its rearguard. In the middle, The Team reported in its columns the trail leading to Baptiste Santamaria, a Rennes player trained in Tours and passed through Angers and Fribourg. Under the colors of the Rouge et Noir, the 29-year-old midfielder has only played five games as a starter this season and is looking for a way out this winter. Under contract until June 2026, it's the ideal time for him and for Rennes, if everyone wants to find their way there. Finally, in attack, ASSE will move towards a market of opportunities, like what was done for the signings of Mbuku and Cardona last season. The Greens are attentive to the situations of several players, a winger is mainly targeted but the Kilmer board is not closing the door to last minute proposals for the center forward position to accompany Stassin and Sissoko who are still a little light.
From a sporting point of view, the month of January will be anything but fun for the gang. Hornland. Two receptions, those of Reims and Nantes, which will take place without the Kops of Geoffroy-Guichard after the closed doors declared by the Disciplinary Commission of the LFP. The two trips will not be any simpler, especially the first at the Parc des Princes against the Parisians who have still not lost a single match this season in the championship. January will end with a trip to Auxerre, reigning L2 Champion, which ASSE beat in the first leg (3-1).
If the new Saint-Etienne management begins the bulk of its work since the takeover of the club with the establishment of a coach to carry out its project and the choice of players to embody the new identity of the Greens in the years to come, it will have to do everything likewise be wary of industrial accidents at the end of the season. The Stéphanois only owe their very fragile place as a barrier to an incredible weakness of their direct competitors and in particular of Montpellier and Le Havre who, like the Greens, have lost at least ten matches this season in Ligue 1. To avoid trembling until At the end, we will have to take points, and that starts next Saturday against Reims for Eirik Horneland and his team.
