After a series of four consecutive defeats to close the year 2024, ASSE will have to pull itself together in the coming weeks. The winter transfer window as well as the arrival of new coach Eirik Horneland are reasons for hope on the Saint-Etienne side. Yesterday in https://twitter.com/AfterRMC/status/1874558769511666123 on RMC, consultant Walid Acherchour returned to the ASSE situation. Excerpts.
“It would be a big disappointment to see them go down to Ligue 2”
“I was not completely won over by what Saint-Étienne did. (…) In the style of play, the players apart from Davitashvili and a little Amougou at the very start of the season, we had few thrills with Saint-Étienne. And above all we had a lot of debacles away, the one against Nice, the one against Rennes even if it was ten against eleven. »
“Saint-Étienne must not go down, cannot go down. With a Ligue 1 of eighteen, with many clubs which have not recruited because of the structural problems that there were with the League this summer… Saint-Étienne still spent money and will continue to spend some in January. I think that for the new Gazidis project, it would be a big disappointment to see them go down to Ligue 2. Especially since we know very well that it is hard to move up, we see it with Paris FC currently. It would still work. »
“We expected better”
“There is a strong decision to bring back a coach who is rather unknown here (Eirik Horneland)although he did a good job in Norway. They took risks, they made bets. They put 10 million euros on a player like Stassin, who is not bad, but who for me is not worth 10 million euros. There is a recruitment that has been done, whether it is Abdelhamid, Ekwah, the little New Zealander Old, we still expected a little better from Saint-Étienne. »
“We were talking about requirements for Monaco at the top, I think we must have standards for Saint-Étienne at the bottom. With the strength of Geoffroy-Guichard, an incredible stadium that I had the chance to experience for the first time this season, Saint-Etienne cannot go down. Especially since we have a very low points rate at the bottom, I think that maintenance will be between 30 and 32 points. Saint-Étienne cannot go down, it would be a very big disappointment. »
