“We had a team to claim to crush league 2”

For the podcast Dessous de Verts, Laurent Batlles spoke about his departure from ASSE. Excerpts.

“Coaching the ASSE pro team was a dream for me”

“I told them in Troyes. The goal now is for me to succeed in Troyes, to perhaps one day be able to succeed in Saint-Étienne. So in fact, the fact of training me, the team professional of ASSE, it was something that made me dream, and I did it afterwards, with joy Because the first year, despite everything, when we finished against Valenciennes, we still had a team that held up. really the road to being able to crush league 2. I knew it Now, when you lose Niels (Nkounkou), Krasso, Kader Bamba, finally, there you go, all the players who were more or less there… We have to rebuild something. thing, it’s not easy.”

“Training at Saint-Etienne and Troyes is different”

“It was very enriching in terms of life as a coach, because a club like Saint-Étienne is a club where there is a lot of pressure. Consequently, you learn to speak with journalists . In Troyes, it’s really a big difference. At the press conference in Troyes, I had two journalists, even though they were very competent. But still, when you have around twenty and you have two. , it’s not the same thing And then you also have to learn to gauge everyone a little, to know everyone a little.

Do you know who’s going to say that, how it’s going to be said? You suspect that maybe before. Before the press conferences, there may also be people who say. We’re going to say that. You are going to say that. Well, that’s it, that’s how it is. It’s part of the job. Afterwards, I learned a lot of things about that, at the press conferences. It also allowed me to hire someone to try to improve my communication, because it was important to be able to.”

“QWhen it doesn’t work in terms of results, it has to stop and that’s part of the job.”

“At the end of the match against Guingamp, I knew very well that after so many defeats it was no longer possible. It’s normal, it’s part of our job. I announced to the group, all the players came , many were crying, we didn’t want to let everyone go with my staff, they were complicated times Afterwards, I had a lot of messages from my players. There were some yes, others no because those were. you made them play less, that’s part of the thing. However, I accompanied them all in their everyday lives, both on the field and off because you also create things with their family.

There was no anger. The only thing that bothered me was that I knew that at some point the operation would pay off. I needed a little time. We are fifth when I leave and I needed two or three players who could make a difference because I knew that behind us, we had the ability to be solid. The first year we were less so that’s why we went for Batu’, who brought athletic value. I knew things were going to work but when it doesn’t work in terms of results, it has to stop and that’s part of the job.”