Jérémy Clément is the current coach of Versailles in National 1. He spoke, for 13hfoot.fr, about his career and the coaching profession that he has embraced for four seasons. The opportunity to talk about ASSE where he spent 6 seasons and played 192 matches… like at PSG!
Jérémy Clément, originally from Béziers and trained at Olympique Lyonnais from the age of 13, rose through the ranks to become a professional in the Rhône. After starting his career with OL, where he discovered the Champions League and won the French championship, at the age of 21 he left for a brief adventure with Glasgow Rangers. Back in France, he won at Paris Saint-Germain, then at AS Saint-Étienne. His playing career ended at AS Nancy Lorraine, before hanging up his boots in 2020 at FC Bourgoin-Jallieu in National 3.
For four years, he began a coaching career, with experience at FCBJ, Andrézieux and as an assistant in Belgium at Molenbeek. Currently, he coaches the Versailles club in National, where he has been acting since the departure of Jean-Luc Vasseur at the beginning of October.
Leave Andrézieux before the headaches…
A rich journey that he talks about for 13hfoot.fr: “Andrézieux? I had come to maintain the club and the mission was successful. François knew that I had other ambitions behind it. We are friends and we knew very well that if the results were reversed once maintenance had been achieved, there would inevitably be headaches. We managed to maintain the club and it was better to move on.
It's already huge to still be in National 2 with the reform of the championships. Today, there are three groups and it's as if you were playing in the National at this level. It will be complicated to go higher for them. Above all, I think that they are in the shadow of Saint-Etienne. Despite the facilities being good, you have to be satisfied with being consistent over time.”
Geoffroy-Guichard: a crazy atmosphere!
“I have always tried to be consistent with my choices, because I found that above all else, I needed to be fulfilled. For example, in 2006, when I left Lyon to go to Rangers, I had this need to emancipate at 21… and it did me good Then came the thought of returning to Paris, a club which is listed in France. It was very difficult to refuse this offer and when the Qataris arrived in 2011, I. knew that I was going to play less I was 27 years old and that's where I had the opportunity to join Saint-Etienne where I played in the European Cup too!
If it is difficult to sign for ASSE after having trained in Lyon? Obviously, I asked myself the question, but hey… I hadn't done the direct transfer. I thought it was a shame to refuse a new project if the conditions were right. I was trained in Lyon, I discovered the Champions League, I was French champion… Honestly, I played within an exceptional group. In Saint-Etienne, it's the same, we had a very good squad. I discovered a crazy atmosphere too. Besides, today, whether I go to Geoffroy Guichard or Groupama, it’s always as much pleasure!”
ASSE: a f….. group of friends!
An experience from Saint-Etienne which was punctuated by his worst career memory with his triple open fracture to the malleolus, but also by great successes: “At OL, we were invincible, we were better, it was obvious. Paris, I loved it because it's the capital, the Parc des Princes. Saint-Étienne, it was a… … a group of friends and even if we were less good, we managed to look the big guys in the eyes…”
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