ASSE goalkeeper from 1996 to 2012, Jérémie Janot defended Saint-Etienne's goal 386 times. Retired since 2023, the doorman looks back on his career at the microphone of La Voix des Gardiens.
His debut at ASSE
“I think I was born a goalkeeper. I always hated the field. (…) When I played in the street, I was a goalkeeper. My friends came to pick me up, I was a goalkeeper. (… .)
For me, a good goalkeeper is someone who can make a difference in a season, who knows how to transform defeats into draws and a draw into victory. He is someone regular, he is someone reliable and constant. (…)
My arrival at the center of ASSE? An improbable story. After moving with my parents, we visited the stadium and met Alain Blachon, U15 coach, who asked me to come and train. Everything went well, and I signed a license. At the time, I lived in Montreynaud, and I made the trip on foot, 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back, every day.”
Janot, a hard worker
“I still believe that I was the best, even though I saw goalkeepers stronger than me. I trained, I conditioned myself. There were better goalkeepers than me, and they gave me the motivation to go look for them.
I constantly set myself challenges. If Jérôme Alonso made 4 or 5 saves, I told myself that I had to make 6. I needed this competition, even if it was sometimes in my head. I needed to feel adversity. When I was criticized, you could be sure that behind it I was going to have a good match.”
The Cauldron, an “institution”
“It's a crazy stadium, it's a real football stadium. I played matches for the maintenance, for the rise. Here, it's an institution. It's the Saint-Etienne DNA. Geoffroy- Guichard is an arena in which you have to be present. If you are good, you can be the king of Geoffroy. Otherwise, the evenings can be long.
His best years with ASSE
“I would say the rise in 2003, in its entirety, with Fred Antonetti. It's a complicated year. We were demoted at the start of the season. Roland Romeyer saved the club with his company.
We have to go up, otherwise the club could be in trouble. It was bought in the meantime by Bernard Caïazzo. This season was extraordinary. After the winter of 1976, I think it was the team that best corresponded to the values of Saint-Etienne.”
The Olympic Games with the EDF
“My contract ends in Valenciennes, I make the decision not to continue. I am in Chalmazel, walking my dog in the forest. My phone never picks up. And then, it rings. Thierry Henry tells me: ” Look, I just got my hopes up. I need a goalkeeping coach, I wish it was you and all.
On the other hand, it had to come to fruition quickly. I went up to sign on Thursday. Then, on Sunday, I was at Clairefontaine.”
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