INTERVIEW / Romain Salin (CPB Bréquigny): “I wanted to challenge myself”

How have you lived these last few months, punctuated by several experiences?

Stopping in 2023 was not necessarily planned. I signed up for Maritimo Funchal for a season. The goal was to get back to the top division, and I’m disappointed because the guys just missed it by finishing 4th. I’m very frustrated for them, and for abandoning them at the start of the season. But it was family, I couldn’t see myself continuing with what had happened with the attempted burglary at my house. At the beginning of September, it was a bit empty. The idea was to hang up my crampons, but when I had the opportunity (at Fougères), I found it very good for the future to have experience in an amateur club, to understand how it works. Being more educational than directive, having to make concessions at times to please because the guys are working, having this understanding. It was a good experience. I didn’t play much because I got a red card which gave me a suspension for the last 5 matches (laughs). The idea was for the club to maintain itself, and that was the case. There was perhaps the idea of ​​doing another season as a player; the club had offered me the opportunity to become assistant coach to the head coach at the same time. But I also wanted to challenge myself, I had this opportunity at CPB Bréquigny, the coach stopped, the management changed. They met with me several times, I found that it could be a fun project to immediately take over an R1 team, it’s the maximum level that I can take by doing the BEF. I quickly positioned myself to take adults rather than young people.

For what ?

I want to have faster feedback, I don’t want there to be authority. Career isn’t going to matter because if they don’t like it, they’re going to tell me or I’m going to feel it. This is my opinion, but I find that with young people there is the authority side which comes more naturally, they do not dare to say what they think. I wanted to get into the tough stuff.

What will your role be?

I will be the coach of the main team of CPB Bréquigny. I also do recruitment, I’m right in the middle of it. I’m lucky to also have people who have been in it for a while, with Stéphane Lepaisant and Benoît Auréart. I have support, and I need it. I am a communicative person but I always question myself. I have quite a few ideas but the hardest part will be to structure myself well, train myself, and be ready. That’s why I took this job. I also have this dual culture with my 8 years in Portugal and my 10 years in France. I said to myself let’s take this team, and see where we are in a year or two, see if I like it. I will have the hindsight to know if it is to be number 1 in an amateur club and more if affinities, or to return to a staff, or to specialize in the goalkeeper position. There isn’t necessarily a plan, it’s just a feeling.

You have also already coached recreational football with the USPG…

Yes, it’s different, there was no training. But despite their level, all the game plans were understood and implemented. When there is a great state of mind, the happiness of being together, it was really great. It was a very good educational experience, getting everyone to play.

So you confirm that you are not going to play again?

I took out a license to be 3rd or 4th guard at the CPB. But the goal is not to play. It’s about being supportive, prioritizing young people, so that we can continue the training of goalkeepers. I took out a license just in case. But I’m going for something else entirely.

Have you already set your goals for the season?

No, I am unable to give any at the moment. I want the players to have fun. The idea is to support them. They are the ones who will set the objectives, and the requirements can be raised. I am capable of being in the educational field, and of moving up into management if I have to get the result. It’s also up to them whether they want it. When you are an amateur coach, it is up to them to set the objectives, and it is up to me to put things in place for what they have set. In any case, this is how I see things for the first part of the season. I have good little players who have had a difficult season (the CPB is relegated to R1 after a season in N3, editor’s note). The idea is to have fun again, more victories than last year. I also go after a trainer who did R2-R1-N3. I’ve never met him, I hope I can, it’s always good. The idea is above all that the players have fun.

“The important thing in a club is that everyone sees in the same direction”

Are you going to continue your career in Rennes, while we imagine keeping an eye on Stade Rennais?

Stade Rennais is part of our discussions, this city vibrates with Stade Rennais. Every discussion brings me back to Stade Rennais. It would be absurd to think that I don’t keep an eye on it. I still have friends, I have a special attachment to Stade Rennais, I signed my first contract there in 1997 at 13 years old. I have more attachment to Stade Rennais than it has to me, but it doesn’t matter, it’s part of the game (laughs). I’m very happy to live in this city.

Your son Maïdy also played there until recently (not retained by the club).

Yes it’s over, it’s part of a career. Was he up to the club’s standards? Maybe not, it’s a very demanding club. Life goes on, he goes on to another project. It’s up to him to grow up quietly. There is stability. We found a city and a club which allowed us to finish well, for everyone to be well, and I thank Stade Rennes for that. I don’t thank certain people who obviously ousted me by force. We saw the results behind, and I think that it was not necessarily a good thing for the Stadium. I always said I would stop when I found someone capable of doing the work we did in the locker room. For me they hadn’t found the person who could replace us. They took it, they tried, and it didn’t work. That’s how it is, now I wish them the best, I don’t live in the past, but the message has gotten through.

How do you view the recent changes, the departure of Florian Maurice and the arrival of Frederic Massara?

I think that the important thing in a club is that everyone sees in the same direction. And there I had the impression anyway, being a little inside, that there were the press speeches, those outside, and you realized that not everyone played fair. Afterwards, Rennes has always been a very political club. It’s more complicated than you think. It doesn’t make noise, but underneath it works. What I would like is for everyone to work in the same direction and that instead of saying “ah you saw he didn’t succeed”dise ” how can I help you ? ». And the idea of ” how can I help you ? » at Stade Rennes, it is complicated. It’s always “my little navel”, everyone wants to recover a small part of a little thing to be able to perform. This is what bothers me the most at Stade Rennes.

Do you think that Julien Stéphan is compatible with Frederic Massara?

I hope. It’s up to them to manage this well. I don’t see why, Julien has managed to get results in the past. Massara does not know the French environment, he is someone who has a lot of European experience. Adapting to a new championship is obviously not easy, how you structure around it, how they are structured together… There is no reason, there is room to do things well. We may have to give them a little time. I saw that President Cloarec had said that they would play (a place for) the European Cup next season (objective for 2025-2026, editor’s note). It’s a little hard to say it directly. I might not necessarily have said it. When you’ve had a difficult season, when there’s a whole overhaul, why put on the pressure already? Somehow, having had this declaration, he puts the pressure back on Julien Stéphan from the start.

Is Stade Rennes experiencing a real change of era?

When there is a change of (sporting) direction like that, there is a change of era. I hope that we are not going to talk about what has happened over the last 5-6 years as if they were the best moments of Stade Rennes, as I already hear. I hope that we will have done, with my colleagues, what is necessary to say that we have been a step for Stade Rennes to continue to grow. With all my heart, I hope that they start again with something a little newer, that the mayonnaise sets well, and that we are proud to be Rennais all together, because there is great energy in the city when Stade Rennes wins. We’ll see if there’s any evidence of intelligence. I’m waiting to see, I’m eager to see how it will go, even if I will be less attentive because I will be asked more (with the CPB, editor’s note).

There are many departures in the workforce. Do you think this new era should begin with a major renewal?

It’s always the same. If you remove the whole soul, be careful. I don’t know. With whom ? For what ? Which players are motivated to stay? Today, if you are not motivated, you should not actually keep the players. How many really want to leave? I know there are some who have asked to leave, openly. How many are there, and why? Do they feel like they’re at the end of their cycle, or do they have some great offers on the outside? But Rennes is a big club. Today when we see the problems in football, TV rights, there is still a bit of serenity in Rennes, security. People don’t realize when they want to leave Rennes. I often tell young people, be careful when you want to leave. There are places where it can be a dream, but Rennes is a very big club. It has everything to be a great club, in any case. I moved around a lot, and I have the hindsight to say that we are not in an average club with Rennes.