ASSE is armed, Eirik Horneland snubs the transfer window

Eirik Horneland succeeded Olivier Dall'Oglio on the AS Saint-Etienne bench. The Norwegian must save the Greens from a more than likely relegation at present. Horneland will rely more on his method than on expensive transfers.

Like some children looking towards the North Pole in search of gifts, AS Saint-Etienne asks a man from the cold to give them a little happiness in 2025. Santa Claus for Saint-Etienne supporters is called Eirik Horneland . The Norwegian arrives from SK Brann with two second places in a row in the championship under his belt. He takes over from Olivier Dall'Oglio, sacked while ASSE is 16th in Ligue 1 and finds itself strongly threatened by relegation. Attack at half mast, defense very fragile (34 goals conceded), Horneland has its work cut out for it.

Horneland is banking on his work, not on the transfer window

The least we can say is that his task is not easy to accomplish. The Forézian population is considered very low by most observers. The last summer transfer window did not really improve the team ranked third in Ligue 2 last season. To supervise young recruits, ASSE must bring several experienced and experienced elements to the L1 level this winter. An observation that Eirik Horneland does not share, who is not calling for recruits, or at least not urgently. He prefers first to focus on his playing philosophy, based on an offensive 4-3-3 with aggressive pressing.

« For the transfer window, we work collectively and hand in hand with management. My goal is to build an exciting team. We are convinced that we have what is needed in the team, with great technical capabilities, which will allow us to work well. The transfer window is not my main objective at the moment. I'm not interested in it at the moment, because I have to get to know the players, listen to them and work with them. I don't know if I asked for time, but we have a bit of an obligation to evolve in the short term. I know how to read the numbers and the rankings, but our role is to develop performance in order to achieve the results we all want. It's a daily job, working hard every day “, he said at a press conference. Not sure that management shares his point of view when relegation will cost much more than a few winter transfers.