Olivier Dall'Oglio is no longer the coach of AS Saint-Etienne. The club announced it this Saturday, December 14, 2024 via a press release. After 15 days of Ligue 1, ASSE has ten defeats, including one too many on Friday in Toulouse. The Greens are 16th and play-offs in Ligue 1. We come back to this announcement with the president of the Stéphanois Supporters Union Jean-Guy Riou.
Was there any surprise for you regarding this announcement?
No, it's been a few matches where his functions were actually suspended. So it’s a chronicle of a predicted end. So, I think that it did not necessarily fit into the plans of the Canadian owner and the people who had been put in place, so its fate had already been sealed for some time.
Being excluded from the professional group at this time, is it a blessing in disguise?
There's never a good time. We are on a series of defeats, we have entered the relegation zone, there will be a Coupe de France match and then a truce. If a new coach is appointed quickly enough, it will allow him to take the pulse of the group and then perhaps implement tactics that Dall'Oglio did not want to implement. It may not have been possible because we must not forget that there are quite an impressive number of injured people. In any case, he was the one who took us up to the first division last season, so we won't forget that either. Now, in fact, he was not necessarily a decision-maker in the choices that were made, of the players who arrived in the summer transfer window. And it is perhaps the fact that he did not want to implement the tactics advocated by the Canadians that sealed his fate for some time.
Olivier Dall'Oglio stayed in Forez for a year with a rise to Ligue 1 and big defeats this season. How are the supporters taking this break?
With my experience as a supporter, I would say that I no longer have too many qualms with the coaches. I support the club. I support neither its leaders nor the passing coaches. I have seen dozens of coaches, managers too. Players, hundreds. We love the club for what it is. We liked the way he managed the team last year because when he takes it, it's not necessarily the best time either. But he manages to get us into Ligue 1. Now, it's time for another coach and we'll judge based on the results we get. And we will see at the end of the season if we are maintained. It's a fuse that blows and the best solution is to give a new coach some time to take the pulse of this team. Let him see if there is a tactic to change, perhaps relaunching players who were no longer in Dall'Oglio's good books and perhaps relying on young players who are breaking through with the team.
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