Just arrived, already fired. The US club Changed in football, dismissed the first team coach Alain Denis, this Saturday August 13th. The Breton coach arrived in early June to move a club that had known the same coach for eight years, Bertrand Girard. But with Alain Denis, former Briochin Stadium, the summer preparation was not good: 4 defeats, 1 draw and 1 victory. And as surprising as it may seem, the leaders and their coach may not have had the same vision of things for the National 3 team.
It all went downhill last week. For sporting reasons, Alain Denis has decided to sanction two players. He informs them that they will therefore not play on Saturday in a friendly against the FC Lorient reserve. In the locker room, the decision of the coach divides, especially since the two players concerned are also educators at the US Changed.
Changed “not ready to change”?
Alain Denis and his team win the match against Lorient despite the tension of the moment. But a quarter of an hour after the victory, the presidents inform the coach that he is dismissed. Contacted, Alain Denis is bitter. Its roadmap was however clear: to change the mentalities of the players, for the next season of National 3. “The club is actually not ready for change (…) the leaders lied to me” he snaps. “For several years, it was the players who drove the boat, and the presidents in May told me that they wanted it to stop. And I told them no problem. With me, it is out of the question for the players to decide. I have never seen that“says the Breton.
For the latter, there were also differences on the vision of football. The eternal debate between obligation of result and an attractive game. “You have to instill in the players the taste for victory, but here it is not at all part of the morals. We just want to play here. So what makes sense as a youngster is indeed the technical and tactical aspect. Up to 16 years old but not after. And that explains the results of these last seasons, with a maintenance in extremis. They were playing well, but they were still conceding very avoidable goals. It takes more rigor, and I was brought here for that“continues Alain Denis.
For his part, Joël Ferron, one of the presidents of the club, confirms the differences of vision on the club’s project. “The current did not go well with certain players, these are things that happen (…) We do not criticize Alain, it is not what we want“, soberly comments the leader.