The signing of Antoine Kombouaré at RC Lens in mid-July 2013 was to mark the club’s entry into a new prosperous era. A few weeks earlier, Hafiz Mammadov and Gervais Martel had bought the club with the ambition to make him quickly find the elite of French football thanks to the financial means promised by the Azeri businessman and which the club is still waiting for today. For three years and in a context marked by countless uncertainties, financial and sporting in particular, the Kanak technician, now at FC Nantes, will scramble alongside his assistants to try to give new impetus to RC Lens.
“He brought a lot of rigor”, remembers Vincent Lannoy. Associated with the faithful of Antoine Kombouaré, Michel Dufour and Yves Bertucci, the physical trainer of the club champion of France 1998, still in post today under the orders of Franck Haise, learned a lot with the technician of 58 years, that he meets this Friday evening at La Beaujoire. He is also not surprised by his current success with the Yellow. Interview.
“He knows how to draw the quintessence of a group without projecting too much on the future”
What did he bring to RC Lens when he signed in 2013?
When he arrives at Lens, he brings what was missing from the few years that preceded him. It was extremely rigorous. Work, obviously, but work where he gives the players a lot of responsibility. Everyone was a little under pressure because we were entering a somewhat dark period for Racing. Antoine knew that they had made an investment to be able to climb back up to the first division quickly, which he did after a year. He is a person who fully assumes his role and who knows how to transmit it to his players and his staff.
He is someone, both hyper-demanding and protective, like a father. He loves his players and his staff.
How did you work together?
There were five of us including two in physical preparation with Michel Dufour [également adjoint d’Antoine Kombouaré au FC Nantes, ndlr]. We shared the work. Antoine Kombouaré has the ability to refocus the debate on something very specific. In this case, a clear and assumed objective is to obtain immediate results. To fill it, he knows how to mobilize all the living forces over a relatively short period where you have to invest as much as possible and especially get the quintessence of a group without looking too much into the future. He is very strong in this field because he is very demanding.
Is rigor Antoine Kombouaré’s only compass?
We often remember a coach, in fact, his requirement and his rigor. Afterwards, he also has a very protective, very fatherly side, whether with the players or with his staff. When we happen to do something stupid, to miss out on something, he knows how to get the message across to us, we can hear him well. But outside the group, the locker room, he takes everything for himself. Nothing comes out. He is someone, both hyper-demanding and protective, like a father. He loves his players and his staff. Corn in exchange for his love, he expects high standards, quality at work and results. And it’s no wonder he managed to turn the situation around when he arrived at Nantes.