EXCEPTIONAL GUEST – What future and what confidence for Claude Puel? Where is the takeover offer from AS Saint-Étienne? How is the winter transfer window shaping up? The Executive President of ASSE was our exceptional guest on Wednesday and he answered (almost) all of our questions.
He is rare in the media, but he has agreed to be our exceptional guest this Wednesday. The executive president of AS Saint-Étienne spoke at the microphone of France Bleu Saint-Étienne Loire, three days after the Greens’ first victory in Ligue 1 this season. A success that does not erase the many tensions that have been part of the daily life of the club for several weeks. Jean-François Soucasse has therefore come to take his responsibilities and affirm that if the ASSE vessel is indeed pitching, it is still at the helm. He answered all of our questions and yours as well. Here’s what to remember.
Does Claude Puel keep the confidence of the leaders?
France Blue Saint-Étienne Loire: The Greens have finally won their first victory of the season against Clermont this week-end. Did Claude Puel save his head with this victory?
Jean-François Soucasse: “I don’t ask myself the question like that. What matters to me today is whether the staff, if the players, are pursuing a common project which is clearly identified: it is to ensure the maintenance in Ligue 1 of ASSE. Today, Claude, like his assistants, like the players, is perfectly mobilized “.
“What matters to me today is to ensure the maintenance in Ligue 1 […] and Claude Puel is perfectly mobilized “
His position as manager is not called into question in every match, depending on the bad or the good results of the club?
Jean-François Soucasse: “I have far too much experience in football to make final decisions. Those who venture to make them are often denied in fact. For my part, I try to keep a cool head in a situation that requires it . Claude is an educator, general manager of the club, who is experienced! He has already known difficult situations and unless I am mistaken, he has never known relegation. He is not surprised to be the target of criticism. Neither him nor the players, nor the managers of which I am a part. We are together on the same boat, we must leave the club in the first division at the end of the season. That’s the main thing, c ‘that’s what motivates us, from the first to the last “.
Some want Claude Puel to go away, what do you tell them?
Jean-François Soucasse: “I answer them that as in any sports club, the evaluation grid is the results. Only the sports results count. I am not denying the obvious, I believe in what I see: everything the world is motivated around a common cause.
“We cannot congratulate ourselves on having the best audience in France (it’s a reality, I confirm) and be surprised when this audience expresses itself”
Regarding the supporters, we cannot congratulate ourselves on having the best public in France (it is a reality, I confirm) and be surprised when this public expresses itself, expresses its dissatisfaction, its concern. and expresses himself. We can put ourselves in an ivory tower and consider that we have understood everything, but I take my part in its responsibilities. I am not here to run away from it but to assume them. Others must do it! Sports results are the only justice of the peace. We are all committed to restoring the situation. This first victory, I hope it will be a first step in our recovery “.
Where is the plan to take over the club?
The dead-line was Monday evening for the filing of the club’s recovery files. Are there any concrete offers on the table? If so, how many and from whom?
Jean-François Soucasse: “On the sale we are going to redo a little teaching, that’s also why I’m here this morning. I arrived at the club nine months ago, the sale was not on the agenda. shareholders have informed me of their desire to complete this sale.
We agreed together: of one, that this position be assumed first. I could not see myself crossing 300 employees, eye to eye, without them knowing that a sales process was underway. Two, I wanted this sales process to be professional. This is why there was a call for tenders, which KPMG decided. Third thing and understand it, I wanted this sale to disrupt our daily life as little as possible, because it is vital!
Unfortunately, because of the media, fake news, rumors, it hits us, I can’t help it. I am more at ease with an assumed and professional sales process than with a sales process that certain clubs are currently carrying out under the hood and without assuming it “.
However, this sale intervenes in the life of the club?
Jean-François Soucasse: “It’s like that, I can’t do anything about it! It’s frustrating sometimes to see echoes, rantings about hypotheses, one in particular, when you already know that it doesn’t make sense, that it is unfounded and is completely false! Regarding the sale, were there any offers? Yes How much? I will not tell you because I am bound by confidentiality. The profile of the candidates selected? Same answer. My position is very simple. It is a subject of shareholders, of club succession. I do not know how to work on hypotheses.
Olivier Markarian, the local investor, is a credible lead? There is also the track of Jean-Michel Roussier, ex-president of OM and Mathieu Bodmer, midfielder of the Greens?
Jean-François Soucasse: “I read the press like you. The advantage over you is that I know the reality of the files since I spend hours on this subject. What is reality? Is there a validated buyer? by KPMG, the shareholder? There is none “.
Because the deadline has been set for November 23?
Jean-François Soucasse: “Yes, the date has been announced to do a little education. At that time, offers will be made. If they are accepted by the shareholders, we will welcome the future buyer and his project in the best possible conditions. And I will assume this responsibility. transition with all the loyalty that has been mine, including in past experiences. But I am working on another hypothesis, the only one that is valid today, is that there is no declared buyer “.
An offer, in any case, will not be made, that of the Cambodian prince Norodom Ravichak. He presented a false 100 million euro bank guarantee document?
Jean-François Soucasse: “I stay away from these sales issues, but I confirm the veracity of the press release that was made by the shareholders.
On the other hand we can not hope for an offer by the end of the year as Roland Romeyer wanted?
Jean-François Soucasse: “Roland Romeyer, like Bernard Caïazzo, want an outcome to allow the club to set out again on healthy ambitions. Today, if the date of November 23 has been defined by KPMG, it is because it still allows us to hope for a sale before the January transfer window “.
What prospects for the transfer window this winter?
If the sale does not take place before December 31, with the current shareholders, would it be possible to strengthen the team in the winter transfer window, which will allow for a more peaceful second part of the season?
Jean-François Soucasse: “Our current team shows character, resources, it also shows weaknesses. Obviously, the club wishes to be active in this transfer window. Profiles have been identified, contacts have been made and we are obviously keen to be able to bring more of comfort and more solutions to this team to achieve our goal, which is maintenance.
The question of the club’s financial health arises. When you arrived, you said that the club had 30 million euros in debt, are you feeling better today?
Jean-François Soucasse: “It’s not really 30 million euros in debt. What I had to say at the time is that over last season, given the Covid and the Media Pro fiasco, the club had lost more than thirty million turnover, these are not losses.
Are you doing better ? Yes ! But, there again, we must do a little pedagogy. When I arrived, nine months ago, the club was sporting a little in difficulty and, economically, it had to deal with important issues. Since then, we have lowered the salaries of the players with their agreement, mine included. We renegotiated the contracts, lowered the charges, we made ourselves eligible for aid, we improved our sporting situation by becoming 11th. We closed last season in a balanced fashion, it’s the eleventh in a row!
This season, we forget. It’s a new exercise, a new challenge, a new mountain to climb. We are working and we continue to try to find solutions. I have never lied since my arrival and I reaffirm it today: ASSE suffers from a chronic, very significant operating deficit. We are working on a transformation of the club on many levels, it is the submerged part of the iceberg that does not interest anyone! But running a football club means thinking about the weekend game and thinking about laying the foundations for club development. “