By falling from the Top 14 in Pro D2, SU Agen thought to put an end to their ordeal. Last season, the Agen club had already achieved “the feat” of losing all of its 26 games in the top flight. In the second division, history seems to repeat itself. The “Bleu et Blanc “bowed in their first seven games. Friday, October 22, they hope to break this downward spiral by welcoming Aurrillac. The evil is deep, the staffs waltz, and the athlete is not the only one suffering. At the head of the club, a quarrel broke out between the former president of the SUA, Alain Tingaud, who proposed a plan to take over the club, and its current president, Jean-François Fonteneau, who wants to restore a positive dynamic himself.
In Agen, you have to have a good memory to remember the club’s last victory. It dates back to February 22, 2020, before the health crisis, against CA Brive (30-16). Since then, the SUA can no longer do it. The agenais ordeal began in the next meeting, against Clermont (15-32), for the last match of the 2019-2020 season, interrupted due to the Covid-19. The following ? A nightmarish season in the Top 14, with 26 defeats in 26 games, and only 2 points taken thanks to the defensive bonus.
As early as November 2020, after seven losses in the top flight, the club management had dismissed manager Christophe Laussucq and forwards coach Rémi Vaquin. A duo composed of Régis Sonnes and Sylvain Mirande had replaced them a few weeks later, without more success. Seeing history repeating itself in Pro D2, the club appealed, on October 1, to Christophe Deylaud, former club member, who arrived as a consultant to the staff. But, it did not take more than two weeks for the latter to decide to leave the SUA because of “discrepancies” with Régis Sonnes, who was suspended.
Christophe Deylaud, chosen by Régis Sonnes for a consultant assignment, decided to stop his functions due to deep differences with the Manager.
The Board of Directors met and unanimously decided to suspend Régis Sonnes from his duties.– SUA LG (@agen_rugby) October 12, 2021
On the last day, against Vannes, the “Bleu et Blanc” were therefore led by David Ortiz, the forward coach, and Sylvain Mirande, who then left the club through support with Régis Sonnes. Faced with the Bretons, who had also lost all their meetings since the start of the season, the Agenais received a slap (46-3). A 34th consecutive defeat which pushes them even more into the crisis.
Joined by franceinfo: sport, Jean-François Fonteneau accuses the blow: “It’s complicated, we are all very sad. I am sad for the players, but also for the supporters and our partners. This situation is very heavy, exhausting. We feel that something is not working, but at the same time it is sometimes based on facts of the game. The players no longer have confidence and finally, they give up the game a bit “.
The president calls his workforce to question: “I feel that they are very affected, but they are the ones who are on the ground. They are professionals who must not let go. I think there is also a psychological block and a loss of self-esteem. “.
In addition to the services of the players, Jean-François Fonteneau explains this black series by the environment of the club: “In the Agen sector, all this is very anxiety-provoking, the relationship with rugby is completely schizophrenic, we are in the irrational. There is pressure around the club which is very negative”.
According to him, the sources of the problem go back to the beginning of the 2019 season, when the club lost several players trained at the club, which weakened the team: “Julien Hériteau went to Toulon, Antoine Miquel went to Toulouse, Denis Marchois went to Pau… These young people were a form of backbone, they represented the identity of the club but we could not keep them, they were career choice”.
Recruitments to compensate for his departures did not allow Agen to perform better in the Top 14. After several defeats, “a sporting strategy has been put in place to sacrifice the 2020-2021 season and better prepare for the season in Pro D2”. A strategy far from giving satisfaction for the moment.
President of the club for eleven years, before handing over to Jean-François Fonteneau, Alain Tingaud despairs to see the second division red lantern SUA: “It’s catastrophic. Like thousands of people, I am extremely sad that this historic French rugby club is in this situation”.
He calls on his successor at the head of the club to admit his responsibility: “In a company, when performance is no longer there, you can always criticize your employees. But when it lasts, when it is long and there is a total loss of confidence, you have to understand that the the club is responsible for it. I had Jean-François Fonteneau with me for several years as vice-president of the club, and I did not perceive his inability to be a manager “.
@agen_rugby No more words in the face of such a disaster. Flat and empty encephalogram on and off the pitch. Players who are no longer trusted. Agen’s jersey is soiled for a long time. Very sad evening and the president of course still responsible for nothing!
– TINGAUD Alain (@alaintingaud) October 8, 2021
Criticized by supporters, Jean-François Fonteneau accepts his share of responsibility: “When you run a sports club, you have to be tanned. Because when a club wins, it’s thanks to the players, but when it loses it’s the players’ fault, when it loses a little more. is the manager’s fault, and when he loses even more it is the managers’ fault. But when you are president and owner of a club, and therefore of a company, you don’t resign and you don’t leave the ship to flow”.
Alain Tingaud nonetheless proposed a meeting with his successor and the mayor of Agen, without receiving a positive response: “I wanted to make concrete proposals on the organization, the structuring of the club, with a project to save it. But it’s an end of inadmissibility and too bad, I stay out now”. Even if Alain Tingaud ensures that he does not put any trial of intent against Jean-François Fonteneau and simply wants to get the club out of the rut in which it is, the current president perceives these statements as a means of pressure: “This behavior is not that of someone who wants to help, it’s a settling of scores. When you start shooting red bullets in the press, I don’t think that’s a solution. When you want to act for the club, we take our phone, they call me and ask me how to help “.
The successor of Régis Sonnes as manager has not yet been announced and it is in this context that the Agenais will receive Aurillac, Friday October 22 at 7:30 p.m., hoping to end more than 600 days without a win.