The TFC is almost there. With an 11-point lead and a largely favorable goal difference with five games to go, the Violets do not lack much to clinch a rise and a title of champion of France in Ligue 2. Questions to coach Philippe Montanier before the trip to Sochaux.
Now that the symbolic bar of 72 points has been reached, more serene?
“Yes, but we still say to ourselves that mathematically we still need four points. And of the five remaining matches, there are two more than complicated trips to Sochaux and the last day to Ajaccio. In the end, it will be the end of the season not so quiet.”
Nobody says to the club that’s it we are in Ligue 1? We don’t believe you…
“What puts us in it are the others. They win. Sochaux and Ajaccio have four wins in a row. What if they made it all up? We have to get the points.”
You will especially have a role of referee in the rise of the others by playing Sochaux and Ajaccio…
“For us these are big challenges. We are first, we want to maintain our leadership. Our ambition is to have top matches in Ligue 1 next year so these are the matches that we have to play. to show our qualities. We have to show that we are better”
Montanier: “Proud to make people happy”
The TFC in Ligue 2, was it an anomaly?
“No, because it’s simply the sporting reality. We saw a Racing Club de Lens in Ligue 2, I played here in front of 30,000 spectators against OM in D2. We may be the great Marseille or the great Racing Club de Lens and end up in Ligue 2. The heart of the job is the game. If we are not good, whatever the history or the glorious past of a club, we can end up in Ligue 2.”
You must still be proud to participate in the renewal of the club?
“We are above all proud to make people happy. I was talking to a supporter who told me that when you win your week is illuminated. You don’t realize the impact that has. We are very proud to give happiness to people.”
Is the title of champion a goal?
“We must not forget the first objective which is the rise but the second is to mark the history of the club. There are very few moments when you can mark the history of a club. We can write a modest page in the history of the club. It stays. An example: Michaël Debève who won the title with Lens, he has stadiums that bear his name near Lens. It’s a unique opportunity but we’re not going to go faster than the music. First the climb.”