Posted on January 2, 2022 at 12:30 pm by Dan Marciano
Arrived at ASSE during the month of December, Pascal Dupraz wants to make his mark by keeping the club in Ligue 1. To achieve this, the technician intends to activate several levers.
Claude Puel has not finished the season. A few months after the start of the championship, the technician was dismissed by his managers because of the disappointing results of his team. The technician’s project, which leaves room for young people, never caught on and turned out to be a failure. In an attempt to restart the machine, the leaders of the ASSE have decided to bet on Pascal Dupraz as announced on 10Sport.com exclusively. A technician used to hot situations like this. The former coach of Caen and TFC is committed with the Greens until next June with the objective of maintaining this historic team of the French championship in Ligue 1. To achieve this, Pascal Dupraz is counting on its leaders, who will have to be active during the winter transfer window. The coach will also have to restore confidence in a group, which has serious shortcomings.
“Saint-Etienne today has weaknesses, we must make them assets”
For his debut in the league, Pascal Dupraz lost to FC Nantes (0-1). But despite everything, the technician is optimistic. “For 24 hours, it shook me because I am responsible for what is happening today. I said to myself that it was, perhaps, beneficial. Perhaps through failure will come redemption. But unfortunately, when I think we cannot lose this match, we concede this goal (…) I cannot dispute the fact that the first half was mush. In 15 minutes, we rectified. There must have been both a tactical and a psychological impact. It makes me optimistic. “For the coach, the work, but also the support of the supporters will allow the club to maintain itself. “Saint-Etienne today has weaknesses, we have to turn them into assets. Today I have this faculty, this presumption of wanting to impact on what you describe as inevitable through the work on the ground, the psychological, my kindness towards the players, the reinforcement that we must operate. We need to recruit, everyone must understand this in order to be more competitive. All this added to the resilience capacity of the supporters should lead ASSE to stay in L1. It is a complicated task. I read the percentages: 18, 16 or 12% chances to hold when you have 12 points at the break. No ! We have a 50% chance of maintaining ourselves: we go down or we stay in L1 “he confided in an interview with Eurosport.
” I want to leave in May with the feeling of accomplishment ” .
Sure of himself, Pascal Dupraz knows his hot situations. With the TFC in 2017, the technician had to wait until the last day to see his team stay in Ligue 1. The technician therefore did not hesitate to join ASSE , despite his complicated sporting situation: “My arrival at ASSE? There was not the shadow of a hesitation. It's my karma. What is annoying is that I say that we are going to hold on. Because it puts you in suspense. This kind of felted and sanitized ordering of football … It does not say. Because if you advance like that, we are waiting for you with a club (…) ASSE is 20th, has 12 points, has taken 40 goals, has scored 17. It is not enough to be competitive in Ligue 1. I am on this extremely down-to-earth observation. If I'm here it's only for this reason, because ASSE is underperforming and apparently I have some skills to outperform an underperforming team. What if the players needed love? This is not a question that I asked myself. I have simply here, for 15 days, applied my precepts and my convictions, my management method which is different from that exposed in the media ”. Tied to ASSE until next June, the coach does not wish to have any regrets and hopes to achieve his goals before packing his bags: “I am benevolent. Since I was a kid, my parents taught me to live with others. I look to others (…) In the field, I will do everything with my fellow coaches, because I don't like talking about an assistant, to rectify the situation and leave ASSE in L1 to leave in May with the feeling of duty accomplished ”.