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Inducted into the head of the Saint-Etienne professional team last October, Claude Puel was not unanimous in the ASSE wardrobe.
And for good reason, the Saint-Etienne coach terminated certain privileges within the locker room, treating everyone the same. A method that goes badly with certain historical executives, and which notably provoked a major clash with a legend of the club, namely Stéphane Ruffier. But the method can pay off in the long run. This is at least what Denis Balbir thinks, who praised the work of the former technician of OGC Nice while expressing his emotion, felt on the evening of the qualification of ASSE for the final of the French Cup.
“I’m not going to hide it: Thursday evening, I had tears in my eyes. It was a great time to see the supporters come down to the lawn and commune with the players. To see the club qualify for a Coupe de France final 38 years later. This victory, this scenario … Everything was a pretext to explode. Emotionally, it was even stronger because of the critics who fell on this team, because of the questioning not always fair of the work of Claude Puel. I’m happy for him because he really hit the job in a squad that needed to be moved ” commented on Goal Football Club Denis Balbir, delighted to see a man with a strong fist like Claude Puel make the lines go round in a workforce that was in great need. It remains to be seen whether this will pay off next season…