After a difficult end of adventure at TFC, Jean-François Soucasse will try to rebuild his reputation in Saint-Etienne, where he has just been appointed general manager of ASSE services.
“I am happy and honored to come back to Saint-Étienne to put myself at the service of ASSE, a legendary club carried by incomparable fervor. It is with these words that Jean-François Soucasse’s adventure in Saint-Etienne begins. At 48 years old, the former player of the Greens (1995-1996 and 1997-1998) thus finds Forez and ASSE, where he has just been appointed general manager of services.
ud83c udd95 Jean-Francois #Soucasse is appointed Director General of Services#ASSE.
His in-depth knowledge of the club, of which he wore the colors, but also of the Saint-Etienne environment will obviously be one of his assets in supporting the development of the Greens.
– AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) January 12, 2021
He replaces Xavier Thuilot, who disagreed with President Roland Romeyer, and will try to end the chronic instability reigning among the Greens, who have had three different DGs over the past three years.
Damaged image in Toulouse
Far from the Pink City, Jean-François Soucasse will also try to restore his image, damaged during his last years in Toulouse. TFC player between 1991 and 1995, the native of Lherm returned to his training club in 2003, as director of the training center, before becoming deputy general manager the following year and then general manager in 2008. Right hand of Olivier Sadran, in charge of financial and sports files, notably with the supervision of the recruitment unit, he first had good years, with two European campaigns including the first participation in the history of the TFC in the Champions League, and the emergence of talents on the island of Ramier, like Wissam Ben Yedder. He is also behind the creation of the TFC Foundation, the club’s social arm on the territory of the Toulouse metropolis.
But the end of the adventure turns sour. While President Sadran takes a step back, Jean-François Soucasse finds himself in the spotlight and under fire from critics. In recent seasons, while the sale of the club is on everyone’s lips, the TFC tumbles, has a chain of coaches and poor results, and the one who took the title of executive director of the club becomes the number 1 culprit in the eyes of some supporters, who target him in every home game. At the top of the list of grievances with which he is accused is the management of incidents on the sidelines of the TFC-Lille match in May 2018, which led to several arrests and judicial convictions. Part of the supporters believe that the child of the house did not support them at the time, and the breakup is over. He finally takes his departure in the summer of 2020, a few weeks after the arrival of RedBird Capital Partners at the helm of the club.
“A discreet and efficient worker”
In Saint-Etienne, Jean-François Soucasse thus arrives with a solid experience behind him, hailed by the two presidents, Roland Romeyer and Bernard Caïazzo, who pays homage to “a discreet and efficient worker who has a bit of the same character as Claude Puel. . They are competent and honest men who correspond well to the values of the Greens. “
Alongside the native of Castres, Jean-François Soucasse in any case has his work cut out for him in the Loire. But he should find in his new office a very different context from the one he experienced in Toulouse. A true handyman of the Violets, mainly in recent seasons, Jean-François Soucasse lands today in a club marked by the strong presence of his two-headed presidency, and the omnipotence of Claude Puel on the sporting level, since the coach of the Greens is also the general manager.