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Zapping Goal! Football club ASSE: the Greens’ tribute to Loïc Perrin

Goal !: First of all Julien, what did you think of your team on this last edition of the Tour de France?

Julien JURDIE: It was very satisfying. The team exceeded our expectations. We wanted to win a stage, like 23 other teams, and only eight made it. The icing on the cake is Ben O’Connor in the Top 5 of the Tour de France. I knew he was capable of playing in the Top 10. But you know the big pressure on this kind of event, and it’s a relief to have responded. 4th is great.

A little disappointed for some French people?

It was a little more complicated. In recent years, whether with Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot or Julian Alaphilippe, we had riders capable of competing with the best. This was less the case this year. Julian wore the yellow jersey one day, it was a bit harder afterwards. But this Tour de France was very interesting from the point of view of the spectacle, with crashes, tension on the peloton, with a scenario with a Pogacar above the lot.

You are the sports director of a cycling team, do you see any similarities between running a high level group in cycling and football?

Necessarily. They are two different sports, but there are some. I had the chance to exchange for many years with Christophe Galtier during his time at A.S.S.E. or Élie Baup. I invited Christophe Galtier to the Tour de France during a mountain stage where Romain Bardet finished 3rd. He had spent 24 hours inside with us and he had discovered something different. Managing egos is crucial, just like in football. Cycling is certainly ahead of the small details of everyday life and this surprised Christophe. The similarities are found in coaching, the selection of eight riders for the Tour for example, as in football. Choose the right guys. We take 8 out of 30, we have to reckon with the injured, the out of shape, the young people, the executives.

It’s not really an individual sport anymore …

Yes, that’s what I tell my runners: it’s an individual sport that is played as a team. Little by little, the general public understood it.

You are a supporter of ASSE, where does this passion for the Greens come from?

From my birth in 1973, I think. When you’re born in Saint-Étienne, you don’t have a choice. It’s a city that smells of football, and yet I have never played club football. In my family, it did not play, but we went to the game. The grandfather, the father … I started dating in the 80s.

And since then, have you been calling the Cauldron?

That’s it ! We will all vibrate in the Cauldron despite the difficult passages. You have to be born in Saint-Étienne to understand the importance of this club, it’s deeply rooted in us.

“With the budget, Galtier could have installed the A.S.S.E. in the Top 3”

Do you follow ASSE on a daily basis?

I follow the results anywhere, even during competitions. I watch the games on my phone at the table, during the races, discreetly keeping an eye on the progress of the score. It takes me to the guts. In the middle of coaching, I see that A.S.S.E. has won, that can give me wings! In addition, I had the chance to meet Roland Romeyer, Élie Baup, who introduced me to the inside of the club. I will never forget that. These are great times for a loyal supporter.

You had the opportunity to meet Christophe Galtier during his time with the Greens, did you think he was capable of winning a title with another Ligue 1 team?

It’s always easy to say afterwards. Apart from the tactical sense that a trainer must have, Christophe is excellent in the management of his troops. He knows how to combine flexibility and rigor. You have to know how to manage everything, tell the truths, let certain behaviors pass. When a group feels good, they will give the maximum. Christophe knows how to smooth things over in times of tension, while being able to bang his fist on the table. He’s one of the best for getting the most out of a squad. This is what happened with Lille. He was far from having the best squad yet. He plays with the emotion of his troops. Tactically, he’s also very good.

In the end, maybe it was the budget that he lacked to go higher with the Greens?

We have seen that he regularly reached the Top 5 with the Greens. Logically, with a stronger team on paper, he could go for the podium. The problem is there, money is the sinews of war. In Saint-Étienne, he was financially stuck. This is a great regret, because with the budget, he could have installed the A.S.S.E. in the Top 3 of French football as he did in Lille. After a while he was at the end of the cycle, he couldn’t do magic tricks. It’s already great what he has achieved. He was very frustrated, he wanted to continue with A.S.S.E. with more money. The presidents could not follow unfortunately. They were blocked by budgets.

“After a while you have to pass the torch and both presidents get it. However, are millions of foreign investors really the solution? “

After his departure, the A.S.S.E. nevertheless invested in the market!

He must have been frustrated with that, yes. Or at least regrets.

A.S.S.E. finds itself at a turning point in its history. Bernard Caïazzo and Roland Romeyer have announced that they want to sell the club. What is your take on this?

It is an eternal debate. Is this the year too long for the two presidents? I can understand Roland who may be having trouble letting go. But he gave so much for this club… Afterwards, he remains lucid and knows he has to let the new investors come. After a while, the torch has to be passed on and both presidents get it. However, are millions of foreign investors really the solution? Some clubs have proven not to. Through the various crises, health, TV rights, things are becoming more and more complex and I would not like to be in the shoes of the presidents.

Have you already spoken with Claude Puel?

No. I was lucky enough to be able to do it with Élie Baup and Christophe Galtier, and it’s true that I would like to be able to do the same with Claude Puel. I know he likes the bike a lot too. I’ve seen videos go by, he’s still so sharp, he runs with his players. I do the same on the bike with my riders. It would be interesting to exchange.

Claude Puel has established a policy focused on young people, partly for lack of resources. Is it really viable in the long term?

Frankly, fortunately Romain Hamouma was able to extend … It was apprehension that I had that all the executives are leaving. It’s the same in my job as a sports director. You have to find a mix between experience, which is necessary, and youth, which shakes up the hierarchy. At one point, I found that Claude Puel was playing our nerves a lot by fielding very young teams. Having been in professional sport for over 15 years, I have sometimes struggled to understand his choices. But again, I’m not in the locker room. Daily life changes everything, the coach and his assistant pick the top eleven after seeing what happened in training during the week, in the locker room. But sometimes I found there was an imbalance between youth and experience. We have surely lost points because of that.

It is also a way of offering experience to its young people …

Yes, they have already eaten a lot of Ligue 1 matches and matured. It was a complicated season. Young people, instead of taking three years to learn, might just take one. The perfect example is Mahdi Camara. At 23, he became the captain of A.S.S.E. The last exercise brought him a lot mentally. The young people will all grow up faster than in another Ligue 1 team.

Are you less worried than last season?

Substantially the same. There are still executives, but it’s mostly the quantity that scares me. If there are too many problems, Claude Puel can quickly find himself short of solutions. Wahbi Khazri looks great, so does Denis Bouanga. It’s up to them to deliver the results. If everything goes the right way, on paper it looks nice. When you look at the starting XI, it’s pretty nice. Afterwards, we have to hope to be lucky on the injured, because we have a small group.

Which player do you imagine taking on another dimension this season?

We’ve had such a lack of a center forward in recent years that I’d like to see Charles Abi rise to prominence. He has a good physique, he is tall, he seems comfortable in the box. I would like him to take a mental step forward, registering his 10, 12, 15 goals in the year. He learned a lot despite the difficulties last year. He must quickly find confidence. I hope it will be the right revelation. We need a real forward.

What can also make a difference is the return of the supporters to the Cauldron!

Yes. We are living through a complicated period and I hope we can still find the stadium. Honestly, I’ve done a lot of stadiums, and I can’t find that anywhere else. I spend a lot of my friends in Lyon on it. In terms of atmosphere, no stadium can compete with Geoffroy-Guichard. The Vélodrome, maybe, but Geoffroy-Guichard is really something … I had the chance to experience a derby at the edge of the field and it is exceptional. It’s a chance for the players to be able to rely on such an audience. The popular fervor is incredible. We miss it. The supporters are there to help the players to transcend themselves. It is also found in the bicycle when the riders are cheered by thousands of spectators.

What can we wish you for the future?

I am resting before the Tour of Spain. We dream of making the pass of three. We won a stage on the Giro, one on the Tour de France, we have to do Spain. That’s the goal, to win a stage. The team have never made the treble in the same season. It’s a nice challenge with Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de Lombardie.

Interview conducted by Antoine CHIRAT