The Greens saved the point of the draw in the home derby against Lyon on Sunday October 3. A point “deserved“according to Patrick Guillou, the former defender of AS Saint-Étienne, now a consultant for BeIn Sport. The day after the match, he debriefed the meeting on France Blue Saint-Etienne Loire.
Are the Greens relaunching their season with this draw against Lyon?
Patrick Guillou:Relaunched, I don’t know, but in any case, it’s a nice breath of fresh air. It can be an anchor. It can be a keystone for the next matches, but on condition that we negotiate the mini championship that will happen in the coming weeks with opponents who box in the same category as our beloved club.
The Stéphanois really fought to snatch this draw. A goal in the last minutes of added time. What you saw last night seems encouraging to you for the future, or should we still have some fears?
We have these fears since we are always the last in the standings. But it is true that it is very encouraging, compared to the state of mind displayed yesterday, compared to the conquering and beating heart and spirit found in the meeting. The point of the draw is well deserved. [Etienne] Green was heroic at the end of the day, he fulfilled his role. [Kahzri], yet another umpteenth time, donned the costume of the savior. The circumstances of the meeting, unlike previous matches, were very favorable: three goals refused for the Lyonnais, precisely, compared to the VAR, the strikes on the posts. A first half where Saint Etienne was in difficulty, but resisted with his values and then a better controlled second half where there were a lot of clear chances. With this entrepreneurial spirit, this conquering spirit and in view of the second half, even if the Lyonnais finished ten against eleven, you had to go get that point of the draw with the guts and that’s what they did.
Claude Puel was said to be in danger if he lost this derby in the week preceding the meeting. Did, with that draw, somehow save his head?
It is not for me to judge. It is up to the leaders to do so. It is up to them to make their decision. Saint-Étienned must rediscover its popular side, its proximity side, its collective values, its solidarity and its courage. TO As soon as its virtues are once again visible and palpable on the pitch, everyone will identify again with the club, with the team and afterwards it does not matter who is at the head of the club.
Saint-Étienne relegated at the end of the season, for you, is it something that still hangs in our face?
_Just look at the ranking. When we look at the standings, even if we had a great game, Saint-Étienne is behind. We are last. That is the reality of the moment, but it is the reality. We had a great game yesterday. Whoever says, forgive me the trivial expression “yesterday I was pissed off”, or that he didn’t see a good game, he’s got it all wrong. Yesterday we really enjoyed ourselves in front of our screens_. We had emotions, it was a roller coaster: the refused goals, the posts, the missed opportunity. We really lived and that’s what we ask. The players responded by their courage, by what they had on heart, because they had in their guts, in their entrails. But and that is also a reality, we have experienced very, very difficult times. And now, if this point of the draw is not improved by the mini championship in the coming weeks or against Strasbourg, this snapshot we had will be pissed off.