- For nearly an hour, Raymond Domenech answered questions from the media at La Beaujoire this Thursday.
- The new Nantes coach, who was alone at the desk, appeared extremely calm and peaceful.
This Thursday, in the press conference room of the Beaujoire , Raymond Domenech , dressed in a tracksuit, arrived exactly on time, smiling, with a determined step and alone. In front of him, thirty journalists who first told him of their astonishment at not seeing him accompanied by at least one member of the FC Nantes . “I hear it”, he said without ever losing his smile.
For almost an hour, the former coach des Bleus, whom we had seen for the last time in 2010 in jogging during the fatal episode of Knsyna in South Africa , did not evade any question. “I’m open to questions now, I know you have some from the past. I will answer it “, he warned, before launching, mockingly:” If we could quickly arrive at the present and the future, it would not be bad. “
” I got rid of Knysna “
From the outset, as if to better seduce the audience, he made a point of contrition: “I’m happy, it’s a real pleasure to be there, I was on the other side , maybe I understand your issues better, I hope not to repeat my mistakes. The questions flared. More or less biting. Certain subjects could have caused annoyance, acrimony even in the speech, but Raymond Domenech has always kept a front serenity. Without always convincing in his answers.
Knysna ? “It’s been a long time since I got rid of this. I feel like it’s another life. I live in the present and with the desire to do things well, I hammer it but it is reality. What happened before, I won’t change, neither can you. You have to live with the times and with the times, I repeat, it’s a pleasure to be there. I live with the present. I don’t make it a personal matter of image. What do you want me to do? I turned a page a long time ago. “
” Selfishly, I am here above all to make myself pleasure. “
His presence on the bench at 68 years (soon 90 years) then that 2017, he had expressed his disagreement with the appointment of Claudio Ranieri to FCN, then age of 65 years ? “It’s a real misunderstanding”, he first launched after having made irony about his “canonical age”. “I reacted as president of the Unecatef . The text is illegal, you cannot ban someone over 55 years of work. We wanted to revise the text with Joël Muller, but we didn’t. I did not oppose the arrival of Claudio Ranieri. We never prevented that from happening. “
And what tells you that you are going to succeed where others have failed here in Nantes with a president, a big” consumer »Coaches? “Nothing, but selfishly I am here above all to please myself … I do not tell myself I am the 16 e [entraîneur sous Waldemar Kita] and there will be a 18 e, that’s how it’s the life of a coach. “On the big tensions around the club, Domenech has always sought to minimize, or rather to play down:” In all clubs, there are problems. All over. Even those who are in front of them have concerns. If everything was rosy, you would have nothing more to write. »Last assertion made with a big smile, obviously.
“I am a calm coach, comfortable in his skin, who wants to achieve something”, insisted the one who does not see himself as “a firefighter on duty” despite a short six-month contract and a difficult situation. emergency at the sports level (Nantes is e of L1 with three points ahead of the red zone). As a good communicator, Domenech , who has not coached in a club for twenty-seven years, has been able to get around some pitfalls by using humor. “What will I tell the players if they tell me about Knysna?” My book is available at Flammarion, at 19, 90 euros. It’s a good idea that you give me, I will offer them yours… ”
Or even when we asked him what it was like ” train in Jonelière with circus music in the background (Wednesday morning, 20201231 supporters disturbed the resumption of training with a circus soundtrack), he blurted out: “I” I have known Brazilian or African teams who put on music to train… ”“ Emotion ”sequence a few minutes later:“ My children were happy [de me voir signer à Nantes]. They were because they saw how much it pleased me. “