Did Saint-Etienne deliberately delete Stéphane Ruffier, the ASSSE goalkeeper, from the official poster for the next semi-final of the Coupe de France, on March 5 against Rennes?
A few days ago, the club had published the poster on social networks. In the center of the image representing the main players of Saint-Etienne and Claude Puel, the coach, appeared the face of Stéphane Ruffier. But, surprised, in the streets of the city of Saint-Etienne, the placarded poster reveals the face of the striker Loïs Diony in place of that of Ruffier.
Meanwhile, a big clash pitted Ruffier and his agent against Claude Puel. The latter had decided to let his goalkeeper rest for the match against Reims (1-1). A logical sporting choice because Ruffier, for several weeks, has been alternating between average and mediocre performances. Informed that he was put to rest, he refused to listen to Puel's explanations and slammed the door after thirty seconds.
During the day, his agent Patrick Glanz spread through the media with bellicose and mind-blowing statements explaining that Puel had "spit on a legend". Unnecessarily stoking the embers of a simple sporting decision, Ruffier's agent strained relations between the latter and the technical staff.
Claude Puel would not have asked for anything
It was then that the change of face on the poster was decided. According to our information, there was no question of showing that Ruffier had left the group on his own. The reality is simpler: on the original poster, Ruffier seemed to turn his back on Puel. At the club, some felt that the image could be misinterpreted and preferred to replace Ruffier's face with Diony.
Final clarification: Claude Puel absolutely did not ask for anything. "He has something else to do than take an interest in a poster story", we breathe in at the club…