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Saint-Étienne: "I have no problem living in the shadow of another," says Jacky Bonnevay

2020-01-28T06:55:05.045Z


Assistant to Claude Puel in Saint-Étienne, traveling to Monaco in the 8th finals of the Coupe de France this Tuesday (9 p.m.), Jacky Bonnevay assu


Jacky Bonnevay, 58, a former professional player (OM, OGC Nice, etc.), was a main coach for ten years before devoting himself to the role of assistant to Gernot Rohr, Vahid Halilhodzic and, now Claude Puel to Leicester then on the bench of Saint-Etienne, who is competing in Monaco this Tuesday evening for the 8 th finals of the Coupe de France. For him, a return to the shadows is not a decline, especially in a profession where psychology has replaced authority. He explains it.

You've been an assistant for seven years after being a number one coach for a long time. Do you not experience it as a regression?

JACKY BONNEVAY. Not at all. There are three of us who have known this journey: begin as an assistant before living a long period of number 1 and become number 2 again: Guy Stephan (Editor's note: assistant to Didier Deschamps), Jean-Louis Gasset (long time that of Laurent Blanc) and me. And our strength is to understand the needs of the coach. I feel fulfilled in my work. For that, I had to come across a main coach who agreed to restore his nobility to the role of assistant. I don't feel like I'm a stud bearer. I am one of the players' relays with the rest of the staff. The coach is the one who chooses the 11 holders. Here at ASSE, we have 30 players. This means that around twenty of them will not start and are not necessarily happy with the choice. This is the difficulty of number 1.

Did living the cruelty of a dismissal sometimes motivate your desire to change roles?

It was more like having finished my journey. After Niort in 2008, I promised myself that I would no longer be a main coach. It is not the violence of the dismissal but I was no longer in harmony with myself. Like an end of cycle. And I am happy to have accompanied Gernot Rohr, Vahid Halilhodzic and now Claude Puel. Still, I had even even recent proposals like a Turkish D1 club. I refused. In my head, I am no longer a number 1.

Do you help Claude Puel make his decisions?

If he asks me for my opinion, I give him. Otherwise, I stay in my role and I live it very well. My number 1 experience taught me one thing: systematically asking the opinion of his assistants when we are certain only serves to disturb. So I am here to apply, without states of mind, his choices while exchanging on a daily basis and delivering my feelings.

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Is the notion of loyalty to a coach important?

I want to be with him everywhere. It is written in my contract that if the coach is thanked, I go with him. So everything is clear. I am 58 years old and that suits me very well. I have no problem living in the shadow of another. It's like a couple.

It is said that Claude Puel is one of the best French coaches. Why ?

If we remove Zidane and Deschamps, who is above Claude, seriously? I don't see one who has a better CV. When we were in Leicester, he was the only French coach in the four biggest foreign championships. The only! That answers the question. And then, its strength is to develop the players and the teams. When we left Leicester, I was unhappy because I knew that we had laid the foundations: in the current team, which works super well, seven of the eleven holders were recruited by Claude. Slowly, he put his ideas in place by changing the workforce. In addition, he modified the game. This is also what he is trying to put in place in Saint-Etienne. But it takes time for it to work.

It will also be necessary for ASSE?

Of course. There is still a lot of work to do, especially in developing young people and keeping old people at their best.

As number one, you had a fairly tough management…

I had principles sometimes rough it is true. But, over the past seven years, I have worked in six foreign countries. I see the evolution of the profession. Today, management has had to adapt to new generational codes. Now you have to be kind to your players. You must be tactile, empathetic, attentive and suggest instead of imposing. Look at Deschamps, before he shook his players' hands, now he kisses them. The new generation wants proof of love. So we give them some. When I do video exercises, everything has changed. 15 years ago, it was: look, you have to do this . Today is: here is a video, watch it at your own pace, if you want, and tell me what you think . Intelligence is about adapting. Even at 58, Claude and I are trying to do it. And you know what ? It doesn't work too bad (Smiles) .

Source: leparis

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