Football: "Auxerre is the victim of the power of the rich," says Guy Roux

He finally decided to go to the stadium on Saturday night for the match Auxerre-Lens (1-3) which could allow the team of his life to save itself. But Guy Roux, the emblematic figure of Burgundian football, admits today that he suspected before the match that the AJA would not save itself. For Le Parisien, he nevertheless sounds some alarms for the future.

How did you experience Auxerre's relegation on Saturday night?

Guy Roux. As you know, I have a physiologically fragile heart and complicated emotions are difficult for me to live with. But there, deep down, I knew that Auxerre could not play a great game. Lens is naturally stronger. My only hope was that our friends from Angers would beat Nantes but that didn't happen. But I console myself by telling myself that behind Auxerre, my two teams of heart are Nantes and Lens. At the same time, in this game, I saw incredible things with gross goalkeeper mistakes like I've never seen in over forty years. Alas, there were also some with our goalkeeper. To sum up, I would say that Auxerre had a disastrous defensive game yesterday and Lens were stronger.

"The France of football is faying"

How to qualify this relegation?

I would say that Auxerre is the victim of the power of the rich! How can we accept, for the comfort of the wealthiest, to go from 20 to 18 clubs in L1. And the same in L2. The big ones think only of their mouths and don't give a damn about the little ones. They want to get less tired for their European matches. I think the football France is getting lazy. Fewer games, more League Cup and more extra time in the France Cup. So, I'm going to propose a new reform for the cup: we start with the penalty shootout and then everyone in the shower! That way, we'll get less tired. Frankly, it annoys me to do less and less. If we had stayed at 20 clubs, AJA would be in L1 today.

But does Auxerre deserve to go down?

There were no unfair games that would have cost us points. Let's be honest, we went up late in a play-off against Saint-Étienne, which put us late for recruitment. Then, Auxerre were mediocre in the first leg before recovering. And we had a misleading schedule since we met the big clubs like PSG or Lens only in the last few days. It is a descent to loyalty.

Are you worried about what's next now?

Administratively, the club is running well but sportingly, it will be complicated. I would like the coach, Christophe Pelissier, to stay but we lack a sporting director to manage the recruitment. In my time, I was in charge of it but it is no longer possible today in modern football. Auxerre would need a Leonardo. The one who helped PSG so much to build a great team when Qatar arrived. If there is not an organization set up quickly, then we will still have to be worried about Auxerre. Because the AJA is naked in French football.