The departure for Chelsea of coach Liam Rosenior, replaced on the Strasbourg bench by his compatriot Gary O’Neil, was “not planned and not desired”, assured Wednesday the president of the Alsatian football club, Marc Keller.
“It was not planned, desired by anyone, but from the moment it happens, and it is our job, we must adapt, always with the same objective, which is very clear and which I tell everyone: it is to go higher”, justified the leader at a press conference, much criticized by supporters’ associations.
Supporters are particularly targeting multi-ownership, with Racing being owned like Chelsea by the American fund BlueCo. They fear that Strasbourg will become a secondary club compared to its English counterpart.
Arrival in Alsace for two and a half years
“When you are faced, like me, with a coach who has the possibility of going to the Premier League in good clubs, whether it is the Chelsea club or elsewhere, you had to come to the table, because Liam Rosenior also wanted to go to the Premier League. And our responsibility is to transform this into an opportunity to recruit a very good coach and to continue progress,” assured Marc Keller.
The new coach, the Englishman Gary O’Neil, who had not taken charge of a team since his departure from Wolverhampton a year ago, is arriving in Alsace for two and a half years.
“My team will be different, tactically, from what it was until now. The transition will of course not happen instantly. Next week, we have a little time before the first championship match (against Metz on January 18 in Ligue 1) and we can start to develop the players closer to what I would like to see to get the best out of them. »
“Tactically, we are going to be very expressive, very aggressive. We will try to have the ball, to create a lot of chances,” said the former Bournemouth coach.
The president of the club also opened the door to recruitment during the winter transfer window.
“We need to get back into the rhythm because we want to finish in the top six. Regarding the strengthening of our team, it is also clear: if we have to move a little bit to improve the team, the shareholder will be supportive,” he promised, also assuring that Argentine striker Valentin Barco would not leave in January.