Yes a lot
“In the case of Stéphane Ruffier, I have the impression that AS Saint-Etienne is trying to kill his dog on the pretext that he has rabies. I always have a hard time when an institution, however respectable it is, goes after a man. The balance of power is too unbalanced for the popular trial not to be already oriented. As much as I can understand the resentment of the club and Claude Puel towards the Bayonnais agent Patrick Glanz, whose media release was deeply stupid and ignited the powder. As much as I find that the Greens really lack class by seeking by all means to soil the image of a goalkeeper who still weighs 383 matches with the Saint Etienne jersey on his shoulders.
Today, we are trying to pass Stéphane Ruffier for an unruly hothead, which damages the image of the club and deserves what happens to him. An image that we sell of him, facilitated by the fact that he never expresses himself, by mistrust of the media. Since his arrival in 2011 in Forez, I am one of the privileged few to have been able to do two individual interviews with the Basque goalkeeper. More than 95% of local journalists follow the club on a daily basis.
In four hours of discussions, on football and not only, I had in front of me a man far from the gruff clichés he sometimes sends back. I do not claim to be the “es-Ruffier” decryption specialist but my feeling was to have to deal with someone upright, whole, with strong principles, a little scratched alive but certainly not unruly or unmanageable. A more complex personality than the cliché of the “brainless paramilitary” carried by the comedian Julien Cazarre and which many believe to be a reality. I would also remind you that before Claude Puel, none of his coaches ever complained about him (even if he also sometimes worked in autarky with his personal coach and friend Fabrice Grange).
Yes, Stéphane Ruffier is undoubtedly stubborn. Stubborn to have refused all starting opportunities. Stubborn to want to honor to the end a contract that he and the club have signed knowingly. Stubborn for not publicly apologizing on behalf of his agent (or firing him after this incident). But I have the feeling that the Saint-Etienne management is looking for the slightest “microphone” to throw it out at a lower cost by trampling its image. The process is simply lousy but that’s only my opinion … “
Alexandre CORBOZ
It does not surprise me
“Honestly, this ‘disfavour’ treatment doesn’t surprise me more than that. After the statements of Patrick Glanz last February, we had to expect a backlash. And this one is violent, it’s true. But so were Glanz’s statements. To see an agent criticize a coach, a club in this way, cry scandal where there was none because Ruffier was no longer stopping at that time … I found that lamentable, scandalous.
I remember having this agent on the phone a few years ago. He called me because I had written something he had displeased, stealing me in the rain with a noticeable disrespect. His media flights against Claude Puel therefore did not surprise me. Ruffier pays them cash. Given his record, seeing the club treating him like this can be shocking. We have felt for a long time that the slightest deviation will not be forgiven him, that it will be used to push him towards the exit, him and his big salary, him and his damn character, he who will never have apologized to Puel. This “ford-war” is pathetic, obviously. It doesn’t benefit anyone. It’s a sad, regrettable ending, really not classy. But this scenario, the leaders did not write it alone. When Ruffier came to the offices last winter to say: “No problem, give me my check and I’m going”, the ideal would have been to take him at his words. This would have avoided this soap opera from which no one will grow up. “
Laurent HESS
???? BUTASSE ALERT! ????
???? UNQUALIFIABLE! Focus on the pathetic end of Ruffier’s adventure with ASSE.
Find your Sainté Goal at a newsstand or in our online store here ➡️ https://t.co/DvJwVnmOsm pic.twitter.com/94XdcYwCEV– Goal! Saint-Etienne (@ButASSE) December 15, 2020
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