4 days before the start of the National season with the reception of Avranches (Friday, 7:30 p.m.), the coach of Niort, Philippe Hinschberger, spoke for We Sport about his ambitions in Deux-Sèvres, the current transfer window but also on his post-career.
We Sport: Philippe, we left you on April 3 on a departure from Amiens SC, can you explain to us the reasons that led you to take up this challenge from the Chamois Niortais for the third time in your career?
Philippe Hinschberger: Already to come back to my departure from Amiens, I felt the need and suggested to my managers to take a step back if they thought it was better that way, knowing that I was at the end of my contract at the month of June so it was not dramatic, neither for me nor for them. President Bernard Joannin chose this solution and the team ended its season with difficulty as we were in a difficult situation when I left (three wins in the last ten games).
Thereupon, I returned home to Île de Ré to take a three-month vacation. I really had this pressing need to get closer to my family, then the proposal from the Chamois Niortais arrived. At first not necessarily very precise, there were discussions with Mikaël Hanouna (general manager) on different things around the club, then he asked me if I could be interested in taking over the team because he wanted to find someone sportingly autonomous in order to leave him the freedom to do something else. One thing leading to another, there was an alignment of the planets between my desire to stay in the West and perhaps this last challenge.
Did you hesitate to take up this challenge with a future for Niort which looked uncertain with its passage in front of the DNCG?
I don’t think I would have plunged back into this championship if a team other than the Chamois had contacted me. The DNCG? Mikaël Hanouna told me that there would be no problem at 99%. This was the case because from what I could understand, all that was missing were the accounting entries which forced us to go through the DNCG a second time. Overall, the club is not in financial danger contrary to what some gossips may think. I wasn’t necessarily worried about that, but we still had to wait for it to be validated.
Even with a disrupted workforce?
For the squad, there were 17 players left under contract when I arrived in Niort. We have recruited six new elements, other players may be leaving as a bit for everyone. I don’t know of any club that has a fixed squad when it resumes, it’s science fiction.
“My only requirement that I made to Mikael Hanouna is to have at the end of the transfer window, a group of 23 players plus young people from the training center”
Recently, Guy-Marcellin Kilama left the club, can you give us an update on the Niort transfer window?
Arriving in Niort, I knew very well that there were 4-5 players likely to leave before the end of the summer transfer window. Despite last season (20th in Ligue 2, worst attack and defense in the championship), there was a lot of contact around Chamois players because they are quality players. We are still looking for a central defender to supervise our young players and compensate for the departures of Guy-Marcelin Kilama (Hatayspor) and Bryan Passi (Hapoël Tel-Aviv), but we are absolutely not in a rush. These were moves that were in the pipes. There are two or three names still, where things are moving quite a bit so we’ll see. My only requirement that I made to Mikaël Hanouna is to have at the end of the transfer window, a group of 23 players plus young people from the training center.
Chamois Niortais FC and @Hatayspor_FK have reached an agreement for the loan with compulsory purchase option of our defender 𝐆𝐮𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚. 🤝
The Club thanks Guy for the past six seasons. We wish him the best in this new challenge.#MerciGuy 💙 pic.twitter.com/OnJ8Fih9RJ
— Chamois Niortais FC (@ChamoisNiortais) August 4, 2023
Apart from Paul Delecroix (34 years old), the age of the other recruits varies between 21 and 23 years old, this lack of experience does not worry you?
For me, that’s not a concern. We also have Quentin Bernard who is in his thirties (34 years old). An experienced central defender will arrive, we already think we have found the boy. And then afterwards, our workforce is still made up of players who already have at least two years of Ligue 2 behind them. I’m thinking of Junior Olaitan who finished last year in Niort, holder in Ligue 2. We don’t really need to have a squad made up of 7 to 8 players over 30 years old to have a certain maturity. You also have to accept when you officiate in a club to stick to the requirements and the functioning of the club.
Are you talking about Junior Olaitan, is it a profile that is likely to stay in Niort this season despite requests?
He is a player who is bound to be courted, but for now, he is there. He trains with a good mindset. What I said to the players likely to leave is that I understand their situation very well, but after for the moment, you are there so you train. We know that it can move on three players, we will estimate on a case-by-case basis if we need to recruit to compensate for these departures. You also have Ligue 1-Ligue 2 players who are not playing and who could why not join us at the end of the summer transfer window.
“My ambition is to position Niort in the first six places now will we get there? This I do not know”
What is the ambition of the Chamois Niortais at the start of this season in National?
Mikaël Hanouna set the primary objective of stopping the fall. A goal that I consider wise because everyone can claim to want to move up to Ligue 2, but in the end only two clubs will succeed. When you go down, it hurts in all the components of the club. When we see the examples of Dijon or Nancy, we say to ourselves that we have to be very, very careful.
In addition, with the extreme great idea of the presidents and the Professional Football League (LFP), we reduced the number of clubs so today everyone is afraid with the six descents in National 2. ‘we want to narrow the elite to 18 clubs, but I just want someone to explain to me the usefulness of applying the same thing to Ligue 2 and the National. My ambition is to position Niort in the first six places now will we get there? This I do not know.
Your last experience in National dates back to the 2008-2009 season, how do you see the evolution of this championship?
With the evolution of training conditions and technical staff, inevitably the level increases. In addition, we must not forget that with the 2 descents in addition to Ligue 2, it is 90 players who find themselves on the floor and who must relaunch in the lower divisions. Today, a normally constituted National club, it has very good technical staff and resources. Even if for me, the championship should be financed differently by taking a little more from the clubs from above, that wouldn’t be a lot, but there is no such desire in France. In any case, it is no longer a nag championship as we used to, 10-15 years ago.
You have known accession to Ligue 2 three times, what is the recipe for raising a club?
You need a good goalkeeper and a striker who scores goals (laughs). If you don’t have that, it’s difficult. You also have to be solid defensively and consistent in terms of results. This consistency, it goes through a group dynamic with a workforce that is not too numerous.
“I can’t wait to quit because I love my job”
At the start of the interview, you talked about the possibility of this adventure in Niort being your last challenge, does that change your management?
Yes maybe, I will be 64 years old. At some point, it becomes difficult to find a sideline when today you have the emergence of young coaches like Régis Le Bris but also Franck Haise. Now, when you get involved in an adventure like this and you’re not at 100%, you have to stop quickly because it’s still a job where you have a little happiness but above all a lot of worries. .
Have you set a specific date for ending your career?
I can’t wait to quit because I love my job. I even fear the moment when I will have nothing more to do with my day, even if I know that with the passing years, I realize that at some point, I will have to hang up. I’m still going to go from hyperactivity to a certain form of idleness so I’ll still have to keep busy, knowing that I want to enjoy my family.
What will post-career for Philippe Hinschberger be like?
Having another role in football, anyway, I don’t know how to do anything else (laughs). It may be a bit of TV or even consulting for clubs. If people need my lights, maybe there will be something to do. In any case, I do not see myself ceasing all football activity. My only requirement is no longer to spend all my days in the field, so it will be more of a part-time activity. Frankly, I don’t have anything specific in mind, a month ago, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Life is full of opportunities so we’ll see.
To conclude this interview, do you have a regret in your career, the fact of not having played or coached abroad for example?
So as a player no, I was more of a Messin at FC Metz. It was my city, my friends and we must not forget that I arrived in football a bit by chance. I had two qualities in football that allowed me to play in D1, I was quick and skilful in front of goal. The only regret I have at the limit as a technician is not having had my chance earlier in the elite because when you are a coach, you want to evolve at the highest level.
I don’t think I was any dumber than anyone else, but we live in boxes. Me, I am stamped coach of Ligue 2 with the greatest number of matches in this division. I was still able to show that when I was given a superior club in Ligue 2, I was capable, as was the case with FC Metz, of bringing the club back to the top flight and maintaining it. It was even the first time in 13 years that the club remained in L1. Afterwards, maybe I didn’t do the things I needed to be at the highest level.
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