Until then, he had the nickname of “white wizard”, like most of these European coaches who have successfully taken up sporting challenges on the African continent. Sébastien Desabre had spent ten years there, between Côte d’Ivoire and Morocco, via Angola, Cameroon or even Uganda, whose selection he had taken care of, taken until the knockout stages of CAN 2019 (0-1 against Senegal). But the 44-year-old technician returned to France last summer to live his first experience in the pro hexagonal world. At the head of Niort, he had a season full of twists and turns, and a happy outcome with a success snatched in the maintenance barrage against Villefranche (1-3, 2-0). He retraces his last months and looks optimistically on the future.
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“What conclusions do you draw from your first season in a French pro club after ten years on the African continent?
I intended to take a team that played maintenance, where I was going to have difficulties to overcome. It was a choice on my part since for all these years, I have had some of the best teams in the countries where I have coached, scenarios where we had to play the title or the African Champions League or CAN. There, I tried to put myself in difficulty. We lived the season as we thought we would live it.
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That is to say ?
It was going to be difficult. The group arrived at the end of the cycle, with a dozen players at the end of the contract. It is not easy to manage. And then, as for the other clubs, the season was not easy: there were no supporters, the players who were not playing could not do it with the reserve. (whose Championship, amateur, had been stopped). We also experienced a change of owners. We only played 37 matches, there was one that was considered a lost match due to the Covid. For a team like ours, every meeting is important. With a success, we could have finished 14th. It changes a lot of things. But whatever. We overcame the difficulties.
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Niort had started his season well and seemed to be able to stand above the race for maintenance for a long time. Did you expect to experience such a complicated end of the year, with eight unsuccessful matches from Matchday 31 to 38?
For the past ten years, the 41-point L2 teams have been saved. This year, things have tightened, there were teams in the cart, like Caen and Guingamp, able to come back. It was sure that these clubs would react at some point. There were also some hazards: our guardian (Saturnin Allagbé) has been sold (has Dijon) once the season started, his successor, Mathieu Michel, got his cruciate (ligaments) (in March). We played without our best player, Ibrahim Sissoko, who had a knee injury. We overcame it all together.
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“Today, we are facing a generation that must be managed […] I am rigorous in the speech I give to the players ”
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Communication with players is one of the characteristics that comes up the most when people around you describe you. Is this something that you work on a lot?
You know, today, we are facing a generation that must be managed. It’s not like it was a few years ago. I am rigorous in the speech I give to the players. It is this aspect that we must perfect the most in Niort, that everyone professionalizes in life, in personal projects. There are twenty-year-old players who have a professional contract but, in the process, you have to know how to be totally pro. These are exchanges with the players but also a lot of advice. Overall, these young people want. Some are here because they haven’t been able to break through elsewhere, others are from the amateur world. There is a real context for them to appreciate. It goes through communication, positive or negative.
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Did you use it a lot when tackling the return jump-off against Villefranche?
No, we prepared it by imparting confidence. The players could be inhibited by the stake but they are good ball players. We put in a few more technical players, but the real idea was to be able to play. We didn’t do it in the first play-off (1-3). Yet we had done it this season. In the Top 5, only Troyes beat us twice.
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“Next year, I expect it to be less complicated”
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How do you see your first professional experience in France?
It has been very enriching. It had nothing to do with what I had been through. (Last summer) I had the opportunity to take over a selection or a club that was to play the last four of the African Champions League. So it was a real choice. I wanted to feel the level, professional football (in France). What motivated me was also to take charge of a very young team, the youngest in the Championship, 23 years old on average. Most players were new to L2. This experience will have served everyone, players, staff, at the club. Next year, we will already have more benchmarks. I expect it to be less complicated.
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Why did you wait so long to test yourself in France?
When I left ten years ago (in 2010), my goal was to get to know several countries. I signed very short contracts to gain experience in sub-Saharan Africa or the Maghreb. And my finality was to be able to live a CAN with a national selection. It was something extraordinary, and when I lived it, I already had more than 250 matches behind me in Africa. So it was time for me to come back. “
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