It was here that he had belatedly (at 25) started his professional career and it is here that he is extending it now. At the end of last summer, Romain Philippoteaux returned to Dijon, where he had signed his first professional contract, in January 2013, from US Le Pontet (N2), the last stage of a long amateur course. (Apt, Courthézon, Pernes, …) remarkable and finally noticed. In lack of playing time at the Stade Brestois, his previous club, the Vauclusien, loaned to the DFCO, has resumed its marks and fun in the ranks of Burgundy.
“In Brest, I was not trusted too much, recalls the one who only took part in twenty matches with the Breton team between September 2020 and August 2021. I who used to play titular as it had often been the case so far, I had to adapt. Even though it wasn’t easy, there was no point in complaining; it is the law of the high level.“
But after a dotted first season in Brest, Philippoteaux “couldn’t see himself reliving a second exercise like that.“The arrival of a new trainer (crossover Michel Der Zakarian-Olivier Dall’Oglio between Brest and Montpellier) had given him”the hope of a redistribution of the cards“.” However, I quickly saw that it would be the same pattern, must have disillusioned the native of Apt who was nevertheless “left two or three matches“to get a definitive idea of his situation.
Coming into play only once, Romain Philippoteaux had therefore understood, from the end of August: a start was needed to relaunch elsewhere. Several clubs (including Bastia with whom the affair was well advanced) then came forward and it was finally in Dijon that he “fully reconnected with (his) passion. “
“I needed change, develops the person concerned. I could have stayed in comfort: making my little entries into the game and saying that I am a Ligue 1 player. But no, I needed something else: a real role to play in a project.“That of Dijon, in this case.
“I am very happy to be at DFCO, he proclaims with enthusiasm. I know this club perfectly; it was he who started me. Between my departure (in January 2015) and my return, it was really structured with, in particular, an exceptional training center. The president (Olivier Delcourt) is a great person. There are a lot of people that I really like. Just like the city. So it was important to me to come back. Everything is there to make a great project.“
Not at best on his arrival, after an appalling start to the championship (1 point in 6 days), the DFCO, relegated from Ligue 1, recovered from September, even if the first ranks seem too much a priori. distant now. “We will ensure the maintenance and try to finish as high as possible. Our workforce has the potential to accomplish interesting things”, underlines Romain Philippoteaux who notably found former teammates of his period in Nîmes (July 2019-September 2020): Lucas Deaux, Mattéo Ahlinvi and Baptiste Reynet.
Established from the outset, the Aptésien was immediately “reboosted“. “Every player is a competitor; he needs to play“, he supports. A serious injury (rupture of the ligaments of an ankle), contracted in October, however excluded him from the ground for two months. Returning to the competition, mid-December, he nevertheless resumed the throughout his season on his rhythm of September with in particular a goal – his first since his return to the DFCO – in Nancy (0-3), just before the Christmas break.
This Saturday, Romain Philippoteaux will endeavor to maintain this dynamic with the reception of Nîmes. “I am always attentive to the results of the NO, says the old Croco. It’s a pleasure to play against this team and to meet players (Paquiez, Martinez, …) with whom I had a great time. But it is an important match for both teams (Nîmes 12th and Dijon 13th are tied on points, editor’s note); there will be no gifts on the field.“
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