Le Lay : “The social dimension of a football club is to offer a pleasant show”
Patrick Le Lay was the guest of TV show « La Voix est Libre » on France 3 Ouest this Saturday. A chance for the Stade Rennais president to talk about his arrival in Rennes, his role at the club and the “Rouge et Noir” ’ambitions. Verbatim
His arrival in Rennes
«I have a better knowledge of the football environment than I have of the game itself. Why? Because for 20 years, I’ve been dealing with deciders at the FIFA, the UEFA, TV rights sellers, but also the French Football Federation and the Football League, as TF1 was a big buyer of football games.”
«Former president Frédéric de Saint-Sernin had a health problem, he said him himself, and he could not go on with all the stress. So I accepted François Pinault’s offer»
His position as a president
«As in TV, each one has got a job to do. There is a coach, who needs to realise a difficult alchemy. If at the end of the game, you are furious against the team and start to take over the coach and have a go at the players, or inversely, to congratulate them (even if this doesn’t usually have the same consequences), you remove the coach’s authority. His authority has got to be protected, that’s the first thing. And then, obviously, there is Pierre Dréossi.»
«Watch a quality display»
«You always have to keep in mind what your social role is. A football club’s social dimension is clearly to offer a pleasant show to spectators coming to the Stadium. They come to see a football spectacle, quality football, and generally hoping for victory (…). This is the aim. A club will have a good image if it ranks well in the standing. If it’s closer to the table bottom, it will get negative comments.”
The Stade Rennais ‘ambitions
« You can invest 200 million in a club, recruit the best players, it won’t make you win. It’s not that easy. A club has to build its history. Even when Marseille loses, it remains the great club.”
Talking about the lack of depth in the attacking sector: « This will be sorted over the weeks to come. There is one rule in football: The team has to play in a homogenous and coherent way. And the coach has to feel this. We had a real star in Gyan. But a bloke like Gyan, who reached celebrity with the World Cup, hasn’t really got the head in Rennes anymore. In his head he is not in Rennes anymore. He doesn’t feel comfortable here, because he would like to be playing for a bigger team."
«The Stade Rennais, four years ago, finsihed fourth in the League. The club had a little run in the European Cup. It had a rather limited wage bill. The wage bill went up progressively, and the final league position went down along with the the wage bill increase. So you see, there is no obvious link there. What we need is a team that wants to play together.”