Scores Rennes en direct
14 March 2011 | à 21h04

Philippe Redon : “For Laurent Pokou, football was a celebration”

Arrived in Rennes in December 1973, Laurent Pokou has truly left his mark in the club’s history. Before the tribute that will be paid to the former Ivorian striker in May, we offer you stories from several former players and a former club president who knew him well.

Philippe Redon : “For Laurent Pokou, football was a celebration”

From May 16th to 22nd this year, a series of tribute will be paid to a player who marked Stade Rennes’ history. Laurent Pokou, with an Ivorian delegation, will come to Rennes for a week of celebrations. Many celebrities are expected.

On this occasion, we propose you a look back at the Ivorian player’s adventures in Rennes, between 1973 and 1978. A journalist, a former president of the club and former team-mates offer express their views on the common history of the player and the Stade Rennais.

What where the circumstances around the arrival of Laurent Pokou at Stade Rennes?
To answer this question, Alain Prioul, a journalist and co-writer of the book “Laurent Pokou, a destiny of football”, gives his insight.

«M. Lemoux had contacted him (Ed.: Bernard Lemoux was the Stade Rennes president from 1973 to 1977, when M. Houget took over at the club), and with the help of M. Houphouët-Boigny (Ed.: Ivory Coast president at the time), François Pinault managed to get Pokou out of his country, even though he had already been approached by Saint-Etienne and Lens (When those two clubs had tried to bring Laurent Pokou, the Ivorian president had refused). Mr. Pinault was certainly more astute, he found the arguments to bring him to Rennes.
Six or seven other clubs had contacted Laurent Pokou (Nantes, Marseille Paris SG, Paris FC, Metz, Troyes). The player had had a dozen of interviews in the month before his arrival in Rennes. He really wanted his contract and his conditions of arrival to be clear. Salif Keita’s situation had marked the era. There were also leftovers of colonialism in the Ivorian press at the time.
For years, president Houphouët-Boigny and the Ivorian minister of armed forces refused to let him leave the country. They even prevented him to take a plane manu military.
With the help of the associations of the Bretons in Ivory Coast, M. Pinault unlocked the situation quite quickly with the president of Laurent Pokou’s club. Indeed, he went to talk to ASEC Abidjan when the other clubs were directly contacting the player. The Ivorian president eventually agreed to let him go. That’s how he arrived in Rennes.

Alfred Houget : “In Rennes, everyone cherished him”

Alfred Houget became president of the Stade Rennais in 1977. He is known for saving the club of its financial difficulties. He was in position when Laurent Pokou left Rennes, and it was him who brought him back the following season.

«When I was elected president in 1977, Pokou was in the squad, at the end of his contract. Nancy had contacted him, and he signed for them. When I took over at Stade Rennes, the net loss was the size of the club’s yearly budget. Laurent Pokou had the biggest salary at the club (15000 francs per month). I couldn’t afford to keep him. So he left.
He played a few matches there. He got injured, then he didn’t play anymore. I wrote him a letter, with the authorisation of Nancy’s president (August 1978). It was better for him to return in a club where everyone cherished him. I proposed him the same salary, we were in a slightly better financial situation.
So he returned to Rennes, and then it happened: Saint-Pol-de-Léon. It was a cup tie, it was raining, the pitch was dreadful. Pokou got angry and he kicked the referee after a refereeing mistake. He wanted to avenge himself. He received a two years ban, reduced to six months after my intervention. But his career was closing to an end, so he returned to Abidjan.

I visited Ivory Coast thanks to Laurent Pokou. I could see how much he was loved over there. When we stopped in little villages to refuel the car, in five minutes, there were thirty kids around him. This shows the aura that young man had. I’ve met his parents, his grandmother. He is an outstanding person.»

Alain Cosnard : “Laurent Pokou was an artist more than a great player”

Alain Cosnard, former Stade Rennes player and a 1971 Coupe de France winner, saw Laurent Pokou arrive in December 1973. He played alongside him during one and a half season. He is one of the two players who spent the most games playing with Pokou (37 in the league, 3 in the cup).
«Laurent Pokou was an artist more than a great player. He was phenomenal with the ball but sometimes he had absences. Absences he had sometimes provoked himself. On a physical level, but also with his opponents. He had a tendency to tease them a little (not to say a lot). I’ve seen him run-up with the ball while putting his hand on his forehead just has a peak-cap to wait for the defenders, or turn round in one direction, then the other.
And generally, during the return legs, he was awaited and you didn’t see much of him.
This being said, When he decided to play, when he was well in his head, he became a phenomenon. He was able to turn a match over by himself. This is actually what happened during his first game against Troyes, when he had won us the game by realising a festival.
At this time, we thought : « Ouch, he will get us moving”. It is true that he brought us a lot on that aspect, and with the supporters too, as he was a player who knew what to do and when to do it. He was a show-man. The fans loved Laurent, they loved what he was able to do.

Pierrick Hiard : “One of the greatest strikers in the world, but with huge deficiencies”

Pierrick Hiard, born in Rennes, has turned professional at the Stade Rennais in 1973. He played for Rennes during four seasons before switching to SC Bastia (in 1977). He has also been France national team’s goalkeeper.

«I started playing in 1973. So I’ve played three or four years with him. When Laurent arrived, we were in a difficult situation, we needed to do something.
François Pinault made his arrival possible. At this time, we didn’t know Africa as we do today. We only knew Salif Keita.
When we were told Laurent Pokou was going to arrive to reinforce the squad, there were no images, no TV like today, newspapers, etc… We were told « You will see, he’s an artist, he will make the difference ». And it’s true, when he arrived…
The first game I can think of is a Rennes-Marseille. On that day, he took the ball and ran through the field on his own: he arrived in front of Marius Trésor, passed him with a backheel flicked volley on one side while running on the other, arrived in front of Camus and produced a little chip. Everyone at the Stade de la Route de Lorient was up and applauding. This was the first time I saw anything like that.
With the ball, he could make the difference at any time.
I remember a game in Brest. We won 6-0, he scored 4 or 5 goals
(ed.: in fact, he scored only one of the six goals, October 31st, 1975). The derbies between Rennes and Brest were quite passionate, and on that day, I saw everyone get on their legs in Brest’s stadium. Pokou came out to a standing ovation. It happened in Nantes too.
At training, however, he had huge technical deficiencies. He wasn’t a hard-worker. You could have thought he was at ease technically, but it wasn’t the case. He scuffed his shots, he wasn’t training well at all.
But during the games, he could take the ball thirty metres from the goal, eliminate the defenders and score.
He had a great period in Rennes. After that, he struggled with injuries. I remember the day he got injured in Châteauroux, in D2. It was still 0-0, we hit the posts, the bar: we just couldn’t score. At the last minute, Laurent was running through to the goal and the keeper produced a vicious tackle. He broke his knee. At the time, the medicine was nothing like today. He never came back to his best level. But over the two or three years he played in Rennes, I believe he was one of the best five strikers in the world.
»

Bertrand Marchand : “I’ve never seen another player like him in my career”

Bertrand Marchand, a former player trained at Stade Rennes, played alongside Laurent Pokou during the whole of his two spells in Rennes (1973-1977 and 1978-1979), before leaving the Breton capital in 1980.

«I had the luck to see him play. When he arrived, at was an intern, then I played with him.

It wasn’t during training that he was mesmerising. When he arrived to training, it was in an old car, with two or three bodyguards and often late.
I’ve remained friends with him since those times. In forty years, I’ve never seen a player with such talent. To me, this player just can’t be labelled.
I had the luck to know and coach Didier Drogba, a player with an immense talent and an impressive athletic level. Didier is a lion, an elephant. Laurent was more of a panther, a skilled player with individual strength. At training, playing with one or two touches wasn’t his thing, he didn’t like it. But on the pitch, he knew how to come in and challenge his opponent with the ball. He was a tiger, a panther. He came on the pitch to beat his opponent. He was excellent on the one-to-ones, which is where he allowed his team to make a difference. His ability to eliminate was simply outstanding. A bit like Messi or Ronaldo nowadays, exceptional players who know exactly how to outplay their direct opponent. Since the times of Laurent Pokou, I had never seen a player do it so easily. That’s why Pelé said in those times, after a charity game in which they played together, that he was his African brother. I know Africa very well, I’ve been in nearly all countries. I’ve always thought, going to Togo, Gabon, Ivory Coast, etc… that I would find another Laurent Pokou. I’ve never seen one. I’ve seen many more great players, but I have never seen anyone else with such talent. Before him, there was Pelé.
It doesn’t mean he was the best in the world, Laurent didn’t have an exceptional sportive dimension, but he had a natural talent as I don’t think he ever trained much. As many Africans, he mainly trained in the streets in Ivory Coast. But he always had this talent in him.
For many years, he was protected by Ivory Coast. To Houphouët-Boigny, he was a golden guarantee. He allowed Houphouët-Boigny to comfort his popularity through a great football players loved by the people.
People really worshiped him. We went on tour there, and at 2:00 am, there were 5,000 persons waiting for him and throwing themselves at Laurent’s feet. He was a true show-man, during the games and outside. There was a red carpet and people came to kiss his feet. Among allthe players I’ve known, no one ever had such popularity. It was emotional and passionate at the same time. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the career he deserved has he left Ivory Coast a bit late (aged 26). He was a very likeable person, but also a fiery character. He got himself in trouble on and off the pitch. He got injured because he was teasing his opponents too much.
I remember a match against Sedan : he dribbled five players from midfield, arrived and stopped on the goal-line. He turned back and looked at the Sedan defence. He went up on the ball and said “Come and get me”. All Sedan players immediately ran towards the goal. He scored with a back-heel and started running away. All Sedan players kept on running after him.
This was Laurent. It was his way of provoking, it was also – I believe – where he found his motivation. He was perfectly normal during training, he became abnormal and sublime during the matches.
It only is a shame, that has barely won any titles.
Laurent is an unclassified player. The only player I could possibly relate to him is El-Hadji Diouf. He had this talent, this craziness and this quality. He was, in some way, Laurent’s little brother.

«M. Pinault insisted for the arrival of this player since the club was struggling in the league and mainly surviving from its ticket sales. Since people weren’t coming to the stadium that much anymore, we had to find something special to bring the crowds back.

Philippe Redon : “For Laurent Pokou, football was a celebration !”

At the very beginning of his career, Philippe Redon spent a season and a half in Rennes with Laurent Pokou, before being transferred to Red Star. He remembers the player and bounces back on the previous testimonials mentioning the Ivorian’s deficiencies at training and in his behaviour. He speaks with experience, having himself been the national coach of four African nations.

«To talk about Laurent, you have to look beyond the context of football. He was an African who played football. What did it mean at the time, an African who plays football? Very simple: football was a celebration.
Each brings whatever he can bring. Laurent had skills, he brought his skills.
But when one says celebration, it doesn’t mean celebration every day. You can’t party on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… We get ready, for the game.
As for the africans, they were getting ready by staying in the village, with their mates. They prepared it their way. They would turn up for the match but you had to let them prepare in the way they wanted.
If we push them to train every day of the week, on match day, they are not bothered anymore. It isn’t a celebration anymore, as they have been partying with the ball every day of the week.
When this happens, talent can erode as the pleasure disappears, the desire to play football, since they have played with the ball every day.
I noticed that when I was in Cameroon, in particular. At the time, this was what the fun of playing football was all about. And they can’t repeat it every day.
»

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