If earlier’s article covering Jérome Rothen’s comments hadn’t convinced you that Will Still had annoyed a lot of people in France with his recent interview in England, then the comments from the various people on L’Equipe de Choc on Wednesday night might do the trick.
Already linked with Sunderland back in December and ruffling a few feathers by trying to deny a meeting had taken place, the Stade de Reims manager is now back in everyone’s bad books.
Openly claiming that he would be willing to take over a good Championship side, the 31-year-old will have immediately put a move to the Black Cats on alert following the sacking of Micheal Beale three days ago.
Sunderland have decided to give Mike Dodds the interim job until the end of the season, at which point they will likely assess their options and try to get a new manager in.
Whether that man is Will Still remains to be seen, but there will likely be a long list of suitors for the young manager, who is now facing a lot of criticism in France, with two pundits on L’Equipe de Choc giving their two cents on the matter.
Bertrand Latour started: “I find this a rare example of selfishness on his part, something you really shouldn’t do when you’re a manager like him. If there were just a few games to go, but we’re not even at the end of February to say stuff like this, knowing you’re already in a dynamic that’s a bit difficult.
“I also think he forgets a bit. He accuses those above him to have sold in January and buying young players, that’s Reims’ project. When you’re as young as him, with a background that doesn’t come from being a great footballer, and having the chance at a young age of managing a Ligue 1 team with means, it’s not reasonable to say these things. I think there’s an ingratitude that does him no credit whatsoever.”
Pierre Bouby then added his view: “There’s no problem if he wants to leave, but just go see the president, signs a paper, says I want to leave and I want to go home and resigns. What happened with Sunderland already will have caused problems in the dressing room and since, things have been a lot more complicated.
“Seeing the trust that had been placed in Will Still when he took over the team, when the club paid every game a fine, I think the other side of the coin must be hard to swallow for president Caillot. And for the players, if they already know he’s going to leave, honestly, if he has any respect for the club, go drop off your resignation letter, you leave and finish the season how you want.”
Bertrand Latour added that this outing from Still was certainly going to annoy those in charge at his club, although it does seem that the manager doesn’t really care at this point, more focused on himself than his team.
He also warned the 31-year-old that Reims are very capable of making life hard for him to leave in the summer, expecting the Ligue 1 side to ask for compensation from any team that may want him, since he’s still under contract until 2025.
Therefore, Sunderland have been warned they will need to likely spend money to get Still if he is the man they want to take the Black Cats to the next level.
