Pierre Dreossi, general manager of RC Lens: “I am disappointed not to continue with Will Still”

Pierre Dreossi, RC Lens' general manager, came out Saturday evening after the match to explain the reasons that led his coach, Will Still, to throw in the towel. "I spoke with Will 48 hours ago, no more than that, " he explained. "He told me, 'Listen, Pierre, I can't continue under these conditions. My wife has health problems, I need to be closer.'"

And the northerner's leader continued Still's account of the interview: "I want to go to England to be near her. Maybe I'll find a club, maybe I won't, that's a problem."

"For 48 hours I've been trying to make him understand that for us, for me, for the club, it's important that he stays. I almost succeeded, but I think we can't fight these personal reasons that are important. I'm disappointed, disappointed not to continue with Will, because I think we were on the right path. We had a very strong personal relationship, frankly, of course a working one, but also a friendly one.

We've started building a squad, a coaching staff, a team for next year. That doesn't call everything into question, but in any case, it's true that this (Saturday) evening, I'm very, very happy with the season. But I'm also very, very unhappy about what's happening, because I think he's suffering and we couldn't refuse. And we're practically obliged to accept this decision that he's thought about carefully, carefully, I suppose."

"He's a real person, someone who still has trouble managing all the emotions that football and his private life bring him."

Dreossi admits that "it wasn't an easy situation for everyone to manage. I think it was quite natural to manage it as if he were family, because he is family. We tried to support him in his difficulties. He's young (32 years old) . He's someone who just got married, who has had a lot of problems this year. He's a real person, who still has trouble managing all the emotions that football and his private life bring him. But in any case, he's a very endearing person, whom I like very much."

The manager announced that he would bring his teams together to find a successor. "There's a sports management team that will also work on this. And then, Joseph (Oughourlian) and I will think about how to make the best decisions and the best profiles that the sports management will present to us. They have anticipated a lot. That's what I asked for, anticipation. A lot of work has been validated by the coach, but also by Joseph and me. Will's profile was exactly what Lens needed. Here, it's more a coach who will adapt to RC Lens than RC Lens adapting to him."