Hospitalized since last Tuesday in Saint-Etienne, Robert Herbin died this Monday at the age of 81, after cardiac and pulmonary complications unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic. His death was announced by journalist Jacques Vendroux, close to the family, and Jean-Michel Larqué, his former player. Emblematic coach of the Greens who reached the final of the European cup of champion clubs in 1976, this Parisian raised in Nice had already made Saint-Etienne happy as a player.
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Not yet nicknamed “the Sphinx” because of his legendary phlegm, he was then “the Redhead” and played 509 matches with ASSE, still as a titular player. Very complete and renowned for his ease in the air, he started as a defender before going up in the middle of the field, and sometimes played attacking with the French team whose jersey he wore 23 times. The 1966 World Cup marked a break with a serious injury in England, and he finished his career at just 33 years of age, to immediately embark on a life of coaching that would take him even higher.
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On the bench during the C1 final in 1976
He took over from Albert Batteux on the bench of the Greens in 1972, while the French clubs failed to shine in Europe. Highly demanding on the physical level, also rigorous tactically, Herbin revolutionizes the approach to training and his innovative methods will carry ASSE to the famous Glasgow final, lost to Bayern Munich in 1976 (0-1) .
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After this summit, he will still be champion of France in 1981 before being dismissed in January 1983, eight months after the resignation of President Roger Rocher. He then left for the rival Lyonnais but would not find anywhere else the place he held in Saint-Etienne, where he won six championship titles as a player and four as a coach. He returned there from 1987 to 1990, without experiencing as much success, and had continued to live there following the matches of his club forever, which he chronicled for the regional daily Progress.
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