The new shareholders of ASNL and KV Ostende, of which you are the representative, are about to buy another club in Denmark. Do you confirm it?
Yes, it’s not official yet but everything is settled. Danish club Esbjerg will join us at AS Nancy Lorraine and KV Ostende. It will be with the same shareholders. A general assembly in Esbjerg is scheduled for February 24. It will be a simple formality. We are happy. We wanted to also have a club in Scandinavia.
Why Denmark?
Denmark, like Belgium, is a perfect league for the development of young players. Our group had targeted these two countries after France which was the number one choice. With the new regulations for transfers with Brexit , it will be very difficult for a Danish club to sell a player in England. It’s all in the interest of being able to get players through Ostend or Nancy. We are going to set up a synergy that will benefit the three clubs.
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And why Esbjerg, more precisely?
It is a historic Danish football club. Esbjerg has already been Danish champion, it is also a club with a real stadium, well on its way this season to return to the first division.
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You already run Ostend and Nancy , you are not going to also become president of Esbjerg?
No. The distance means that I won’t be as operational than at Ostend and at ASNL but I will have a role, that’s for sure. It is even important for the bridges to work as well as possible between the three clubs.
“Above all, do not believe that the hardest part is made for the maintenance”
The KV Ostende occupies the 4e Belgian D1 place and ASNL remains out of nine unbeaten matches in L2 , including eight since your arrival. What is your magic recipe?
The current situations in Ostend and Nancy are very different. We took over Ostend in the offseason, we made a lot of changes and we were able to implement our playing philosophy. At ASNL, we only took one player in the winter transfer window, Aurélien Scheidler , which nevertheless brings us a lot. Our priority to start at Nancy was to restore confidence to a group that has little to envy a lot of top-of-the-table L2. The victory in Valenciennes at the beginning of January was a turning point, with a scenario that showed all our strength of character. We had analyzed that the team was not in its place at the truce, it must be even more so with the return of injury from Bass and Merghem. Now, it is forbidden to relax, we must above all believe that the hardest part is done for the maintenance. There are still a lot of points to take and it would be great to count three more on Saturday after the match against Grenoble at Picot.
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The revolution in Nancy, it is therefore scheduled for this summer?
Yes, there will be a lot of changes with all contract ends. We will find the men with the right profile for our playing philosophy. We want an offensive team, with a lot of pressing. For us, everything starts with the game without the ball. The idea is to be as rational as possible, it limits casting errors.
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