Saint-Étienne (AFP)

Puel, Gasset, Kombouaré: in a surreal atmosphere, the names of technicians circulate in Saint-Etienne to replace the coach Ghislain Printant. Not the most comfortable situation for the Greens on the eve of the reception, on Thursday, of Wolfsburg (18H55) in match of the second day of Europa League.

Appointed only in June, Printant (58) knows that his fate is sealed. Despite the unexpected victory in Nîmes (1-0), Sunday in Ligue 1, his replacement is recorded since the rout in Angers (4-1) the previous weekend.

"This situation is not easy for everyone and I did not prepare for the meeting to save my head, I never made my personal case before the interests of the club, nor did I ever mention my situation in talks, "assured the technician after the match in Nimes.

While Printant prepares for the European return of the Greens at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, the two shareholders, Bernard Caïazzo (65), chairman of the supervisory board, and Roland Romeyer (74), chairman of the executive board, are busy finding a successor to the former ajdoint of Jean-Louis Gasset. Rather than support the team, already in trouble in the Europa League after his initial defeat on the field of La Gantoise (3-2), September 19.

The two leaders were Tuesday in the South of France to discuss with Claude Puel which they made their favorite, even to lose their authority because it will want the full powers sporting.

They found a compromise on his name because Caïazzo was rather militating for a return of Gasset, while Romeyer dreamed already of Puel in the spring.

For now, no agreement has been reached with the latter and it is doubtful that the former coach of Monaco, Lille, Lyon and Nice is on the bench of the Greens Sunday for the sulfurous derby against OL .. which he coached between 2008 and 2011.

- Ruffier hurt and absent -

His stint in England, Southampton and Leicester - two clubs from which he was sacked - raises his financial demands to a level never reached by ASSE for a coach.

Especially as the three million annual euros that should claim Claude Puel, it will add the compensation to be paid to Ghislain Printant an amount equivalent to its remaining two years of contract: 1.9 million euros.

If the Saint Etienne club has never collected such a large budget (109 million), the amateurism that led to the appointment of Printant will therefore cost a little money.

And beyond the name of the future coach, this episode will comfort the Greens in their chronic evil: instability.

Roland Romeyer holds the role of Chairman of the Executive Board and Managing Director since the departure of Frédéric Paquet in July, when he himself went to Florida.

Will it be replaced by a newcomer, as the names of Xavier Thuilot (formerly Lille), Gauthier Ganaye and Nicolas Holveck (ex-Nice) circulate?

Depending on the identity of the new coach, who can arrive with one or more assistants, it will be necessary to see what will be the composition of the technical support in which Romeyer placed some men to him, like the former player Julien Sablé or the preparer Thierry Cotte.

Far from behind the scenes, Ghislain Printant must still continue his mission and build a team to revive the Europa League. Wednesday, it will be without his best asset, goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier, still unavailable for a fracture to a finger.

© 2019 AFP