- If he has already been called up for “maintenance missions” in Ligue 2, Denis Zanko, 55, will discover Ligue 1 with the TFC on Saturday against Brest.
- The former technical director of the Toulouse training center is the third coach of the last in the championship this season, after Alain Casanova and Antoine Kombouaré.
- This close friend of Pascal Dupraz will attempt a new "ascension".
Quite relaxed, with a few little jokes as a bonus. Denis Zanko spent this Thursday at the Stadium his first media oral in his new TFC coaching suit, the last in Ligue 1. At 55, the former midfielder born and trained in Laval will sit for the first time on a Ligue 1 bench, Saturday against Brest.
“I think I'm someone humble, loose the ex-player in 300 pro games (mainly in the second division). Today, there is no L1 club, or even L2 club, which would have called me. I was technical director of the club's training center. "
💬 Denis #Zanko
"I accepted the position because I believe that the TFC has the potential to stay in @ Ligue1Conforama, to maintain itself!" # TFCSB29
When ejecting Antoine Kombouaré Saturday night after elimination in the Coupe de France at Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Hilaire (National 2), in a tenth straight defeat (1-0), President Olivier Sadran therefore opted for internal promotion. As in 2008 (Alain Casanova), in 2015 (Dominique Arribagé) and in 2018 (Michaël Debève).
"If we talk about my personal case, my trajectory is very unique, admits Zanko, who arrived at the TFC in the summer of 2017 as reserve coach on" cooptation "from Pascal Dupraz, the coach of the time. This does not mean that I lack ambition or that I make complexes but it is also necessary to be lucid. "
Sadran: "It is probably not a gift"
Monday, behind the same desk of the Stadium, Sadran had recognized: "It would be pretentious to be certain that it is the right choice in a difficult situation. This is probably not a gift and I thank Denis for accepting this challenge. But that seemed to us the most effective situation. "
In other words: given the current disaster, with two coaches already wrung out (Casanova and Kombouaré), a failed team and five points behind the roadblocker, Zanko, who already knows the club, can not do worse. "He is in charge of finishing the season, and I hope beyond," says the president.
In his career, the Mayennais has already been called three times to the bedside of a sick club, in Ligue 2: in Valence (1999-2000), in Le Mans (2011-2012) then in Laval (2013-2014). If the Drôme training went down to National, the technician managed to maintain the other two. "I did not take my firefighter outfit, but a priori it does not go too badly," jokes the interested party.
Before lending myself to the exercise of self-portrait: “I am passionate, I love the field, training. If we do this job, it is to live emotions and God knows if we are led to live them. Players expect three things from their coach: respect them, make them progress, and share emotions. "
A keen connoisseur of TFC youth teams, the Labinocle 81 twittos has seen the reserve made in Zanko evolve into National 3.
“For me, it's a default choice, at a lower cost. He is a qualified coach who has shown weaknesses in the detection of potential, as with Todibo, and who at the tactical level does not seem exciting to me. He makes choices and sticks to them even if they are bad. "
Anyway positive? "I am not his biggest fan but he is timely after a catastrophic series and a well established" Club Med ". Putting everyone back to work and putting in place a simple plan shared by everyone seems to me in its ropes. "
Motus on the acting captain
It will undoubtedly be a 4-4-2 in which the rookie Gabrielsen and Diakité will constitute the starting point to try to solidify a defense that is far too urban (39 goals conceded in 19 days). Zanko, flanked by the same staff as Kombouaré, did not want to talk about recruitment this Thursday, or give the name of his captain, in the absence of Gradel, still injured.
If the course from Sunday to Wednesday in Peralada, in Spanish Catalonia, enabled him to apprehend the group, he already knew the Pitchouns passed under his orders (Koné, Ngoumou, Adli, Diakité…). Hence the reasoned optimism shown by this players' agent: “The TFC is counting on its young people to strengthen the team. Who is the best person than Zanko to make young people play? "
A "poorer customer" for the media than his friend Dupraz
For him, no doubt, "he is the man for the job, He has the legitimacy for that. Especially since there are not too many people left since the Machach affair that had marked the club. At the end of October 2017, the young Zinedine Machach had been dismissed by the TFC a month and a half after an argument with the technician.
Today, the environment is evolving in Cosenza (Italian D2), where he is on loan from Naples, while Zanko will therefore attempt a “reassembly”, four years after the successful one by his friend Dupraz. "I am more in control than him, I will be a less good customer for you," smiles the former player of Metro Racing, Tours, Dunkirk and Valence. Before getting more serious. "There are not many people who think it is doable, but we are not enlightened. Concrete elements can make us think that it is possible. "But as long as the Violets do not return to a success in the league which has eluded them since October 19 against Lille (2-1), it will remain highly improbable.
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