Lensois Franck Haise, little-known trainer and acclaimed trainer

At the head of RC Lens since February 2020, the technician seduced by his playing philosophy which allows the Sang et Or to be in the top 5 of Ligue 1

Franck Haise, the coach of RC Lens, has shined the Sang et Or for two seasons in Ligue 1.
This trainer passed through Rennes and Lorient trained young people for a long time before making his entry into the big leagues.

If RC Lens has slowed down for three matches in Ligue 1, its start to the season remains very exciting.

Fifth in Ligue 1, two points off the podium when receiving PSG on Saturday at Bollaert (9 p.m.), the Sang et Or are one of the revelations of the championship after having already finished at the gates of Europe (7th) the last year.

Main architect of this renewal: Franck Haise, a coach at the helm of the club for less than two years.

Arrived on tiptoe in February 2020, this 50-year-old technician with an unknown background is now praised by all observers for his offensive playing philosophy.

Entered into the light, this Normand did not take the big head as explained by his friend Régis Le Bris, director of the FC Lorient training center.

A modest playing career in Ligue 2

“Despite everything that has happened to him recently, on vacation we still see the Franck from 20 years ago.

He did not changed.

He is a jovial boy, very outgoing and with a lot of humor.

He's also a big lodger, which is normal when you've been in a football locker room for so long, ”laughs the one who was also his teammate in Laval at the end of the 90s.

Because before becoming a coach, Haise had a football career.

With 115 matches in Ligue 2 between Rouen, Laval, Beauvais and Angers, the player did not necessarily mark the spirits but already had in the corner of his head the desire to finish on a bench.

By passing the BE at 19 and the common core of trainer at 26, the technician was already thinking about his future profession during his career.

First steps as a coach in Mayenne

And it is in 2003, at the age of 32, that things will accelerate on the side of Mayenne, a club of N3 (ex-CFA2). “After two months during his last season at Angers, he decided to terminate his contract to become a player-coach at the Stade Mayennais. Then, very quickly, he settled permanently on the bench ”, remembers Marc Deniau, player at the time and now… Mayennais stadium coach.

Among amateurs, which he will succeed in maintaining three seasons in a row, Haise begins to apply his principles which will make his reputation.

Offensive play and above all an ability to manage egos.

“He was a very direct person.

He could say things directly to his players whether it was fun or not.

He always told the players the truth.

Besides, he has absolutely not changed as a person.

It's still the same.

He is very close to people, ”continues Deniau who has remained close to his former coach.

A normal guy, humble and passionate about wine

Anyone who has come across Haise on their way will tell you. Beyond the coach, Haise is a normal, humble guy. The kind of guy who went to train kids at soccer school in his spare time when he was still a pro. Or to invite all his players to his home to celebrate an accession. Without forgetting to remake the world at the table for hours by tasting good bottles of wine, his other great passion with football.

Adept at the game of possession, Franck Haise caught the eye of Stade Rennais after his three seasons in Mayenne.

With the Bretons, he will remain six years as a youth educator before taking over the reins of an amateur club: the US Changé (DH) where he landed in 2012. If he only stayed there. one year by narrowly failing in the fight for the rise in N3, he marked the spirits as recognized Jean-Yves Lecoq, the co-president of the club.

"We knew he had the talent to go above"

“All the people who worked with him at the time have fond memories of him.

He was someone who had easy contact and had management qualities.

He knew how to impose his authority, his rules.

He impressed us.

We would have liked to keep him longer but we knew he had the talent to go above.

We were too small for him, ”admits the manager.

To take a new step forward, Franck Haise responds favorably to a call from his friend Régis Le Bris.

Newly appointed director of FC Lorient's training center, Le Bris, who worked with Haise at the Stade Rennais youth team, offers him to take charge of the reserve team.

“I had to be able to have someone independent at the reserve level to make the link with the pro team.

I knew that I could trust him with my eyes closed because he is a great professional capable of helping young people progress.

And I was not wrong, ”rejoices the boss of the Lorient training with hindsight.

Rise and fall in Lorient

And for good reason, in two years with the reserve, Haise won the titles of champion of N3 then N2.

A total success driven by an offensive playing philosophy as told by Jocelyn Laurent, under the orders of the technician

“I never heard him say before a match that we had to play defense (sic).

There was a lot of play with the full side in the lanes and forward projection.

We scored a lot of goals and he was able to sublimate us.

And then, he still captured the attention.

He did not put the players to sleep When someone asks me which coach has marked me in my career, I answer: Franck Haise.

I do not know a player of the team who has not hooked with him, ”says the one who is now a defender at US Vitré (N2).

Assistant to Ripoll then Casoni in Lorient

Obviously, these good results do not leave you indifferent in Morbihan.

Close to Sylvain Ripoll, then coach of the pros, Haise joined the staff of the first team in April 2015. But a little over a year later, things are going badly.

Because of the bad results, Ripoll is unloaded, Haise ensures the interim in Ligue 1 for three matches and the rupture is consumed between the two men when the Normand accepts to become the assistant of Bernard Casoni.

But the new duo will not avoid relegation to the Merlus in May 2017, a period when Haise decides to take a step back and leave Lorient.

“There is a moment when you come to the end of a story.

There have been some very good things but at the same time, the events that have happened mean that we have to move on, ”summarizes Régis Le Bris.

The lensois click

But the trainer did not go round and round in his large wine cellar for long. In September 2017, Eric Sikora, then coach of the reserve, was appointed coach of the pros. To replace him, Sylvain Matrisciano, then director of the Racing training center, immediately thinks of Franck Haise.

“I had met Franck in 2010 at Clairefontaine.

I was a trainer and gave him his coaching diplomas.

The current went very well because I really liked his way of being, his philosophy and his way of working.

When Sikora left for the pros, I thought of Franck to replace him because I needed someone who knows the training well and knows how to make the link between the reserve and the pros.

That's what he had done in Lorient for a few years and that's why I brought him in ", explains the former goalkeeper, now at the head of the USM Algiers training center. .

When fate gets involved

For two years, Haise helped the young Lensois progress where he began to inculcate the playing principles that he now applies with the pros.

At the same time, he completed his training as a trainer and obtained the DEPF, an essential key to training for the pros.

The rest is now history.

On February 25, 2020, Philippe Montanier, then coach of Racing, was sacked.

To replace him until the end of the season, the leaders entrust the team to Franck Haise who will lead only… two matches in Ligue 2. Because confinement blocks the season and RC Lens, then second in the standings, is promoted in the elite.

After having hesitated to replace him due to his lack of experience, Haise was finally confirmed in Ligue 1 where he came to light.

A real revelation to see this trainer shine among the pros.

But no wonder for everyone who witnessed its rise.

“It was sewn with white thread.

He was already on top, ”assures Jean-Yves Lecoq of US Changé.

“I'm not surprised at all.

We knew that it would be propelled to the fore at some point, ”continues Jocelyn Laurent.

For his part, Marc Deniau crosses his fingers for his friend.

“I hope he goes far.

Today, I do not know its limit ”.

That's good, neither Franck Haise.

So much the better for Lens and for all its future courtiers ...

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