The series of five games without a win, including three consecutive defeats, in Ligue 1 and an 11e place in the standings will have been fatal for Reims coach Will Still. The Champagne club announced its ouster on Thursday May 2 in a press release.
“It has been decided that Will Still and his deputy Nicolas Still will step down from their respective functions as of today”, it is written. With only three games remaining at the end of the season, this early separation comes as a surprise as Reims is not threatened by possible relegation.
On the other hand, the Marne club, which has just lost 4-1 against the red lantern, Clermont, should not move from the soft underbelly of the ranking, while it only has difficult matches remaining: a trip to Brest ( 3e), and the Marseille reception (7e) then Rennes (9e).
Will Still seemed set to leave in the coming months anyway. The young 31-year-old Anglo-Belgian coach did not hide his desire to go and coach in England soon. “ It’s just my place. I want to go back home “, he confided to The Athletic in February 2024.
“Obviously the Premier League is every manager’s ultimate dream (…). But if there is a Championship club [deuxième division anglaise] ambitious, who wants to work the right way, be open and honest about things, and really try to push to get somewhere, so I would love to do that”he added, causing tensions with his leaders in Reims.
Meteorological rise
But this break remains brutal for Still, who had until now experienced a meteoric rise within the club. First assistant to Oscar Garcia, Still was propelled onto the interim bench in October 2022 after the departure of the Spaniard, then confirmed in his functions a month later, at only 30 years old and while he was not didn’t even have his professional coaching license, thanks to a series of six games without defeat.
However, this was not the initial plan of the Reims leaders, who wanted to find another technician. French football then discovered this young coach with bold ideas and frank, even shattering, declarations. Will Still is quickly becoming popular at Reims and elsewhere in Ligue 1.
The results follow: his team finishes 12e in 2022, then 11e in 2023 thanks in particular to a series of nineteen games without defeat which pushes the club to extend Still until 2025. But the Stade de Reims does not progress during the 2023-2024 season. Despite a very good start to the year – Reims was 6e and therefore virtually European until the 19e day -, Will Still’s players are unable to beat the higher ranked teams and the results have no longer followed in recent weeks.