Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin
modified to
9:37 p.m., January 12, 2023
Who can stop Le Havre this year in Ligue 2? Undisputed and indisputable leader of the second football division, the people of Le Havre never stop surprising and disgusting their opponents. Exceptional guest of the Décideurs du Sport in the program Europe 1 Sports(every evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), club president Jean-Michel Roussier reflected on this excellent start to the season.
Arrived in June 2022, the former president of Olympique de Marseille took over the club accompanied by a close guard who does not leave him: “We agreed with Vincent Volpé (former president of Le Havre) to that I succeed him on June 23. Accompanied me in particular Mathieu Bodmer and people with whom I worked on television at Téléfoot. We had been thinking about it for a while if an opportunity presented itself. It is an extremely solid team, people who work a lot,” said the latter at the microphone of Jacques Vendroux.
Record since 1958
And Jean-Michel Roussier’s bet seems to pay off at least for the moment. Le Havre is in first place in the Ligue 2 standings with a seven-point lead over its runner-up from the Girondins de Bordeaux. Luka Elsner’s players even remain on a series of 16 matches without defeat, eleven wins and five draws in Ligue 2, unheard of since 1958.
But Jean-Michel Roussier still prefers to keep a cool head. “We are aware of it, we are delighted. The objective is to stay with our feet on the ground because there are twenty matches left and twenty matches is 60 points. We have taken 39”, in other words, there are still way to go for the HAC according to its president, before continuing: “It is objectively unexpected the classification that is ours on the eve of this 19th day and the end of the first legs. I am not saying that it was unexpected but it was unexpected.”
Passion for Le Havre
Considered the dean of football in France, the Le Havre club, founded in 1872, means a lot to Jean-Michel Roussier who is fully involved in this project. An investment that is now paying off.
At the microphone of Jacques Vendroux, the former president of AS Nancy explained that he had developed a strategy for monitoring players smoothly carried out to bring the best elements into his team. From the regional level to the highest level, the staff of Le Havre does not miss any potential and develops active and targeted recruitment. A long-term job that is made possible by one thing: the passion of the president. “I love football, seeing the training sessions. It’s a great pleasure to watch them work, it’s a real passion. I’m passionate,” said Jean-Michel Roussier.
After a more difficult period, Le Havre is therefore recovering and in the most beautiful way. Another objective of the president, to find the love of the supporters. “Our goal was to bring people back to the Océane stadium which was a bit deserted which is a very beautiful stadium, not old because it is ten years old. The goal was to bring people back so to make people want to” , concluded Jean-Michel Roussier in Europe 1 Sports.