What feeling predominates after this defeat in Ajaccio, which does not allow you to validate the title of champion this evening?
It’s a big disappointment. We can understand that there can be a form of decompression after validating the climb last week. Despite everything … I had put new blood to reward the replacements who worked all season, giving them maximum playing time and the possibility of offering the title to the club. Unfortunately, we came across a rigorous and very determined team. This is the basis for winning matches. And tonight we missed it at this level.
Do you regret having made as many changes in the starting eleven?
No, it was legitimate. We rented the quality of our bench throughout the season and it is not by changing four or five players that we have to lose in quality. It was the determination that missed. This does not call into question the state of mind that lived in the team throughout the season. But, despite everything, players must realize for the future that there is no easy match and values to which you should never derogate to win.
So the idea was not to keep the perspective of the title of champion for the last day at home?
Not at all: on the contrary, I wanted to leave for Ajaccio with quiet mind and the title already in my pocket, to be able to celebrate it next week without pressure with our audience. But Martigues will play its place in the dam and we will have to fight until the end, when we had the opportunity to finish champion this evening.
From a more personal point of view, how did you experience this return to your old club?
It is a great pleasure to come back here, especially since we achieved our main objective (accession) last week. Reviewing the family and all these loved ones is a lot of good. But it is never easy to meet on the visitor sidelines, facing friends with whom we have experienced huge things in the past. Especially when the result is not up to the expectations and the quality of play that we have developed with Lorient this season.
