“The objective now is to establish itself in the long term, in the first part of the table and to try to tickle the European places.” This is what the president of Stade de Reims Jean-Pierre Caillot declared before the resumption of Ligue 1 this summer, referring to “a new project” for the Champagne club. And to meet these new ambitions, the Reims management has given itself the means. During the last summer transfer window, SR spent no less than 37 million euros to make “the best possible squad” available to coach Will Still.
The Champagne club has never spent so much on the same transfer market. Reims has a young team, based on dynamic and impactful offensive players like Mohamed Daramy (21 years old), Keito Nakamura (23 years old), Oumar Diakité (19 years old), Amine Salama (23 years old), Amir Richardson (21 years old) and Reda Khadra (22 years old). The latter come to surround the captain and the experienced captain Yunis Abdelhamid (36 years old), the metronome of this red and white eleven Teddy Teuma (29 years old), also arrived this summer, and the detonator of this Reims formation, the Japanese Junya Ito (30 years).
Currently 8th in the standings, Reims is off to a very good start to the season. The Champenois lost 6 times in 15 days, almost each time against the big teams (PSG, Monaco, Marseille, Nice, Rennes, etc.), and are tied on points with OM (6th). Between the two teams is the Rémois opponent on Saturday evening: RC Lens. Faced with the Artésiens, play-offs in the Europa League thanks to their victory in C1 on Tuesday against Sevilla (2-1), the Rouge et Blanc will pass a new full-scale test at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium. In the North, Reims will have the opportunity to win against a “big” player in the championship, who is coming back strong after a terrible start to the season, and to overtake the Sang et Or to move into the European places.
Despite its difficulties against the big names in Ligue 1, the SR is never ridiculous and systematically poses problems for these teams. As evidenced by his sham defeat against the Parisian ogre at home on November 11 (0-3). The score seems clear but PSG was clearly saved by an impassable Gigio Donnarumma (5 saves) and a clinical Kylian Mbappé (treble). The Rémois had created a lot of situations and had undermined the defense of the capital club. Last Sunday, Nice came out in the final minutes (2-1) against the eye-catching Rémois. This Saturday (9 p.m.), the Rouge et Blanc will have to be extremely efficient offensively and very solid in the duels to respond to the intensity of Lens and avoid a second defeat in a row.
Lens, “it’s a team that plays in the Champions League, which has won matches there and which is very good, especially at home. We will have to be very, very good, because we know that our statistics against the biggest teams in the championship are not the best. It’s going to be a collective effort, it’s going to be a very good football match I hope. We must rediscover the values of Stade de Reims. We have to be positive, we have to go after the opponent, we have to push them to do things they don’t want to do and we have to put them in difficulty,” declared Reims coach Will Still, who was also heckled by certain rumors. The latter announced this week that the Belgian technician could become the next coach of the English D2 club, Sunderland.
“On Monday, I went to London to see my girlfriend who is English,” explained the 31-year-old man. I spoke to the players about it (Wednesday), I had to explain to them for the very first time that I was in a relationship with someone who lives in London. Double talk ? Not entirely. “I can’t deny the fact that there is interest in me,” admitted Will Still. I confirm it, as there have been this summer and in recent weeks. My agent told me about it because clubs called him and there are several. But for now, I am the coach of Stade de Reims.
And to conclude: “Unless Stade de Reims decides to fire me, I will not leave. If I had wanted to go to England, I would have left much earlier than these stories. The truth is that I am still very happy to be the coach of Stade de Reims. The coach of the Rouge et Blanc has well calmed the rumors in the corridors, which could have disturbed the Champagne team a few hours before a very important match in Lens for the Stade de Reims, which must prove and prove to itself that it is a real candidate for Europe this season.
