[gaijin]

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/...channel=France

Looks as if Laurent Fournier has been installed as new PSG coach after been given a 2 year extention to his temporary contract by the PSG staff.

Thoughts?

I personally, think Lolo has done a smashing job, with some pretty poor tools around him.

The past two games higfhlight how far we have come, but show how much needs to be done. We have fought back from 2-0 goals down in the past two matches (Sochaux and Metz) - but of course, it took 4 defenders to score the goals and we leaked 5 in the other end.

Of course, he needs money to rebuild. No matter how well he can get these guys motivated, the current squad is not simply not good enough.

[gaijin]

Sorry for some of the translating. Someitmes, uou find those words that are intranslatebale into English.

Pierre Blayau, pourquoi avoir choisi Laurent Fournier au poste d’entraîneur du PSG ?
Avec Laurent Fournier, nous avons privilégié la compétence. Il a montré qu’il était à sa place. C’est un ancien joueur de haut niveau, il a gagné des titres, et il se rapproche donc d’un Paul Le Guen ou d’un Ricardo. Et puis, il connaît le club. Il a participé à son histoire. Il a l’envie et l’amour du club. Tout cela assemblé, cela doit donner de bons résultats.

Pierre Blayau, why have chosen Laurent Fournier as managaer of PSG?
With Laurent Fournier, we have favoured competence. He has shown that he would be in his place. He's a former player of high quality, he has won titles, and he compares therefore, with Paul Le Guen or Ricardo. And also, he knows the club. He has particpated in its history. He has the desire and love for the club. Together that will give us good results.

Laurent Fournier n’est-il pas un choix par défaut ?
Non, trouver un autre entraîneur aurait été facile. La volonté de l’actionnaire est que le club se donne les moyens d’une plus grande ambition. Nous n’aurions pas buté par exemple sur l’aspect financier.

Laurent Fournier, isn't he a choice by default?
No, finding a another manager, would have been easy. The will of the shareholders gives the club itself the means for a greater ambition. We would not have rebutted, for example on the finanical aspect.

(read = cheap option)

L’arrivée de Paul Le Guen a-t-elle été envisagée ?
Cela ne m’a pas traversé l’esprit. Il n’y a pas besoin de nouvelle rupture au PSG. Il faut privilégier la continuité. Ce qui ne veut pas dire que Paul ne viendra pas dans les 20 ans à venir. C’est long 20 ans (sourire).

The arrival of Paul Le Guen, had that been envisaged at all?
That did not cross my mind. There is no need again to create a new rupture at PSG. It is necessary to favour the continuaty. That is not to say that Paul, will come in 20 years time. It is a long time, 20 years. (smiles)

(Makes sense, no new coach, no unsettling of the squad.)

Quelle est la priorité aujourd’hui ?
Notre priorité, c’est de se remettre au travail et de gagner contre Rennes. C’est un devoir pour le groupe pro. Pour montrer que le PSG de la saison prochaine est déjà en germe. Et puis il faut préparer un bon recrutement.

What is the priority today?
Our priority, is get back to work and to win against against Rennes. Its a duty for the team. To show that PSG, next season, is already rebuilding (growing.)
And also, it is necessary to prepare for a good recruitment [in the summer.]

Jean-Michel Moutier aura-t-il une enveloppe conséquente pour le recrutement ? Si oui, de combien ?
On a des idées. Cela fait partie des délibérations du conseil de surveillance. Si on annonce un gros chiffre, cela va attirer les intermédiaires. Disons que nous n’avons pas beaucoup d’argent, mais que nous voulons attirer de grands joueurs (sourire). On a fixé un budget. J’ai l’intention de faire une grosse et grande équipe. Il faut être humble et mesuré dans l’ambition, mais pour gagner plus de matchs, il faut un recrutement intelligent.

Will Jean-Michel Moutier have any available transfer money for signings? If so, how much?
We have ideas. This is part of the deliberations of the board. If we annouce a large figure, that will attract agents (?). Let's just say that we don't have alot of money, but we want to attract big players (smiles). We have fixed a budget. I have the intention of making a great team. We on has to be humble and measure in ambition, but for winning more matches, it would be neccessary to make a intelligent recruitment.

Où en est-on du recrutement ?
Christophe Landrin a signé. Et nous sommes actuellement en discussion avec un certain nombre de joueurs. Les bruits vont jouer à plein les prochaines semaines.

Who are some of the potential signings?
Christophe Landrin has signed. And we are currently in discussion with a number of players. More shall be made clear in the coming weeks.

Beaucoup de départs sont-ils à envisager du côté des joueurs ?
Il y aura des départs. Le premier critère c’est de connaître la volonté du joueur de rester. Le second critère, c’est l’adhésion au projet de vie de groupe. Il faut que cela soit accepté, que beaucoup de choses soient partagées.

Are they going to be alot of departures, amongst the players?
There will be departures. The first criteria, is to know who will remain. The second criteria, is the project of who will be joining the team. It is neccesary to accept that alot of choices will be divided.

Quel est l’objectif du PSG pour la saison prochaine ?
Gagner des matchs. Le PSG perd trop souvent ou fait trop de nuls. On doit retrouver le goût de la victoire à trois points. On ne va pas dire que nous ne voulons pas gagner, mais c’est la réalité du terrain qui prévaut. Il y a vingt équipes qui prennent le départ du championnat, et je ne vois pas au nom de quoi le PSG s’interdirait le rêve. Il faut gagner des matchs, renouer avec la victoire, redonner de l’enthousiasme au public. Si au terme de la première année, le PSG obtient une 4eme ou une 5eme place, après avoir été 3eme pendant une bonne partie de la saison plus le, on aura bien travaillé.

What is the objective for PSG next season?
Win games. PSG lost too many or have had too many draws. We must find that taste for victory and 3 points. We don't say that we don't want to win, but its the reality on the pitch which is always going to prevail. There are 20 teams which are in the Le Championnat, and I don't see anything stopping PSG in its dream. Of course, we have to win games, reclaim some wins and bring back the enthusiam of the public. If we finish the first year, with PSG in 4th or 5th place, after been 3rd during a good part of the season, we will have worked well.

Jérôme Rothen a demandé à vous voir et veut des garanties sur le futur. Comment trouvez-vous sa démarche ?
Jérôme Rothen est un très grand joueur, et il l’a démontré ces dernières semaines. Il est normal qu’il se demande de quoi l’avenir sera fait. Mais je ne connais aucune entreprise qui puisse donner des garanties. Ceci dit, je peux dire que l’ambition du club va monter d’un cran et on va le voir à l’intersaison. Cela devrait permettre de redonner de l’ambition aux joueurs cadres.

Jerome Rothen has demanded to see you and wants guarentees for the future. How do you find his approach?
Jerome, is a very good player, and he has demonstarted it, these past few weeks. It is normal that he wants to know the future and what will be done. But, I don't know any business that can give full guarentees. That is to say, the ambition of the club has gone up an notch, and one can see this mid-season. This should allow to bring back the ambition of players in the team.

N’êtes vous pas frustré de ne pas jouer l’Intertoto ou l’UEFA ?
Cela dépendait de notre rang final. Si c’est pour faire trois tours d’Intertoto, cela peut être dangereux. Franchement, si nous avions terminé dernier qualifié pour l’Intertoto, on ne l’aurait pas joué.

Are you frustrated not to be playing in the Interoto or UEFA Cup?
That depends on the final ranking. If its for three rounds of the Interoto, that could be dangerous. Frankly, if we had finished last and qualified for the Intertoto, we would not have played in it.

(Hmmmm. Okay then...)

Again.....my translation is not perfect. Sorry about that.

[Pierre-Henri]

Originally Posted by ganu

Again.....my translation is not perfect. Sorry about that.

Merci Nelson !

(sorry, you have to be french if you want to understand the joke)

[SportBoy333]

Bah. There's a lot of big names available but they went for the cheap in house guy.

[HalfManHalfAmazing]

Does that surprise you? PSG has been cheap forever. They refuse to spend money, despite being in one of the 10 biggest cities in the entire world.

[SportBoy333]

I'm not making excuses for them but the DNCG, higher employment taxes on players, and the French league being very weak are 3 reasons why PSG doesn't spend as much money as they should. It's not exactly easy to get good players to come play in France if you can't offer them the most money. If PSG were playing in Italy, Spain, or England, I'm sure they'd spend more money and they'd have to in order to compete with their competitors.

[Legion04]

Ganu, thank you for the translation! I enjoyed reading up on recent PSG news.

Allez PSG!!!

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by HalfManHalfAmazing

Does that surprise you? PSG has been cheap forever. They refuse to spend money, despite being in one of the 10 biggest cities in the entire world.

OUCH!

"Shouldn't" they be one of the richest and biggest clubs in Europe?

[SportBoy333]

In a perfect world they should be but I explained in my previous post why they aren't. The French League and the laws and rules and restrictions the French teams have to abide by is whats holding them back. Also to add to it they arent as popular as you think compared to the big European clubs. If they played all their home games in the 80,000 seat Stade de France it would be half full for most of their matches. They are handicapped by playing in France if they played in England, Spain, or Italy they would be a bigger club because of the different rules(no DNCG, no higher taxes) and they would spend more money and they would be able to attract better players. The best players go to the best leagues and who pays them the most money and PSG being in the French League hurts their statue in Europe. The only thing that could help them is if the French league got richer and less strict.

[HalfManHalfAmazing]

A) Parc De Princes is undersized and antiquated.

B)Parisians don't follow this team, why? No idea.

C)PSG is one of the richest teams in the world, that doesn't mean they spend the money.

D)I don't care WHAT kind of tax restrictions are placed on this team, the pay in France is a HELL of a lot better than in Africa, and PSG has shown that they will NOT scout Africa like other Ligue 1 teams are doing.

E)Canal+ runs this team with an iron fist, the French movie industry is in the toilet.

F)If PSG has had the ability to cut costs, they have. If they have needed to drop cash to sign a player, they have refused. They have never had a major name player in their prime (MAYBE Jay Jay Okocha, but he's no Ronaldo, Zidane; Rothen is NOT a star, though he could be if he produced).

G)NO French Stars have come through their system, there is most likely a fundamental issue in their youth academy, or a fear that if they become a superstar they wont get paid.

Honestly folks, I think a HUGE issue is that the team is in Paris. Smaller cities like London, Berlin, Munich, Barcelona, and LOS ANGELES have multiple major football teams in them (Look at how many teams play in London) and yet Paris has ONE poorly funded and supported club. Red Star and RC92 are NOT well supported either. RC92 is the team of an athetlic club for those that didn't know. It would be like playing for a country club rec team.

The question is, WHY is playing in Paris such a big issue? Too many other things to do? Too many transplants?

It's NOT the French tax system, Lyon and Marseille have both had success in Europe (Though PSG as has well)