Who is new Southampton boss Claude Puel?

Andrew Gibney 22:32 01/07/2016
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  • Claude Puel.

    With an attitude that Southampton fans will love, there is no doubt that Claude Puel has the determination and dedication necessary to be a success at St Mary’s.

    The new Saints boss is a disciple of Arsene Wenger, part of the AS Monaco team that helped the Arsenal boss lift his first title in the principality.

    “I remember Claude saying early in the season, ‘you may not be picking me now, but I’m going to force you to put me in that team’,” recalls Jean Petit, Wenger’s former assistant at Monaco.

    Not only did Puel win over the Monaco boss, but he would become Wenger’s proxy on the pitch, ensuring his manager’s instructions were carried out.

    He never appeared overly close to his team-mates and establishing a distance between himself and the players is something he carried into his coaching career. But while Puel may not have forged close relationships with his players off the pitch, his methods and personality have helped build trust and an aura that convinces his troops to listen.

    THE GOOD

    “He is a very demanding coach, and very sure of himself,” William Humberset, a journalist for Nice-Matin, explains to Sport360. “He is an extremely hard worker, who takes part in the physical and technical training sessions. He still plays during training and hates to lose. Once, he broke his nose in an aerial duel with a player!”

    The incident in question occurred as he challenged former Nice centre-back Nemanja Pejcinovic to a header and exemplified Puel’s passion.

    In four seasons with Nice, Puel finished fourth, 17th, 11th and back up to fourth. They were victims of their own success after his debut season.

    Struggling with the early demands of the Europa League, they flopped and only secured their Ligue 1 survival on the final day of the season. Puel was building something though and last season, that plan came to fruition.

    “When he arrived at Nice, four years ago, Puel said: ‘I want OGC Nice to qualify for Europe.’ The club had only just survived in Ligue 1 and hadn’t qualified for a European competition since 1997,” Humbersat continued. “Thus these aspirations surprised, and they even made many people smile. He succeeded however, doing it twice in four years.”

    The Castres native comes across as quiet and reserved in press conferences, but shows a much more vocal side on the touchline. He has – as the French say – instilled ‘la culture de la gagne’, literally ‘the culture of winning’ and a concept previously unheard of at the Allianz Riviera. It’s not something that he will have to change so dramatically at St Mary’s but it will be his task to take this club from a place in the top six, to a club challenging for the top four.

    “It was two great years, two complicated years,” admitted OGC Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivère when reflecting on Puel’s time. “But I will not forget that Claude returned Le Gym and its DNA to the glory years.”

    THE BAD

    Although he enjoyed success at first Lille and latterly Nice, there were hard times too. He will always be remembered as the first coach in seven years to fail to win the Ligue 1 title with Lyon.  A lot of Puel’s signings didn’t work, players like Michel Bastos, Mathieu Bodmer and Jean Makoun who joined him from Lille,

    There is certainly a stubborn side to Puel, perhaps a blindness towards certain issues. There was a problem with in-fighting with the owners in Nice, but it all centred on the situation with his sons, Gregoire and Paulin.

    The former followed his Dad from Monaco and Lille to Lyon and then to Nice. Following some injuries he was given a chance to play at right-back. Poor performances followed and the manager was accused of being ignorant to his son’s failings.

    Puel defended his son, but president Rivère declared he wanted to sell on the youngster and at the end of the summer window in 2015, Gregoire’s contract was cancelled.

    It was actually expected that the coach would stay in Nice for another two years, but his wage demands put the president off the idea of an extension. Puel reportedly wanted double the wages, plus a long-term contract for his other son Paulin.

    THE GAMBLE

    There is no doubt that this move is a gamble for Southampton. After the success of Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, it has become a high-pressure job and Puel’s methods have only ever been tested in France. It’s the only league he has ever known and he has had 17 years to hone his skills and work out the most effective way to play.

    Puel is a coach who is faithful to his project, regardless of results. He looks at things with a long-term view, wants to develop and use young players, with his philosophy built around the team rather than the individual.

    Puel with Ben Arfa.

    Puel with Ben Arfa.

    Nice’s signing of Hatem Ben Arfa seemed a major gamble last summer but Puel managed to get the best out of him. Nice’s success was not just down to Ben Arfa, though, rather it was built on a strong midfield. The trio of Nampalys Mendy, Jean Michel Seri and Vincent Koziello was easily one of the best in France.

    He has the reputation of being a defensive coach, but that is far from the truth, former Lille left-back Gregory Tafforeau saying: “The image we had as a club was that we were hard to play against due to our defensive organisation. That was our strength, but his demand on the strikers was even greater, they had a specific job to do. Defending from the front was important.”

    There are no guarantees in football but one is that Puel will need to adapt quickly to life in the Premier League or face an early exit. He will have to adjust his methods and style to suit a new culture and a new level of expectation.

    Wherever he has been, Puel has left his mark. At Lille, their state-of-the-art training centre was made possible by Puel’s guidance and planning while Nice too now have strong foundations on which to build.

    Now it’s up to the former Lyon coach to rise to the challenge and leave a new legacy on England’s south coast.

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