This season we will dance with sass, without Pantaloni

The Leca pair – Parrot took out his Excel spreadsheet from space to find the new Lensois coach. Gone is the monosyllabic antonomastic classic of recent seasons, make way for the top moumoute, the manager who doesn’t lack bite, Dino Toppmöller.

Strong men at the helm. Photo CSO

They could have signed…

In Lens, we are used to the most original rumors. The latest, Olivier Pantaloni, a high-sounding name that smacks of Ligue 2 shocks at the Louis-Dugauguez stadium, in the pantheon of semi-stars of the antechamber, in the company of Jean-Louis Garcia, Olivier Dall’Oglio and Régis Brouard. These technicians know the elevator perfectly and experience, albeit temporarily, success in Ligue 1 Mac Donald’s. Pantaloni is here at his primereached with Lorient and its panache. It’s now or never to claim to take the reins of the Racing Club de Lens this year, and of the Champions League at that. Yes but no.

In three years, the club had gotten us used to monosyllable names that made sense. After Haise, Still and Sage, many were waiting for a coach recruitment that is based on a high-level onomastic study (of names). Perhaps the secret of Jean-Louis Leca’s spreadsheet? The one who clearly ticks these boxes is Éric Roy, who could have returned through the front door to Gaillette, resuming his reign where he left off a few years ago, when his head was cut off to allow a revival at the club. Yes but no.

The hat of the racing magicians

Surprise! What the past season teaches us above all with the Parrot – Leca pair is that Racing sails under the sea, and always manages to take the opposite view of the followers, to surprise us in a good way. insiders can put away their radars and premonitions from Wish, the Lens management constantly lights counterfires and always ends up pulling out a character from the hat who will cause a sensation.

Players and coaches alike, Racing manages to find names, sometimes high-sounding, sometimes discreet, but which so far reveal high quality. Risser, Baidoo, Udol, Sangaré, Thauvin, Saint-Maximin, Édouard and Sage. Many successes in recruitment, which amaze with their profile, compatible Racing.

A Toppmüller for a Lens bannière étoilée

The first surprise is therefore the recruitment of the coach, neither French, nor monosyllabic, nor soft-stomached: Dino Toppmöller. The surname sounds good; However, no one expected the arrival of the German, former assistant to Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern, who led Dudelange to eat at the table of some European big names, and above all who managed Eintracht Frankfurt until reaching the podium in the Bundesliga.

Lens takes on an entirely European dimension by appointing at the head of the pennant team a man who has experience of the most prestigious continental cups. The German also ticks a lot of boxes in the analysis grid. He is multilingual, LV2 French, he has managed teams where multiple nationalities coexisted, he is recognized for being a fine tactician in the service of efficiency – ideal to take over from Pierre Sage, paragon of the beautiful game.

Losing Pierre Sage had created the beginnings of disaster at Racing. Calm down, calm downthe helm of the RCL boat is well held, and the arrival of Dino puts an end to the fear of a less flamboyant transition season. It immerses us all in the European stars, to launch an attractive transfer window. Because working with him, adhering to his modern and offensive style, in a now structured and conquering club, many talented players surely want it.