Football: for Stefan Paler, president of SC Sète, “the circus is over!”

Le président du SC Sète revient sur les difficultés financières et la grogne qui a agité le club cette saison. MIDI LIBRE – Jérôme Belluire

On a sporting level, SC Sète's season was generally successful with the rise to Regional 2. On a financial level, it was necessary to make drastic cuts. Stefan Paler, president, explains.

While a large budget was announced at the start of the season, the club experienced a complicated year financially. How is this possible ?

I started the club and everything was already established for salaries, with R1 recruitment. The steering committee was to provide 15,000 € per head, except that there were seven of us at the start and only three donated. We also had a list of sponsors worth €300,000, but only Dalkia and Suez kept their commitments. Apart from them, the only ones who kept their word were the city with 240,000 € grants in total, as well as a rise bonus of 40,000 € at the end of the season.

While we announced a budget of 700,000 euros, we ended up leaving with much less than half. And with 50,000 euros of payroll per month. So I had to make decisions and part ways with employees. There were drastic cuts in the salaries of some educators, we had to do a big clean-up because there were far too many positions for an R3 club. And I warned the players, I promised them that they would all be paid until the end.

Have they been?

Today, almost all the players and educators have been paid. We will be at 100% in a few days. Including the players who are leaving. Everyone who did their job will be paid.

There was some grumbling during the season…

There were rumors and people were unhappy. But you have to know that in Sète, there are no volunteers. And many were sitting in an armchair. What was neglected, and I take full responsibility for it, was the women's section. But that will change.

As for the players, it was complicated for some to accept the delay, unlike the educators. Some didn’t play the game, they didn’t have the right mindset. It’s humanly “understandable”, but there was no support for the club. The love of swimwear, today, pays off.

There was also some discontent among the young people since an entire team decided to leave the club.

Franck Casalis' U15s are leaving, indeed. He made a club within a club and did not respect the charter that we wanted to put in place. From there, we didn’t want to keep it. The children chose to follow him and we did not block them. But if they want to come back tomorrow, they will be welcome. In any case, the circus is over!

You separated from your treasurer Éric Fviens very early on. What happened ?

We had a disagreement about how it worked, which was too important to continue. But his return to the club is being considered.

Will your sports director, Nando Soares, sue ?

He wanted to stop, because we are all very tired from this season. And he was on the front line. But it remains and retains its functions.

Recruitment is almost complete

Promoted during the season from the reserve (D1) to R3, Adil El Hasnouni was reappointed as coach of SC Sète. And the work has already been done since recruitment is almost complete.

In the departures section, four players will no longer wear the Sète colors at the start of the school year. They are Robin Taillan, Guillaume Cros, Lilian Alquier and Sofiane Faraji.

As for arrivals, five signatures have already been made official, including the return of Thibault Balp and the arrivals of Yohan Loisel, Maël Debza, Yohan Guillaume and Merouane Lallaigui. « We are still waiting for two players, a left piston and a striker », specifies Adril El Hasnouni. « For this recruitment, we targeted a few positions where there was either departure or failure. We didn't touch too much on the group which was satisfactory. We targeted on quality but also on the state of mind, because we will come across increasingly compact teams and we needed decisive players individually but especially collectively. » The objective, of course, will be to move up to Regional 1.

The first team achieved its objective, but the reserves experienced great difficulties, last in D1 with two withdrawals in particular. What happened ?

When I arrived, the squad for the first team was made up, this was not the case in D1. And for their first training, there were only six players…hellip; We still managed to make a team. But with 17 players in the first half, injuries and cards, it was difficult to bring them down. And we only saw the climb.

When Christophe Rouve left, we needed a trainer for R3. We called Fabien Allix but he needed time to think. After a while, we appointed Adil El Hasnouni, who coached D1. But some players gave up after his departure. Then we named Sébastien Saez in reserve. And, if Fabien Allix had 26 players in U18, it was still very complicated to bring them to D1… We even had to call on veterans.

It's a failure, but it will be different next season with seniors and U18s who will be forced to go if they don't play with their team. I would like to point out that with the withdrawal of Juvignac, the reserve could remain in D1. And she will be coached by Karim Krini.

A year after your arrival, the reconstruction work is still underway ?

Today, the accounts are balanced but there is still a lot of work to do. Players' salaries will be reduced by more than 50% next season, to be more in line with the level at which we play. We also want to train kids who are struggling at school. We will also support the educators, because everyone must now be qualified. And those who already are will move up to the next level.

On the sporting level, the three objectives are to promote the first team to R1, the reserve team to D1 (or R3) and the U19s to National. And we want respect at all levels. A charter will be put in place and it will be applied. Because kids must come for fun, with respect for opponents and institutions. We want competence, rigor, joy and life. SC Sète has cruelly lacked it, all that must change.

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