“Everyone was sending me there,” RC Lens manager Will Still tells L’Équipe, referencing the much-touted return to England. However, that move never took form.
Still made his big breakthrough as a manager when he took over from Oscar Garcia at Stade de Reims towards the start of the 2022/23 season. His unique pathway, a Football Manager anecdote, and an impressive unbeaten run that guided Les Stadistes into the top half of the table saw him quickly establish a reputation as one of the most promising young coaches, not only in France but in Europe.
However, his desire was not to remain at Reims. Specifically, Still angled for a return to England, a place that the Anglo-Belgian manager still refers to as “home”, despite growing up in Belgium. “I’ve been abroad all my life, and I’ve been working in an environment that isn’t quite mine all my life. And I just want to come home,” he told The Athletic back in February.
Those comments, at least in part, saw Still and Reims part ways just weeks before the end of last season. That then freed him to make the return to England. But it never happened, and instead, he joined Lens, a club that he has described as the “most English” of the French clubs.
‘I have always said that if there is a team that I’d never reject, it is Lens’ – Still
Remaining in Ligue 1, in light of his previous comments, came as a surprise. Speaking to L’Équipe, he has now explained the decision to join Les Sang et Or.
“Everyone was sending me there (to England), but in my head, nothing was decided. I have always said that I wanted to go back there because I’m English, I have a house there and my girlfriend lives there, but I didn’t say when. The sporting project is a lot more important and I want to think selfishly about my career,” began Still.
He added, “I know Ligue 1, what it can bring me, what a club like Lens can mean for my evolution. There were talks with other clubs but the president (Joesph Oughourlian) called me and I have always said that if there is a team that I’d never reject, it is Lens. Three days later, there was an agreement with them. It was the right club at the right time.” Still’s move to England will have to wait.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
