“7th is a clear progression, with a huge construction site”
Stéphane Moulin (trainer of SM Caen): “The bad news is that we lost. I find it harsh on the game. They were extremely realistic but that’s part of football. We weren’t once again tonight. We still had the means to achieve a better result. Next year, we will have to know how to win this kind of match. This is one of the progress that we will have to make.
The good news is that we finished seventh. It corresponds well to what we did in the second half of the season. It is deserved. I’m just going to remember that tonight. There are no lessons to be learned given the many changes. I tried to present a competitive team. There were too many upheavals, but despite that we showed that we were still there. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find that little flame to hit the bottom of the net.
In all the squads, there are players who are made to be more starters and others who are more of a complement to the squad. Tonight, we played with a lot of players from the second category. Inevitably, the overall quality suffers. But that’s not giving a bad point to those who played. I think despite everything that they played seriously. But we were limited.
Where do I see myself in a year? I cannot answer this question. I don’t even know which team we’re going to play with, what the squad will be next year. We can’t project ourselves on that.
I just hope that the team will be strengthened, I have no doubts about that, and more efficient than this year. My assessment is that last year Malherbe was 17th and ran away at the last second, and this year we finished seventh. It’s a clear progression, with a construction site that was enormous when we arrived. We’re happy about that. We have achieved the first objective: to deliver something coherent to build on and progress next year.
I’m happy after every season when it ends well. But of course it’s a little different this time. There was such a construction site, so many reflections, sometimes torments. We will take advantage of the holidays to rest well. Everyone needs it to come back fully pumped up when they resume. »
Nuno Da Costa (SM Caen striker): “We knew it was going to be a difficult match, because they had a little lead but had to validate their maintenance mathematically. We did with the means at hand but they managed to take the advantage on a set piece and the spaces then opened up.
We started from afar, we got off to a bad start but we managed to correct things in the second half of the season. Today, we will be satisfied with this seventh place, that’s what we deserve! We are still satisfied, even if we could have done better sometimes. »
Laurent Peyrelade (Rodez coach): “We did what had to be done, well done! I am satisfied with the work done. Every season is different. This one is over, we just have to analyze. The objective was to leave the club in Ligue 2 and finish well. We have won two games more than last year. We are rewarded for who we are, for what we spent at the end of the season. We will be able to rest, take some well-deserved time with our loved ones. Our level will have to go up because the level of Ligue 2 is going up. The club is going towards a huge challenge, an incredible challenge. The club is forced to change gear to survive. I don’t know yet if I will be the coach of Rodez next year (he has one year left on his contract). It was a tiring season, the most tiring since I’ve been here. We’re going to have to put it all back together. Today is the time for satisfaction, the time to enjoy. »