Philippe Clément on the Ligue 1 podium with Monaco: “I have the ambition to stay abroad for a few more years”
Threatened with dismissal a few weeks after his arrival in Monaco, the former coach of FC Bruges was able to raise the bar and led the Rock club to the third step of the podium. Certainly, within a few seconds, it could have been the second, but that does not detract from the good work of a Philippe Clément who does not see himself returning to Belgium in the near future.
“I am very ambitious, I always want to win”a declared Philippe Clement during an interview at eleven sports. The Belgian coach arrived in Monaco at the start of the calendar year and managed, after a difficult start, to turn the team around. The Monegasques have won nine consecutive victories and moved up to third place in the standings. They were even second before the last day, and until the last seconds of their trip to the Bollaert stadium in Lens where they were leading 1-2 in stoppage time. But at 90’+6, Ignatius Ganago restored the equality, rewarded the title of first runner-up of PSG to Olympique de Marseille which had not done in detail against Strasbourg Matz Salts (4-0).
Despite this small disappointment, the initial objective that had been set on arrival was fulfilled by Clément. The Rock players have won their ticket to the Champions League. “It was a very big challenge. Hein Vanhaezebrouck the explanation said recently: rare are the coaches who are lucky enough to find themselves in a club in one of the five major leagues, and certainly in a top club. So it was a really unique proposition, but if the family had been against it, I don’t think I would have been there. For me it is also important that everyone is happy in the family. I am therefore very happy to have succeeded in combining these two aspects. I am a happy man.”
Philippe Clément is one of the few Belgian coaches abroad. He has an explanation for that. “There are very few Belgian coaches who have been given opportunities, but we don’t allow ourselves enough publicity for our work and we don’t help care for each other enough. You see that the Dutch, the Spaniards and the Portuguese are present all over the world, but the Belgians, you see them too little. And when I see the quality of our coaches, I think that it is certainly not inferior to that of these other countries. Only, we do not “We don’t have sporting directors in other countries. This is also something we will have to work on in the future, because it can also help our coaches to receive more offers.” Philippe Clément thus echoes somewhere the remarks made a few months ago by Franky Dury and Yves Vanderhaeghe who also felt in an interview with Krant van West Vlaanderen that the Belgian coaches were not selling well enough. The duo also felt that Clément was also being disrespected. The results of the former coach of FC Brugge and Genk ended up proving them right.
Yet, after just a few weeks, Clement’s fate at his new club was revealed to be sealed. The president wanted to do a total overhaul of his core, and for a while it looked like the former Bruges T1 might not last forever in the shadow of the Rock. But a great string of results then followed this turbulent period. What will now be the Belgian’s future? Does he always think of coming back to sit on a bench in professional league ? “I now have the ambition to stay abroad for a few years. It must go well with people. I started playing for the Beerschot first team when I was seventeen. It’s been thirty years, with the exception of a year in England (in Coventry), that I stayed in Belgium. It is now time to live in a new period different from the one I have just lived. I do not see myself making a back to Belgium after my adventure in Monaco. So I think I will choose another adventure in another country.”
Find the full interview with Philippe Clément on Eleven Sports this weekend
“I’m very ambitious, I always want to win,” Philippe Clément said in an interview with Eleven Sports. The Belgian coach arrived in Monaco at the start of the calendar year and managed, after a difficult start, to turn the team around. The Monegasques have won nine consecutive victories and moved up to third place in the standings. They were even second before the last day, and until the last seconds of their trip to the Bollaert stadium in Lens where they were leading 1-2 in stoppage time. But at 90’+6, Ignatius Ganago restored the equality, won the title of PSG’s first runner-up to Olympique Marseille, which had not done in detail against Strasbourg’s Matz Sels (4-0). Despite this small disappointment, the initial objective which had been set during the arrival was filled with Clément. The Rock players have won their ticket to the Champions League. “It was a very big challenge. Hein Vanhaezebrouck explained it recently: rare are the coaches who have the chance to find themselves in a club of one of the five big leagues, and certainly in a top club. So was a really unique proposition, but if the family had been against it, I don’t think I would have been in. For me, it’s also important that everyone is happy in the family, so I’m very happy that I managed to combine these two aspects. I am a happy man.”Philippe Clément is one of the few Belgian coaches abroad. He has an explanation for that. “There are very few Belgian coaches who have been given opportunities, but we don’t allow ourselves enough publicity for our work and we don’t help care for each other enough. You see that the Dutch, the Spaniards and the Portuguese are present all over the world, but the Belgians, you see them too little. And when I see the quality of our coaches, I think that it is certainly not inferior to that of these other countries. Only, we do not “We don’t have sporting directors in other countries. This is also something we will have to work on in the future, because it can also help our coaches to receive more offers.” Philippe Clement thus echoes somewhere the comments made a few months ago by Francky Dury and Yves Vanderhaeghe who also felt in an interview with Krant van West Vlaanderen that Belgian coaches were not selling well enough. The duo also felt that we was also disrespectful to Clement. The results of the former coach of FC Brugge and Genk ended up proving them right. However, after only a few weeks, Clément’s fate in his new club seemed sealed. The president wanted to do a total overhaul of his core, and for a while it looked like the former Bruges T1 might not last forever in the shadow of the Rock. But a great string of results then followed this turbulent period. What will now be the Belgian’s future? Does he still think about coming back to sit on a bench in the Pro League? “I now have the ambition to stay abroad for a few years. It must go well with people. I started playing for the Beerschot first team when I was seventeen. It’s been thirty years, with the exception of a year in England (in Coventry), that I stayed in Belgium. It is now time to live in a new period different from the one I have just lived. I do not see myself making a back to Belgium after my adventure in Monaco. So I think I will choose another adventure in another country.” Find the full interview with Philippe Clément on Eleven Sports this weekend