Head coach at the age of 30
The French first division club Stade Reims had the longest active unbeaten run in the top leagues in Europe until last weekend when it came to an end in the 20th game in a 2-1 loss to Olympique Marseille. It was the first Ligue 1 defeat for coach Will Still, just 30, after being promoted from assistant to head coach in mid-October. Now he spoke about his dream of the Premier League.
“I think if you asked any kid what they would like to do they would say they would like to be a footballer or coach in the Premier League and I’m no different. I grew up like everyone else and had the same dreams. I will continue to follow her,” Still said in an interview with the TV station.Sky Sports“. Born and raised in Belgium to English parents, he moved to England to pursue his dream of becoming a coach before returning to Belgium and picking up speed. First he worked as a video analyst and worked for VV St. Truiden, later for Standard Liège and Lierse SK. It was also Lier where Still took over as a coach for the first time in 2017 at the age of 24 after various positions in the club.
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After further activities at other clubs and mostly in other roles, the Belgian moved into the front row at Stade Reims in the first half of the current season, before that his long-time companion Óscar García had to go. Still took over Reims after matchday 10 in 15th place and has since led the team in ninth place, and participation in the European Cup is also a possibility. On average he has scored 1.94 points per game so far, which is one of the best values this season in the French upper house. He still finds it hard to believe that Still was recently considered a candidate when Leeds United and Southampton FC were looking for a coach: “It just seems stupid to me that my name is mentioned by names that have achieved so much more have and been to so many more places than I have.”
Will Still brushes thoughts of Premier League aside ‘for now’
He never considered training in the Premier League “because I never expected to be in the position I am in so early and so suddenly,” he said. “If someone had told me I was going to be the head coach of a Ligue 1 team by the time I was 30, I would have told them to slap me in the face,” he recently told The Coaches’ Voice. Should a move to the Premier League come about one day, “I will deserve it, or I hope I will have earned it”. Speaking of returning to England, however, he said: “Being English and growing up in an English environment in Belgium, England has always felt like home and a place I would love to return to. It would feel like coming home just because English culture is part of me, part of my roots, part of my family, part of who I am.” However, he knows, “how much work is still ahead of me and how much I still have to learn”, so he pushes the thought of the Premier League “for the moment” aside.
Ronan Caroff, Area Manager France at Transfermarkt, thinks that Still is focusing on Reims is a good thing: “With what Reims and Still currently have, I think it would be a waste if he went to the Premier League would switch. He’s got one year left on his contract, will finally have the right license at the end of the season and I’m sure everyone at Reims would love to see him at the wheel for a full season.” 25,000 euros because he does not have the necessary license. The coach is now taking the UEFA Pro license course, so Reims will no longer be asked to pay.
Will still.
During his tenure at Reims, Still not only drew attention for his sporting achievements, but also achieved a kind of notoriety on social media. The reason for this is that as a child he spent hours playing the computer game “Football Manager”. “I was just a normal kid playing football manager,” he told the Daily Mail in January. He revealed that he spent nights playing games. Now he knows “that the crazy thing is that it’s actually so realistic”. Only people would think ‘I’m a little geek behind my computer who just arrived at Stade Reims and is doing an amazing job. But I’ve been doing it for ten years,” he added. And further: “I know it’s a funny story that draws attention. But I also know that somewhere deep down, the people behind this know what the reality is.”
Still enjoys his job so much that he would even pay for it. “Honestly,” he emphasized. If someone gave him the opportunity, “I would ask how much I should pay for a training session”. It’s really fun for him to give training. As a player, I used to like to train myself, even if I didn’t reach the highest level. Now I enjoy pushing other people and doing exercises that make them think.” It’s on the pitch that he feels most comfortable, he said.
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