Corinne Diacre says she is feeling calm ahead of her
historic debut as the coach of French side Clermont on Monday
night.
Diacre will become the first woman to lead a men's professional
team in a major European country when she takes her second
division team to Brest.
"There is serenity," she said on Monday morning in a video press
conference on the club's website.
"There will be some excitement but I'm trying not to get polluted
by that," added Diacre on the day she turned 40.
"I'm trying to maintain my focus as much as possible and to stay
as much in the shadows as possible because what interests me
is that my players take the limelight, not me."
The former assistant coach to the French women's national team
said she wants to deflect the media attention away from her as
quickly as possible.
"I think all this interest is over the top with regards to my
presence, what I'd like is for us to concentrate on Clermont," she
added.
Diacre was hired after Clermont's original choice, another
woman, Portuguese Helena Costa, resigned abruptly the day
before taking charge of the team.
Costa had been appointed in May amongst much fanfare but
never actually took charge of a training session as she walked
away after complaining that the club was signing players without
consulting her.
Unbowed by that setback, president Claude Michy nonetheless
decided to hire another woman in Diacre.
historic debut as the coach of French side Clermont on Monday
night.
Diacre will become the first woman to lead a men's professional
team in a major European country when she takes her second
division team to Brest.
"There is serenity," she said on Monday morning in a video press
conference on the club's website.
"There will be some excitement but I'm trying not to get polluted
by that," added Diacre on the day she turned 40.
"I'm trying to maintain my focus as much as possible and to stay
as much in the shadows as possible because what interests me
is that my players take the limelight, not me."
The former assistant coach to the French women's national team
said she wants to deflect the media attention away from her as
quickly as possible.
"I think all this interest is over the top with regards to my
presence, what I'd like is for us to concentrate on Clermont," she
added.
Diacre was hired after Clermont's original choice, another
woman, Portuguese Helena Costa, resigned abruptly the day
before taking charge of the team.
Costa had been appointed in May amongst much fanfare but
never actually took charge of a training session as she walked
away after complaining that the club was signing players without
consulting her.
Unbowed by that setback, president Claude Michy nonetheless
decided to hire another woman in Diacre.
No comments:
Post a Comment