Saturday afternoon, on the lawn of Costières, where he had lost 1-0 in Ligue 2 earlier in the season, the Raf of the new coach Didier Santini won for his first friendly match of recovery, on goals from Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and captain Rémy Boissier.
Yes, it’s only a friendly match, which has no impact on the rest of the events for the Raf. But what better way to start a one-week training course than to win by two goals to nil against one of your direct opponents to maintain the league? Especially when it comes to the first on the bench of his new coach, Didier Santini. A technician who is happy, not for the result, but for what he saw from his men: “I saw some interesting things about this match from the 24 players who played today (Saturday). The score is anecdotal, but it was good, because everyone was concerned. I don’t want to salute the performance of one player in particular, but that of my whole group. »
Santini discovering his men
After meeting his squad on Monday at Vabre, Santini was able to see him at work yesterday on the pitch against Nîmes. First in 3-5-2 in the first period, then in 4-3-3 in the second, the former coach of Saint-Brieuc and Béziers changed his game plan according to the men he had on the ground. No player has more than 45 minutes on the pitch: “They are in the recovery phase, so it was important to rotate, that everyone plays and touches the ball. » David, Kutateladze, and Park are the three with the least playing time, with just 20 minutes to spare. Despite all these successive changes, the Raf managed to take the game on their own, scoring two goals through Raux-Yao and Boissier. Another was even refused to Akim Abdallah, for offside.
A week of internship, then direction Montpellier
After this meeting, Rodez took the direction of Canet-en-Roussillon in the Pyrénées-Orientales, to start a one-week recovery course. At the end of it, Didier Santini and his players will travel to Montpellier, for a second friendly, on Saturday. Much more important this one. “It will be 10 days before our resumption in Ligue 2. The objective will be that my players can last 70 minutes. So they won’t all be able to play.”warns Santini.
