‘Not everyone has done enough’ – Will Still blasts Lens after 4-0 defeat

RC Lens head coach Will Still laid into his team following their 4-0 defeat at home to AJ Auxerre on Sunday afternoon. 

There was only a very remote possibility that the club would end the season in a European place, but that dream was put to the sword before the first half was even up. Lens were three goals down within 45 minutes, after Ado Onaiwu registered a brace and Gaëtan Perrin netted his ninth of the campaign. 

A fourth goal came in the second half when Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Ki-Jana Hoever found the back of the net, leaving the Stade Bollaert-Delelis faithful demanding the exit of sporting director Diego Lopez. 

Still was clear in his post-match comments that this was an inadequate performance and that changes would need to be made over the summer. “There are things to put in place,” the head coach said. “There are people at the end of their cycle and others at the end of their contract. There are people who will stay and on whom we can build around. There [needs to be] an injection of talent and quality. There is a protocol to put in place and changes to be made.” 

The former Stade de Reims man continued, “Financially, ok, there were constraints [in the winter], I can understand that. We bet on very young profiles, and we knew that they would not be ready to play at this level. We must support them so that we no longer alternate between hot and cold. We must know how to put the church back in the middle of the village, become competitive again.”

He concluded, “I came to Lens [to be competitive]. A page is turning. It’s up to us to write it correctly. To know how to be honest and to tell each other things. Today, not everyone has done enough. Apart from the supporters.” 

Lens are on the road for their next two games, where they will take on Olympique Lyonnais and Toulouse FC, before they host AS Monaco for the final game of the season. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland