Powell follows in the footsteps of a legend

Powell joins Les Verts

Saint-Etienne have announced that after Josh McMillan moved to Internazionale, that Ted Powell will take the reigns and lead the club after their promotion to Division Two last season. As Powell jetted in to Saint-Etienne-Boutheon Airport a few days ago, it was French sports outlet L'Equipe who broke the news first. 

Rookie Englishman replaces McMillan

There is no doubt that Powell represents a risk after the success of his predecessor, but, after a brieg stint at Internacional in Top 100 a couple of years ago, he is determined to prove any doubters wrong, and lead St.Etienne to a succesful season in Division 2. This is what he had to say after he arrived at Les Verts' training ground-

'It is a massive opportunity for me on a personal level. To be back in this league, at a club this size and moving in such a good direction after the work of Josh, it really is an honour for me. I feel we need a few reinforcements but there's no doubt we have a good, experienced squad already and we're confident of doing well. It's tought to know what our targets will be at the moment, like I said we have a good squad, but we're of course waiting for the fixtures to come out, waiting for our transfer business to get underway, which it has already, with Balasz Dzsudzsak joing Josh McMillan at Inter in a swap deal for a little bit of cash and Javi Garcia. Garcia's a versatile player capable of playing in midfield or defence, and at 89 rated we're happy to get him in.'

When asked about what areas Powell was particularly interested in strengthening, this is what he had to say, ' I think defensively we need improvement, we're close to a deal for Stephane Ruffier which, if it comes off, we hope to have a right back included in that deal, but I can't say too much more about that particular deal. I feel we need strengthening at centre back and left back as well. We've got a huge amount of money, but in this world it's likely we'll need to stick to part exchange deals for most of our transfers. I feel we may need a winger or two as well, but other than that, in terms of central midfield, and up with Gignac and Remy up front, I think we look good and we're ready to give it a good go. Other than that, we'll look to get in a few loans if possible to include our strength in depth, and then we should be sorted. '

'The fact is, for a newly promoted club, especially the fact that I've just taken over, our first aim has to be to survive in Division 2. We've got to be optimistic but realistic, and we can't sit here and say we're going to aim for promotion straight away because, right now, it's just not realistic. That's not to say we won't try, but I feel a steady, solid season would be more than acceptable, as we try and build a squad capable of competing to get into Division 1 overtime.'

Only time will tell whether Powell proves to be the right replacement for a manager who has had incredible success with St.Etienne. But with the right attitude, and a good start to the season, as Josh McMillan showed last season, anything is possible...