Will Still has asked for patience after AJ Auxerre opened Ligue 1 with zero points from six and eight goals conceded in two matches, saying the team has to keep working and cannot feel sorry for itself before the trip to Lyon. The 33-year-old coach said the defeats were frustrating, but added that Auxerre know where they have failed and that work will eventually change things.
The timing matters because On Friday evening brings another test, and this one comes with pressure already building around a side beaten 5-2 at Lens and 1-3 against Angers. Still said eight goals was far too many, while Paulo Fonseca was already planning for a difficult opponent, saying he had prepared different scenarios because Still had changed system between his first two matches.
Still’s message was simple: keep the head down, keep the work going and do not brood over the start. He also said the situation was not ideal because the transfer window remained open after the season had already begun, and that Auxerre had three departures and three arrivals to absorb. That churn has made his first weeks harder to settle, with supporters already voicing their frustration at Abbé-Deschamps after the two defeats.
Fonseca offered a different tone, calling Still a quality coach who needs time to put his ideas in place and saying Lyon could not draw conclusions from only two matches. It was a rare show of public backing from a rival manager at the same moment Auxerre are under pressure, and it underlined how quickly the scrutiny has arrived around a new bench that is still being assembled in real time.
Edward Still, who said there were similarities with what he is experiencing at La Louvière, described the challenge as one of confidence and said it is not easy to arrive after someone who had been installed for a long time. For Will Still, the next answer has to come on the pitch at Lyon, where the performance will matter more than the explanations.
