Georgia’s Willy Sagnol gives perfect reply to critics with run at Euro 2024

It was known long before the press conference Willy Sagnol gave after Georgia’s defeat by Turkey that the French manager did not suffer fools gladly. What was not so well known was his remarkable command of colloquial English. “Twats,” he said of those who had criticised his team selection back home . Then Sagnol, who has been been linked with the vacant Ireland manager job, said it again, with impeccable timing, before apologising – after a fashion – for the “tone” of his answer.

Perhaps it has to do with his own trajectory, too. The career Sagnol had in mind in his early teens had nothing to do with football: he dreamed of becoming a police detective. He would look the part, it must be said. His features, his haircut, his speech wouldn’t look out of place in Spiral. Commissaire Sagnolyes.

The only link Sagnol had with Georgia was with two players of his generation: Levan Kobiashvili, the former Freiburg, Schalke and Hertha Berlin left wing-back and midfielder who collected 100 caps before being elected as president of the country’s federation in 2015, and Aleksandr Iashvili, also formerly of Freiburg, who became the Georgian FA’s vice-chair.

This proved a shrewd move, because Sagnol’s first months in the job tested the patience of his employers to the limit: they lost seven of his first nine games, six of them qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup. Their trust was rewarded, though, and a 2-0 defeat at home by Greece on October 9th, 2021 was to be Georgia’s last for more than a year. And now, this. The first qualification for a major tournament. A last-16 game against Spain. No wonder Sagnol is a national hero in his adopted country.

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