EUROSCENE/Paddy Agnew: Tradition dies hard in football. When Jacques Santini (50), was appointed French national team manager last July, there were authoritative voices ready to damn him with faint praise, annoyed that a man from outside the French federation system, the Direction Technique National (DTN), had been nominated.
Three straight European Championship qualifier wins later, the critics have been silenced, at least temporarily. Even if two of those wins last autumn came against lesser opposition (2-1 against Cyprus and 4-0 against Malta), it was the game that came in between those two that made people sit up and take notice as France humbled Slovenia (qualifiers for both Euro 2000 and last summer's World Cup finals) 5-0 at the Stade de France.
The choice of Santini represented a shock for a French football community accustomed to national coaches appointed from within the federation. After all, Santini's immediate predecessors, Roger Lemerre and Aimé Jacquet, the men who led France to success at, respectively, Euro 2000 and France '98, had come from "within house".
Even in the wake of France's failure at last summer's World Cup, not everyone was in favour of turning to a man whose know-how was gained, not at seminars and coaching courses, but in a French football career that spanned 450 matches as a player and 17 years as a coach. Jacquet, now "directeur" of the DTN, was especially oustpoken in expressing his disappointment that the DTN's candidates, Rene Girard and Raymond Domenech, had been overlooked.
Santini, however, had one important ally in his old team-mate from his playing days at Saint Etienne, Michel Platini. He was also greatly helped by the fact that one month prior to France's debacle in the Far East, he guided Olympique Lyonnais to the French title.
After a less than convincing 1-1 friendly draw with Tunisia in his opening game in charge, Santini looked to be in trouble when France went 1-0 down early in that opening European Championship qualifier away to Cyprus last September. However, Auxerre's Dijbril Cisse and Arsenal's Sylvain Wiltord eventually came to his rescue.
Santini now believes, however, that the game in Cyprus marked an important turning point for his team. Talking to his players on the way home from that game, he got the distinct sensation that the complacency which undermined France last summer had been dispelled: "One of my first concerns was to convince the players that they had better forget the idea of being the VIP, but rather get . . . together, newcomers and World Cup winners alike, to form a team," said Santini last week.
That 5-0 win against Slovenia suggested that his players got the point. Furthermore, Santini has used the autumn to bring in a whole fleet of new players, including William Gallas (Chelsea) and Bruno Cheyrou (Liverpool).
Looking to the future, Santini strikes a confident note. David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry can and will play together, he says, while the door has not yet been totally shut on Nicolas Anelka. France, old and new, are on the way back.
