Physical trainer tag by Ghana upset me – Herve Renard
The 51-year-old is a two-time Afcon winner and beat the Black Stars on his way to both feat.
Herve Renard says a disrespectful tag of a physical trainer while being a certified coach during his brief spell with Ghana spurred him on to want to prove a point.
The Frenchman worked under veteran coach Claude Le Roy during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) but followed the white witchdoctor when he left the job after the tournament.
Renard secured the Zambia national team job same year and went on to lead the Chipolopolo to win the 2012 Afcon title. He beat Ghana along the way and repeat the title-winning feat with Cote d’Ivoire by beating the Black Stars again in the final of the 2015 Afcon via penalty shootout.
“My [job] title with the Black Stars was “physical coach” and it upset me because I had been a coach since 2000.
“But I was obliged to accept it. I arrived after Sellas Tetteh and I was young so I couldn’t tell the people, ‘hey, I am assistant coach’ but I was assistant coach, maybe number 2,” Renard told TV3’s Juliet Bawuah.
“When I arrived in Zambia, the people said, ‘hey, you are not a coach, you are a physical trainer, so how do you expect to manage a team?’ and I was a bit upset about that.
“I was assistant coach in Ghana but they tagged me as a physical trainer because I was doing some physical preparations and some training also.
“The boss was Claude Le Roy and I had to do what the head coach wanted from me.
“But I was very upset when I arrived in Zambia in 2008 and had to explain because I started my coaching career in 2000 and 8 years later you’re telling me I’m not a coach; I was upset,” he added.
Herve Renard is currently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team.
