Loïc Négo has charted an interesting career path since leaving his boyhood club FC Nantes for AS Roma in 2011. The former France youth international bounced around clubs across Europe before finding...
Loïc Négo has charted an interesting career path since leaving his boyhood club FC Nantes for AS Roma in 2011. The former France youth international bounced around clubs across Europe before finding a home at Videoton FC in Hungary. During his eight years at Videoton, he was naturalised, becoming a Hungarian citizen and an international.
Ahead of the 2023/24 season, Négo would leave and return to France, joining Le Havre AC, who were similarly ending a 14-year exile from the top flight. The club operating on a shoestring budget have managed to maintain their Ligue 1 status, while other richer clubs have spent and gone down. To discuss the secrets behind Le Havre’s success, Négo sat down with Get French Football News in an interview facilitated by the LFP Media’s international department.
How would you assess Le Havre’s start to the season?
We started, in my opinion, the season in a good way, and playing how we want to play, but we need some points. We need some points on the road, because if you look at the way we play and the points we have, it’s not the reality.
What areas could the team improve on?
Offensively and defensively, in both areas. I think we have improved a lot in the possession game and in the way to build attacks, but now we need to improve the finishing.
How difficult is it for a club like Le Havre to maintain their place in the league when the budget is so tight?
Of course, it’s not easy. They’ve done a good job. The players they bring in aren’t there just to make up numbers. They analyse, and they take players the team needs, and players that make a difference as well. The coach [Didier Digard], who is in place right now, is very close with the team and also with the club. And that’s very important. He gives us the good ingredients to fight against anybody.
Can you tell me a little bit more about what Digard brings to the team?
Digard is a coach with good ideas. He doesn’t leave out or miss any details. And that makes the difference.
It feels like you’ve become a leadership figure in a young team. Is that true?
Me? [Laughs] If you can tell me that from the outside, I’m happy to hear it. Inside, it’s true I have a good voice. First of all, I’m one of the oldest players in the dressing room, and I have to take responsibility because of this aspect. I’m also an international. I don’t shy away from leading. I try to set a good example for the youngest, and I also love to see when my teammates are happy with a good performance.
Can you talk me through what it was like when you first got the call asking you to represent Hungary?
So it wasn’t a surprise because it was a long process. I had already been told that I would join the team, but when the first call-up came, I was so happy. It was, of course, special because I wasn’t born in Hungary. It was a special moment.
You were originally a France youth international, but when you were playing for Hungary, you got the chance to play against France. What was that like?
Yeah, that was amazing. I had many, many emotions. I lived in Hungary for many years, but France is my original country. In the game, I remember that at halftime, that was the moment when I became very emotional. It was all very good memories.
After you had spent most of your career in Hungary, was it quite difficult leaving and returning to France?
No, because when I was in Hungary, when I had some time off or some holiday, I would come back to France and see the family. Returning to France was a happy moment; I wasn’t just coming back and staying for a bit, I was coming to play and do what I live for. And I was so happy.
Was there a sense of unfinished business, having never played in Ligue 1 before?
Yeah. I was so happy about this. Since I left France [in 2011], I was always dreaming of that secretly. I was always dreaming of one day returning to France and playing for a team in Ligue 1. And that dream came true. It was a very nice moment when I heard the news that Le Havre was happy to welcome me. [Laughs] Yeah, I was very happy.
Was there anything in particular that sold you on joining Le Havre?
First of all, because it’s a historic club. Not many people remember that because in the last 10-15 years, Le Havre were promoted to Ligue 1, and they’d go back down immediately to Ligue 2. So it’s easy to forget, but as a football player and a player who is watching football all the time, I knew about Le Havre. I also knew about the academy, and the kind of players that they build and help to become legends. I’m talking about a player like Riyad Mahrez and many, many others. And I also felt that because of the many years that they weren’t playing in Ligue 1, they would do everything to keep themselves playing there for as long as possible, and that motivated me.
Since returning to France, you’ve seen clubs that have far outspent Le Havre go down. What’s been the secret behind your success?
Yeah, like I told you. It’s not only on the pitch. And maybe, the most difficult things to do are outside the pitch. How you build the team, how you connect the players. What happens on the pitch is the end of the job. So the people who are working in the club, since the club came back up, are doing an amazing job. The sports director, the president, the people in the office, and, of course, the coach and the coaching staff. They are all in the same boat, and they’re doing an amazing job. And of course, the players are at the end, to finish the job. But for me, that makes the difference between us and the richer clubs.
Last year, you managed to survive a relegation scare in dramatic circumstances, beating Strasbourg 3-2 on the final day of the season with Abdoulaye Touré scoring a last-minute penalty. What was going through your head that day?
It was… [laughs]. I don’t know, but I think I had the same feeling as people who were watching the game. In my opinion, I think we were more motivated than them. And I think we deserved it. We deserved three points in that game, and we deserved to win it. We also deserved to stay in the league when you think about the entire season we had. Even, of course, if we had bad moments, we never gave up.
But when Abdoulaye took the penalty and scored, it was just like a kind of satisfaction of all the work we had done during the season. It was like something very special. A feeling you won’t experience every season. I think it’s a feeling you have in your career, maybe two or three times maximum. And it was so, so good.
It was quite an incredible penalty to score, him taking a Panenka at that moment in the game…
Yeah, it was incredible. But I had a lot of confidence in him because he’s a very good shooter. He doesn’t miss often when he shoots, so I had confidence. But yeah, it was the whole team who made big sacrifices, who fought to arrive in that final moment, to win the game, and to stay in the league. And of course, I have to say, the fans and the supporters. They were always behind us, and that was an important thing for us, as we never felt alone. Whenever we travelled away, they always created a good atmosphere. Of course, sometimes when you lose, they’re not happy, but that’s normal. Well, it’s not when you lose that they’re unhappy, it’s the way you lose that will make them unhappy. And I can totally understand that.
You just have one year left on your current contract. Are you hoping to remain at Le Havre?
For this, I don’t know. It’s too early to say. I will give my best for the season, and we will see for the future.
And more generally, on your future, what do you see yourself doing after your playing career finishes? Can you see yourself becoming a manager?
[Laughs] Manager? No. It’s a very bad job, to be honest. It’s a very bad job. I couldn’t. I think it’s the most difficult job in the world, maybe an assistant. Maybe I could be an assistant, but not a second one, third one! A third one is good.
Looking back at the start of your career. You left your boyhood club, Nantes, for Roma at a young age when it felt like you were just breaking into the first team. Can you explain what made you leave?
I came back from winning the UEFA European U19s Championship with the France team, and straight after that, I remember, I had an offer from Nantes to renew my contract and to extend it. But unfortunately, at that moment, the sporting director [Gilles Favard] was sacked. The new one that came in wanted to change the contract, and it was absolutely unacceptable. And then we couldn’t find an agreement, so I had to leave. I had to leave through the ‘small door,’ because it was my training club. I was sad, but I had to make a decision, and so I went to Roma. And even if I didn’t put my name in the history of Roma, I don’t regret my decision.
Can you tell me about your experiences at Roma?
It was a new adventure. When I was young, I was considered one of the best young players of my age, so I had a lot of interested clubs, but Roma had their sights set on me. It’s a big club and I was very interested. When I arrived there, the people didn’t know me. So [my signing] didn’t make any noise. I started with the youth, so that made the difference for me to adapt, but unfortunately, I didn’t play any games with the first team. Of course, I trained a lot with the first team, but I didn’t play any games, and it’s probably because I wasn’t ready.
Did you feel the move came a bit too soon in your career?
Yeah, probably so. It probably did come a bit too soon, but I had to leave Nantes. I also had to make a decision for my future.
If you could go back and give your younger self advice, what would you say?
Don’t change anything!
Category: General Sports
