Rumors have been circulating around for a while that a certain young manager in a French top division club has learned all about managing a football club from a computer game. So, the manager of the team with the longest unbeaten run among the top 5 leagues, has no professional experience?
Among all the clubs in Europe’s top 5 leagues, Stade de Reims are an unlikely Goliath of a club that’s been punching above its weight this season. The French club, currently 8th in the league, were promoted to the top tier of English football as late as 2018.
Reims are currently on a 19-match unbeaten streak in the league, and a large chunk of their success has to go to the youngest manager in Europe’s top five leagues, William Still.
The 30-year-old British-Belgian is in his inaugural stint as a professional manager, and he’s been sensational so far, leading his team to a strong mid-table finish which was unlikely of Reims at the start of the season.
Still, who is younger than three players of his squad, initially started his career as a video analyst at the age of 24 in a second-division Belgian club that no longer exists.
Climbing up the ranks, he ended up as the assistant manager of the club. After changing clubs a few more times, he was appointed as the assistant manager of Stade de Reims until October of 2022, when he was promoted to be the caretaker manager of the club after the sacking of former manager Oscar Garcia.
Impressed by his performances, the board decided to appoint him as the manager of the club until the end of the season. In the process, Reims were let know of the fact that they’ll be paying a fine close to €22,000 for every match Still manages, since Still did not have the UEFA Pro License.
Fast forward to today, Still has made it known that the French club isn’t forking out €22K per game he oversees in the dugout. This is because the 30-year-old has started the course at the National Football Centre in Brussels, where he visits on a monthly basis.
Still was asked in a recent interview whether his club are still paying the hefty amount, to which he replied that it’s no more the case since he’s enrolled in the Pro License course demanded by UEFA.
In the same interview by RMC Sport, he was asked to address the widespread rumors regarding Football Manager.
It has been reported for months now that the man at the helm at Stade Auguste-Delaune has not got a diploma in coaching, and it’s the man’s skills in Football Manager that have landed him the job at Reims.
People found it very amusing to learn that all a manager of a club in the top division of France has got in his resume is experience from a computer game.
However, addressing this rumor Still has completely discarded the theory that has been building around for months on the internet.
I’m not just a geek who’s played Football Manager. I didn’t just land at Reims from behind my computer. In fact, I haven’t touched that computer in years. It’s a myth that needs to be busted.
Still, in his own words, got the records straight to people that believed the aforementioned rumor to be true, that he has studied coaching at a University, and he’s not just a Football Manager fanatic. We believe this must’ve broken the hearts of some hardcore Football Manager enthusiasts who were planning on turning professional.
Will Still is doing an amazing job at Stade de Reims this season, and it’ll be interesting to see if he lands a top job in the future. He’s previously made it known that he is a West Ham fan, and with the rumors surrounding the departure of David Moyes, could Still be the man for the job next?
