Liam Rosenior’s mid-season switch from Strasbourg to Chelsea has piled pressure on the lesser BlueCo club, but things could still get worse.
The deal has been met with more disdain by supporters groups who have again demanded BlueCo leave the club.
However, they specifically also targeted president Marc Keller, considering him a yes man for the Chelsea side of things.
Yet according to club great Dimitri Liénard, Keller is the only thing separating Strasbourg from complete disaster.
“Whatever he does, with the scourge of social media, he’ll be criticised,” the former midfielder told RMC Sport.
“When I was a player, he was already looking to sell the club because he and his partners couldn’t keep it going.
“If he hadn’t sold it and we’d crashed and burned like Montpellier or Reims, people would have said he should have sold the club. Whatever he does, he’s stuck.
“But Marc has to stay. We need to maintain good communication and emphasize that Strasbourg is Chelsea’s training ground and breeding ground.
“But Marc attracts big companies to Alsace who are happy to come to the Meinau on weekends. If Marc leaves, it’s the club’s total death.
“If we put a Brit in place of President Keller, it’ll really upset me because we mustn’t forget everything he’s done for the club.”
He then gave his own critique of Keller, adding: “However, his communication is bizarre. Since BlueCo bought the club, the communication has already been very poor, and things are already tense with the fans.
“Behdad Eghbali (owner of Clearlake Capital, a member of the BlueCo consortium) slammed his fist on the table, practically throwing a grenade at Marc Keller, telling him: ‘I’m the one in charge of the sporting side.’
“That proves to everyone that Marc, unfortunately, no longer has any say in the sporting aspects of the first team.”
Turning on BlueCo, he finished: “I’m not criticizing BlueCo because the team is competitive, but I’m annoyed with them for taking the coach mid-season only to dump him at Chelsea.
“So it depends on your perspective, but I’m annoyed with Eghbali for doing that mid-season at a club that’s already struggling with its fans’ communication and needs to do better than last year.”
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