Here is the translated version if anybody wants it…
W.J: I am at Coventry, this is my last year of contract. The first season, it went very well with a coach who relied on me. Then I had a cruciate ligament rupture in September. The rest of the season, suddenly, I didn't play and my team moved up to the Championship. Then I came back last September from an injury.
FM: but, when you come back, you don't play?
W.J: The coach then changed his system, we no longer played with wingers, no longer with pistons. The system didn't really suit my style of play anymore. I spoke with the coach, he said he was happy that I was coming back, but I also explained to him that I didn't really see myself in this system. . He told me he would change it for me, but he never did. Therefore, he left me three months to prove myself.
FM: finally?
W.J: finally, I had to have another operation because of a knee discomfort and at the end of January, he sent me directly with the U23s.
FM: did you have any discussions with the coach?
W.J: not really. I wasn't even pushed aside, I was in the closet. He just told me that he couldn't promise me playing time. I had no problem with that and then he told me that I had to find myself a new club.
FM: how did you take it?
W.J: honestly, not bad. I told myself that I only had one year of contract left and that I had to work hard this summer to be in good shape and that if ever I had one or two weeks to change it. I was going to take the chance. In the end, I didn't even have the chance because when I came back I joined the U23 again. The message was clear. In his interviews he said that I had no future at the club. I had number 10, which he took from me without telling me.
FM: what now?
W.J: there, I'm training with the U23s. But even friendlies, he doesn't want me to play them. I don't play any match, it's complicated and heavy. I am looking for a way out, but I know that it is complicated with the current crisis and that in addition, I have not played much pro for two years.
FM: do you have keys?
W.J: There are a few clubs that have come to inquire, but there is nothing concrete at the moment. I am waiting. But the faster it gets done, the better it will be for me. I am physically ready and the club that will trust me will not regret it!
FM: do you have any specific wishes?
W.J: if I can ever get back to France, in Ligue 2, that would be great. It's a championship that I know very well. The clubs know me well. It would be better for my family too. Psychologically it's not easy, we hang on, I'm ready. But I remain open to everything, my main goal is to play above all. It's only been two and a half years since I've been gone, after all.
FM: Looking back, did you have any aspirations for OM?
W.J: honestly, I never had any luck. Every time I had to take a step, I had ruptured my cruciate ligaments. The year I have to go pro, at OM, we were discussing it, I ruptured my cruciate ligaments. Then, on the Bielsa year, I come back, I start with the pros, everything is going well. In December, I was offered a contract at a discount, which I could not accept. It was another policy at the club. Clearly, without bragging, if I was young today at OM, I would have played, I would have had my chance.
FM: how did the meeting with Marcelo Bielsa go?
W.J: personally, Bielsa, I was not too much of a fan. At the beginning, we were told that all the young people started again before the professionals to do a mini-detection over a week. I have never seen that. At the end of the week, we have no results. With time we realized that he was testing his exercises on young people to do them with the pros. The best showed the pros. Sometimes I was there and when the pros came in I stayed on the watching side.
FM: how do you see training at OM?
W.J: The last five years there have been a few players who have come out. It's always more than when I was there. But our generation, the 1994 ... we had one of the best generations at the club. Out of 10 we must be 5 professionals, that's not bad. We just didn't come at the right time. Club policy has changed a lot. If this policy had been on our generation, there are quite a few that would have played a role. It's also a club where there is a lot of pressure and that has a lot to do with training.
FM: but did it go well afterwards?
W.J: yes, afterwards, the more time passed, the more it included us in training. At the beginning, we were sparring partners. Then we made friendly matches. Then I refused the pro contract and returned with the reserve.
FM: how did it go in Ligue 2?
W.J: my first year, really pro, in Clermont, was quite mixed. I was playing, I was no longer playing, it's part of football. In the second year things are going well, I was one of the best players in the team, I was one of the best dribblers in the championship. I was again in my last year of contract, clubs were showing up because I was decisive. I refused an extension because my ambition was to play in Ligue 1 or at a level above.
FM: and there you meet Ferland Mendy ...
W.J: yes ... Bad luck again, he was playing in Le Havre, I had, in quotes, eaten the whole match. He gave me a bad tackle from behind, and ruptured cruciate ligaments again. The club wanted to keep me anyway, but I still wanted better. But I have not had better.
FM: you then sign at Gazélec Ajaccio ...
W.J: I arrive in Corsica. It was two years ... personally, it was complicated since we were playing maintenance. The second year, there is a change of coach, the play-offs, the penalty that I miss ... It's very special. It's a family club. Things happened that I have never seen elsewhere (laughs). The working conditions were not very professional, it was very limited. For a young person, it's okay. But for someone like me, who wanted to go higher, in terms of infrastructure, it was limited. But I don't regret anything. I spent two wonderful years there.
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