Saint-Étienne Collapse 0-3 at Guingamp: Cathro Slams Tactical Chaos

Saint-Étienne suffered a heavy 0-3 defeat at Guingamp on Saturday evening in Ligue 2 matchday 11, brutally ending a run of three consecutive victories. In the aftermath, Montpellier, who won 3-0 at Annecy, closed to within a point of the leaders.

At his press conference, Scottish manager Ian Cathro made no attempt to hide his displeasure. “There is anger,” he said, pointing to a glaring lack of structure and tactical management. “We need order. We must not rush with the ambition to score three goals per match. We must understand our matches.”

Cathro was keen not to spare his staff from collective responsibility. “I am not targeting just the players, I include myself in this analysis of a match that I again describe as chaotic. It is collectively that we failed to respond in this context.” The manager nonetheless refused to succumb to catastrophism, preferring to view this defeat as a useful wake-up call.

“Defeats like tonight’s can either disturb a group or help it in building a project. Guingamp will help us, both staff and players. We cannot be a team that evolves in a chaotic manner, we must be organized,” he added.

Cathro also paid tribute to tonight’s opponent. “Guingamp did things intelligently, we expected that. It is a lesson for all of us.” Saint-Étienne will have the chance to respond next weekend when they host Laval at Geoffroy-Guichard.