Herve Renard hit the ground running when he arrived in Cambridge in March.

Recommended by renowned international coach Claude Le Roy, Herve was charged with the task of keeping the club in the Football League with eight games of the season remaining. The history books will show that the U's won four of those games and only lost once, away to the champions Doncaster Rovers.

Herve was appointed as the club's new manager at the end of the season - with Claude accepting the role of Director of Football - and he spent the summer learning English, scouting in France, and exploring the transfer market before returning to Cambridge at the end of June.

A hectic pre-season training schedule included an eight-day training camp at Homerton College, with three sessions a day, and the players are now training twice a day as they prepare for what Herve believes will be a long and difficult season.

Taking time out to give his first major interview and to demonstrate his improved English, the U's manager first recapped on his career.

A resident of Cannes in the sunny south of France, he joined Cannes' academy of football at the age of 15 and played in the academy side for three years, where one of his team-mates was Zinedine Zidane.

"That is my best reference!" he smiles modestly, although he also played for France at under-16 level with Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly.

A central midfielder who sometimes played in defence, Herve was at Cannes for seven years and signed his first professional contract there, but was mainly confined to the reserves and only played twice for the first team.

From Cannes he moved to Vallauris, a second division side near Cannes, and after a further seven years he moved on to Draguignan, where he became manager after one season and led the club to promotion to the third division.

He was manager for two years, then came the opportunity to assist Claude in China at Shanghai Zhongyuan Huili.

Claude and Herve taking training at the Abbey last season

"It was a good experience, and a difficult experience because life is very different in China," he recalls of his two years there. "Everything is different - the meals, the mentality - and sometimes it was difficult, but I think it was a good experience for me."

After China came a difficult two months in Vietnam before the start of last season. "I had difficulties with the chairman and it was not possible to work very well because I was manager but the sports director wanted to choose the players," he explains.

"The chairman said it would be OK but I said it was not possible to work in these conditions. After that I was three months without work - January, February, March - and then I came to Cambridge for the eight games at the end of the season."

Although the city made a good impression and he has since moved his family to live here, Herve admits that the supporters made the biggest impact on him.

Herve applauds the supporters

"The city is very nice but my first very good impression was with the fans," he says. "In England the football is different because the fans are different; the passion is fantastic in England and if we don't play well I am disappointed for the fans.

"I think they are very important and we need the fans this season. It is difficult because we have a lot of young players in the squad and we need the support from many people to help us."

Arriving at a club flirting dangerously with the bottom of Division Three, Herve was also surprised by the players.

"I saw the very good players and I don't understand why the club was in the position. The football sometimes was terrible, but with this quality I was sure it was possible to go up in the positions.

"I said to the players, 'you are good quality but now it is the confidence you need so go and play football'."

With assistant Dale Brooks

He acknowledges that those eight games are now behind him and, like all managers, he will be judged by future results: "I said when I signed my contract 'I must have a big result, the eight games are no more', and every manager has the same target, the big result."

Herve believes the training camp at Homerton College will help his small squad have the stamina for the campaign ahead.

"For the eight days it was very difficult for the players because I think it was the first time for them with three sessions a day," he says, "but it was for fitness. They are very tired but I said to them last week, 'no problem, I am confident we will be ready for the 7th August'.

"But this work is not only for the first game, or for September and October; the result is for the last game on the 7th May, 2005."

Looking ahead to the new season, and asked for his hopes, Herve pinpoints a Premiership team as role models for his team.

"I think this squad is OK. We don't have a lot of money, but we will try to have a good season. But we need more concentration, more effort, from every player and the staff - we need everybody for this season and that is very important," he stresses.

"I would like to play good football every time, with the ball on the floor, and for me the example in England is Arsenal. I think they are a fantastic team, a strong team with good technique and good movement. I think without movement it is not possible to play good football."

However he believes that his team may struggle against some teams this season and warns, "I think the third division is very physical and we need more strong players, like Doncaster last season. It was a very good team and very physical, and it is difficult for us against these teams, but we try to play good football.

"I am very happy with Igor (Latte-Yedo)," he adds, "because he can bring physical strength to the defence this season."

Despite the need for results in the eight games last season, Herve was not afraid to give some of the youth team players their chance. He integrated several of the youngsters into the first team squad for training and handed League debuts to five of them, and he will continue that strategy this season.

"John Ruddy, Darren Quinton, David Daniels and Stephen Smith are near the professional team at the moment," he states. "The other players wait with Ricky (Duncan), like Ash Fuller, Ryan Lockett, but I hope these players will play again this season because it's a good thing for Cambridge United when you don't have a lot of money.

"I repeat every day for them, 'this season is your chance, the chance of your life!'"

Finally, although Herve will not be drawn on a prediction for this season - "I don't know these words 'promotion' and 'play-off', I don't understand!" - he is clearly ambitious both for himself and Cambridge United in the future.

"I would like promotion, like the players and a lot of managers in the world. I would like success in England, I would like to speak English very well in two or three years, and I think I can be a good coach in England.

"I am confident for me, but I am at Cambridge United and I hope to stay here for three or four years and do a good job, then we will see. One day at a time!" he concludes with that trademark smile.

Interview by Andrea Thrussell.
This interview was first published in the match programme v Norwich City on Tuesday 27th July 2004

[Herve's first Q&A]

Previous features:
Season Preview
Redevelopment - The Way Forward (June 2004)
End of Term Report 2003/04 (May 2004)
Randall Butt - The End of an Era (May 2004)
Gary Harwood's New Year Statement (January 2004)
'Bridge The Gap' - The Background (December 2003)
Abbey Stadium Plans Unveiled (October 2003)

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