After just one season, FC Sion is back in the Super League. Ahead of the season opener, sporting director Barth Constantin talks to blue Sport about the lessons learned and future goals.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- After just one season in the Challenge League, FC Sion is back in the Super League and wants to re-establish itself in Switzerland's top division as quickly as possible.
- In an interview with blue Sport, sporting director Barth Constantin looks back on the past year and explains where he sees progress.
Barth Constantin on ...
... the year in the Challenge League
This year has shown us that our openness towards mistakes has improved. That's one reason why we got promoted. We've realized that it can work well if we rely on local players. People can also identify with the club that way. It's a working-class region, a region that is hard-working and has its values. People put their heart and soul into their work and identify with the job and the success. We want to bring these values to the fore with Sion.
... immediate promotion
Despite the direct promotion, I will definitely remember the relegation. It will stay with me and keep me busy. But the immediate promotion also helps to forget the relegation. You can see that the work is bearing fruit. That is satisfying. In the situation we were in with Sion in the first division, it would have been very difficult to stay up. Let's not kid ourselves about that.
... the lessons learned
The good thing is that it opened our eyes and enabled us to change things. We were able to reposition ourselves and bring things back into balance. It allowed us to change the contracts and introduce three different types of contracts at FC Sion. Low contracts, medium contracts and contracts for our top players. This gave us the opportunity to set limits. Last year, 90 percent of the team was made up of players from Switzerland. This year it looks similar again.
... the squad planning
Our priority remains to recruit young Swiss players who know the team. In the case of foreigners, it's usually players who have already played in Switzerland. Their values must match ours. That's exactly the kind of player we're looking for today. It's clear that we might one day have a player with a bigger name than others, but that's not the goal. We don't recruit a person because of their name, but because they match our values and current goals and fit into the club.
... the future goals
As already mentioned, it is very important to consolidate FC Sion back in the top division with ambition. It is clear that there will be highs and lows. The top priority is to collect as many points as possible in order to avoid relegation as quickly as possible. If you do that, you'll quickly finish fourth, sixth or seventh. I don't have a crystal ball or a desired ranking, but I expect us to re-establish ourselves in the league as quickly as possible with a lot of ambition.
