Will Still: “I wanted to build something”

Will Still’s coaching career has rarely followed the expected path. From taking charge of Lierse at just 24 to leading Stade de Reims and RC Lens in Ligue 1, the Belgian-English coach has become accustomed to making instinctive decisions.

His latest has brought him to AJ Auxerre. Appointed in June on a two-year contract, Still will begin the 2026/27 campaign with his third Ligue 1 club, having returned to France following a challenging spell in England.

Speaking in an extensive interview with L’Équipe, the 33-year-old explained that his decision to join AJA was neither a fallback option nor an attempt to repair his reputation.

“I had opportunities during the season, such as Paris FC and Nantes,” he said. “But I wanted to take my time. People forget that I am only 33.”

Still had also held discussions with Lorient and Bristol City before Auxerre’s history, identity and human scale eventually persuaded him.

“For me, Auxerre is TF1 on a Tuesday or Wednesday night in the Champions League, with Real Madrid and AC Milan coming here, and the PlayStation 2 shirt,” he recalled. “We all watched it, even in Belgium.”

The presence of former AJA players Djibril Cissé and Jean-Alain Boumsong also helped to convince him. Still spoke to both men, as well as legendary former coach Guy Roux, before accepting the position.

“You can feel their love for the club,” he said. “That touched me. I told myself to be guided by my instinct. Auxerre is a very accessible club, on a very human scale.”

A desire to start again

Still’s arrival at the Stade Abbé-Deschamps follows a difficult period in his career. After leaving Lens, he moved to Southampton but was dismissed in November 2025.

It was the first time he had been sacked as a coach, and the experience forced him to step away from football entirely for several weeks.

“It was horrible,” Still admitted. “It is your whole life, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From one day to the next, it is taken away from you.

“For the next three days, without setting an alarm, I woke up at the same time and thought, ‘I have nothing to do. Nobody is waiting for me.’ You feel useless.”

Still did not watch football for two months. Instead, he travelled to New York, Australia, Iceland and Portugal, taking time to reassess after several demanding years in management.

He now believes he returned to work too quickly when he joined Southampton.

“I should not have thrown myself straight back into it,” he said. “I was exhausted. I encourage people to live, to see their family and friends.”

At Auxerre, Still has consequently been attracted by the opportunity to work with greater stability and establish a longer-term project.

“I have never needed to play in Europe or become champion tomorrow,” he explained. “For the first time, I told myself that I was going to think about it. I wanted to build something.”

“Football is important, but it is a game”

Still also discussed how his wife Emma Saunders’ serious health problems have changed his perspective. During his time at Lens, Saunders was recovering from cancer when she was diagnosed with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. Still revealed that doctors told the couple that her condition could have become life-threatening had they arrived at hospital a day later. He briefly stepped away from training before returning on the eve of a match, a decision he now regrets.

“I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’” he said. “I should have taken more time for Emma and for myself. Football is important, but it is a game.”

Those experiences have left Still calmer, although the intensity that characterised his spells with Reims and Lens remains central to his coaching.

He wants Auxerre to play direct, vertical and pragmatic football, while still giving his players the freedom to follow their instincts in the final third.

That approach was already visible during AJA’s 5-2 pre-season victory over Lusitanos Saint-Maur. Romain Faivre ignored the original plan for an inswinging corner and instead delivered an outswinging ball from which Auxerre scored.

“He told me, ‘I felt it,’” Still recalled. “In that situation, you applaud.”

Still’s teams have often been associated with energy and aggression, but their defensive organisation has been equally important. Reims established a club-record 19-match unbeaten run under the coach, while Lens finished his season in charge with one of the strongest defensive records in Ligue 1.

Different by instinct

Still has frequently been portrayed as an extroverted figure, but he insists that image does not reflect his personality away from the touchline.

“In a situation where I do not know people, I am very uncomfortable,” he said. “I do not like talking. I am very discreet and calm away from football, but once the whistle goes, something switches on.”

Born to English parents and raised in Belgium, Still has often felt that he did not belong entirely to either country.

“I have been different my whole life,” he said. “When you grow up in Belgium while being English and ginger as well, you are different.”

That unconventional identity has accompanied Still throughout a coaching career that began in Belgium before taking him to Reims, Lens, England and now Auxerre.

Still is already preparing for his sixth senior coaching position at the age of 33. But after a turbulent period, he is no longer interested in rushing towards the next opportunity.

At the Abbé-Deschamps, he has found a historic club, a familiar league and, most importantly, the chance to begin building again.