There's only one Sauzee

[Speedy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_dNDskgVAU

I clicked on this after a few videos in the best goal thread but I thought this deserved a thread of its own :sauzee: :not worth

[PJ IronHIbee]

Class mate. Brings back so many great memories. The man was and always will be a legend.

Thanks for the memories Franck

GGTTH

[Off the bar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_dNDskgVAU

I clicked on this after a few videos in the best goal thread but I thought this deserved a thread of its own :sauzee: :not worth

I'll never get tired of that video, great memories of the best time of my life and the best hibs side I've ever seen

sauzee there's only one sauzee there's onlye one sauzee, repeat...

[lucky]

Doubt we will ever see the likes of Le God ever play for Hibs in the near future. He must be the most popular player since Pat Stanton. It is such a shame that his relationship with the club is in tatters after the way he was treated.

[Johnny0762]

I'll never get tired of that video, great memories of the best time of my life and the best hibs side I've ever seen

sauzee there's only one sauzee there's onlye one sauzee, repeat...

This. Watched this many times and just watched it right through again.:aok:

[Glory Lurker]

Doubt we will ever see the likes of Le God ever play for Hibs in the near future. He must be the most popular player since Pat Stanton. It is such a shame that his relationship with the club is in tatters after the way he was treated.

Obviously agree with this 100% but I can't help wondering why Franck doesn't make some sort of gesture to the fans. Not talking about him coming to ER or making a video for us on youtube or anything like that, but just some sort of acknowledgement (see - I'm getting so emotional I'm just yabbering!). I've read a couple of French interviews with him (in connection to his TV work), and we didn't get a mention, which was disappointing. Could it be that somehow we don't actually mean that much to him?:boo hoo: No, I can't quite believe I said that either, but come on, Franck - just a nod?

[Pretty Boy]

If Franck wants nothing to do with us It's hardly surprising.

This was a guy who gave everything whilst he was here, a hugely respected footballer and a.European Cup winner. Sacking him as manager may or may not have been the right thing to do but the humiliation he must have felt when forced to sit through that press conference doesn't bear thinking about. He was almost in tears and deserved better than that.

I may be talking out my erse but I'm sure I remember reading he wad unofficially keeping an eye out in France for players for Mixu when he was manager. Now if Mixu was telling him some of the abuse he was taking he probably thinks very little of us. Mixu wasn't great as gaffer but folk, including on here, calling him mixup and the Finn or the fat Finn was uncalled for. That was a guy who helped drag us out the 1st division and then scored a hat trick in the best Derby of my lifetime.

I'm sure Franck remembers much of his time with us well but if he has a bitter taste in his mouth about how it ended and wants to close the book on that chapter of his life then I dont blame him.

[1two]

What an absolute idol

Can't believe he's just went off the radar as far as Hibs are concerned since leaving

[Johnny0762]

If Franck wants nothing to do with us It's hardly surprising.

This was a guy who gave everything whilst he was here, a hugely respected footballer and a.European Cup winner. Sacking him as manager may or may not have been the right thing to do but the humiliation he must have felt when forced to sit through that press conference doesn't bear thinking about. He was almost in tears and deserved better than that.

I may be talking out my erse but I'm sure I remember reading he wad unofficially keeping an eye out in France for players for Mixu when he was manager. Now if Mixu was telling him some of the abuse he was taking he probably thinks very little of us. Mixu wasn't great as gaffer but folk, including on here, calling him mixup and the Finn or the fat Finn was uncalled for. That was a guy who helped drag us out the 1st division and then scored a hat trick in the best Derby of my lifetime.

I'm sure Franck remembers much of his time with us well but if he has a bitter taste in his mouth about how it ended and wants to close the book on that chapter of his life then I dont blame him.

Correct on all accounts. Both legends as Hibs players and given short treatment by our board as managers.

[Glory Lurker]

Again, I totally agree with all this, I just think that seeing it wasn't the fans who soured things for him - and surely, surely he knows the pedestal we've still got him on - he could give us a tip of his hat, even if making it clear that it's not for the club. Acht well.

[FranckSuzy]

Again, I totally agree with all this, I just think that seeing it wasn't the fans who soured things for him - and surely, surely he knows the pedestal we've still got him on - he could give us a tip of his hat, even if making it clear that it's not for the club. Acht well.

:agree: With you on this. I'll never forget the 'do' we had at ER for him and I'm sure he won't either as he was in tears (as were most there!). Great man.

[spike220]

Correct on all accounts. Both legends as Hibs players and given short treatment by our board as managers.

and some fans................:tin hat:

[johnrebus]

Whatever problem Franck Sauzee has with Hibernian, it is certainly not with the fans.

For that reason I find it very difficult to understand his complete blanking of the club.


Mixu on the other hand, did get it tight from the supporters, but made it very clear when I was lucky enough to meet him at Eurostar in Brussels a couple of years ago that he still loves the club, its fans, and that his time as a player at Easter Road were the best years of his career.


I can only hope that Franck will mellow with age and come to love us again.

But I wouldn't bet on it.


:cb

[JimBHibees]

Great player however the biggest mistake IMO was giving him the managers job in the first place not sacking him when it was going pear shaped. He hasn't managed anywhere else so its not as if we missed out on a managerial legend. It was one of a number of pretty short sighted managerial appointments along the lines of you used to play for Hibs, you probably cost less than someone better, you are an easy option so you get the job.

[Tricla]

and some fans................:tin hat:

No need for the tin hat cos you're spot on. Some of the treatment that Le God and Mixu got (especially) was unreal.

[Stevie Reid]

I read the book when I was on holiday in Florida earlier in the year and it almost made me greet to think back at how ridiculously good he was for us, especially in the context of what we've seen in recent years - we were home and awayers for practically all of the First Division campaign and the two years following so saw almost all of his performances for Hibs, but being reminded of them was great. As is put so simply in the book, when he became manager and retired we lost our best defender and playmaker in one fell swoop. Look at Davie Weir, Sauzee could have played in the SPL into his forties no problem - it could, and should, have lasted so much longer.

It was also really saddening to be reminded of how a former European champion, who somehow ended up living and breathing Hibs, ended up having his heart broken by the club (though I can understand why the board acted when they did). As it says in the book, his time as manager at Hibs was the only time in his whole career that he could be considered a failure, and obviously he can't deal with it, even to this day.

[JimBHibees]

I read the book when I was on holiday in Florida earlier in the year and it almost made me greet to think back at how ridiculously good he was for us, especially in the context of what we've seen in recent years - we were home and awayers for practically all of the First Division campaign and the two years following so saw almost all of his performances for Hibs, but being reminded of them was great. As is put so simply in the book, when he became manager and retired we lost our best defender and playmaker in one fell swoop. Look at Davie Weir, Sauzee could have played in the SPL into his forties no problem - it could, and should, have lasted so much longer.

It was also really saddening to be reminded of how a former European champion, who somehow ended up living and breathing Hibs, ended up having his heart broken by the club (though I can understand why the board acted when they did). As it says in the book, his time as manager at Hibs was the only time in his whole career that he could be considered a failure, and obviously he can't deal with it, even to this day.

Great point it wasnt just the fact he became the manager it was the fact he wasnt playing also that no doubt affected results.

[hibsmad]

I read the book when I was on holiday in Florida earlier in the year and it almost made me greet to think back at how ridiculously good he was for us, especially in the context of what we've seen in recent years - we were home and awayers for practically all of the First Division campaign and the two years following so saw almost all of his performances for Hibs, but being reminded of them was great. As is put so simply in the book, when he became manager and retired we lost our best defender and playmaker in one fell swoop. Look at Davie Weir, Sauzee could have played in the SPL into his forties no problem - it could, and should, have lasted so much longer.

It was also really saddening to be reminded of how a former European champion, who somehow ended up living and breathing Hibs, ended up having his heart broken by the club (though I can understand why the board acted when they did). As it says in the book, his time as manager at Hibs was the only time in his whole career that he could be considered a failure, and obviously he can't deal with it, even to this day.

I like most fans who idolised him can't really understand why he has blanked us without so much as even an "I loved my time playing there" type comment in an interview. I think though that you may just have given me a reason that makes some sense. For a guy who failed nowhere else he may well just be the type of person who would rather now try and forget the whole episode.

[Stevie Reid]

I like most fans who idolised him can't really understand why he has blanked us without so much as even an "I loved my time playing there" type comment in an interview. I think though that you may just have given me a reason that makes some sense. For a guy who failed nowhere else he may well just be the type of person who would rather now try and forget the whole episode.

I was the same, couldn't understand why he wouldn't reconnect on any level, until Ted Brack wrote that in his book. It's still unbelievably sad, but does make sense.

[Mon Dieu4]

I like the air of mystery surrounding it, adds to his legend

could never be angry with him, in fact he could punch me square in the face and id say thanks Franck

[500miles]

I think Franck feels let down by more than the board. The players that he took over let him down. Guys like Luna, who got sent off, losing us the game against Celtic. We had players that underperformed, and, I think, thought it would be easy with thier mate in charge.

The greatest to pull on the Green and white in my life. I knew a great hibby, sadly passed, who lived through the Tornadoes and the Famous 5, and he rated him as high as any of them.

[Pretty Boy]

I think Franck feels let down by more than the board. The players that he took over let him down. Guys like Luna, who got sent off, losing us the game against Celtic. We had players that underperformed, and, I think, thought it would be easy with thier mate in charge.

The greatest to pull on the Green and white in my life. I knew a great hibby, sadly passed, who lived through the Tornadoes and the Famous 5, and he rated him as high as any of them.

Agree especially with the last part, by far and away the best player I've watched in a Hibs strip, he was immense.

Sad thing is kids of about 10-15 won't really know Franck properly. He is to them what guys like the 5 or the Tornadoes were to me. I knew they were legends and what they have acheived but it was something I felt I'd missed out on.

[Stevie Reid]

I think Franck feels let down by more than the board. The players that he took over let him down. Guys like Luna, who got sent off, losing us the game against Celtic. We had players that underperformed, and, I think, thought it would be easy with thier mate in charge.

The greatest to pull on the Green and white in my life. I knew a great hibby, sadly passed, who lived through the Tornadoes and the Famous 5, and he rated him as high as any of them.

It says in the book that Sauzee was totally disillusioned by the fact that players didn't respond to someone who tried to understand them, and speak to them like a human being - he said that they wanted to be shouted and barked at by an intimidating figure, as they responded better to it. The more time goes on, the more you realise how good an assistant he would've been for a more experienced manager - he would have been the perfect go between, and would have continued playing.

I don't blame the board though, they got swept along in the emotion when he was appointed (Sauzee told them he was ready), but we were in free fall and St. Johnstone were improving when he was sacked. Ted Brack says in the book that Sauzee seemed to be relieved when he was told he was leaving.

[bawheid]

He hasn't managed anywhere else so its not as if we missed out on a managerial legend. It was one of a number of pretty short sighted managerial appointments along the lines of you used to play for Hibs, you probably cost less than someone better, you are an easy option so you get the job.



It was also really saddening to be reminded of how a former European champion, who somehow ended up living and breathing Hibs, ended up having his heart broken by the club (though I can understand why the board acted when they did).



I don't blame the board though, they got swept along in the emotion when he was appointed (Sauzee told them he was ready), but we were in free fall and St. Johnstone were improving when he was sacked.


Can't agree with any of this. Sacking Sauzee after 69 days in charge was, is and always will be one of the most disgraceful decisions a Hibs board will ever make. We were in free-fall under McLeish long before Franck took over and the way I remember it was that he had us playing some good stuff (3-4 loss to Aberdeen at home rings a bell), but just wasn't getting the rub of the green.

To sack anyone after a matter of weeks and a few games in charge would be harsh, but to do it to someone who had put Seria A to one side to come and fall in love with the Hibees was simply disgusting.

St Johnstone weren't improving. As I recall it they won a game which brought them slightly closer to us and our Board of Directors completely shat it. I've never been so gutted as a Hibs supporter when I heard the news that he'd gone - and I include the recent Cup Final debacle in that. It was just wrong.

It's no wonder he wants nothing to do with us. I still love him though.

[RoscoHibby]

Maybe a bit OTT, but we should sing his song in the 4th minute every game at ER til the big man comes back! Maybe get a little media coverage or something that may fall under the great man's nose, might make him at least come back and say hello, least do the HT hibby draw or something!!

Regardless, I ****ing love that man and was a privilidge to watch him play his game.

[JimBHibees]

Can't agree with any of this. Sacking Sauzee after 69 days in charge was, is and always will be one of the most disgraceful decisions a Hibs board will ever make. We were in free-fall under McLeish long before Franck took over and the way I remember it was that he had us playing some good stuff (3-4 loss to Aberdeen at home rings a bell), but just wasn't getting the rub of the green.

To sack anyone after a matter of weeks and a few games in charge would be harsh, but to do it to someone who had put Seria A to one side to come and fall in love with the Hibees was simply disgusting.

St Johnstone weren't improving. As I recall it they won a game which brought them slightly closer to us and our Board of Directors completely shat it. I've never been so gutted as a Hibs supporter when I heard the news that he'd gone - and I include the recent Cup Final debacle in that. It was just wrong.

It's no wonder he wants nothing to do with us. I still love him though.

My view would be that we were struggling big time and that Franck was struggling with the job. I think his relationship with players and his assistant (D. Park) were poor. I can remember one home game where Franck was at one end of the bench and Park was at the other and they didnt speak a word during the game.

We lost a semi to Ayr where Franck sat in the stand most of the night with little or no attempt to rally an abject performance? As I have said above I think the mistake was giving him the job not sacking him, we lost our best player and ended up with a rookie manager with reasonable not great English. He hasn't managed since which maybe suggests that he didnt particularly enjoy it.

[Jonnyboy]

I think Franck feels let down by more than the board. The players that he took over let him down. Guys like Luna, who got sent off, losing us the game against Celtic. We had players that underperformed, and, I think, thought it would be easy with thier mate in charge.

The greatest to pull on the Green and white in my life. I knew a great hibby, sadly passed, who lived through the Tornadoes and the Famous 5, and he rated him as high as any of them.

:agree: Significant that only Yogi turned up at Franck's presentation do as all the players were invited.

[LancashireHibby]

Whoever uploaded that video to YouTube is a legend.... :wink:

[Hibs Class]

:agree: Significant that only Yogi turned up at Franck's presentation do as all the players were invited.

Was yogi still playing for us then? We met him that day (great guy, btw, very friendly and happy to do pics and autographs) but I thought he was gone from Hibs by then.

[Jonnyboy]

Was yogi still playing for us then? We met him that day (great guy, btw, very friendly and happy to do pics and autographs) but I thought he was gone from Hibs by then.

He'd left IIRC aye. Was still keen as mustard to attend that day though, unlike most of Franck's erstwhile team mates

[Stevie Reid]

Can't agree with any of this. Sacking Sauzee after 69 days in charge was, is and always will be one of the most disgraceful decisions a Hibs board will ever make. We were in free-fall under McLeish long before Franck took over and the way I remember it was that he had us playing some good stuff (3-4 loss to Aberdeen at home rings a bell), but just wasn't getting the rub of the green.

To sack anyone after a matter of weeks and a few games in charge would be harsh, but to do it to someone who had put Seria A to one side to come and fall in love with the Hibees was simply disgusting.

St Johnstone weren't improving. As I recall it they won a game which brought them slightly closer to us and our Board of Directors completely shat it. I've never been so gutted as a Hibs supporter when I heard the news that he'd gone - and I include the recent Cup Final debacle in that. It was just wrong.

It's no wonder he wants nothing to do with us. I still love him though.

The St. Johnstone game was a tricky one, and on some level it was ridiculous that winning that game completely obliterated any relegation worries that we had, but we were in freefall (you're right about it being bad before he took over, we had only one once and taken 6 points from our previous ten games) under Sauzee - yes we had played well at times under Franck, but some of the performances and results were awful.

You're right that St. Johnstone had just won one game but they had been getting plaudits for the way they had played all season and there were genuine worries that they may start to put a run together following their win. We were only in our 3rd season of being back in the SPL following our relegation, and we spent an absolute fortune getting out of the First Division, consolidating our SPL place, and then finishing 3rd. We were around £15M in debt and the Sky money was absolutely imperative to sustaining our existence - being relegated again would have killed the club, and the board decided that the game v Saints was quite simply one that we could not afford to lose.

I remember looking ahead to the fixture with fear and trepidation when Franck was in charge, our recent results and performances had been utterly dire - the semi vs Ayr would go down as one of the grimmest nights in our history if it weren't for two more recent SC results against the Yams, and we were beaten 4-0 away at Motherwell (who eventually finished 11th) losing all four goals in the second half, including a hat trick to a debutant whose 3 goals were absolutely identical. All of us were always behind Franck, but things were grim, and had anyone else been in charge for those games they would have been slaughtered (I'm obviously glad Franck wasn't).

The sad fact is that he won one of his 14 games in charge, at home to Stranraer in an SC replay - he lost 8 of them, giving him a loss ratio of 57%. We only scored 8 goals in the 10 league games that Franck was in charge for (we only scored once in his first SIX league games as manager) and conceded 19, giving us a goal difference of - 11 for his league tenure. To put things in perspective, when Williamson took over we won 5 and drew one of our next 9 games, scoring 17 goals and conceding only 8 (though I do maintain that losing Craig Brewster for 17 games was hugely significant factor in that season).

We were poor when he took over and he didn't improve us at all (he signed Kevin Nicol, Jarko Wiss, Lillian Martin and Freddie Daquin, none of whom had distinguished Hibs careers), in fact we got worse when he was in charge. Sauzee himself became disillusioned at the lack of response to his methods and was a beaten man by the end of his tenure, quickly learning that management wasn't for him - he may have improved us had he been given more time, but the early signs were far from good, and I can understand why the board felt that that was far too big a risk to take.

That his appointment was a mistake is beyond question, but I can understand why it happened - Malcolm McPherson was our Chairman at the time, and he was a staunch Hibbie; faced with losing McLeish and having someone of Franck's stature in world football, not to mention his love of the club and relationship with the fans, tell you "I'm ready", what would you do? McPherson openly admits that he got swept along with the wave of emotion that surrounded the appointment, and I don't blame him. We've had enough criticism in recent years for having business heads in charge of Hibs instead of football men making the decisions - here was a supporter who made a decision with his heart and then just 3 months later had to make a heartbreaking one with his head. I am devastated at how things ended with Franck, indeed at how they still are, but I do not blame McPherson for making either decision - after all, as huge a figure as Franck was/is, he was not bigger than the club, and the club's future was very much at stake.

[Mon1875]

Sauzee was and will always be my favourite player. I can always remember listening to the team being announced and if he wasn't playing really worrying we would lose that day.

I love the original poster's video. Watched it many a time.

I can remember the Hibs' supporters presentation to Sauzee with the antique Edinburgh claret glass. I think it was just an audio link and I listened at work and started to cry at my office desk listening to it. Has anyone got a link to that? Maybe it was a video? Can't quite remember. Emotional stuff :not worth

[ekhibee]

The St. Johnstone game was a tricky one, and on some level it was ridiculous that winning that game completely obliterated any relegation worries that we had, but we were in freefall (you're right about it being bad before he took over, we had only one once and taken 6 points from our previous ten games) under Sauzee - yes we had played well at times under Franck, but some of the performances and results were awful.

You're right that St. Johnstone had just won one game but they had been getting plaudits for the way they had played all season and there were genuine worries that they may start to put a run together following their win. We were only in our 3rd season of being back in the SPL following our relegation, and we spent an absolute fortune getting out of the First Division, consolidating our SPL place, and then finishing 3rd. We were around £15M in debt and the Sky money was absolutely imperative to sustaining our existence - being relegated again would have killed the club, and the board decided that the game v Saints was quite simply one that we could not afford to lose.

I remember looking ahead to the fixture with fear and trepidation when Franck was in charge, our recent results and performances had been utterly dire - the semi vs Ayr would go down as one of the grimmest nights in our history if it weren't for two more recent SC results against the Yams, and we were beaten 4-0 away at Motherwell (who eventually finished 11th) losing all four goals in the second half, including a hat trick to a debutant whose 3 goals were absolutely identical. All of us were always behind Franck, but things were grim, and had anyone else been in charge for those games they would have been slaughtered (I'm obviously glad Franck wasn't).

The sad fact is that he won one of his 14 games in charge, at home to Stranraer in an SC replay - he lost 8 of them, giving him a loss ratio of 57%. We only scored 8 goals in the 10 league games that Franck was in charge for (we only scored once in his first SIX league games as manager) and conceded 19, giving us a goal difference of - 11 for his league tenure. To put things in perspective, when Williamson took over we won 5 and drew one of our next 9 games, scoring 17 goals and conceding only 8 (though I do maintain that losing Craig Brewster for 17 games was hugely significant factor in that season).

We were poor when he took over and he didn't improve us at all (he signed Kevin Nicol, Jarko Wiss, Lillian Martin and Freddie Daquin, none of whom had distinguished Hibs careers), in fact we got worse when he was in charge. Sauzee himself became disillusioned at the lack of response to his methods and was a beaten man by the end of his tenure, quickly learning that management wasn't for him - he may have improved us had he been given more time, but the early signs were far from good, and I can understand why the board felt that that was far too big a risk to take.

That his appointment was a mistake is beyond question, but I can understand why it happened - Malcolm McPherson was our Chairman at the time, and he was a staunch Hibbie; faced with losing McLeish and having someone of Franck's stature in world football, not to mention his love of the club and relationship with the fans, tell you "I'm ready", what would you do? McPherson openly admits that he got swept along with the wave of emotion that surrounded the appointment, and I don't blame him. We've had enough criticism in recent years for having business heads in charge of Hibs instead of football men making the decisions - here was a supporter who made a decision with his heart and then just 3 months later had to make a heartbreaking one with his head. I am devastated at how things ended with Franck, indeed at how they still are, but I do not blame McPherson for making either decision - after all, as huge a figure as Franck was/is, he was not bigger than the club, and the club's future was very much at stake.

An excellent post and in my opinion an accurate one; I particularly agree with the last paragraph. That said, I, as I'm sure you do, will always regard him as one of the best players ever to play for Hibs. Even in that short video, the 'feel good' factor was certainly apparent, they were great times for us, even if it was just for 2 seasons, most of us will never forget the brilliant memories.

[LancashireHibby]

I love the original poster's video. Watched it many a time.
I'm not letting him steal the credit for my DVD ripping skills! :wink: