Lausanne boss Leen Heemskerk: “We have a fairly large budget”

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Leen Heemskerk has been CEO of Lausanne-Sport for just over a year. The Dutchman comes from the Ineos Group, which owns the club. Here, the strong man of the promoted talks about the ambitions in the Super League, the vacant position of sporting director, trainer Ludovic Magnin (44) and the rumor that Ineos is going to Manchester United.

Heemskerk says about…

… his football ignorance:

I wouldn’t say I know anything about football when it comes to tactics. But when it comes to managing a football club, I’ve learned a lot over the past year. It certainly helped that I came from the corporate world. I am making good progress and enjoying it. I’ve always been a football fan.

… his relationship with coach Ludovic Magnin:

It is very good. Ludo poaching was a good decision. When he came we missed a lot of players and together with scouting boss Tony Chauvat he built the team well. I was happy with all the transfers they made last season. The dynamic between the three of us works really well. But I am aware that football works differently than economics. In business you build a very strong relationship with people who have been working with you for 15 or 20 years. But the other day I was talking to Ludo and I said, “Statistically, in two or three years you’ll be fired or you’ll go alone.”

…about the vacancy head of sport:

My logic tells me we should have a sporting director. But the reality is that we didn’t get promoted until late in the season. At the beginning of June we were all already active for the new season, and quite successful. There is a very good harmony between us. Yes, there is still that empty chair. But we just didn’t have time to refill it. But in the long run – I won’t dispute that – a club like Lausanne-Sport needs a sporting director.

… the possible entry to ManUnited by Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe (70):

With all due respect to the sport of Lausanne, we are not as important as Manchester United. The numbers around this club are insane. I haven’t discussed this with Jim. But I told him that if United and Lausanne both played in the Champions League, we would have a conflict (laughs). I cannot say whether joining United would affect Lausanne. I never looked into that. We are very committed to Lausanne at the moment. It was complicated for Ineos with last season’s relegation. Now Jim and company are very excited about the Super League.

… the budget increase for the Super League:

It’s a pretty big budget, but it’s not far off from last season. This was extremely expensive for us as we had a high budget and our team was at a high level. But we didn’t have the money from the Super League. This led to a large deficit for Ineos. This year we hope to reduce the deficit. However, our budget is not at the level of Basel or YB. We want to achieve a solid midfield position. The European Cup is still a dream at the moment, we are not that far yet.

Source : Blick