Will Still Faces Premier League Raid but Keeps Lens in the Game
Picture this: your best midfielder, Abdukodir Khusanov, is snatched up by Manchester City. Then your reliable defender, Ross Danso, signs for Tottenham. For most managers, it’s a nightmare scenario. But Will Still, not quite thirty-three but already a fixture in French football, took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves to keep RC Lens punching above their weight.
After those shock departures, Still faced a puzzle: how do you keep a squad, no longer built around its key talents, actually winning football matches? He didn’t sulk or blame the board—instead, he ripped up his old playbook. Out went the classic 4-2-3-1 formation. In came a new 3-4-3, shifting pieces around to make the best of what he had left. Still’s thinking is clear: adapt or fall behind.
One striking thing about Will Still is how he gets his message across. Instead of the old-school blackboard with magnets, he leans into tech and visuals. Every player, from the oldest vet to the youngest upstart, sees the game plan in action—sometimes literally, thanks to screens and interactive tools. At a time when attention spans are under siege, Still keeps his players invested with his engaging style. The squad snaps to attention not because he’s shouting, but because they see exactly where they fit and what’s at stake for the club.
Managing on and off the Pitch: Will Still’s Double Challenge
On the field, the numbers tell part of the story. In 33 matches by April 2025, Still’s Lens picked up 14 wins and 7 draws, with 12 losses sprinkled in. Doing the math, that’s a win rate of about 42%. Not earth-shattering, but when you factor in the loss of two backbone players and a league that’s never forgiving, it’s seriously impressive resilience. Lens fans see a squad that punches well above its financial weight and refuses to fold, even when bigger clubs come shopping.
But football isn’t everything in Will Still’s world. Off the pitch, real life demanded his attention. His partner, Emma Saunders—a face well-known from Sky Sports—spent months fighting back from encephalitis, a tough brain inflammation. This wasn’t just background noise: Still juggled match day nerves and tactics boards with hospital visits and moments of profound worry. Balancing the mental load of a high-profile job with family struggles, he’s given fans and fellow managers alike a lesson in staying strong through turbulence.
Will Still’s Lens story is far from a fairy tale, but it’s definitely one of grit. Losing top players to the Premier League, reshaping his squad, and keeping things ticking alongside personal worries—he’s not just surviving, he’s setting a blueprint for how modern managers make things work when life refuses to go by the script.
