When they speak of each other, respect and esteem seem quite sincere. “I really like Gérard, without whom we would never have had a player like Vyakhireva in France,” says Thierry Weizman for example, without detour. He and Gérard Le Saint, respectively at the head of Metz Handball and Brest Brittany Handball, constitute two pillars of the French female hand.
“No agreement on all files”, dixit the saint, the two presidents are “in phase” on the fact of seeing the current two -headed model evolve, while their training courses are found on the European scene, on Saturday. “Today, unfortunately, the gap between Metz, we and the rest of the French teams is widening,” notes the Finistère entrepreneur, who wonders: “From the moment when the sports issue decreases, what can we do to interest people? »»
Two different characters …
Never stingy with ideas, the Gouesnousien, which his counterpart is readily portrayed as “an eminently sympathetic man” with “a legendary joie de vivre”, thought about transposing the operation “Francis pays his tour”, which he had already imagined for the Brest stadium, of which he is the co -president. “If Brest spends us fifteen goals in the quarterfinals and that in addition there is a general tour, it will be even more unpleasant,” smiles Weizman. This is something that I would never have done, but why not innovate. »»
At the Metz handball controllers for twenty years, Thierry Weizman, however, shares, with his competitor, a thirst for development for the discipline. Omnipresent, jack-of-all-trades and sure of his strength, the 65-year-old doctor is not necessarily the one who arouses the most sympathy among the college of championship presidents, he who can join the meetings between clubs, in Visio, still equipped with his blouse.
-… And two ways to operate
In this same quality, the Mosellan spends each match on the bench, as close as possible to its workforce, describing itself as “very close” to its players: “I make, for example, a word each after each match, to congratulate it, to thank it …” Gérard Le Saint, for its part, largely delegates the sports part to Nicolas Roué, sports manager for two and a half years. “I think his players like Gérard, because he has a sense of party and people like people like that,” continues Weizman, also very involved in recruitment. On the other hand, I do not know if it is he who hits the fingers when it does not go. »»
The president of the BBH may have to do so, as after the defeat in the Champions League Elecument dam in Koprivnica (Croatia) last month. But also knew how to attach to certain longtime Brestoises, such as Pauletta Foppa. “I like this proximity to people, whether players, partners, supporters …”
“Thierry likes her track record, but …”
Before the third shock of the season between their two clubs, with very different economic models, Thierry Weizman judges them at an almost identical level, in particular with regard to “the crowd, the enthusiasm or the championship course” (Brest has only lost the first leg in Metz). “We have a small advance in terms of titles and stability, with the same president for twenty years and the same coach for ten years (Emmanuel Mayonnade). »»
“Thierry, he likes his record but, I consider that I have a better record than him, the most beautiful of the French female hand,” retorts Gérard Le Saint. We won the French Cup by being in D2, we won the championship by being every year on the podium, and we went to the Champions League final. In a week, one of the two can, whatever happens, pride itself on a new participation in a Final Four, in Budapest. A certain Grail, for both.
