Recruitment of a general manager completed
At the Stade Malherbe, a change of era is taking place. With Olivier Pickeu’s page definitively turned, new names are emerging at the head of the Caen club. Starting with Ziad Hammoud (46 years old), officially became the president of the SMC since September 9. Ziad Hammoud, close to Kylian Mbappé’s family. And for good reason, he has also been the managing director of Interconnected Ventures for a year and a half.(1)the parent company of Coalition Capital which bought 80% of the shares of Oaktree, the former majority shareholder of the “Rouge et Bleu”. Compared to his predecessor, this father of three children has a diametrically opposite profile, since he does not come from the world of football. The main person concerned sees this as an asset. “I have not been president for 45 years and I have not been through several clubs. We arrive with recipes which will sometimes be different. We give ourselves the opportunity to have another perspective”.
A novice in this role, Ziad Hammoud assures, however, that he is no stranger to this very particular environment. “I am a man of everything that makes football: the media, finance… I have been practicing this ecosystem for several years”. And if football, in terms of the game, is not his specialty, it is that of the owner he represents. “We hope that this balance will contribute to the success of the club in the seasons to come”. Note that he will not devote himself 100% to Stade Malherbe(2). “I will share my responsibilities”. As a result, a general director will be appointed in the coming weeks to manage day-to-day affairs, which do not concern the athlete. “We will apply slightly different governance”. This recruitment in the administrative field should not be the only one. Coming from Coalition Capital, Josselin Flamand, specialized in finance, is already in the SMC premises. He is like a right arm of Ziad Hammoud.
(1)Interconnected Ventures, a company owned by Kylian Mbappé, brings together several activities such as content creation (digital, documentaries, publishing, music, etc.), a consulting activity to help talents (communication, wealth management, etc.) and a merchandising and marketing aspect).
(2)On the question of his contractual status vis-à-vis SM Caen, namely whether or not he is an employee of the club, Ziad Hammoud did not wish to answer. “The priority is not to know”.
Gérard Prêcheur, the boss of sports policy including training
At the football level, Gérard Prêcheur, with his technical director hat, will have a transversal look at the entire sports policy of Stade Malherbe, from the U14s to the “pros” including training without forgetting the women’s section. “He will create the strategy, execute it and supervise it”lists Ziad Hammoud. “Gérard comes with immense experience. He has a vision that we share: “Let the player be at the center of everything”. We are already in the process of putting in place a whole bunch of tools through infrastructure, resources human, nutrition… We want even more professionalism”. It remains to be seen how this project will materialize in practice? The coming weeks will provide an outline of the answer.
In the meantime, the appointment of Gérard Prêcheur, like the extent of his prerogatives, nevertheless raises a question: what future for the role of director of the training center? A position currently occupied by Matthieu Ballon, one of the club’s historic figures with almost 25 years of seniority in the “Rouge et Bleu” house. We can legitimately question the relevance of the cohabitation between the two men knowing that all decisions relating to young people and the functioning of the structure are now taken by authority by the former coach of the women of Lyon and PSG . Furthermore, the latter has the BEFF (Football Coach Trainer Certificate), an essential diploma to manage a center and meet the specifications of the FFF. “I am not going to talk about individual cases because I have no answers to give you”simply declared Ziad Hammoud when asked if the SMC General Staff was counting on Matthieu Ballon to lead the training.
The vagueness around the question of the sports director
Identical story regarding Yohan Eudeline although the future of the future former sports director of the SMC is hardly in doubt. “I prefer not to go into detail about individuals”repeats Ziad Hammoud. However, it is only a matter of time before the former attacking midfielder leaves. Since the beginning of August and the change in governance, he is no longer associated with any decision related to the sports sector. Who will he be replaced by? In any case, it won’t be by Bilal Ghazi. the president of Caen certified this to us. “He does not play a role in the club’s organizational chart”. This ex-journalist The team has been an advisor to players for several years, including Lyonnais Rayan Cherki. Given his proximity to the Mbappé family and Fayza Lamari, Kylian’s mother, his name regularly came up this summer when the transfer window was mentioned. “I don’t know what you’re referring to but we had advisors who helped us on a whole bunch of issues”reacts the Norman leader who witnessed the defeat of “his” team at the Stade des Alpes alongside… Bilal Ghazi, even if it should be noted that he is from Grenoble.
Without an operational sports director to date, who led the Caen transfer window this summer? And who will lead it into the future? Unlike Olivier Pickeu, Ziad Hammoud will not move to the front line on the recruitment front, well not completely. “I will always take a look at the transfer window but there is a unit that will take care of it”explains the one who is part of the negotiations on the extension files of Tidiam Gomis and Godson Kyeremeh. By his own admission, he had already been involved in discussions to have Alexandre Mendy stay.
Words to comfort Nicolas Seube
Despite rumors which were quick to circulate about his future with the takeover of the club by Kylian Mbappé (the name of Zoumana Camara quickly leaked on social networks without this information ever being confirmed by a third party), Nicolas Seube emerges reinforced in its prerogatives by the words of Ziad Hammoud. “You will certainly hear a whole bunch of volatility. We lost two matches, he will be fired tomorrow. We win one, he is rehired. We have confidence in Nicolas and in the work he does. There is no has no subject concerning Nicolas Seube He is a person who has mattered and who will matter. Is our desire to build with him? I cannot be more. clear”. The president’s message is transmitted.
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