Nîmes at heart, trained with the Crocodiles, René Girard became Pailladin by adoption, statuary by local supporters when he led the club to the championship title in 2012. An unforgettable memory whose significance he appreciates a little more as time passes.
An 84-page special issue
Condensing half a century of history into 84 pages. This is the challenge taken up by the sports editorial staff of Midi Libre in this special issue on the 50th anniversary of the MHSC. Available on newsstands on December 11 for only 5 euros, this glossy magazine will make you relive the great moments in the history of the Montpellier club through our “50” who made the MHSC.
Players, coaches and builders, obviously, starting with this “Nicollin Saga”, told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou. A special issue full of anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.
Free Midday
Do you miss football?
People told me “you’ll see, retirement isn’t that simple”. And it’s true, exaggerating a little, that I sometimes wonder what I’m going to do with my day. I think I could have gone another two or three years. I have the desire and the energy. Family life is there, I have the pleasure of going to watch the matches, but it is the passion that takes over. Perhaps I should have continued but at the same time when I see that friends like Bruno Martini or Faouzi Mansouri left too soon, I tell myself that I am not going to complain.
And do you miss the MHSC?
I miss it a lot because no one could have predicted to me what we were going to write. The title was magnificent and I feel the weight that it represents. I come to almost every match at La Mosson and I realize how much we touched people. The recognition is still so intense. It’s beautiful and it affects all social categories. It feels good because time passes and there are things you don’t do twice in your life, especially with a club like that.
Midi Libre – FRANCK VALENTIN
When did you start to look at what was happening in La Paillade?
There was a derby, in the Cup in Alès (in 1978 Editor’s note). I was expelled after getting heated with Jean-Louis Gasset. We laugh about it today. Jean-Louis tells me “when you were a player I hated you and now we have good times together.”
Did you even show a certain part of your anatomy to the Montpellier public on your way out?
Sometimes you don’t need to score a goal to get people talking. Throughout the week, the question was the color of René Girard’s underwear (laughs)… This antagonism returned when Mézy left Montpellier. I had seen some very hot Cup matches at La Mosson. We found in terms of mentality what we experienced at Jean-Bouin. But I left for Bordeaux in 1980 and we lost touch.
Was it Loulou who contacted you in 2009?
I had just left the DTN and the junior team. To my great surprise, Loulou had called me. We had lunch at the farmhouse. There were quite a few people from the club. Laurent, Michel… I met him when he was at the League.
Free Midday
Did the fact of being local, with a big character too, create some chemistry?
Nicollin liked things to be clear. From the beginning, the look he had on me said, “maybe this is what you need to do.” He is the honest, old-fashioned president with whom I have been able to work best. It was also Laurent’s debut. We traveled a lot by bus. The hardest part was sometimes going to see him at the farmhouse to negotiate plane trips because we weren’t rolling in gold.
What do you remember from this magical year?
Our strength this season is feeling that the group is with you. We have a season in the top three almost all the time.
However, at the break, after letting the fall champion title slip away at Evian-Thonon, you wish the players a bad Christmas…
(Laughs) What did I put in them! If I say something like that today, I’ll get lit… It wasn’t thought out but I expected this disappointment. My experience as a player in Bordeaux had taught me a lot of things. In Évian, we lead 2-1 and lose 4-2. When I returned to the locker room I was crazy. I told them “you don’t realize you’re screwing things up.” If I had to do it again, I would do it because I think it was a trigger. They returned after the truce, ready, refreshed and refreshed.
Free Midi – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN
What image or anecdote comes to mind?
The image is during the Champion’s League. To play Arsenal, we flew to London and when we arrived by bus, a man was waiting for us, sitting outside the hotel. It was Loulou! The anecdote is this invitation from fans in the Mosson district just after the title. The guy who comes to pick me up tells me to leave my car in front of the stadium. I tell him, “They are going to burn it”… He answers me “No, you are with us, you risk nothing”. He takes me to a building courtyard, there were drums, quite an atmosphere. They had prepared a meal. It was a great time. They were really happy that I shared this with them. And me too…
There is also this clause in the title that you made Loulou sign…
I don’t know what went through our minds. This clause was requested upon my signature with a bonus in the event of title. It was a big clause though. It made me laugh because I had no trouble getting it across. Nobody imagined us champions. Afterward, Loulou turned me on. “Fuck, you got me…”
The decisive match?
The two matches against Lille. In the first leg, we won 1-0 at Villeneuve-d’Ascq with a goal from Giroud and a huge game from Pioneer in the goals. This is the trigger. The return to La Mosson made our crazy dream come true… The finale in Auxerre was phenomenal too. The tennis balls, the interruptions. It was unbearable but in the end you remember the collective adventure. Boys like Bédimo and Jeunechamp, neglected at the highest level, took quite a revenge. Cyril, I had him at the training center in Nîmes and the people from the Amateur League did not want to keep him. I gave him a chance for one more season with a contract. He was playing striker at the time.
Free Midi – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN
Olivier Giroud took a major part?
Without a doubt. He scored a bunch of impressive goals. I find this boy extraordinary, when you see where he has been… Grenoble, Istres, Tours, Montpellier. Many told me, he is slow, he will not move forward. I made him understand that you can go fast by being slow. Olivier, he had the speed over 80 meters but not the liveliness. But the progression and self-sacrifice he has had in the game is enormous.
Is Montpellier a unique club in your career?
In terms of standing, the biggest club I have known is Lille. Montpellier developed and improved its infrastructure thanks to the money from the title. But the place of full Comedy, the jubilation, these are things that remain. You have it in you forever.
Also read:
50 years of the MHSC: longevity, results, fiery temperament… how Geoffrey Jourdren established himself as an iconic goalkeeper
Can the MHSC still exist in modern football?
Each club has its philosophy. The young players today are all famous. You have to be there at the right time to pick them up. It’s an everyday job. When you did what we did in 2012, you know that you have six or seven players who are going to leave and you have to be ready to rebuild. You shouldn’t be afraid to play young people like we did in 2012 during the CAN with Cabella, Stambouli… If you don’t have the financial means, you have to find other levers. You can have a difficult year with young people, telling yourself that they will get tougher and climb the ladder. We must also give the players the importance they deserve, not highlight them.
Also read:
50 years of the MHSC: Cup victory, European epic, death of Bruno Martini… the contrasting memories of Pascal Baills
Is it the weight of the title that prevents the MHSC from calling on you in these difficult times?
We can ask ourselves the question. My fault is not putting myself forward. If it doesn’t happen in this specific case, it’s because we don’t want it to happen. Because I am there, available… Jean-Louis Gasset is in the same situation as me (1). That would be something to try.
