Olivier Renard is therefore the new sports director of RSC Anderlecht, to everyone’s surprise. We remember his work at Mechelen and Standard, but what memory will he leave in MLS and Montreal?
The accent is lilting, the tone warm: no doubt, our interlocutor comes from Quebec Patrice Bernier. A true legend of what was still the Montreal Impact at the time, for which he played more than 250 matches from 2000 to 2002 then from 2012 to 2017. The Canadian international (56 caps) was therefore retired when Olivier Renard became sports director of CF Montreal.
“I remained present at the club and therefore had the opportunity to meet and meet Mr Renard during his five years in Montreal, a fairly long period in football terms,” Bernier tells us. And according to him, the work of the new sports director of RSC Anderlecht will leave a tangible and positive mark on the Montreal club.
“As he explained to you, Olivier Renard had to do with limited resources because the Impact is not a traditionally rich or spending club. Then, the MLS has its own realities with trading (exchanges) of players , the salary cap (salary ceiling)… The realities of MLS and a club which is not in the upper echelons, all of that, Renard assimilated quite quickly”, analyzes the former midfielder. ground.
Some big sales and big successes in Montreal
This resulted in results, such as a second place in the Eastern Conference with a limited budget, but also in great successes in terms of transfers. “Renard contributed to the emergence of players who were sold for record sums. The three flagship transfers were of course Ismaïl Koné sold for 8 million to Watford, Alistair Johnson sold to Celtic Glasgow and Djordje Mihailovic sold to AZ Alkmaar”, explains Patrice Bernier.
The reality of CF Montreal has changed and Olivier Renard had to deal with it
“But there have also been more discreet successes, lesser-known MLS players who have been able to develop within the club.” All in a club where the pressure is not enormous, but where it nevertheless exists. “I played in Europe (nda: in Tromso, Nordsjaelland and Kaiserslautern, among others) and so I know that it is incomparable. But even if Montreal is not the biggest club in MLS, there is pressure,” says Patrice Bernier.
“Because the supporters (the Quebec word for supporters, nda) of the club have had good times with Didier Drogba, Ignacio Piatti, Marco Di Vaio… So there are expectations and demands, even if they had to meet adapt to a new reality, to a more restricted budget The club’s policy has changed and Olivier Renard had to deal with it”, underlines our interlocutor.
A positive image among Montreal supporters
When he leaves, Olivier Renard will therefore have left behind him a fairly positive assessment and the image of someone “very transparent and very authentic” in his communication, believes Bernier: “It was very appreciated by the Quebec public, he was always honest in his way of doing things and had a good public image. He had also become a public figure, and his signing to Anderlecht was relayed here.
“Of course, his departure could have been done in better circumstances, it’s football, people rarely stay for centuries,” concedes the former Quebec player. “There may have been differences of point of view, the club may have had other intentions. Olivier Renard may have had the feeling that he had taken stock of what he could bring to the team. CF Montreal. But people will keep a good image of him and his work.”
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