INTERVIEW. TFC: training in Montpellier and development in Toulouse, application for Téfécist recruitment… Gérald Passi, legend of the Violets, speaks before the Occitanie derby this weekend

Gérald, Sunday at 5:15 p.m., we imagine that you will be in front of your TV…
Yes. This is a match that promises to be interesting in more than one way.

Is your heart swinging?
Clearly. Because I love Toulouse but on the other hand it would pain me if Montpellier went down. By necessity, I think more about the situation of the MHSC than that of the TFC, good one.

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A little prediction, anyway?
I expect a balanced match. This victory against Monaco last weekend (2-1) was good for the entire Hérault club. I think there will be a surge. Now, honestly, I find that Tef, which is enjoying good momentum, is resting on solid foundations. Come on, I’m going to say a draw, 2-2 – that way La Paillade will take a point; that of hope.

Téfécé is fighting for Europe, its neighbor for maintaining. In figures, 13 points separate the two teams (25pts vs 12). And you’re talking about a meeting with an uncertain outcome…
There is the notion of derby and, above all, for the visitor it remains the last moments when you can hope to save yourself. Montpellier-Hérault begins its war if we dare. So far without much success. The people of Montpellier are aware that there are no longer a huge number of cartridges.

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More generally, does the ranking of the two clubs seem consistent with the content offered by each?
Toulouse, which is well established, also has the ability to score goals. Gained stability and solidity throughout the season. That’s what I call a real team. So. I believe that TFC excels in the collective aspect. On the other hand, the MHSC made a mistake, displaying its fragility in this bloc side. Montpellier did not find a framework. Osmosis, that’s it. However, the only way out is through and from there. I speak with full knowledge of the facts: in Annecy, last season at the same passing time, we were around ten points behind [au soir de la 26^e journée, le FCA est 19^e avec 9 unités de débours sur le 1^er potentiellement non relégable] and we still hadn’t found our team. When we “had it”, when the first points arrived, it was gone (the Savoyards finished 14^es) ! In short, as long as Montpellier has not found its true XI-type, it will be penalized…

Return to almost half a century ago: why, as a native of Albi, did you choose Montpellier rather than Toulouse?
My parents lived in Béziers, it was the closest. So, when La Paillade created its Training Center in 1980, invited me to give it a try and then absolutely wanted to have me back… it happened naturally.

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It seems that you are the first player from the Center to have played in D1…
Quite. Well, after that it wasn’t complicated; So I’m from the first class, there were 6 or 8 of us…

We come back to it: March 3, 1982.
My baptism of fire, facing the Tours of Delio Onnis at La Mosson. We lose 3-1. Beautiful memory despite the defeat. I played as a central midfielder and played the entire match. There were 10 days left to save our lead in the elite; alas, we will not succeed. It was a year which ultimately resembles the current one: we had individuals (Gasset, Santini, Sarramagna, Firoud) but the mayonnaise never took hold. Behind it, I will have three seasons in the second division. There was no more money, we had the chance to play.

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What memory of your first club?
My football adolescence, I want to declare: discovery, unconsciousness, carelessness, pleasure. The good artisanal side. My generation is my brother Franck, Jean-Yves Hours, Laurent Blanc, Robin Huc… I forget some.

And you arrive in Toulouse at the same time as Beto Marcico!
TFC was in Ligue 1, step logic. Daniel Jeandupeux had recruited me but, in the end, it was Jacques Santini – with whom I started at “Montpell” – who took over because Daniel was fired at the beginning of the summer of 1985. And then it all worked out straight away… Marcico was gifted, he was the teammate who had the most impact on me. We arrive in a formed group, with innovative concepts. We just need to put our different talents at the service of the vintage: Tarantini, Domergue, Espanol, Durand, etc.

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The following year, your first epic in the European Cup with your famous hat-trick against Spartak Moscow (16^e UEFA Cup final, first leg, 3-1 at the Stadium). You will also score a year later, still at home, in front of Panionos. Result: tied with Thijs Dallinga, you are TFC’s top scorer in Europe (4B)!
It makes me happy, but the number 4 is not too glorious (smile). Against the Greeks, I should not have played, I was coming back from a match in the USSR with the France team; I’m going to blow my left hamstrings. I score a free kick from the 7th^eright side, bezel. And I will have to go out…

Would a return to TFC be possible?
No, I don’t think so. With Annecy, we have a small structure where I get along with people, I exchange, I have a positive interaction. Human and concrete, that’s what guides me. When the club was bought by the Americans in summer 2020, I seized the opportunity of a recruitment position in Toulouse which had opened up, Damien Comolli ultimately did not wish to follow through.