[50 ans] “Laurent Blanc dreams of one day coaching Montpellier”, one of the anecdotes from “50 years, 50 views”!

Yes, our title is seductive, but it is only to better highlight the colossal work carried out by Guilhem Canal and his team: Gwenael Cadoret in the editorial department, Aurelia Frantz for the graphic direction or Pierre-Line Lemaitre as as project manager, to produce the book “50 years, 50 views”.

This Wednesday, the AllezPaillade.com team was invited to the press conference for the club's anniversary book. Enough to shake up our habits somewhat. Because if we do not attend press conferences assiduously, given our status as simple passionate volunteers, we are even less accustomed to the chandelier of the Richer de Belleval hotel, the lair of the Pourcel Brothers, Place Canourgue. In the old wedding hall of the City where the bust of Marianne still sits, the meeting was almost solemn.

Laurent Nicollin, Agathe, Dadou, Philippe Sers and even Jamel Saihi, as the guests arrive, the scope of the project begins to take shape. “ A self-production, with a publishing house that had to be created for the occasion along the way“, explains Guilhem Canal, the author of the book, who immediately turns to Agathe Nicollin to thank her for having “ unlocked many situations“. Because the work was produced in partnership with the club, “ teamwork » to successfully contact former players but also to reduce the initial list of 170 names to 50, finally 52 since the book includes two “extra” interviews. This reduction being notably exercised by the eye of President Pailladin. Among the looks, we find those of Giroud, Valderrama, Blanc, Hilton, Costa, Nouzaret, well, in short, almost all of them. “ We just didn't manage to get Mapou, Belhanda or Ziober, for various reasons“, regrets Guilhem Canal. “ We wanted a family photo that reflected the club, La Paillade“, summarizes Laurent Nicollin and this is where the originality of the project lies: it does not stop at former players but is also interested in members of the staff or offices. “ For example, there is Eliane Gasset [mère de Jean-Louis] who punctuated Jean-Louis' interview with small interventions and after a while, we asked her to do an interview too, it was fascinating, we could have written 10 pagestraces the author of the work. With regard to Louis Nicollin, too, we said to ourselves that everything had already been written, so we wanted to take another look, to ask Agathe and Baptiste, his grandchildren, to tell us about their grandfather“. This book is also a tribute to the men in the shadows who keep the club alive with interviews such as that of Rémi Marey, steward, who discusses the players' obsession with chewing gum or the supporters Sylvain San Martin de la Butte Paillade and Laurent Socorro of the CCS.

The more we learn about the content, the more likely the audience is to ask questions about the anecdotes experienced during the writing. It is on this occasion that we learn that “ Laurent Blanc dreams of one day coaching Montpellier“, hoping the planets are aligned, ” the day Laurent calls him“. Not necessarily perceived as a great lover of his training club, the 1998 World Champion greatly surprised Guilhem Canal during their exchange on his passion for the MHSC.

The authors also mention, among other things, the laughter of Robert Nouzaret, Jean-Louis Gasset with whom they stayed for more than 10 hours and who when leaving called them “ fils“, or the incredible interview with Valderrama in Miami. In the department of surprises, they stop at John Utaka, “ football philosopher“, who explains that part of an attacker's success lies in his breath and who did not hesitate to send a long ball ahead at the start of the match, even if it meant losing it, just to test the defender's burst of speed who marked him. Very quickly through the stories and following the intervention of Laurent Nicollin, it is the specter of the famous “paillade spirit” which resurfaces something intangible which makes this club unique. “ Even among the youngest, Savanier, Chotard, they speak with passion. Guys like Vito, Congré, paradoxically they are in the future, they talk to you about the club, about family spirit, about love but above all they look forward to the next 50 years. Marion Torrent, she has been at the club since she was 12, you can't pronounce 'loulou' without her crying, she is as attached to the club as Jean-Claude Lemoult. What’s crazy, besides, is that Cabella, Karchaoui, Blanc, all of them tell you that they want to come back”.

Like children on the evening of December 24, at the end of the questions, we were finally allowed to leaf through the precious sesame. And the least we can say is that it is a beautiful object. The artistic touch of Aurelia Frantz that we could see on the cover continues in the design of the pages and is enhanced by the photos of Guilhem Canal, trained photographer. It even seems that Sersou “ looks very beautiful ” above. The originality of the initial bias is therefore also found in the content of the book. The reading experience continues digitally since each page is marked with a QR Code which provides access to a short video of the interview.

Initially available for pre-sale online, the book has already sold 730 copies even though it has not been released. It will be available from November 13 at the MHSC Store with an event planned for that day, so that many alumni can sign their page, then it will be available at Sauramps, Cultura and Leclerc Saint-Aunes. Finally, for those who are still looking for their Christmas gift, know that a large sales stand will be available at the Polygone, 15 days before the holidays.

Thanks again to Guilhem Canal and his entire team for their welcome and their invitation. We warmly invite you to support this project in which the entire AllezPaillade team believes.