A surprise crisis at Olympique de Marseille, between sporting doubts and a war of influence. With already an immediate consequence, the departure of the coach, Marcelino, less than three months after his arrival on the Olympian bench. And the threat of the resignation of his now ex-president and friend, Pablo Longoria, who is giving himself “time to think”, according to our information, about his future.
If the average results, and especially the game developed by Olympique de Marseille, began to tense the supporters after the draw against Toulouse on Sunday (0-0), it is “extra-sporting reasons” which are at the origin of the departure of the OM coach, as indicated in the OM press release published early Wednesday afternoon.
Explanations more awaited than the Pope in Marseille
They clearly refer to the stormy meeting between the groups of supporters and the management on Monday evening, during which the threat of a “war” and the desire “to see the current OM Directory resign” were expressed from the part of “representatives of supporters associations”, according to OM.
Since the news of this stormy meeting, rumors have been rife on social networks. “It’s hard to say yes to the fact that you understand something. I continue to think like a lot of people that there is something we don’t know, that something is going to happen. Even if shenanigans exist everywhere,” confides a subscriber from the northern bend. It is difficult to know more from the support groups, who simply indicate that a “press release is being reread by all the groups” before its next publication. And we might as well tell you that he is more expected than the Pope in Marseille.
Supporter groups weigh heavily at OM
Still, a threat of “war” from groups of supporters, in the words reported by OM, cannot be taken lightly by management. We just need to remember the “cypress revolution” and the attack on the Commanderie in January 2021 to demand the departure of Jacques-Henri Eyraud. Which they finally obtained, with the appointment of Pablo Longoria as president.
And every time the supporters, renowned for making rain or shine in Marseille since the establishment of “the Tapie system”, demand the head of a president, they always obtain it, or almost. Ask Jean-Michel Roussier (1995-99), Yves Marchand (1999-2000), Christophe Bouchet (2002-2004), or Vincent Labrune (2011-2016), sometimes pushed towards the exit in a strong manner. “The guy who has his house sprayed, threatened with death and insulted is me and no one else. And the threats against my wife and my family, I cannot accept them,” the current president of the LFP confided to RMC regarding the pressure from Marseille when he was president.
The same for the coaches, with the departure of Didier Deschamps, the last French champion coach with OM, after his conflict with José Anigo and Rachid Zeroual, the historic figure of the South Winners, one of the most influential groups of supporters . Or that of Jean Fernandez in 2006, after the kidnapping of his wife: “They put his wife in the car, they took her to the top of the cliff and they slapped her,” according to intercepted wiretaps of the former agent Jean-Pierre Bernes. Two stories told in Jérôme Pierrat’s documentary, “Olympique de Marseille: when the environment ruled the roost”.
Attempt to change opinion?
But for the former president, Christophe Bouchet, who was able to hear about Monday’s meeting thanks to an “observer”, the meeting between the supporters and the management “was not particularly virulent”. “The supporters have calmed down a lot. There they complained a little but it was frankly not virulent, even if that is not an excuse. They ask themselves questions about all these movements, which I too ask myself in hindsight. But there were no songs or banners hostile to the management,” says the former president, while recognizing that it is difficult to “find the right wavelength to speak to them.”
To the point of finding the current management “sensitive”: “They are playing a game from which they will inevitably have to emerge victorious,” he analyzes. From there seeing Pablo Longoria trying to turn public opinion in his favor? The choice of the term “extra-sporting reasons” used in the press release clearly places the responsibility for Marcelino’s departure on the support groups. Just like the leak of his resignation to Eurosport Spain because of “death threats”, since widely denied, early Tuesday afternoon, when the president only communicated to a handful of trusted people.
The shared #teamOM
Since this announcement, the video of Rachid Zeroual’s threats towards Didier Deschamps in Jérôme Pierrat’s documentary has been making the rounds on social networks. To the point of seeing the name of the “boss” of the Winners in Twitter trends since Tuesday, and not always in a good way, with the appearance of the hashtag #Zeroualdemission. While petitions for the maintenance of Pablo Longoria for the post of president of OM have also flourished online since then.
And the famous #teamOM continues to tear itself apart on social networks between certain members of the groups who promise that “everything will end up being known”, and the defenders of Pablo Longoria, whom they perceive as the best president in a long time. Difficult to know which camp is in the majority, even if the little music of groups of supporters completely above ground and who would fight just to maintain unfair advantages (places in the stands, right of inspection over the training center, etc.) are starting to gain followers locally. In the middle of all this lying poker, it is OM who are toasting. By going to Amsterdam without a coach, and with a “backward” management which is not, for the moment, seeking to replace Marcelino.