At OL Park,
It was 11:48 p.m. on Saturday evening when Jean-Michel Aulas left the Parc OL lawn after the traditional end-of-season fireworks and a final friendly gesture from his now ex-Reims counterpart Jean-Pierre Caillot. Feted by an entire stadium with vibrant chants, superb tifos from both corners, and reddened eyes everywhere, JMA is gone for good, 19 days after his brutal ousting as head of the Olympique Lyonnais. Like the huge banner “Jean-Michel Aulas Stadium” deployed on Saturday morning in front of OL Store in Décines, we suspected that the main thing, on this day so special for 56,874 Lyon supporters, was not s hang on to this Europa League Conference hope until the end.
No, OL quickly took the best of the Stade de Reims (3-0), their competitors in Europe (Losc and Rennes) did the job so that the sporting challenge of the weekend passed in the background. No, the Lyonnais had above all in mind to offer their president a much warmer exit than this pithy press release from Eagle Football, released on May 8 in the morning as an XXL air conditioning, a few hours after the incredible success (5- 4) against Montpellier.
“Jean-Michel Aulas is a legend”
Two hours before kick-off, several dozen supporters proudly sporting the club’s brand new “Aulas” flocked jersey strolled around the forecourt of an OL Park that had played such a big part in the work of the Lyon boss. This is the case of Cédric (25), who did not hesitate for a moment in the club shop: “Until now, I have never had a single OL jersey flocked, because the players come and leave. But here it is so different. Jean-Michel Aulas spent thirty-six years with us, do you realize? “. So much so that like so many other Lyonnais, Cédric changed his plans to attend a Lyon-Reims which he had planned to skip in view of the new galley season of his favorite club (7th after 8th place in 2022).
Pierre (24) gives an overview of what animated almost every supporter on Saturday: “Jean-Michel Aulas is a legend. Imagine that he recovered a moribund club in Ligue 2 to make it a seven-time champion of France, it’s still crazy, isn’t it? “. It was clearly this meteoric rise that we were dwelling on throughout the evening, and not the interminable shortage of titles since the Coupe de France 2012. In a poignant video broadcast on the giant screens of Parc OL just after the match, Jean -Michel Aulas also returned to his famous takeover in 1987. “The club had been in the second division for four years, with very significant economic difficulties, he says. No one believed it, it was a bit of a storm. Deep down, I don’t even know if I believed it. »
Florentino Perez defeated by JMA
Three decades later, we are dealing with a president who believes he has brought “75 titles” to OL… against “more than 50 trophies” in the famous press release announcing the departure of Aulas on May 8. Because yes, our JMA will remain a figure trickster until the end. “There is the academy, the women of course, and then 19 first team titles. There have been seven consecutive titles [de 2002 à 2008] but also during the same time of the Champions Trophies, the French League Cups. It is a colossal number. “Ah yes, especially when we adorn him with seven champion trophies, a Ligue 2 title, and the 1997 Intertoto Cup… In this little game, neither Florentino Perez nor anyone else can resist the prize list XXL of the Rhône boss.
“As long as his bad faith was addressed to the rest of the world and in particular to the media, it suited us very well, smiles Richard, a regular at the south bend. But when he had difficulty recognizing dysfunctions at the club, it became more difficult to accept. “If criticism multiplied each year against the sports policy implemented by JMA, they were obviously not on the agenda on Saturday.
The intensity of the emotion was extraordinary, thus confided the person concerned in the mixed zone. This evening will be unforgettable for me. President Caillot asked me how it was possible for there to be such great unity and harmony in a club like Olympique Lyonnais. »
In a turn, six years after Besiktas
No doubt because weariness and even a form of growing anger have given way since May 8 to nostalgia for a long and fruitful era in the 2000s… “Given our downgrading, the departure of JMA seemed inevitable, continues Richard, the south bend supporter. But there, tonight, we only have in mind thanks and a little sadness. We only knew him, so we are a little afraid of the unknown. He will remain our president for life. All this time, we had a local president, not a parachute. His profile set us apart from the rest of the championship and I think we will lose that. “Not sure indeed that John Textor appoints a native of L’Arbresle (Rhône) in his place.
During this tribute evening, there was a lot of talk about the link between Jean-Michel Aulas and the bends of supporters, when his arrival in 1987 coincided with the birth of the Bad Gones. It was precisely in the north bend that he witnessed (for the first time since 1987) the first period of success against Reims. And this six years after having tumbled into the south bend to try to calm the climate of a chaotic OL-Besiktas (2-1) in the Europa League. One of the strongest images of the last 36 seasons to illustrate its openness to groups of club supporters.
“Taking control of the destinies of women’s football”
“President, we love you,” said a Bad Gones leader at the microphone on Saturday. On the south bend side, the declaration of love was just as clear: “You are part of the family. We owe you eternal respect. You were, you are and you will remain the greatest president of French football. But you are above all the tallest man in the city of Lyon”. Jean-Michel Aulas welcomed all these passionate words with tears in his eye, just like when he benefited from a guard of honor of 36 outstanding witnesses of his life (one per season therefore), from Bernard Lacombe to Alexandre Lacazette, from Raymond Domenech to Ada Hegerberg and Wendie Renard, via Rémi Garde and Sonny Anderson.
Well, another legendary Brazilian was conspicuously absent from this tribute. The logical consequence of the probable biggest failure of management / human relations of President Aulas over his last five years of reign. On the other hand, it was enough for him to have three minutes of mixed zone, devoted to his management of such an intense evening in emotions, to follow up in a bluffing way, on his own, on the sequel. Because JMA does not intend to pronounce the word “retirement”, even at 74 years old.
I am obviously not someone who will remain inactive. Important projects in the United States are flowing into my life as an entrepreneur outside of football. There are about thirty start-ups in which we invest with my son Alexandre. And then I will take in hand the destinies of women’s football [avec la présidence de la future Ligue professionnelle de la discipline]. We have already done a lot by completely reforming professional football. The players will be delighted to learn that they will have a real professional status, which was not completely the case before. »
A huge pioneer of women’s football in France since 2004, he will accompany the French team this summer to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, after pushing for the choice of Hervé Renard. On the subject, he has lost none of his troll potential, let it be said. Judge for yourself: “We imposed a women’s D1 championship from the first year with play-offs, which makes it possible to avoid thinking that an overly strong team will win. Until the end, it gives a competition, and I think that the boys will also be inspired by it very soon ”. Double blow for Vincent Labrune and Nasser Al-Khelaïfi therefore, great art.
“Be still demanding, guys! »
But more seriously, what will this new life look like away from OL? “I have a busy schedule that will allow me to get going again tomorrow morning, he assures us. But OL will always be in my heart. We are not divorced from OL, we cannot forget the institution, the academy, the women’s team, and then this men’s team which has had its ups and downs. I lived 2,500 matches, which represents a lifetime. »
And an eternal regret that he mentioned in all his interviews for so many years, that of “not having brought this men’s European Cup to Lyon”. At the end of his speech facing the north bend, he also slipped: “If you want OL to climb to the roof of Europe, which has always been my project, be still demanding, guys! “. Rebelote in the mixed zone, where he referred to the club’s new structure around John Textor and Michele Kang (for the women’s team), which he hopes to see soon be very ambitious.
“I wish Michele Kang and John to be able to succeed in a course at least as brilliant as the one we did, but I hope for it even better, he concluded in front of the press at the end of a crazy evening. . If we know how to win the European Cup eight times among women, we must also be able to win it among boys. Obviously, the future president of the French Professional Women’s Football League did not fail to send the message at the same time on Twitter: “To those who will succeed me, we are entrusting them with a heritage of French football, which engage them”. You didn’t think for a moment that the JMA pressure shots were going to disappear with his ousting, did you?