“If we go to 18 clubs, I’m afraid we’ll see shitty matches,” says Laurent Nicollin

At 48, Laurent Nicollin is a man who is rising in the landscape of French football. The president of Montpellier took over the management of the club after the death of his father in 2017. But he had been managing its destinies on a daily basis for several years. In the Top 10 for four years, the MHSC tackles, this Wednesday, the appointment of its season: the semi-final of the Coupe de France against Paris (9 p.m.).

You have been chosen by your peers to chair the future unified French football union. What will your mission be?

The goal was to show that we could be united when speaking with the State and the banks in order to face the complicated trials that we have to face. I think I am a pragmatic person. I try to understand the big and the little ones. I hope to be able to unite people. Otherwise, I’ll go home and stop. This link is important. During the pandemic, a year ago, things were going all over the place, for lack of information. Since the elections of Vincent Labrune to the LFP and Jean-Pierre Caillot at the head of the college of L1 clubs, there has been less tension.

Financially, where is French professional football?

We are criticized for our incompetence on Mediapro, but with the global pandemic, all the clubs are in difficulty. In Spain, the big clubs announce losses of 500 million to one billion euros. In Germany or England where TV rights are very important, there are also big financial problems. French football has been especially affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Mediapro only made the problem worse.

How much will Montpellier’s deficit be at the end of the season?

It is too early to know because we are hoping for state aid. But the deficit is expected to rise to an amount between 20 and 25 million euros [pour un budget prévisionnel 54,5 millions d’euros]. I knew this season was going to be tough, but I didn’t think it would be as tough as last season. And the problem is that the following season is likely to be just as much. It is not known if spectators and sponsors will return to the stadiums. Bad luck for Montpellier, the year when we do not sell a player, where we try to have the most competitive team, we have a crisis in the mouth … Next season, we will have to lower the sails.

How can a club like yours, which does not have the reputation of living beyond its means, save money?

It involves selling players, recruiting at lower salaries, looking at the administration, the training center, the usefulness of each. Even if the goal is not to leave people on the side of the road. When your budget is balanced, that you have results, you surround yourself with a little more people. Unfortunately, in such a situation, we have no choice. The budget is imagined with millions of TV rights, salaries are proposed accordingly. If these amounts do not arrive, solutions must be found.

Can players lower their wages further?

Last year, everyone at their own level agreed to help the club. It saved us around two million euros, which is significant for a club like ours. But you can’t ask them the same thing over and over again. It is up to the club to make the effort to limit its expenses. And if we are not able, it is up to us to part with the biggest salaries. But we won’t sell for the sake of selling. We will sell as best as possible, one, two or even three players to give ourselves some peace of the budget and try to recruit.

All clubs are affected globally. Are there still buyers?

There are requests, always clubs that will want to recruit. Unfortunately, I don’t have a quick fix. The only solution is for the virus to be gone, for spectators and sponsors to come back to the stadium. And hope the TV rights sell the best they can.

With how many clubs? The pressure is important for a passage to 18 …

It is an additional sword of Damocles for many L1 clubs.

If the last four go down next season, not only will we have a financially complicated season, but it will also be sporting.

I’m afraid we’re going to some shitty matches, because everyone will play with fear in their stomachs so as not to go down. It’s going to be war every Sunday. If you have to go through that to have an open championship then, why not. But there are several concerned presidents. That said, given the financial situation it does not say that we will not find ourselves at 18 from August 1st …

Will you vote for the return of an 18-club L1?

I have to be shown the value of moving to 18 clubs. If this is the necessary step for Canal + to give a larger sum to French football, why not. But if it’s just to have a little money, some worries and a big headache on top of that, no I don’t see the point. I am skeptical. But I will follow the majority. I understand the concern of the League. Vincent Labrune has been fighting for months to defend French professional football and I thank him for it. If we have to go through that, we’ll bite the bullet and the rest.

Can the future Louis-Nicollin stadium be called into question by your financial difficulties?

No. It must be the breath of fresh air for greater income. Even if it will require a big investment from the club and the Nicollin holding company. Of course, we never imagined doing it in this economic context. It is a major risk-taking: if we build offices that we do not rent, a restaurant that does not open, a museum that does not welcome anyone and a hotel without travelers, there will be no financial return. and we will not be able to reimburse the banks. This stadium is not made to enrich us but to bring additional resources to the club. And first of all not to lose money.

The stadium is funded by the club and local businesses. The club has a single, local shareholder. It is an economic model unlike the hyper-globalized model of football. Is it a source of pride?

I hope it is a source of pride for the people of the region to see that we can build a project by bringing together local skills. It would be a source of pride for my father I think, for Georges Frêche as well and for the people who love the city of Montpellier and the club. Yes, I am quite proud of what we have managed to do, to have mobilized the local fabric as we have done.

What inspired you with the announcement of the creation of the Superleague?

But what happened with the Superleague, I see it every day in the Ligue 1 championship. The bigger ones always want more to the detriment of the smaller ones. This is also the case in the Champions League. You must not be gullible.

It is always the big guys who earn the most money, therefore who recruit the best players, therefore who win the most titles, therefore who have the most money… it’s the snake that bites its tail.

It is up to the others to try to take the right road at the right time, as Rennes seems to do, whose route I appreciate. The problem is always wanting more… When a player wins 400,000 euros and we offer him 600,000 euros, what does that bring him? Someone who earns 2,000 euros to whom we offer 3,000 euros, yes it will change his life. But there, I admit that I am a little disconnected.

You do not understand this economic model?

When I read monthly salaries of one, two or three million a month, it’s a different planet. I do not associate my footballers with those of Real Madrid or Chelsea. Good for them, but we are totally out of step. It’s a shallot race. We always need more money. When I was asked the question six months ago about what the world will be after, well, it will be the world before, quite simply. We have to stop kidding ourselves and believing that people are going to be won over to a cause.

This Wednesday, Montpellier meets Paris in the semi-final of the Coupe de France. A challenge the size of players like Delort or Laborde, cut out for the cup?

Yes and no because in the championship, they are also present. Does this notion of cup team or cup players, as we could say 20 or 30 years ago, still exist? I’m not sure it works like that. On the other hand, yes, they are men who know how to sublimate themselves in important matches. This is what we will need against Paris. If we want to go to the end, we have to play them one time or another.

It is also one of the last matches of Michel Der Zakarian as coach of Montpellier. Why this common choice not to wish to extend?

We had been talking to Michel and his agents for some time now. We spent four great years during which we worked with confidence and respect. In total osmosis, which had not happened for years with a trainer. All while consistently finishing in the top ten and hoping to bring back the Grail this year in the Coupe de France. But we felt that we had to take another turn. These are things that we feel. It won’t take anything away from what we’ve been through for four years.