The Girondins avoided bankruptcy in extremis. This Wednesday, the FFF authorized the Marine et Blanc to play in Ligue 2 next season. After a sports demotion, the Bordelais had been relegated administratively to National. The end of the tunnel is near, a last passage in front of the DNCG is planned for Tuesday, but already, Gérard Lopez finds a horizon. The president intends to formalize six to eight new players this season. Saturday’s match, which is being played at Matmut Atlantique against Valenciennes, is free to celebrate the good news. State of play with the director of the club, exceptional guest of France Bleu Gironde this Thursday morning.
France Bleu Gironde: How are you feeling this morning? Are you a happy president?
Gérard Lopez: A president convinced that his club was within its rights and that it was respected. A president proud of the work that has been done by everyone, and very happy for my employees, my players, my supporters… and of course all those who support us, the town hall, the metropolis, parliamentarians, etc. I am particularly focused on the club.
Did you manage to snatch approval from the CNOSF at the last moment?
We are of the opinion that we should have already had it at the DNCG. The elements presented to the CNOSF were not new. It was just confirmations of different things. I thank the Fed for having taken the decision which was the right one.
There was also a unit of politicians, supporters. The club had called to demonstrate in town a few weeks ago. You lobbied for the rights of the Girondins to be respected?
To say that we lobbied for the rights of the Girondins to be respected is completely correct since that is how it was done. And that’s also why a lot of people, personalities, politicians and others aligned themselves because we were hyper-transparent. We allowed the file to be looked at, we allowed all the documents in the file to be consulted, etc. So everyone was convinced that we were within our rights and that’s why there was this strength. And we now hope, from this force, to draw positive energy and a culture of winning, of contradiction in this club which really needed to be awakened. I think that’s the case here.
Is the challenge to come back this season to avoid finding yourself in a still complicated situation in a year?
On the one hand, we are going to plan next season very very quickly from a “budget” point of view. On the other hand, there is a sporting reality: we will be treated fairly. We had a very difficult season last year, partly constrained and forced by decisions that were made in terms of coaching. This year, we are leaving with much less debt, we are leaving with cash, we are leaving with a squad that is already made, with players who are worth a lot of money. But we often start with decisions like that, with one or two hands locked behind our backs. So we don’t play very fair when we have to sell players that everyone knows we have to sell.
We, what we would like is to be left to work quietly, to be able to sell our players, to be able to hire players. And if we can do the work quietly, we think we can play the climb. On the other hand, if we are slowed down, that we are forced to do certain things which force us to sell off players for example, it will be more complicated for this season.
Are you afraid of the new passage in front of the DNCG next week?
It is the DNCG of first instance that we will review. They did not have access, never had the file we have today. We would have had the file we have today at the first instance, we passed without problem. So there has never been a criticism of the DNCG in the first instance. What has been criticized are the reasons for the appeal, made by completely different people. We are going to present a file which is undoubtedly one of the best files today in France and even elsewhere. We have very little debt. We have a club which now has very solid foundations. I hope we will be left to work in peace.
The first match is therefore on Saturday against Valenciennes and you have therefore announced that everyone will be free.
Yes, because I didn’t know how to thank all the people who were around the club and especially also the supporters but also the players somewhere, since having more people is also very good for the players. So my way of thanking everyone in the end is to offer them the reason for which we are fighting, that is to say a football match, football, sportsmanship, etc. and to forget a little about everything that is going on. pass around.
And to talk about sport again, precisely, will you have the right to play your summer recruits on Saturday: Danylo Ihnatenko, Yoann Barbet and Vital N’Simba?
No, because there will be no approval before Tuesday.
So it will be Girondins, very weak on the lawn on Saturday?
No. They will be young people with a lot of desire in my opinion, and I hope that they will be able to disprove all those who think that somewhere, we are already giving ourselves the defeat in this match. So I trust young people and I know that there are some who will make big careers anyway. So they have the opportunity to show up on Saturday, well before what was planned.
You couldn’t necessarily recruit Gérard Lopez. But if there are players with whom you still agree, can we expect very quick arrivals?
We have agreements with all the players who want to come, since we still have to understand that the project is very popular. Which would represent in fact the typical team that we would like to have in place. Now we have to wait for Tuesday, the final decision before we can work quietly on arrivals and of course also on sales.
How many arrivals are you expecting?
Ideally between six and eight.
This decision also saves the women’s team. She lost, inevitably, given the situation, many players in recent months, they could not strengthen either. What are your ambitions for this team this season in D1?
We must not forget one of the biggest budgets in women’s football in France. So it’s not, it’s not the situation that did that. We remain in the top 5 budgets for women’s football in France. Last year, we bet a lot on young players. We will continue to bet there because we like it, because we think that women’s football is important, because it should also be accessible from the base. So from training, and everything that goes with it.
We’re doing the same with the men’s first team this year. We have six players who will step up in training and we will have players who will play this weekend. For us in the long term, knowing that we have one of the best formations in Europe, we see it with Aurélien Tchouameni, Jules Koundé… It will really be at the heart of the project. And so women cannot deviate from this rule.