CF Montreal | A great lack of sensitivity

Sandro Grande will have been the head coach of the CF Montreal reserve team for 15 hours. Fifteen hours too long. He should never have been appointed to this position.

Why ?

Because the day after the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Pauline Marois in 2012, Grande published two hateful and degrading messages. One on Facebook, the other on Twitter. In the first, he called the sovereignists “stupid” and “ hillbillies » [colons]. The second read: “The only mistake the shooter made last night was missing his target! ! ! Marois! ! ! Next time dude! I hope ! »

Grande publicly apologized for the first message, but never for the second. His argument: his Twitter account had been hacked. Possible ? Yes. Likely ? No. CF Montreal management apologized to Pauline Marois on Tuesday, implying that it believes Grande was responsible for the message.

How did we get here?

How could the bosses of CF Montreal, who are brilliant people who are well anchored in the Quebec community, lack so much “sensitivity” and “empathy”, to quote President Gabriel Gervais?

Because they were blinded. Blinded by Grande’s dazzling resume. Blinded by the promises of better days for the development of their hopes. Blinded by the profits, which they believed outweighed the damage to the club. “Sandro is the best tactician in Canada,” Gervais told me on the sidelines of his press conference on Tuesday. That says all the good that CF Montreal thinks of Grande.

“Our judgment was altered by our desire to give Sandro Grande a second chance,” added Gervais in his speech. We have to admit today that it was a mistake. »

The club’s management was obviously aware of Grande’s earlier statements. This was also raised in his job interview. The team was also within its rights to give him a second chance. After all, Grande isn’t in jail. He can work. He could even stand as a candidate in the elections, if he so wished.

However, getting a second chance in the public sphere is neither an acquired right nor automatic. It is a privilege. The person at fault must show that he has changed. That she has improved. She learned from her mistakes.

Grande convinced the management of CF Montreal. But politicians, sponsors and supporters of the club, they were not ready to forgive him. Even 10 years after the events, several loyal club members felt targeted, hurt or outraged by Grande’s comments. I understand them. The comments written on his Twitter account were frankly disturbing. Many supporters did not believe his apology. At least, they considered them insufficient. It must be said that Grande did not help herself, by not naming either Pauline Marois or the sovereignists in her press release on Monday.

Fans expressed their disagreement. Loudly. It is their right. They put pressure on the club and its sponsors. It is also their right. They were the ones who convinced Gervais to reverse his initial decision.

The club expected a wave. Maybe a backwash. But not to the tsunami that engulfed it. He should learn from it. It is abnormal that no one in the selection committee has foreseen such serious consequences on the brand image of the team. This appointment should have been the subject of strong internal criticism. Or, at least, to discussions more muscular than those having led to a “unanimous” decision of the committee “to go ahead” with Grande, as Gervais specified.

That said, I must underline the leadership demonstrated by Gervais in the management of this crisis. Yes, he was the one who started the fire. He also assumes “100%” of the responsibility for this controversy. Except he wasn’t stubborn. His thinking has evolved. He recognized his mistake, and fixed it in less than a day. It’s not in the habits and customs of the house, let’s say.

By making this gesture, will Gervais succeed in limiting the damage?

Maybe yes. Maybe not. But what I am convinced of is that the benefits of firing Grande had become greater than his potential contribution to the team.