Jean-Michel Guillon explained himself for an hour and a half. The president of the ASM knows that he is sometimes criticized for being too discreet, he put his cards on the table this Thursday morning. He explained his action plan to rebuild a team capable of playing the leading roles. This will be done around three axes: governance, recruitment and training.
Governance
Jean-Michel Guillon believed that the club was “under-staffed”, that is to say that a man could not combine the post of head coach and sports director. It was therefore necessary to find the right person to fill this role. Several names have been mentioned in recent weeks but that of Didier Rétière came up most often. It is indeed the National Technical Director who was chosen from a short-list which also included Morgan Champagne, the former head of training for Massy, and the former Berjalien Julien Frier. Jean-Michel Guillon also clarified that he had offered this position to Franck Azéma to allow an exit from the top.
Didier Retière’s choice is first and foremost that of a training specialist, which obtains good results at the Federation. He is also a good connoisseur of federal mysteries, not unnecessary. He will be at the service of Jono Gibbes, who remains the sole boss of the sportsman, for the recruitment part. Corn Didier Retière will also have a mission that goes beyond the professional sector alone to develop training. His choice was obviously made in agreement with Jono Gibbes but also by consulting ASM Omnisport.
Jean-Michel Guillon had announced when he took office that the ASM had to revolve around a triangle: the team, the club, the territory. This will end up with a governance triangle: the team and the performance for Jono Gibbes, the club for Didier Retière and the representation of the territory for the president.
The date on which Didier Retière takes office is not set precisely. This will be done in agreement with the Federation; it will therefore have to be duplicated at first. Another appointment announced this Thursday, that ofAurélien Rougerie as team manager. He will be responsible for assisting the staff in the planning of the work and will be in charge of extrasport activities.
Recruitment
This will be the main function that falls to Didier Retière. With the salary cap equation to solve. The club has to deal with a significant drop: from 13.3 million euros, it will drop by 1.9 million, which will not facilitate the task. The ASM will lose 300,000 € uros due to the general decrease decided by the clubs but also the endowment of 200,000 € uros granted for each player selected for the French team. The club is also and especially passed from 9 or 10 players to 2 retained in the XV of France, a sacred drop in the end.
There are also long contracts which block a good part of the salary cap. Jean-Michel Guillon admitted that the club was able to give in to a certain ease (and a certain pressure from the supporters) to renew its faithful grumbling, which was perhaps not the best idea in the medium term. It’s not not an excuse but it is an explanation of the current difficulties for the president.