Grégory Bourillon and Jimmy Briand met at Stade Rennais and have been loyal friends ever since. Because they share the same philosophy where football is a game and must remain a pleasure, Together they launch internships for young people within the B-Pro Academy which they set up in Le Bouscat. Thanks to them Nolan, 13 years old and goalkeeper in Bassens, won a week of training by playing with France Bleu Gironde. On the sidelines of this launch, Jimmy Briand returned to his very fresh departure from the Girondins de Bordeaux
France Bleu Gironde: At almost 37 years old, are you already in the post career or if there is another solicitation from a club which arrives, it can be done.
It’s a global analysis of everything that can happen as a player, as an educator or otherwise. So here it is, it’s a global reflection also with my family. And then make the choice, the best for me but above all the best for my family.
Occupy another function at the Girondins? We had talked about it.
Can you imagine settling in Bordeaux for the future?
Or it is a possibility. The region, the region is very beautiful. We live well there. Afterwards, it will necessarily depend on the rest of my career. So why not. I am no longer under contract since yesterday (Editor’s note the interview took place on July 1). And then there are my internships which take up a lot of my time. But we are starting to look a little at what can open up for me. Afterwards, we will decide quietly.
Does that mean that we can imagine another function at the Girondins?
Inevitably, it is something that we had been able to negotiate before. Now, we’ll see like I said, I don’t like goodbyes. In life, we are always led to see each other again. That’s why it was just goodbye. I was especially happy to have spent four seasons here. It was a little nod to say that I was really proud to wear the Bordeaux jersey.
Four seasons here, your 100ᵉ goal in Ligue 1 under the colors of Bordeaux, are you particularly attached to our club?
Yes of course. In my family, there were a lot of Bordeaux supporters, so I already knew the club very well. And I was proud to defend the colors. After my adventure, it’s a bit divided into two stages. The first two years, it was really great, really wonderful because I played all the time and I had a lot of fun and the last two years where I played a little less. And when a player plays less, inevitably, he takes a little less pleasure. But in any case, I really keep only good memories.
The first two years were really great!
There is a break with coaches Jean-Louis Gasset, Petkovic and David Guion?
Yes of course. The coaches have their ideas, have their players and they saw me perhaps more as a joker or as a substitute. So on that, the only thing we players can do is continue to be fully trained, try to give the best of ourselves to turn things around. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, but in any case, I always knew how to stay professional to help the team. Without making waves. That’s important because right now, it’s true that it can degenerate very quickly because you’re a player, you like to play and sometimes you don’t know how to manage it very well. Now, I have a few years behind me which allowed me to manage it, let’s say as best as possible, even if it wasn’t necessarily easy every day.
Can you imagine yourself on the bench one day?
Yes of course. It’s something that speaks to me. I started my education degrees and it is something that I would like in the future. As we said, I’ve met a lot of coaches (laughs), I’ve had a few experiences in recent years. So here it is, it’s a lot of different situations that make me say that I would like to rub shoulders with that a bit and try my turn to coach. You know all the players in activity, when they are in a locker room, they imagine doing things differently than what the coach does. So we all have our feelings. And then there are those who really get started to be able to make a job out of it.
It will remain a bad memory, now we have to move on!
On April 20, this Bordeaux Saint-Etienne, this goal of the 89ᵉ minute which would have been so important for the club canceled for an offside, this goal, it runs in the head.
Necessarily. Now, cold, it runs through the head because it could have changed a lot of things for the club, for me possibly and that’s a shame. To within two centimeters, as I said, that’s how it is, you have to keep moving forward.
It’s really not the end you imagined?
No, no, no, that’s clear. Especially after learning that I would not continue. It was hard this descent and not having this chance to help the club come back up. Because, as I said, we all have a small or large share of responsibility depending on the profile. So here it is, it will remain a bad memory in my career. Now we have to move forward.