Appointed interim coach on October 16, Romain Pitau has therefore been confirmed as Montpellier coach, after a meeting with the staff in Grammont, this Monday morning, as revealed by Laurent Nicollin in 100% Paillade, at the end of the day
: “I think he’s the man for the job, the players are on board for the moment. I feel that we have to reinforce him, it’s not easy for him, he only had four games, in a role of main coach without really having it, because it was not official. So not easy to express yourself. We discussed it with Romain, we had a meeting with Michel (Mézy) and Bruno (Carotti), we are on the same wavelength on how to approach preparation with the players. We will say that we leave the chance to the product“.
The former 2012 French champion did not reach the total of six points minimums demanded by its leaders, the day after the ousting of Olivier Dall’Oglio, since he did not manage to do better than two draws and two defeats in the four games they ledbut the possible candidacies of Rémi Garde, Sabri Lamouchi or even Jocelyn Gourvennec have therefore been rejected: “There is not another coach who excites me. I think he is the right man. I do not have the truth, no one has it in football. We will see on June 4 if we have was right or wrong. But it’s not a financial question”.
Laurent Nicollin chooses to trust his foal, in particular because he considers – rightly – that he has recently inherited a situation that is far from obvious. Only, by maintaining the former reserve coach who has become Olivier Dall’Oglio’s special assistant in charge of young people, the boss is making a hell of a bet: that of a inexperienced coach to keep struggling team in Ligue 1over a four-run season.
The return of Frédéric Mendy
Thus, failing to attract a coach with a fresh look, the Paillade has chosen to recall a former member of the house to support Romain Pitau. Leaving the MHSC after having failed at the head of the women’s section, of which he had returned the keys before the end of the 2020/2021 season, for lack of results, the former defender of Paillade Frédéric Mendy remained close to the president like many club personalities.
He is therefore making his big comeback, this time as an assistant to the first team. On the other hand, it is good Benoit Andrieubrought up from the reserve in the pros last summer, who will be in charge of the physical preparation of the players, this winter and until the end of the season.
Strengthen the workforce?
Asked about the opportunity to sign a defensive midfielder or a strikerduring the next transfer window, Laurent Nicollin gets a little carried away: “The transfer window? It starts on January 1. For the moment, we are not in this perspective there. We will make a point with Romain at the end of the internship We will see which young players can be loaned, if we should recruit or sell (…) Someone in front? To do what ? You don’t criticize, but we suck, in fact? You have to take in front, in the middle, but not behind when you take goals in the water. We will make a point. We have quality players in the middle. Leroy can be the sentinel. I want to listen to everything. But if we take a sentry, you make Fayad play more, and you remove Chotard or Ferri (…) We will adapt as best as possible to improve the team.”
As for the possible extension of Nicolas Cozza, hoped for by many supporters : “Nico, it’s very simple. At the beginning of the summer, his agent had expressed the wish that he could leave. We said: why not. We waited until August 31 to see the situation. There was no departure. He is a pure pailladin. I met him three weeks or a month ago. I told him that I wanted to extend it, that he stay at the club. He looked happy. I’m waiting for his agents to call me and we’ll meet again to settle the extension of his contract. I have the will to, he also told me that he had the will to stay. The proposal is on my desk. But it’s complicated to give it if I don’t see anyone (…) People can call the president. It’s not up to the president to run after people.”
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Full interview during which the president talks about the coach, the results, the ranking, the transfer window or even the future stadium.