Before the last match of the first leg of the French basketball championship this Sunday in Beaublanc against rival Pau, the owner of Limoges CSP Céline Forte was our guest this Friday on France Bleu Limousin. The first part of the season, the upcoming changes to the positions of general manager and sports director, the future of coach Massimo Cancellieri or even the possible recruitment of a player to replace Gerry Blakes. The one who is also president of the supervisory board of Limoges CSP answered our questions. Interview.
Before this clasico and last match of the first leg, Limoges CSP is 8th. What do you think of the work done so far?
I think it’s good work. I didn’t know the players on paper but they are great finds and I find that the team spirit, what they exude on the pitch is quite satisfying. There is a beautiful picture on the ground. Warriors!
On paper, it wasn’t very satisfying for me.
Sporting director Crawford Palmer will leave the club at the end of the season. How come ? Were you unhappy with his work?
It’s not that. It is a strategic decision. I think we had to bring in another way of working, new blood. We had to start again on other bases. This is not to undo Crawford’s work, quite the contrary. But we had to turn the page.
But why bring another way of working and turn the page when you see that it’s starting to pay off with a group that has results?
It is actually starting to pay off. After that, the season is not over. But I am very optimistic. I’m not going to walk away. On paper, it wasn’t very satisfying for me. I think the coach knows how to get the best out of this team. It’s a nice surprise. I do not hide from you that last season, the non-qualification in the playoffs and in the European Cup, that disappointed me a lot. This is a big loss for the club, especially financially. That’s when I started to think but this year, it’s going well. We are indeed on a good dynamic. But the story ends at the end of the season and I hope it will end well.
He magnifies this team
There is a real attachment of the public to the trainer Massimo Cancellieri. What do you think of his work?
A big job! He magnifies this team. Beyond that, what he offers on the ground from a technical point of view, he offers solutions. He is active and dynamic. Really a big job.
Does that mean Céline Forte that you still want Massimo Cancellieri as coach next season?
Anyway, if we qualify for the playoffs, Massimo comes back with us (he has an automatic year in the event of a Top8).
We know very well that contracts in the world of sport are something very relative. We suspect that his work does not go unnoticed. Have you started discussions to secure his future in Limoges?
Not yet because discussions will only begin with, perhaps, a new sporting director.
I am aware that there is urgency
Precisely, where are you at this level and with the market for French players starting very early in the season, is there any urgency in recruiting a new sporting director?
The quest for a new sporting director began a while ago. We should finalize things in a very short time because indeed, I am aware that there is an emergency. I have a well-determined profile to write a new page and create a new dynamic. I am looking for a new form of recruitment. Search more and further and also at a lower cost. I love the movie The Strategist. It inspires me a lot.
It is said here and there in Limoges that you are looking for a kind of scoot, these people responsible for supervising and finding the players, to occupy this post of sports director. But if it’s not the same job…
It’s not the same job, but can’t we combine skills? I think it is doable. It’s a good bet on the future for Limoges CSP and why not basketball.
It’s the normal life of a company
Beyond this post of sports director, departures have multiplied in recent months. Richard Dacoury has retired from the management board. Same thing for Claude Bolotny and Stéphane Ostrowski. The sports director will soon be gone. Same thing for general manager Pierre Fargeaud. Marketing manager Kevin Boisseau was fired. Communication manager Julie Desvilles, absent for several months, will not return to the club. Do you understand that this can raise some questions or even concerns Céline Forte?
I understand the questions but the concerns, why? This is the life of a business. There is nothing to worry about there. We continue to build.
But with whom to fulfill all these functions required by a club like Limoges? Hasn’t everyone been replaced?
Already with a gentleman who will arrive at the post of general manager. Alain Cloux who has an incredible experience and CV in the world of sport and especially basketball. He will master and set up all that. In particular the legal restructuring of the club. Even if it is already well underway, we will work on this with Alain when he arrives in July after his mission at ASVEL. Afterwards, there are deals that change every day. We must for example put 500 thousand euros in the club. Will this be sufficient compared to the data we have had for 2 years because of covid? I do not know. All of this is under study.