Even if he hung up his crampons in 2017, Patrice Bernier is still called captain. This is the fate we wish Samuel Piette, new man in the armband of CF Montreal.
At 28, the Repentignois official becomes the team captain after two years of sharing the task with Victor Wanyama and Kamal Miller.
“I’m very, very proud of it because even though people thought of me as captain, now the status is clear,” he said in a phone interview.
“It’s more in the optics that people can call me captain. When I did interviews, some said co-captain or captain, it was vague. Now things are clear and it’s a good thing for the club.
Objective
Piette returned to Montreal midway through the 2017 season after an eight-year stint in Europe that saw him play in France, Germany and Spain.
As soon as he arrived, it was clear in his head that he wanted to be captain of the team one day. It wasn’t an essential goal, but he thought about it regularly.
“I didn’t want to become captain at all costs, but it was a small childhood dream to be captain of the Impact or now of CF Montreal.
“It’s something cool that I’m going to be able to tell my guy that I was captain of CF Montreal.”
Natural leader
By his own admission, even though there were three players to share the task during the last two seasons, he was the man responsible.
“I think even people on the outside saw it that I was the captain so it doesn’t change much.”
With his relaxed character and his very friendly and open personality, we can say that Piette is tailor-made for this role. He affirms it besides without appearing arrogant for all that.
“It’s natural for me, it’s something that I have in me. A leader can always work on this leadership. I’m warm, I’m positive, I’m not the type of guy who will yell or throw things in the locker room after a loss.
“I tend to take a step back and analyze more, but I am also able to say the real things.”
Hindsight
When asked what the job of captain means to him, he pauses before answering.
“For me, it’s simply being a leader for the team that looks more at the big picture and at the medium or long term than at the short term.”
He takes the example of the team’s difficult start to the season, which lost its first three games by shutout. He wants to invite calm and avoid panic.
“At the moment, we have three defeats in a row and it’s the start of the season. Fans can get frustrated, players don’t. We watch our matches and there is progress.
“We have a new staff who are starting to get to know us and that is not done by snapping our fingers. It’s going gradually. You have to calm the locker room and it goes both ways. We must not ignite with a series of victories.
Leadership in motion
In his first full season in Montreal, in 2018, Piette experienced a leadership deficit after the departure of several veterans such as Patrice Bernier, Marco Donadel or Hernan Bernardello.
He assures that the situation is not the same this year despite the transfers of Alistair Johnston, Djordje Mihailovic and Ismaël Koné.
“Of course the players we lost like Ali and Djordje had MLS experience and knew how the license worked. I’m not saying they were big leaders, but they were important pieces by their performance on the field.
“So there has been a changing of the guard, but we still have big pieces, including Victor Wanyama and Joel Waterman while Romell Quioto is a leader in his own style.”
The veterans will therefore have to pave the way for all the young people who joined the team during the winter.
“When your dressing room welcomes players like Sean Rea or Jonathan Sirois, they are a bit new because they have been on loan in CPL for two years. There is also George, Ousman Djabang and Aaron Herrera who are coming and who we have to integrate.