Benoît Paillaugue: “These speeches where they tell me that everything is fine, it horrifies me”, “becoming a team of pains in the ass again”

For his first press conference as a coach this Thursday, October 3, Benoît Paillaugue, head of the MHR attack, did not lose his phrasing before the trip to Stade Français this Saturday.

The video feedback after Lyon (22-26) had been salty. What about this Monday after Bayonne (27-26) ?

We said what we thought. It was more muscular at half-time than on Monday. On Monday, we just showed them that the first half was unacceptable for a club like ours. And that the second half was of better quality. That's where we have to position ourselves, by being more intelligent and more mature in our match management. Because I think that's what cost us the game, besides the first half, it's especially our last eight minutes.

Does it surprise you that the team can still have misfires despite the warnings at the start of the season ?

I think this team is rebuilding. There are still some illnesses. Now, it's up to us to try to erase them as quickly as possible. We're only on matchday four, but we're still in an emergency right now.

There are things that are improving. But we're not winning, as Bernard (Laporte) said in his last interviews. This team has to learn to win.

Is she afraid of winning ?

I don't know. In any case, in these last ten minutes against Bayonne, we lack bulbs. On the last try, for example, we let them score close to the posts, when we should have pushed them to the corner.

Simple things that we thought were acquired are not. So, it's up to us to work on video, to show them, to explain to them again and again, until it sinks in.

“Here, everything is cool. The club, the city… There's not too much pressure for the guys"

The balance is still fragile ?

Of course. It could have been less fragile if we had won a series of victories. I think we're dragging this Lyon match out a bit. Afterwards, it's always the same, if we had won Lyon, would we have gone and won against Perpignan ? Toulouse, we're not fighting with them at the moment, but we could have brought back perhaps another point.

Me, in Bayonne, I am disappointed because there was a waste of energy, in the second half in any case, and we deserved a little better. We can only blame ourselves, by playing such a quality first half. And despite that, you score 27 points in one half against a team that has been undefeated for two and a half years at Jean-Dauger.

Out of four games, that's twice that the state of mind is being singled out. Is this an area you are emphasizing??

I think it's a team that we shouldn't give up on. It's a reactionary team. It's been for years. We need to change that mentality. It doesn't change overnight. Afterwards, I really liked Bernard's thoughts. Here, everything is cool. The club, the city… There's not too much pressure for the guys. It's up to us to put it on them, up to them to put it on themselves. This is what we will try to instill in the weeks and months to come.

Clubs like Toulon, Toulouse, La Rochelle and Bayonne, they don't need to put themselves under pressure inside the club because they have it outside. And that's what we have to teach guys.

Comment?

By our state of mind. Already, that of the staff. I think that it must also come a little from us. And to instill that in our game leaders. There are some who have it. It must spread and it takes a little time. But it is up to us to change this image of the team.

You were talking about a reaction team. It was already the case when you were a player.

I don't like to talk about before. But there were guys in the group who managed to put on the pressure. There, we have to find them. There have to be some that impose themselves. There are some that will not be long. Afterwards, there will be natural selections.

Joan Caudullo admitted that he wanted to focus on defense and conquest when the team resumed. You who are responsible for the attack, isn't it too frustrating ?

When you take over a team that is a little bruised, sick, you have to reassure yourself about the basics. The basics of our sport are combat and aggression. And on that, it's conquest, it's the forwards and it's especially our defense.

Yes, I have frustration. I'm not going to hide it. But you also have to work with the players you have and try to go little by little. My ego doesn't take a hit. Not at all.

We will work in the shadows. And one day, I hope that people will say, that's it, the three-quarter game has taken the lead and it will move forward. But it is a long-term job. I have a clear idea of ​​what I am going to do. But it will take time.

“Everything is difficult here, but it has to become a strength”

Are you already under a little pressure before going to Stade Français ?

It's part of our job. I'm discovering it now as a coach. But when you were a player, you were under pressure. When we didn't win, I was furious.

We'll see if we have character. We had some in the second half in Bayonne, in Perpignan, a little against Toulouse, at times.

Here we go to a team that is under pressure, that has already experienced changes. Are we going to be a team that, as is often the case, revives the other teams ? Or this time, it is we who are going to stick our heads a little deeper into the fool ? We have to revive ourselves.

Beyond the result, we will be vigilant about behavior. At the moment, that's all it is.

How do you judge the contribution of the recruits ?

They have to do more. Like the team. Afterwards, it's difficult when you arrive in a team that doubts, that loses matches. I understand it, I hear it. But at some point, you also have to have character. I think that to play in Montpellier, you have to have character. Everything is difficult here. The environment is complicated. We don't have a good press. Even if things are going well, people don't talk about us. That's how it is. But it has to become a strength, in fact. It's been like that for years. We have to use it.

And that's what we have to teach the guys. They have to tighten up, they have to rely only on themselves. And the young and the new guys, they have to bring us a carefree attitude.

“We want to become a pain in the ass team again”

If you're there in the commitment, do you think you can be competitive again ?

We'll piss people off. And that's what we want. We want to be a team of pain in the ass again.

Montpellier, that's always been it. We were never great talents. But we were tough. I'm not telling you that at certain times, we didn't take some stinging away from home. But we were annoying to play. We need to get that back.

It's good away from home for now. We're on a win and we lost by one point to Bayonne. But it needs to be more consistent. We need to play a game full of commitment, ferocity, violence, movement, over 80 minutes. And after that, we certainly won't be far away.

On Saturday, we'll be in a context where, you know, they have a knife between their teeth. They just fired their coach. It's a crisis, they're the only thing people talk about. If we want to exist, we're going to have to do that.

Since the beginning, everyone has agreed that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Is that still the case??

Yes, between us, the staff, it's going well. We can have disagreements, but there's always discussion. It's going very well on that. The players seem to be on board. That's what bothers me, actually. Everyone says it's good.

After Toulouse, I was tapped on the shoulder: it's not serious. It shocks me. Yes, we see behavior, it's better. But we lose. So, what's cool?? Yes, it's going well, we're living well. The guys are on board. We agree. The fans are happy because there is a better face. OK, but now you have lost two home games. We come back to what I was saying. It is up to us to put the pressure on.

By dint of hearing this, at some point, it will piss me off. The guys will end up throwing up at me, telling me that I do nothing but moan, that I am never happy. Well yes, we do not win. So I agree with Bernard, we have to win. We have to pay ourselves.

Me, these speeches where we say that it does not matter, everything is fine, they slap you on the shoulder, it horrifies me. It pisses me off. And it must piss the guys off, because they're on the field. You don't train all week to lose a game. That doesn't exist. Or else, you need to change sports. You'll play hopscotch, and that's it.