Players, staff, management… deciphering the fall of the MHR for months

magictr | May 19, 2024 | Sport | No Comments

Julien Tisseron et Arthur Vincent vont devoir passer par la case barrage pour assurer leur survie en Top 14. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

The MHR is certain to play the access match on June 16 (6 p.m.) against the loser of the Pro D2 final. How did we get here ?

Sometimes a little drama is good. It spices up a sometimes redundant daily sporting life. Except that in Montpellier, there is no need to go overboard to analyze the situation. Actually, the club is on the edge of the precipice. In four weeks, he will play the most important match of the Altrad era (since 2011). A play-off at the losing finalist of Pro D2. The fault of a final slap at home against the hopes of Stade Toulousain (22-29) and a chaotic end to the year, symbolized by seven consecutive defeats all competitions combined.

The fault lies mainly with the players. After all, they are the ones on the field every weekend. They are the ones who have shown a cruel lack of efficiency for too long. Now the question is: how these players, two thirds of whom were French champions two years ago, became shadows of themselves? ?

The 2022 title has never been digested

First element of the answer, the glaring lack of leadership in this group. It has been said and repeated. But it is clear that the departures of Guilhem Guirado, Benoît Paillaugue, Fulgence Ouedraogo, even Zach Mercer, have still not been filled.

Then the "bad" targeted recruitment by Bernard Laporte during the last summer, as well as an "unbalanced workforce"< /em>. "The one who made this team is a crook", launched the sports director in our columns recently, he who took over from Philippe Saint -André last November 19.

However, on paper, the team in place seems competitive. Zach Mercer was replaced by Sam Simmonds, one of the very best English number eights. The group can always count on Forletta, Willemse, Camara, Van Rensburg, Verhaeghe, Bécognée, Reinach, Doumayrou, Serfontein, Vincent, Darmon, Bouthier and gems like Nouchi, Coly, Carbonel… Except that the injuries and poor health of each person meant that they were never able to evolve together or almost. And this team has never managed to rediscover the flame that animated it for a year and a half between March 2021 and June 2022.

Since the decline of Saint-André, everything has gotten worse

Response element number three, context. And you have to go back to understand everything.

Since relations between president Mohed Altrad and Philippe Saint-André deteriorated at the end of last season, it was the start of problems. PSA then took a step back, and more and more, until it completely disappeared. Richard Cockerill has arrived. The former English hooker had to take charge of the forwards. He established himself as a manager. A disaster. Six defeats in seven days. The players are burned out, physically and mentally. Cockerill burns himself and takes with him the current trainer Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, who is nevertheless appreciated internally despite his grumpy side.

We're changing everything. The sulfurous Altrad-Laporte duo is reconstituted. The former coach built a staff "in three hours" with Patrice Collazo as pilot fish in the middle of Vincent Etcheto, Christian Labit, Didier Bès and Antoine Battut. As a result, in three and a half months, the MHR raised its head and even left the first two places in mid-March.

Is the staff unbalanced, like the workforce?

Since then, we've been stuck. Players have run out of fuel in the engine. Once again. Despite, and it must be said, a remarkable state of mind, the Cists cannot do it. Not to mention the scoumoune who constantly follows them. Their bed might not have a box spring and they would still stub their toe.

More seriously, is the coaches' speech running out of steam?Is this staff, like the squad, so well balanced? Do some people fill in all the boxes in their sector ? Questions lead to others. A Bernard Laporte present on a daily basis with the players, in training, is this really effective in the management of a Patrice Collazo ? Is the latter, naturally, less legitimate in the face of to his players with such a character at his side ?

And did the speeches of the sports director in the locker room have an effect contrary to that desired ? "I'm harsh, but fair. I tell them truths that they may have never heard", he says.

The worst part is that the group lives well

But with a few days to go, is it wise to make certain players understand that, no matter what they do, they may not be there next season? ? In a situation where psychology explains three-quarters of poor performances, players can be impacted by the slightest speech. Consciously or unconsciously. The sudden departure of Paolo Garbisi affected the locker room, too. Without forgetting the extra-sporting controversies with the proximity of Claude Atcher to the club, the return of Mohamed Haouas, the drunken exit of rookie Billy Vunipola…

Internally, we refuse to abdicate. "The worst part is that the group is living well", whispers a player off microphone, chasing away the idea of a possible split in the group. "What's the point of to fight for them (the staff), it's us on the field", declares another. So, the players decided to take matters into their own hands. "We spoke in the locker roome (after the defeat against Toulouse), as the players. On a decided to move forward together, to stop letting each other go. We needed < em>to say it in the eyes", assured Captain Lenni Nouchi. Now it’s time to act. The Montpellier residents have four weeks to prepare for a moment which will, in any case, be historic for the club.

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