VIDEO. “The story had to end”, “bonds of love” with the public: the words of Patrice Canayer before his last match at the head of the MHB

“J’ai essayé de contrôler mes émotions toute ma carrière, j’ai peur que vendredi ce soit pour moi le match le plus difficile à ce niveau-là”, confie Patrice Canayer. Midi Libre – Midi Libre

A few hours before ending his story with Montpelier handball, the club's manager, Patrice Canayer, spoke in a long press conference. With emotion in one of the rare moments when he split the armor.

Surrounded by its president Julien Deljarry, his father, representative of the club's shareholders, and its captain Valentin Porte, Patrice Canayer delivered a press conference before his last match at the head of Montpellier Handball against Tououse (Friday May 31 at 8:45 p.m.). Between smiles and confidences, the general manager who will complete his 30th season at the head of the double European champion, also let emotion speak, something rare for him. Excerpts.

His relations with the press

"The Montpellier Handball club is not just a sports club, it has become an institution, it’ has become a reference in quite a few areas, and that was really the most important. Writing this story was more our job, but we also have to tell it, and that is what we do. was your job. And so I think that you also contributed greatly to making the club what it is, because you always told the story, sometimes you told it yourself. you embellished it, sometimes you criticized it. I have always considered the press as the essential link in high-level sport between what we do and the public."

🤾‍♂️ Vendredi soir, Patrice Canayer va diriger son dernier match avec le @mhbofficiel après 30 ans au club.

L'entraîneur héraultais s'est montré ému, tout comme le capitaine Valentin Porte qui a rejoint #Montpellier en 2016, notamment pour être entraîné par Patrice Canayer. pic.twitter.com/uaw6YTG84i

— viàOccitanie (@viaOccitanieTV) May 29, 2024

"Sometimes you have teased me, you have irritated me, you have annoyed me, but much more often you have served me in relation to my own objectives.&nbsp ;That is to say that sometimes I have used your criticism, sometimes to question myself, regularly, quite often, because behind the irritation there is always something that ;we must hear and we must try to understand. And then you also helped me, because I used that with the players, and I used the little spades that were there, and I also used the press, to try to push the players…"

The reasons for his departure

"I would like to start by thanking the President, and of course all the members of the steering committee for offering me the opportunity to continue the project. adventure at Montpellier Handball. I am very grateful for this mark of confidence which was still renewed, but I judged that history, at a given moment, had to stop, and 40 years, Maybe 30 years was the right time. There is also the pleasure for me of finishing in these conditions."

"I think that at certain times, you have to know how to close stories well, and I think this was the right time for me. So that’s really the point I particularly wanted to emphasize. And also that I arrive at a moment in my life, in quotation marks, or in my career, I don't know how one can say, the two are still a little mixed up, where I have to’ rsquo;other desires, I have other plans, if I don't do things now, I don't know when I will do them."

His 30 years at the head of the MHB

"I have had an extraordinary career, and I weigh the words, that is to say 35 years, 5 years at Paris Saint-Germain, 30 years in Montpellier, two extraordinary adventures, for their intensity and duration. It’s a job that has brought me much more than I could have believed, what I could think, and I have been spoiled by life. You have to know how to be grateful, and you have to know not to go too far, that's why I decided to stop to devote myself to other, more personal projects, and then from a more personal point of view, it’s about regaining some control over my schedule. If it is an extremely rewarding profession, if it is an exciting profession, it is also a profession where the constraints are significant, in terms of work, emotional load, sacrifice on family and social life. I want to take advantage perhaps a little more of having an agenda that I control a little more than the sports agenda."

“A great honor”, ​​“big thank you”, tributes to Patrice Canayer

Valentin Porte, captain of the MHB:"When Patrice told us that it would be his last year, I’took such a wave of emotion because I started to relate to him. place and after so many years, everything he has done and said to himself, I am going to attend this gentleman's last year. It made me strange. It lasted a week. Afterwards, professional as he is and as we are, we made it through the year and the year passed very quickly. I came here in 2016 at 80% for Patrice Canayer. I said to myself I had the chance and I thank the club and I thank them for trusting me and recruiting me at that time because I wanted to give myself this chance to see what it looked like from the inside and today, there is not a day when I do not get up with a lot of respect for him and not a day where I regret ;my choice. It’s a great honor for me to have been part of this team and to have been trained and coached by Patrice. He helped me a lot as a player, as a man. He was an inspiration to me."

Julien Deljarry, president of the MHB: "We all love this club because Patrice was there, we all love this club because Robert Molines (the former president Editor's note) was there, because all of the managers, the shareholders continued this story, and we will continue it in the future, that’s for sure. Another big thank you to Patrice. All I can say is that we will never make enough tributes that could reward 30 years of investment and above all exceptional results, 42 titles at Montpellier Handball, as he was able to bring here, so today it's just a simple thank you, Friday it will be even more tributes, but it will just be the story that continues, and above all this link that will be unbreakable for life with Patrice Canayer and Montpellier Handball".

André Deljarry, representative of MHB shareholders:"The days after matches where I have to hold meetings where I have no voice, because there was so much yelling, often at the referees, because there has to be someone at fault somewhere, but each time it's passion, it's joy and I greatly thank Patrice Canayer for this great happiness that he shared with us. ;It’s a great joy with the public. I also remind you that sport is a social area on which there has been enormous in-depth work that has been done and which is also relayed, you said it earlier Patrice, by Vincent Hugonnet (president of the association). For all of this, for this great man who is Patrice Canayer, I would like to say a very big thank you Patrice."

"The other point which is essential for me is to pass the torch in good conditions. That is to say, 30 years ago, I was entrusted with responsibilities, and I am happy, 30 years later, to pass the torch to others who will ensure sustainability of this club, because the most important thing is the sustainability of the club. I think that today everything is in place for it to work well. There are solid structures, there is a partnership with local authorities which is effective, there are collaborators who are valuable, competent, and who will continue this work. It’s much easier to leave and tell yourself that things will continue, things will be in place. I am completely confident about the future of this club."

His relationship with the public

"The last word, I will address it more particularly to the public, to the supporters, and as I know that you are the best relays, then I will have the opportunity to do it on Friday, I guess, but they won't necessarily always be there. I was very touched by the welcome in a large number of clubs, whether in France or abroad.  Me, I am at times so competitive that I see the adversaries as enemies sometimes. And so, as they are my enemies, somewhere, they are not my friends, by definition. And so, I was touched by the signs of recognition that I was able to receive, whether from the leaders or from the public. And it touched me a lot. I wanted to thank them for that."

He ended with a heartfelt tribute to the Montpellier public, a tribute full of emotion on the verge of tears that he had difficulty containing: "For the public of Montpellier, I will do it Friday evening. But I think it's a beautiful story, a beautiful story with many links. I would dare to say links of love. This is what I had to tell you. Thank you."

The emotion of this last match

"You see, it’s complicated. However, all my career, I have tried to control emotional factors as much as possible, because it fascinates me, and I know that emotional factors are what is decisive in high performance. That’s what makes the difference. It’s not the muscles, that’s not what everyone has, it’s not the tactics, it’s the tactics. It’s not the technique, it’s mastering the emotional factors, that’s the most important thing. And so before asking the players, I tried to apply it to myself and try to control the emotional factors as much as possible, but we never completely control them. I've tried all my career, I'm afraid that Friday will be the most difficult match for me at this level."