50 years of MHSC: Jean-Louis Gasset, heir to a family history between passion and friendship

Jean-Louis Gasset, milieu récupérateur sous le maillot de La Paillade dans les années 70-80. Midi Libre

Player, assistant and then coach: the son of the co-founder of La Paillade, Bernard Gasset, best friend of Louis Nicollin, has made a name for himself and a special place in the history of this club that sticks to his skin.

A special issue of 84 pages

Condensing half a century of history into 84 pages. This is the challenge taken up by the sports editorial team at Midi Libre in this special edition on the 50th anniversary of the MHSC. Available on newsstands on December 11 for just 5 euros, this glossy magazine will allow you to relive the great moments in the history of the Montpellier club through our “50” who made the MHSC. Players, coaches and builders, of course, starting with this “Nicollin Saga”, told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou. A special issue packed with anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.

A special issue of 84 pages Midi Libre

Buy the special issue 50 years of the MHSC by clicking on this link.

He carries the legacy of a history, but he has freed himself from it. He bears the name of Louis Nicollin's fraternal friend, before building a reputation in French football. He grew up here, in Montpellier, but he made his mark elsewhere. He fled the comfort of a family, and a club, to gain recognition in an unknown land.

Until 1998, Jean-Louis Gasset played, trained, and supported various coaches within the club founded by Louis Nicollin and his father, Bernard Gasset. Founded by an entrepreneur and a marginal man, with a controversial image. Founded by two men with close ties, intertwined families and friendship established as an unconditional lifeline.

“I addressed Louis Nicollin formally”

For almost a quarter of a century, it followed the dizzying trajectory of Montpellier and Loulou.“Louis Nicollin, whom I addressed formally and called president, wanted to win everything. And move forward. With the club and the company he runs at the same time. He uses one to move the other forward, and vice versa. So, we could play a friendly match on Tuesday in Royan against the fishermen. We scored thirty goals, we drank white wine and no one said a word”, he says.

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Jean-Louis Gasset already on the bench near Louis Nicollin in the 90s. Midi Libre – Archives

This defensive midfielder with 263 matches shaped the image of La Paillade alongside his playing brothers: Mama Ouattara, Jean-Marc Valadier and Faouzi Mansouri. And he saw the birth of the club and the rebirth of Montpellier football at the heart of the Nicollin-Gasset clan. “Laurent and Olivier were in my wife's wedding dress. They called my parents Grandpa and Grandma. And in this photo (which he shows on his phone, Editor's note), I'm carrying Laurent on my shoulders around the pool.”

November 1999: the breakup

In the summer of 98, after a long apprenticeship in the coaching profession, Louis Nicollin appointed him head of the team. On November 30, 1999, the president of Montpellier decided to part ways after a turbulent month, between refusals to resign and dismissal.

The family is torn apart, everyone suffers from this breakup and blames each other in a very violent volley of green wood between the two friends who founded La Paillade. “The day after a stormy discussion between the two, I decided to leave. Because I did not want to buy my father's friendship with the president.”

Rescue missions

The day after April 13, 2002, and the death of Bernard Gasset, Louis Nicollin called him. The loss of his friend, and his father, had sealed the reconciliation. Fifteen years later, and four days after his wife's disappearance, Loulou calls him back: “Come save my club.” At the end of the mission to maintain, everything is settled between the two men so that the coach stays in Montpellier. On June 29, Loulou dies and takes the mysterious agreement with him.

Jean-Louis Gasset in Grammont with Teji Savanier. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

In the meantime, Jean-Louis Gasset has relaunched himself by working as an assistant alongside Luis Fernandez, then Laurent Blanc. The two former Montpellier players meet again. When the first was finishing his playing career, the other was starting it in an electric second division. The first was the lightning rod of youth during stormy matches.”We then maintained the relationship. Each time Laurent completed an experience in a big club, he gave me a day. And explained the methods of each coach to me”, he recalls.

Coaching career with Laurent Blanc

Their shared adventure began in the summer of 2007. “He called me on Saturday to go to Monaco, who chose Ricardo. On Monday, we meet President Triaud at Mas de Coursan to go to Bordeaux.”

The two men shared roles for three years in Bordeaux (2007-2010), then two years at the head of the Blues (2010-12) in the aftermath of the trauma of Knysna, then for three years at Paris SG (2013-16), at the dawn of the Qatari era in the wake of Ibrahimovic.

After a series of experiences as number 1, in Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux, Ivory Coast or Marseille, he returned to the ancestral lands of Montpellier. Free from everything, he is there to assume the legacy of a fifty-year-old history. In memory of Louis Nicollin and Bernard Gasset.

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