50 years of MHSC: “Mémé” Jacquet, the gifted child who never merged with Loulou Nicollin

Louis Nicollin et Aimé Jacquet en 1989 lors de la présentation du nouveau coach. La lune de miel sera de courte durée. Midi Libre – Archives

Recruited in 1989, the iconic coach of the Girondins de Bordeaux never managed to embrace La Paillade's unbridled mentality. Prisoner of a recruitment of attacking stars that unbalanced the team, he was thanked during the season. Story of a missed opportunity.

A Midi Libre 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 of 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, at start with this “Nicollin Saga”, told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou. A special edition full of anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.

A special issue available at newsstands. Midi Libre

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Thirty-five years later, the photo hasn't aged a bit. A snapshot of three bright smiles with the La Mosson stadium in the background. And yet, between Louis Nicollin and Michel Mézy, manager at the time, Aimé Jacquet seems like an intruder. But what on earth is the Loire native doing in this club of crackpots? ?

The question, many are asking themselves in this summer of 1989. But there you have it, the club has just celebrated in great pomp an even more intimate union with the Metropolis and the Department to finance the arrival of its very media-friendly attacking duo Eric Cantona and Stéphane Paille. And after having started to collect stars in his gallery of players, Louis Nicollin has decided to also pay for a coach with a big name.

Three titles in nine years with Bordeaux

Said by Bordeaux a few months earlier, Aimé Jacquet was the best there was in France at the time. A reputation accredited by three championship titles, two French cups and a semi-final of the Champions Cup in 9 years at the head of the Girondins.

Aimé Jacquet on the bench near general manager Michel Mézy, who will replace him during the season. Midi Libre – Archives

A former OL player and coach, Jacquet has a good Lyon past. But the man from Sail-sur-Couzan does not have the eloquence or the taste for pats on the back that Louis Nicollin is fond of. “Mémé” will never merge with Loulou and this is felt from his first words that ring false in front of the press.

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Three defeats that dampen enthusiasm

“I like passion, joy, explosion…” enthuses the first coach of the Montpellier Hérault era. And on paper he has everything to be served with a recruitment that makes the headlines of the Team and attracts the attention of the national press.

The “mirage” effect was accentuated by a resounding victory against Cannes (4-1) on the first day at La Mosson. Paille scored his first goal, followed by a double from Laurent Blanc. A start that looked like a honeymoon dripping with sugar and promises. Three defeats followed in Mulhouse (2-0), Paris (2-1) and especially at home against the Girondins (2-1) which brought the sweet music to a sudden halt and reduced the glittery decor of the backstage to crumbs.

Contradictory injunctions

Very quickly, one thing became obvious: having built a squad rich in attacking players who were certainly creative but not very inclined to get involved in the battle for recovery, Montpellier appeared fragile on the defensive level, to the point of being punished by the first person to come along.

Aimé Jacquet is nevertheless known for being a coach who does not compromise on the fundamentals. In Bordeaux, he built his successes on a solid midfield and the complementarity of roles. René Girard and Jean Tigana, tireless workers, put themselves at the service of Alain Giresse to reign supreme in the sector.

Frasques de Cantona

But the new Montpellier coach must deal with contradictory injunctions, more or less tacit obligations to play the stars recruited at a high price. He succeeded Pierre Mosca, whom Louis Nicollin criticized for not starting Carlos Valderrama enough. Jacquet was therefore quickly forced to have the Colombian creator cohabit with Paille and especially Cantona, who liked to drop out and come to tread on the toes of his midfielders.

Aimé Jacquet facing the Montpellier media. Midi Libre – Archives

He must also put a handkerchief on Cantona's escapades and behaviors incompatible with the life of a top athlete. When Stéphane Paille goes back to Sochaux every week to find his friend who stayed there, we should not be surprised by his lack of dynamism and efficiency on the field.

“Never felt like I fit in”

Behind the scenes, club executives are also alarmed by the coach's great nervousness, claiming to have never seen someone “so feverish on the bench”. Deeply affected by his ouster in Bordeaux a year earlier, perhaps Aimé Jacquet was not equipped enough to control Montpellier's excesses.

“I never had the impression of fitting in or being completely integrated”, the future coach of the Blues would say fatalistically in a statement tinged with great lucidity.

Michel Mézy called to the rescue

A few victories at La Mosson would delay the inevitable assessment. But on February 13, 1990, after a 13th defeat in Lyon in 25 league games, the axe fell as MHSC occupied the penultimate place in the league.

The rest is history: Michel Mézy took on the role of firefighter on duty to save the club from relegation and go and win the Cup at the Parc des Princes.

Retired near Annecy

Aimé Jacquet left the club almost relieved, declaring that he was “fed up with making a circus and entertaining the gallery.” Less than four years later, he will take the destiny of the French team into his own hands to write its irresistible rise to a star. We will not know what view this very upright man has on this episode of his career. Mémé has withdrawn from all solicitation, near Annecy.

But this is how Montpellier unknowingly paid for a future coach of world champions. A technician who is probably too gifted for him. Because the marriage of water and fire rarely gives birth to anything other than a thick smokescreen.

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