50 years of MHSC: “Things you have inside you forever”… René Girard’s starry memories

Honoré par ses joueurs lors de son dernier match à La Mosson, en 2013. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

Nîmes at heart, trained at the Crocodiles, René Girard became a Pailladin by adoption, made a statue by the local supporters when he led the club to the championship title in 2012. An unforgettable memory whose scope he measures a little more as time passes.

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 of Midi Libre in this special edition on the 50th anniversary of the MHSC. Available on newsstands on December 11 for just €5, 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, obviously, starting 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 A special edition full of anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.

Our special issue available on newsstands. Midi Libre

Do you miss football? ?

People used to tell me “you'll see, retirement isn't that easy”. And it's true, exaggerating a bit, that I sometimes wonder what I'm going to do with my day. I think I could have pushed on for another two or three years. I have the desire and the energy. Family life is there, I have the pleasure of going to see matches, but it's the passion that takes over. Maybe I should have continued, but at the same time when I see that friends like Bruno Martini or Faouzi Mansouri left too soon, I tell myself that I'm not going to complain.

And do you miss MHSC?

I miss it a lot because no one could have predicted what we were going to write. The title was magnificent and I feel the weight it represents. I come to almost every match at La Mosson and I realize how much we touched people. The recognition is always so intense. It's beautiful and it touches all social categories. It feels good because time passes and there are things you don't do twice in your life, especially with a club like this.

In Grammont, always close to the supporters and its players. Midi Libre – FRANCK VALENTIN

When did you start looking at what was happening in La Paillade ?

There was a derby, in the Cup in Alès (in 1978 Editor's note). I was sent off after getting heated with Jean-Louis Gasset. We laugh about it today. Jean-Louis tells me “when you were a player I hated you and now we have a good time together.”

You even showed a certain part of your anatomy to the Montpellier public when you left ?

Sometimes, you don't have to score a goal to get people talking about you. All week, the question was the color of René Girard's underpants (laughs)… This antagonism came back when Mézy left Montpellier. I had seen some very heated Cup matches at La Mosson. We found in terms of mentality what we experienced at Jean-Bouin. But I left for Bordeaux in 80 and we lost touch.

It was Loulou who contacted you in 2009 ?

I had just left the DTN and the espoir team. To my great surprise, Loulou had called me. We had lunch at the farmhouse. There were quite a few people from the club. Laurent, Michel… I met him when he was at the League.

With his son Nicolas, physical trainer, his assistant Pascal Baills, and Louis Nicollin. Yet another reception to celebrate the title. Midi Libre

The fact of being local, strong character too, it created chemistry ?

Nicollin liked things to be clear. From the beginning, the way he looked at me said, “Maybe this is what you need to do”. He was the president, in honesty, in the old style, with whom I was able to work best. It was also Laurent's beginnings. We traveled a lot by bus. The hardest part was sometimes going to see him at the farmhouse to negotiate plane trips because we weren't rolling in money.

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What do you keep from this magical year?

Our strength that season was feeling that the group was with you. We have a season in the top three almost all the time.

However, at the break, after having let the title of autumn champion slip away to Evian-Thonon, you wish the players to have a bad Christmas…

(Laughs) What did I do to them! If I say something like that today, I'll get fired up… It wasn't thought out but I expected this disappointment. My experience as a player at Bordeaux taught me a lot of things. At Evian, we were leading 2-1 and we lost 4-2. When I got back to the locker room I was crazy. I told them “don't you realize that you're screwing everything up”. If I had to do it again, I would do it again because I think it was a trigger. They came back after the break, ready, fresh and ready.

Lap of honour with the Pailladine scarf in hand in 2012 after the victory over Lille. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

What image or anecdote comes to mind ?

The image is during the Champions League. To play Arsenal, we had flown to London and when we arrived by bus, a man was waiting for us, sitting in front of the hotel. It was Loulou! The anecdote is this invitation from the fans of the Mosson district just after the title. The guy who came to pick me up told me to leave my car in front of the stadium. I told him, “they're going to burn it”… He replied “No, you're with us, you're not at risk”. He takes me to a courtyard, there were drums, a great atmosphere. They had prepared a meal. It was a great time. They were really happy that I was sharing this with them. And me too…

There's also this title clause that you made Loulou sign…

I don't know what went through our heads. We asked for this clause when I signed with a bonus in the event of a title. It was a big clause anyway. It made me laugh because I didn't have any trouble getting it through. No one imagined us as champions. Afterwards, Loulou teased me. “Fuck, you got me good…”

The decisive match ?

The two matches against Lille. In the first leg, we won 1-0 in Villeneuve-d’Ascq with a goal from Giroud and a huge match from Pionnier in goal. That was the trigger. The return leg, in La Mosson, made our crazy dream come true… The finale in Auxerre was phenomenal too. The tennis balls, the interruptions. It was unbearable but in the end you remember the collective adventure. Boys like Bédimo and Jeunechamp, neglected at the highest level, took a hell of a revenge. Cyril, I had him at the training center in Nîmes and the people in the amateur league didn’t want to keep him. I gave him a chance for one more season with a contract at stake. He played as a striker at the time.

Carried in triumph by his players after four exceptional years at the helm of the team. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

Olivier Giroud played a major role ?

Without a doubt. He scored a bunch of impressive goals. I find this boy extraordinary, when you see where he's been… Grenoble, Istres, Tours, Montpellier. Many people told me, he's slow, he won't move forward. I made him understand that you can go fast by being slow. Olivier, he had the speed over 80 meters but not the liveliness. But the progression and self-denial he has had in the game is enormous.

Montpellier is a club apart in your career ?

In terms of standing, the biggest club I've known is Lille. Montpellier has developed and improved its infrastructure thanks to the money from the title. But the full Place de la Comédie, the jubilation, these are things that remain. You'll have it in you forever.

Also read: 50 years of MHSC: longevity, track record, fiery temperament… how Geoffrey Jourdren established himself as an iconic goalkeeper

Can MHSC still exist in modern football? ?

Each club has its philosophy. Young players today are all known. You have to be there at the right time to get them. It's a daily job. When you've done what we did in 2012, you know that you have six or seven players who are going to leave and you have to be ready to rebuild. You mustn't be afraid to play young players like we did in 2012 during the CAN with Cabella, Stambouli… If you don't have the financial means, you have to find other levers. You can have a difficult year with young players telling yourself that they will toughen up and climb the ladder. We must also give players the importance they deserve, not make a big deal out of them.

Also read: 50 years of the MHSC: Cup victory, European epic, death of Bruno Martini… Pascal Baills’ contrasting memories

It’s the weight of the title that makes the MHSC not call on you in these difficult times ?

We can ask ourselves the question. My fault is not to put myself forward. If it doesn’t happen in this specific case, it’s because we don’t want it to happen. Because I am here, available… Jean-Louis Gasset is in the same situation as me (1). It would be something to try.

(1) The interview was conducted before Michel Der Zakarian was fired. I subscribe to read the rest