50 years of MHSC: typical team, best players, players and coaches… Midi Libre readers have elected the greatest in history

Olivier Giroud, immense artisan du titre de champion en 2012 avec 21 buts et le trophée de meilleur buteur de L1 brandi sous les yeux de Loulou Nicollin. Midi Libre – DOMINIQUE QUET

A consultation carried out on the Midi Libre website allowed Internet users to choose those who have most marked the history of Pailladine since the club was created in 1974. And the winners are…

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 staff of Midi Libre in this special issue on the 50th anniversary of the MHSC. Available in newsstands on December 11 for only 5 euros, this glossy magazine will make you 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 A special edition full of anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.

A special issue of 84 pages. midi libre

Fifty years of history and a vote. At the end of October and beginning of November, Internet users of the midilibre.fr website had the opportunity to elect their “Pailladins of history”. An election that was not always close and in which more than 2,000 readers participated. It gives a certain perspective on a half-century of existence that the title of French Ligue 1 champion, won in 2012, crushes with its prestige. The results.

The results of the votes of Midi Libre Internet users. midi libre

The best player: Marion Torrent, loyalty rewarded

There was no real match. Yet, up against Hoda Lattaf and Marie-Laure Délie, two monuments of the women's Paillade, Marion Torrent was widely acclaimed. The defender dominated the vote with 72% of the votes. For the native of Châlons-sur-Marne (Marne), this result is the reward for an extraordinary loyalty.

Marion Torrent arrived in Montpellier at the age of 12. He is still twenty years later. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

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Torrent arrived in Montpellier at the age of twelve, to start in the first team just four years later. The beginning of a rise that propelled this protégé of Loulou to the French team, whose jersey she wore 51 times. Despite opportunities to leave, the MHSC captain has chosen stability, playing more than 350 matches with her training club.

Read also: 50 years of MHSC: Marion Torrent and Montpellier Hérault…, "it's my second home!"

The best player: Olivier Giroud, two years for eternity

He is not the one who wore the MHSC jersey the most, nor the one who scored the most goals. But Olivier Giroud has engraved his name in gold letters in the history and hearts of a Paillade who chose him ahead of a child of the club and a legend, Laurent Blanc. Pascal Baills, Téji Savanier and Carlos Valderrama could not compete.

In two years, 85 matches, 41 goals and this incessant way of giving his all on the attack front, Giroud has made a place for himself in the pantheon by guiding MHSC to the supreme title, Ligue 1, at the end of an exceptional 2011-2012 season (21 goals). Discovered in Tours, in L2, where he was already the best gunner, Giroud imposed himself in a flash in an environment that suited him like a glove.

Read also: 50 years of MHSC: “Loulou got me in my feelings”, memories of Olivier Giroud, the great architect of the 2012 championship title

He propelled him to the French team and a blue jersey on which he helped to embroider the second star of world champion in 2018. At the end of his adventure in Montpellier, Giroud joined Arsenal and realized his dream of England. But he left an indelible mark in Hérault, of which this vote is proof.

The best coach: René Girard, forever the first

We knew his popularity was intact in the stands of La Mosson since the title of French champion in 2012. The vote of our Internet users confirmed it with a very large plebiscite in favor of René Girard when it came to electing the best coach of all time on the benches of the MHSC.

It must be said that the Gardois set the bar very high in terms of results, leaving an indelible mark on the club's record: a 5th place with a ticket to the Europa League upon his arrival in 2009-2010 for the return to L1, a League Cup final lost against OM in 2011 and the supreme consecration in 2012.

René Girard coached MHSC for four years, leading it to the top of L1 and the Champions League. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

The Vauverdois is ahead of another Gardois on the podium who will forever be attached to the history of the club: Michel Mézy, the architect of the rise to D1 in 1987 and then the success in the Coupe de France in 1990.

Read also: 50 years of the MHSC: “Things that you have inside you forever”… The starry memories of René Girard

The 50-year-old team: iron defense, fiery midfield and attack of fire!

Only the sports department spoke here. And the task was not easy, far from it. But the result is a team that would have undoubtedly caused damage on all pitches. Its attack, composed of Olivier Giroud, Souleymane Camara, the most capped of them all, and Jacek Ziober, the Polish firebrand, would have scattered many defenses. As for its midfield, it would be hard to be more fiery. With Younès Belhanda, magician of the 1990s generation, and Eric Cantona, who needs no introduction, the tireless raker Jean-Claude Lemoult would have had strong minds to channel. And the opponents, real brain knots.

When they had not been smashed by a defense as tough as it was classy. With complementary sides, between the aggressiveness of Pascal Baills and the speed of Jérôme Bonnissel. For the axis, it is impossible to separate the elegance of Laurent Blanc and the power of Julio Cesar. To lead this cocktail, it is also difficult to make a choice between two outstanding leaders of men, René Girard and Michel Mézy. Who would have had a choice of king(s) with a grandiose bench, from Carlos Valderrama to Roger Milla or Vitorino Hiton.

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