Montpellier caught in the vertigo of a descent into hell at the end of a first half of the season in reverse

Téji Savanier sous tension, le symbole d’un début de saison totalement raté pour l’ancien capitaine et son équipe. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Nailed to last place before the reception at the Mosson of Monaco, Friday January 17, the Hérault club experienced a catastrophic first half of the season. Story of a fall.

Silence paralyzes the Mosson this Sunday January 12. The silence of a slow drift and the fear of emptiness. On the evening of the defeat against Angers (1-3), the incantations of hope, anger and frustration had no more springs. “We must face reality. The mission was very difficult, today it is mission impossible”,act Jean-Louis Gasset, bruised by this failure.

Sixteen years after its return to Ligue 1, and the title at the height of its history, Montpellier, bottom of the table, is heading towards a fourth relegation. The year of the 50th anniversary. Story of the fall of an almost fatalistic club.

The frenzy of the Olympic Games in Paris masks the advanced decline. Two weeks before the restart, the agreement on television rights falls like the first axe. And a leaden weight. “When I have to deal with €7 million instead of the budgeted €19.5 million, it was a shock”, Laurent Nicollin takes the full force of it. Montpellier suspends its recruitment, reduces its budget (€38M), and pays the bill for a salary policy from another era with executives who do not respond. And, it does not sell a single player.

Laurent Nicollin does not let go of the LFP boss: Vincent Labrune. He suffers the damage of his friendship with the former OM boss and gets lost in clumsy words. His statement: “€30, that's one Friday in the month, out of four, where you don't go to the restaurant to pay for your DAZN subscription” goes round in circles. And affects his image and that of the club.

Without predicting such an agreement, Montpellier wanted to clean up the locker room despite the dryness of its means. Coach Michel Der Zakarian, supported by the management, wants to part ways with the two thirty-somethings Jordan Ferri and Wahbi Khazri. Neither the midfielder nor the striker, approached by Bastia, are leaving, nor are they willing to sacrifice their substantial salary.

Latent war

The latent war accentuates the fracture. The Sakho affair and its aftermath end up tearing apart the very fragile bond between Michel Der Zakarian, who appoints Bécir Omeragic as vice-captain, and the executives, downgraded with the sole exception of captain Téji Savanier.

Everything goes topsy-turvy. Montpellier misses its physical preparation, accumulates injuries, particularly in the defensive sector, and Der Zak is absent for ten days following the death of his mother-in-law. A withdrawal that intrigues. His team remains at the entrance quay with a slap in the face in Paris (6-0) and a defeat at the Mosson against Nantes (1-3). The extent of its failures hides the evil.

Midfielder Joris Chotard returns from the Olympics with a silver medal. He only imagines himself passing through Grammont before leaving. His transfer to Wolfsburg falls through, rekindles tensions with management, particularly sporting director Bruno Carotti, and brings Olivier Nicollin, the company's boss, out of the shadows. The eldest Nicollin castigates Jordan Ferri for his recalcitrant attitude towards certain supporters, spreading his anger in the locker room, to the point of splashing Michel Mézy, the president's advisor.

“We're going to sink”

He knows that come winter he will have to stand surety for lack of summer transfers before the DNCG, awaited with great anxiety at all levels of the club. With four points in eight games, everything went to pieces on October 20th during a new nightmare against Marseille at La Mosson (0-5). Acted before the end of the match, Laurent Nicollin took the decision to dismiss Der Zak, on the evening of his 200th on the Montpellier bench.

Jean-Louis Gasset responds to the call of the Montpellier president and pleads for “the sacred union”. He does not measure the extent of the physical failure of an aging squad, nor the contagious resignation of the locker room, nor the flaws of the defense. The defeat against Toulouse, for his first on the bench, acts like a boomerang effect of his blinding attachment to the Nicollin family.

Shortly after his inauguration, he says: “There are many work. We have a small fire extinguisher when we need a Canadair.” After the defeats at La Mosson against OM and TFC, the Ultras of Butte Paillade descend on Grammont in a procession surrounded by fury: “Our blood is orange and blue. You have no blood. Respect this jersey, respect the people who work every day. If you don't respect that, we're going to sink,” capo Sylvain snaps.

Abandonment in the Cup

The team retaliates against Brest (3-1). Lacking a survival instinct, it resists against the candidates for Europe, but falters against its direct competitors. And disintegrates during the elimination in the Coupe de France at Puy (4-0). Resignation of a team that flouts one of Louis Nicollin's ancestral objectives. “I was hoping that we would show more mental quality. There, we gave up”, says Gasset. A controversy is grafted onto the humiliation. “Last in Ligue 1, that's not bad ?”, a spectator from Le Puy asks Téji Savanier. Who replies: “When you earn 210,000 euros, it's okay”. Shis response circulates on the networks, amplifies the anger of the supporters and leads to the loss of his armband.

Three weeks later, Montpellier is not there against Angers. The seven-point deficit is not abysmal, but its meager nine points measure its own emptiness. A long way of the cross begins. Or a revolt.

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