Hakim Malek a signé un contrat de 6 mois renouvelable en cas de maintien avec Martigues. Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE
From National 3 to Ligue 2. For Midi Libre, coach Hakim Malek (52 years old) explains his surprise departure from Alès (where he will have stayed from November 2022 to January 2025) for Martigues.
For your first with Martigues, on Friday, you beat Amiens 3-0. Does this mean that it is easier to win matches in Ligue 2 than in N2 or N3 ?
(Smile). I don't know. I don't think so. Let's just say that it's not the same football. But when you are a team that wants to play, it is still easier in L2, because of the quality of the pitches, because of the adversity…
If you had been told last summer, when you didn't yet know whether Alès would play in N2 or N3, that you would be on a L2 bench in January, you would have signed straight away, right? ?
Yes, certainly. This proves that the work I do, beyond the results and the level, is recognized. But I could have already left for higher places last summer. The transfer window was hectic for me. I was approached by Olivier Pantaloni to be in his staff at Lorient (L2). I talked with Quevilly-Rouen and Aubagne to be number 1 in National, and with other N2 clubs (Épinal, Toulon, Fréjus, Editor's note).
But I chose to stay in Alès because I believed in the project and I had found my balance. For me, the OAC is not even a N2 club: by putting in the means, structural and human, it can and must return to the elite of football, and be in Ligue 2.
We are far from that today… How could you have been relegated to N3 ?
Because we made a mistake by deciding to keep a group that had just achieved extraordinary survival (despite 5 penalty points, Editor's note). Building on that seemed logical. Especially since the majority of the players were still under contract. But the reality is that this squad had fought all season to save itself, which showed its shortcomings…
Then, our recruitment was not great, it must be said, and the mayonnaise did not take between old and new. We were moving forward together without moving forward. And when you train at Moulinet where you have to share yourself in two locker rooms because they are too small, it is not ideal for unity.
Despite everything, and despite many facts of play against us, we finished 10th (out of 14). In a normal championship, we would have stayed up. The club should still be in N2, since there is a bye this season (place that should have gone to OAC, Editor's note).
Hakim Malek: “Last season was the biggest failure of my career as a coach”
What part of the responsibility do you have in this failure? ?
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000I'm not hiding: I am the first person in charge of the sports team, I did not achieve the objective, and this is the first time that this has happened to me. This is the biggest failure of my coaching career. That’s also why I stayed last summer. I wasn’t going to sweep the corpses under the rug and leave.
We promised you an immediate comeback this season, and yet it's not off to a good start (OAC is 6th, 12 points behind the leader Rousset)…
The beginnings of the Federation (FFF) cost us dearly. We prepared without knowing whether we were going to play in N2 or N3. We started with 9 players under contract, 6 from the reserve team and some players on trial. We weren't able to work on anything coherent. We mainly had attackers, few defenders, and that showed at the start of the championship. We had defensive players who wanted to come if we were in N2, but not in N3 (like Doumbia from Andrézieux, Editor's note).
Now, there is a little more certainty behind with Mollo, and reinforcements are arriving. And since your attack can score at any time, promotion is still possible. Rousset may have a hole. If you tell yourself now that it's over, you're not playing football anymore.
Nîmes Olympique: “When all the means are not combined to succeed…”
“I look at where I follow all the clubs I've been through. Nîmes Olympique is the club where I started in pro in France (in L2, after having coached in Algerian D1, Editor's note), who gave me my chance. He resembles OM in his DNA. And Adil (Hermach, the coach) is a friend. The situation is not simple. Why is it not simple ? Because all the means are not brought together to succeed in the missions. So, it’s difficult to judge a coach or results…"
What image(s) will you keep of Alès and the OAC ?
I will keep an exceptional image of the city and the people. I really liked this club, and I will remain attached to it as much as to Marseille clubs where I stayed for years. It is quite well structured, better than other N2 clubs, it works, the president (Bilange) has a coherent speech, Jean-Marie (Pasqualetti, the sports director), who works 15 hours a day for the club, has become a friend.
I don't forget my staff, the managers, the fervour of the kop with whom I exchanged, the great dynamic maintained in 2023 to stay up… At the end of 2022, I hadn't applied, Stéphane Saurat, whom I didn't know, left, and I was welcomed with great kindness, humility and respect. I'm not leaving happy, with the pin-pon, shouting: “I'm leaving”…
And what do you say to those few who regret that you “let go of the club” by leaving in January ?
There is a good part of the supporters who have always been very pleasant, and a small part who are harder… They have the right to think so, but they can also understand. There are opportunities that no one can miss. If it had happened to them or their children, they might not say the same thing.
That's the difficulty of this job, with players who come and go, coaches too… Here, it's Ligue 2, it's Martigues, it's my home (Hakim Malek lives near the Berre pond, Editor's note), and I played there. It was impossible to refuse. You'd have to be crazy!
I thank all the Alésiens. If I have hurt some of them, I am sorry, but I have always been honest with the OAC, I have informed them of all my contacts, like two months after my arrival, when a Saudi club wanted me. And I hope that the club will continue to grow.
How do you convince a Ligue 2 club to hire you when you are on a National 3 bench ?
Martigues had defined a profile, and I matched a lot of elements. Someone who had experience in Ligue 2 (with Nîmes as an assistant, Editor's note), who knew the club, who had a human approach… I had an interview with the entire board, six or seven people. And I was perhaps the most convinced that staying in L2 was achievable! But it is not an easy challenge.
The OAC has announced the arrival of midfielder Noé Cabezas (24 years old, Hardford city, United States), son of former Alésien Jean-Noël. He previously played 48 N2 matches. I subscribe to read the rest