Eight days after the “shame”, the MHSC resumes training to launch a second part of the championship of all dangers

Jean-Louis Gasset and his men are resuming in a context that the elimination at Puy and the various controversies have made even more tense. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Staff and players of La Paillade are expected in Grammont, this Sunday, September 29 from 3 p.m., for a resumption of training that comes after a week of vacation and a pitiful elimination in the Coupe de France that is on everyone's mind. 

Eight days after the “shame” of Puy-en-Velay and the disastrous elimination in the Coupe de France by the National 2 club (4-0), Montpellier HSC returns to the field this Sunday. On vacation since December 21, Jean-Louis Gasset's men have a meeting in Grammont, from 3 p.m., for a resumption of training in a context that could not be more complicated.

The Ligue 1 ranking

Last in Ligue 1 with nine points taken in 15 matches, La Paillade is dragging a depression that the last few weeks had seemed to be able to dispel, after the draws snatched against Lille and Nice (2-2). But the shipwreck in Haute-Loire, from its entry into the competition in the round of 32, put the head back under water of a club that is sparing itself nothing this season. Like the controversy that arose from Téji Savanier's response to supporters from Le Puy who were teasing him about the team's situation in the championship.

Mercato, Lyon…

“When you earn €210,000, it's fine”, the Hérault captain had said, sparking a national outcry. In Montpellier, this statement, added to the results, was the last straw and triggered the anger of the main group of supporters, the Butte Paillade 1991. The day after the leader's apologies and the condemnation by the MHSC in a press release, the Ultras did not spare Savanier, nor the management, nor the president Laurent Nicollin in a text published on social networks.

In this tense climate, Gasset will try to launch the recovery, the first act of which is scheduled during a perilous trip to Lyon, Saturday January 4. This meeting will be preceded by the opening of the winter transfer window, from this Wednesday January 1 (closing on February 3). It could have real repercussions on a group that is preparing to recover defender “Kiki” Kouyaté, who underwent knee surgery in October, and begins this afternoon a race of 19 matches to try to survive in L1. Far from Le Puy.