“The one who would transmit the necessary values”: from sidelined to captain of the MHSC, Jordan Ferri and the unexpected return to grace

Samedi à Lyon, Jordan Ferri avait hérité du brassard de capitaine, au lendemain de la sanction infligée à Téji Savanier. MAXPPP – Joël PHILIPPON

If the choice to designate him captain after the sanction of Téji Savanier divides, the MHSC midfielder shone in Lyon despite the defeat (1-0), Saturday December 4. After months inside.

He raised his arms to the sky, more to apologize than to exult in front of his training club. Before waving them, in spite this time, in front of Mr. Stinat. A scorer before the VAR cancelled his happiness, a driving force before Lyon ruined Montpellier's efforts in added time (1-0), Jordan Ferri experienced an immense emotional roller coaster on Saturday, during an evening where his arms were as scrutinized as his feet. The fault lies in the captain's armband that Jean-Louis Gasset had given him the day after the sanction inflicted by president Laurent Nicollin on Téji Savanier. The choice divides but it seemed to free a player who has become himself again after being his shadow in recent months.

“Beyond the frustration, you have to see the potential we have because we competed with a great team. As I said in the locker room, if we reproduce this kind of performance every weekend, in the end we will be rewarded”, Ferri summarized to DAZN. He was talking about MHSC. He could just as well have been talking about himself.

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Gasset: “We didn't have much time to calculate”

At this level, the former Gone will be indispensable to La Paillade. Who would undoubtedly sweep under the carpet the reproaches regularly addressed to an element that has at times crystallized the criticisms with regard to the Hérault executives, whether they point to investment or physical condition. Fine in his analyses of the game as well as the profession, the 32-year-old man has an entire character. He has not always digested that these are expressed or relayed, preferring to oppose his silence to the local media.

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Previous staffs had also criticized him, notably regretting a part-time responsibility. Never totally enamored with a profile too far removed from the more powerful one he demanded, Michel Der Zakarian had ended up cutting back on his playing time, to the point of dismissing him and considering a departure.

The arrival of Jean-Louis Gasset rhymed with the opportunity for a return to grace. Captain at Le Havre then against Brest in the absence of a suspended Savanier, Ferri took advantage of the confidence (re)given to the leaders. On Saturday, his buddy Téji was on the pitch but he was therefore designated in his old garden.

“The president took sanctions the day before. We were aware but we didn't have much time to calculate. And given Jordan's week and the fact of playing in Lyon, I thought he was the one who was going to transmit the values ​​that were needed to play this match”, explained Gasset.

Final decision on the armband “at the end of the transfer window”

His midfielder's match proved him right. As he temporarily calmed the protests of supporters with a persistent resentment since the episode of the photo with a Nîmes jersey in 2020. The clash at the start of the season with a spectator from La Mosson had also not done for the popularity of the Cavaillon native. The spat earned him a public reprimand from the president's brother, Olivier Nicollin, who was exasperated from the stands.

Ferri resisted it until he put on the armband. It is not yet his property. “Until the end of the transfer window, not knowing which players might leave us, we're going to give ourselves time to think, said Jean-Louis Gasset. And when we're at full strength to finish the season, we'll make a final decision.” In the meantime, Jordan Ferri has an interim to ensure. Full-time on the pitch, for the good of Montpellier.

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