NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
An unexpected sporting situation that does not prevent a deep crisis. This is the paradox that agitates the Girondins de Bordeaux, moving on the lawn of Marseille Sunday, December 8 for the shock of the 17e Ligue 1 day.
The Bordeaux club went through all the emotions on Tuesday against Nimes, tossed between the sling of his ultras early in the game and the euphoria of a large victory (6-0) that allows him to reach the podium. An unexpected place at the start of the 2019-2020 season.
The meeting with the Gardois had been interrupted thirty minutes because of the vehement protests of supporters Bordeaux to express their anger at the edge of the lawn.
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Break for shareholders
This action, fueled by several months of conflict between supporters and management over the policy pursued by the American owners, had come a day after revelations from the daily newspaper Sud Ouest evoking "An irremediable break point" among the shareholders of the club, the US investment funds King Street (86.4%) and GACP (General American Capital Partners, 13.6%).
The Girondins, owned by the television group M6 since 1999, had been sold to GACP in November 2018 for around 100 million euros.
These behind-the-scenes tensions should lead to the acquisition of GACP's – investment-focused – shares by King Street, which is more interested in club restructuring, the commercial side and financial discipline, which the Ultramarines, the main group of investors, fear. supporters of the Girondins.
A hundred or so Ultramarines had already been invited the previous week to the club's headquarters to demand the resignation of Frédéric Longuépée, the president delegate, and the head of the ticket office Antony Thiodet, who is reproached management of the ticketing of the south turn where the ultras are installed.
"The club is a two-headed snake"
" I will not resign, I have never intended " Federico Longuepee after the meeting with Nîmes, acting the first media outlet of a Bordeaux leader since late August. " King Street is the majority shareholder of the club, committed to the Girondins of Bordeaux for a long time. "
But if King Street is the majority shareholder, it is the second largest shareholder, GACP, who had previously assumed the role of manager and is represented by Joe DaGrosa. Frédéric Longuépée had no word for this second investment fund.
King Street blames GACP for a significant increase in the club's deficit, due in part to the salaries of some of the club's employees or some of the first-team players. The club could also degrease again its workforce this winter by selling some players.
"The problem is not the development of the club, but the fact of dissociating it from the sportsman. It's inconceivable »explained Alexandre Dumaïtre, member of the Executive Board of the Ultramarines and a loyal supporter for 30 years.
"This management is dangerous and counterproductive; it has put these two entities in competition with the people who work within them. The club is a two-headed snake, the sportsman is managed on one side, and on the other, there is Frédéric Longuépée whose mission is to take care of the brand Girondins de Bordeauix, the entertainment, in large. We walk on the head. "
For weeks, the war has been declared between the two camps, exacerbated by management deemed brutal, a wave of dismissals and pressure, leading to the director of security in office for 20 years, which is on sick leave.
The coach, Paulo Sousa, worried
Despite these tensions at the head of the club, the Girondins make an excellent start to the season, under the leadership of their coach Paulo Sousa. The Portuguese, who "Concentrates especially what we can control, namely the training, the players, the message that we try to pass through you with confidence, professionalism", admitted to be "More worried when (he) sees a club that has not yet understood that giving private information does not help the project that we are trying to build".
"There is an uncertainty that appears here, one wonders what will happen and it is not the best in terms of energy for everything that one builds. I really hope that the ego of the people is less important than the club. We must put aside the personal ego to respect the club and the football ».
Asked about the possible repercussions of a change of shareholders at the head of the club, the Portuguese technician acknowledged "Ask yourself questions" but cut short the idea of an early departure: "If I did not want to (to continue)I would already have left. I am here with all the desire and all my knowledge and motivation to help this club to arrive as quickly as possible to what it deserves ".
A win in Marseille would only reinforce the Bordeaux paradox.
