President Nicollin sings the praises of the new boss of the LFP and delivers his perspective on the crisis.
Between empty stadiums and the Médiapro debacle, French football is not at its best. But it could have been worse. This is more or less what President Nicollin tells us, who does not regret having voted for Vincent Labrune as president of the Professional Football League (LFP). “It is not easy to manage such a file from the start of his mandate and I congratulate him because if there had been someone else in his place, I think we would not be. where we are and it would be even more dramatic, underlines the president of the MHSC, who also presented the project of the Louis-Nicollin stadium to us during this interview. He managed to get our rights back. Then there is a second step with Canal + or another broadcaster, and it might be even more complicated. But I think he has already done the hardest thing and what a lot of people didn’t think he could do, get out of Mediapro smoothly while making some money back. We are not going to jump to the ceiling either because the clubs are in difficulty, but fortunately it is him … “Let us recall that the former president of OM was elected by the board of directors of the LFP ahead of Michel Denisot (15 to 10) on September 10. Exit Didier Quillot.
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And the boss of the MHSC added: “Without criticizing anyone else, I think who it was other people, we would be a little more in trouble. The right man for the job? If I voted for him, it was because he was the right choice and that he was the ideal person. Afterwards, we elected him without knowing that Médiapro was going, two months later, to piss us off. Fortunately he is there with all his knowledge, his networks. “
“If we must be suffering, other Ligue 1 clubs will suffer more than me …”
Laurent Nicollin
While waiting for an outcome in the case of TV rights, the French clubs are sticking their tongue out. On the side of Montpellier, Laurent Nicollin does not know how to assess the losses that his club will post at the end of the season. “I do not have all the elements”, he analyzes, in the dark until the new broadcaster has been found. “Unless there is a miracle, unless it drops tickets from a plane, I will have losses”, he agrees, affirming that it is “not prohibited”. From there to saying that the Hérault club is in danger, there is only one step that the son of the late “Loulou” is not ready to take. “In life, we are always in danger. We may not be in danger, but we do not have the same certainties as three months ago with Médiapro. We are more in difficulty, more worried, we look at our money. Afterwards, I am more worried about paying my employees’ salaries every month than anything else. Afterwards, we are not going to make people cry in the cottages, we are not there for that. Everyone is in trouble, restaurateurs and many others. Everyone, at their level, is in difficulty. One thing is certain: if we have to be suffering, other Ligue 1 clubs will suffer more than me … “President Nicollin indeed manages his club as a good father and is also” not obliged ” to sell this winter.
“In France, when there is no vaccine we yell and when there is one, we also yell because we do not want to be vaccinated”
Laurent Nicollin
In the end, President Nicollin, who will head the unified union of French professional clubs by the spring, around April-May, is not particularly worried about French football. “I am more worried that we will not be vaccinated or that people are dying every day from Covid. French football passes after all this. (…) Everyone will recover, with a lot of difficulties and losses, it may take two, three or four years to recover, but we will recover. I was going to say strongly that we find a vaccine but we already have one. But in France, when there is no vaccine we yell and when there is one, we also yell because we do not want to be vaccinated … For my part, I am ready to be vaccinated , with pleasure, but apparently we will have to wait a little longer … We may be vaccinated when the vaccine is no longer needed! We at the club, the players, we are ready, those who want it of course, I do not oblige anyone … “
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It remains to be seen what the next football will look like. A priori, a lot to the one before. “Rest assured: the system will always run. Life will not change unfortunately, it will always be the same. It will start again with a vengeance when everyone has regained their senses, says the president of Hérault XXL transfers and galloping salaries. That’s what I feel. I hope I’m wrong and that people will come back to making very low salaries and not wanting to take the player from the other. ” It costs nothing to hope. In the meantime, Montpellier attacks the return matches in the nails, in eighth place. And why not better at the end?
