Denis Balbir |, to the question of whether the Girondins de Bordeaux remained a great French club, replied in the negative, while arguing his opinion.
“No, it does not remain a great French club, because precisely things have rushed in the wrong direction, the club was sold and there were bad choices. There was a repetition of errors, both with the supporters and at the sporting level. There have been attempts that have not taken, curious recruitments, bizarre choices. There is everything that has been done the wrong way. He still remains at the club of the faithful, like Eric Bédouet who is always present and it is important to always have someone like that at the club. He played firefighters on duty a few times and did what he could. But when we talk about the French Ligue 1 championship today, who is going to talk about Bordeaux, apart from the Bordeaux supporters? No one. This week, yes, since Hatem Ben Arfa signed. It’s just a reality, it’s not bad what I’m saying. Today, when we look at the championship, we say that Rennes is the future Lyon because they are recruiting crazy and it’s a structured club. We look at what is happening in Lyon, we say that Marseille is always the same, we say that Paris will be champion, we say Lille is great, we say Monaco will come back… But nobody talks about Bordeaux. We all know that Bordeaux has fallen into line and the arrival of the new coach can mean that in the medium term, the club finds its colors and little by little, by stages, finds sensations with its supporters by its side. This war that there is between the management and the supporters which prevents the supporters from expressing themselves in the stadiums, which prevents the players from being supported, that makes a lot of things which are painful for everyone. We cannot say that today, Bordeaux is a big club in the Ligue 1. Bordeaux is an average club and the team in place must ensure that Bordeaux becomes again a club that we are talking about. They must have ambition, they must recruit well. For me, for a club to be successful, everyone has to have a specific place and everyone has to find their place. I think that the fundamental problem of foreign investors is that they do not get information, even if there are former executives, such as Alain Roche, Eric Bedouet, Jean-Louis Gasset. They must read and soak up the history of the clubs before they say to themselves to go buy Paulo Sousa or such and such a player. This is not DIY, it is a real construction. We see a club that has lasted for 24 years consecutively in the European Cup, it’s Lyon. It is enormous. So, we like or don’t like President Aulas, he has always defended and loved his club. It is inevitably an example somewhere and this example, it would be necessary that the foreign investors integrate it. They have to tell themselves that there is a club, a region, a new stadium that we like or not, but it is there. There are things to do. The Haillan is a formidable working tool as it can exist in Lille, Saint-Etienne, Lyon… We must attract players for its region, for its working tools and its ambition. We cannot ignore the supporters’ attachment to the club and say that we will arrive with our millions, and change the blue jersey with the scapular. Why is it a priority to do this? Apart from putting the supporters on their backs… The priority is to come back to the foreground and it is not by changing the jersey that we come back to the foreground ”.
Find the full interview HERE, on Girondins4Ever
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