Free of any contract after an end of mandate in Auxerre last October, a few months after a rise in Ligue 1, Jean-Marc Furlan granted an interview to MaLigue2. In this first part, the record holder for elite accessions looks back on recent months, and a return to Ligue 2 which has not been far from being done.
Crédit photo ©Dave Winter/FEP/Icon Sport
ML2: Hello, Jean-Marc Furlan, have you been contacted by clubs this winter for a « rescue mission ” although it is not really in your habits?
Jean-Marc Furlan : In fact, I was not called for rescue missions. I had contact for two months between December and January with Stade Malherbe Caen because Stéphane Moulin’s wife was ill (editor’s note, the SMC coach had retired for an indefinite period). They asked me a lot, the shareholder, Mr. Capton, made me come to Paris, we discussed for an hour and a half, he wanted me but Stéphane Moulin decided to take over the team after the death of his wife. And since he is under contract until June, we left it at that.
But I wasn’t called in for a last-minute rescue. In the middle of the season like that, it’s hard for a coach. So unless the coaches are completely vilified…. I know some for whom it’s hell, the players don’t want it anymore. And now, when a player does not adhere… I see it in Auxerre: there are 4-5 who did not adhere to the coach who arrived (editor’s note, Christophe Pelissier), they walked away.
“I can no longer watch Auxerre, I have turned the page”
ML2: Was it the case for Quentin Bernard, who returned to Niort, in particular?
JMF : Yes, Gaëtan Charbonnier too. Even Mathias Autret who was very happy with me: the other day a staff member called me and said: « Jean-Marc, Mathias Autret no longer say a word in the locker room ” whereas he was a hellish mouth, worse than a Marseillais (laughs)! Now, if the players don’t adhere, they spend six or eight months and leave and we can no longer build a club. It’s very hard for the coaches. In time in the 20th century, as in Auxerre or Nantes, they stayed 10 years, 12 years! They knew each other by heart! For the coach, it’s extremely complicated to create associations, combinations. Before, we had players from the age of 13-14 to 20-22, it was easy. And why did we go up to Ligue 1 with Auxerre? Because I had kept 20 players who had known each other for three years, that’s all.
ML2: Do you still manage to watch Auxerre, after this end of collaboration which was brutal for you?
JMF : Oh no ! I can’t watch anymore I turned the page. I have players who ask me. Gaëtan Charbonnier came to see me twice, Quentin Bernard, Gauthier Hein, Mathias Autret also approach me because I was close to them. I can no longer watch Auxerre. Last night (Sunday) Charbonnier told me « Hey, I watched the Auxerre match at Lorient. They won (1-0) but it’s a disaster. Whether it was Baptiste Malherbe and the whole gang, they weren’t correct with me, even the Chinese shareholders. After three years, they could have summoned me to tell me very explicitly what they blamed me for. I did not receive any summons, only letters and they told me ” You stay at your home ».
ML2 : We had felt like a hesitation after the rise in Ligue 1 when it was a question of extending the contract…
JMF : Yes, because in fact, as the players say, at the management level here, you have the impression that it is the Regional level. Francis Graille and Cédric Daury (editor’s note, ex-president and sports director of AJA ) are gone. Daury was setting up everything that was meetings for recruitment and the rest. While Baptiste Malherbe took a guy that the Chinese fired three months later (editor’s note, Samir Chamma, sports coordinator from June to September 2022). Me, I had a horrible summer. I argued with them because I didn’t agree at all on the recruitment, it was dramatic. Because Baptiste took those he wanted. And besides, it was he who took on the last coach.
« Le Havre? I thought they were brilliant at the start of the season, but now they have to be tight (laughs) »
ML2: If you don’t watch Auxerre, what matches do you watch?
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