If Mourad Boudjellal took over the management of Hyères FC, he could appoint former international striker Nicolas Anelka to the post of sports director of the Var club, in National 2. A good choice?
To answer, French football players who have rubbed shoulders with him, at PSG, like Luis Fernandez, or off the pitch, like Julien Faubert, deliver their opinions.
And big names in football, like Papin or Wallemme, also installed in this world “semi-professional” that is N2, give their impressions.
Jean-Pierre Papin (trainer in Chartres, N2): “All benefits for Hyères”
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Jean-Pierre Papin, another big name in French football, now trains Chartres, in N2. NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
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Appointed to the position of coach of the Chartres club in the summer of 2020, JPP has not arrived in Eure-et-Loir in conquered ground. “Bearing a name is one thing, but respect comes through results”, warns the 1991 Golden Ball when we mention the arrival of Anelka in the city of Palm trees. An arrival that Papin judges on the other hand “all profit for Hyères”. “He will bring players, from the network”, he announces.
Even at this semi-amateur or semi-professional level (depending on), where does HFC evolve? “When you love football, no matter the level. Me, I enjoy Chartres. The N2 is a hell of a level, there are very good players. It’s a demanding championship”, concludes JPP.
Jean-Guy Wallemme (coach of Étoile FC, N2): “The name is one thing, but…”
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Jean-Guy Wallemme, former champion of France with Lens, coach of Fréjus / Saint-Raphaël. Philipe Arnassan / Nice Matin
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Arrived last summer on the bench of Étoile FC, the former captain of RC Lens, crowned French champion in 1998 with the Sang et Or, is one of the names that count in French football.
But as the former defender explains, a “name” is not enough to ensure a career on the pitch or behind the scenes of a club. “Nicolas has a different aura than mine, laughs Wallemme. He is a little younger than me (the two men are twelve years apart) and his name will probably speak a little more than mine to young people. Maybe he’ll even impress them, continues the coach of the intercommunal club of Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël. But it’s what you do every day that makes people respect you. And that goes through the sessions that you build when you are a coach, or even through your vision of football when you are in a position of sports director. “
A position that Wallemme deems coveted. “These are places that are worth a lot and there are people on the balcony, as they say, he laughs. In the elite, there are not fifty places either, so starting in a world that is not really amateur either, with a club that has a project and that can offer you visibility can be a good thing. There are interesting challenges to take up and we can always evolve. This is also why Mourad wants him to come. His experience exists, Nicolas has lived “, concludes Wallemme.
Julien Faubert (educator with Étoile FC, N2): “He is someone who thinks”
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Julien Faubert. Philipe Arnassan / Nice Matin
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If like Anelka, Julien Faubert has played at Real Madrid, the former Bordeaux player has not rubbed shoulders with the former Arsenal or PSG player in the Merengue jersey. No, these two have mainly faced each other in the Premier League, but it is in the privacy that Faubert knows Anelka.
“We have friends in common, explains the one who is currently graduating as a coach. He does not fit into the codes and the football world sometimes understands him very badly, but for me, he is someone who thinks and has a different outlook on football, with a keen eye. “
Luis Fernandez (his former coach at PSG): “Nico has values”
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Luis Fernadez managed Nicolas Anelka for two seasons at PSG. Michel Luccioni / Nice Matin
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As he likes to recall, he “threw” Anelka into the deep end. Coach of PSG, when the striker made his debut in the first division on February 7, 1996 on the lawn of Louis II, in Monaco, Luis Fernandez was again in charge, on the side of the Parc des Princes, when the enfant terrible of French football returned, after a stay in England and a stint at Real Madrid, under the Parisian colors in 2000.
Their collaboration will last two seasons, and will end with quarrels which delighted the Guignols de l’Info. But Luis Fernandez has fond memories of Anelka and sees him succeed as sporting director. On condition that the president lets him maneuver … “This is a very important position in a club. You need a vision, transparency, or not to be too good friends with the agents, but the main concern is the role of the president.”
Luis Fernandez would like in any case that “Nico finds a good place and that he manages to bring his experience”. And for him, nothing like getting his hands on in National 2, the 4th French division.
“When we see that Zidane and today Raul made their classes at Castilla (the reserve team of Real Madrid which plays in the third division) … For Nico, the N2 is a good championship, it will be able to be done the hand and be able to set up a sports policy. “
His character, which he rubbed shoulders with? “Nicolas has values and that’s very good. Above all, he must not be silent. On this position of sports director, you have to have personality and character. If the roles of each are well defined and that everyone knows what to do, it should be okay. “
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Nicolas Anelka at Hyères FC, what would it be like? Four big names in French football give their opinion
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