According to L’Équipe Marseille’s president Pablo Longoria and the club’s supporters’ groups have resumed dialogue, marking a period of relative calm after a turbulent meeting that took place last month. The meeting, held on September 18 at the club’s training facility, La Commanderie, had triggered a crisis within the club which led to the departure of several sporting directors and Spanish manager Marcelino.
The willingness to re-engage in discussions became evident shortly after a September 25 meeting with the police prefecture at the Vélodrome, as several supporters’ associations expressed their openness to constructive dialogue.
Longoria, after displaying his own doubts and deliberations about his position within the club, restarted the dialogue during the international break. Notably, last week, following a trip to the French capital and a meeting with the McCourt family, the 37-year-old Spaniard successfully re-established contact with the supporters’ groups.
On Thursday, for a little over three hours, Longoria, and the club’s new Director General, Stéphane Tessier, met individually with six out of the seven supporter groups. These meetings took place in an intimate setting at a hotel adjacent to the iconic Vélodrome stadium.
The MTP group of supporters of the northern stands had to reschedule their meeting, owing to the absence of their president. Rachid Zeroual, representing the Winners group, also received an excused absence as he was not present in Marseille the prior week. Each supporters’ association met with the club’s leadership for a duration of thirty to forty minutes.
The recurring topic at the forefront of these discussions was the departure of the club’s manager, Marcelino. Despite some skepticism among the supporters about the Spanish coach, it was emphasised that they did not explicitly request his resignation in September. Instead, they had offered some spirited comments amid the animated atmosphere, drawing comparisons between Marcelino and a “potato chip” or a “lower-league coach.”
All supporters’ groups told L’Équipe that the September 18 meeting had been a typical “Marseillaise-style gathering.” Importantly, they underlined that there had been no instances of death threats originating from their side.
During the current round of meetings, supporter groups raised concerns about the current quality of the first-team squad. They expressed hope for an upturn in the players’ performance under the leadership of Gennaro Gattuso. The results in the upcoming matches, starting with the crucial fixture against Lyon on Sunday, will be closely monitored in the coming weeks.
GFFN | George Boxall
