Angry, broke and relegated: Montpellier are at war with themselves | Ligue 1

Montpellier are one of three clubs to have denied PSG the Ligue 1 title since the takeover more than a decade ago. In the time that has elapsed since their 2012 triumph, the club has drifted into a state of dereliction and destitution. Their relegation from Ligue 1 confirmed, La Paillade exit the stage with a whimper; it may be a while before they grace it once more.

Montpellier are a family club. Louis “LouLou” Nicollin is the founding president of the club and upon his death, in 2017, ownership passed to his son, Laurent. LouLou who died aged 74, continues to be honoured in the 74th minute of every home match by the fans, but there was a mixture of applause and boos at Sunday’s commemoration. Families don’t always get along and relationships have buckled under the strain of the most devastating season in the club’s 50-year history. Disunity reigns at the Mosson.

The 74th minute of the dour 0-0 draw against Reims on Sunday – which halted MHSC’s 11-game losing run and constituted their first clean sheet of the season – coincided with Téji Savanier coming off the bench. Savanier is an enfant du club, having come through Montpellier’s academy before returning in 2019. He is the emblematic and humble captain; a player who lives in the same neighbourhood he grew up in, despite his riches, who holidays in a campsite on the outskirts of town, who rejected the chance to go to Milan in favour of La Paillade and whose love for the club and the city could never be questioned. Or at least not until recently.

The defeat to fourth-tier Le Puy in the Coupe de France was embarrassing in itself, but it will be remembered more as a moment that sullied Savanier’s image. “Last in Ligue 1 – does that hurt?” teased a Le Puy fan in a viral video posted on social media. “When you’re being paid €210,000 a month, no,” responded Savanier, who was condemned by the club and stripped of the captaincy. Relegated to a bit-part role, statistically, this has been his worst season, and it will be his last, too.

The experienced spine of the team will be dismantled. It isn’t just Savanier the club are seeking to offload – Wahbi Khazri, Benjamin Lecomte, Jordan Ferri, and Falaye Sacko are also touted for departures. Andy Delort was also parachuted back to the club on loan in January with the mission of saving MHSC from the drop. He is yet to score a goal and has not been included in the past two squads.

Many of the aforementioned stalwarts have already had their game time reduced in recent weeks, since the arrival of Zoumana Camara as manager. The former PSG youth coach replaced an exhausted Jean-Louis Gasset this month.

“Maybe I’m a football has-been,” said Gasset, who had replaced Michel Der Zakarian earlier in the campaign. The returning club legend never looked like saving the sinking ship and he rarely struck an optimistic tone. “It’s over” and “we have to stop believing” are the pick of Gasset’s quotes that best surmise the acceptance of fate. If words aren’t enough, the club’s decision to sell their starting attacking trio – Akor Adams, Musa al-Taamari and Arnaud Nordin – in January paints the picture clearly. Sporting ambition left the room quite a long time ago.

Gasset remains at the club, albeit now in a backroom role, and he elected Camara as his successor. The new man has been looking to the future, giving time to young players and academy products. However, along with the experienced spine, the best and brightest – Joris Chotard, Khalil Fayad, and Becir Omeragic – will also be forced out in a desperate bid to raise funds.

Last year’s accounts showed the wage bill was almost equivalent to the club’s entire income. The financial crisis gripping French football more generally, which could be further exacerbated by the uncertainty surrounding the continuation of DAZN’s broadcasting deal, has hit Montpellier particularly hard. The finger has naturally been pointed at Nicollin, who did not help matters with his vociferous support of the LFP president and close friend Vincent Labrune, the architect of that botched broadcasting deal last summer.

But there are plenty of fingers to be pointed. “At some point, we will have to stop laughing,” said Nicollin after the defeat to Angers on 13 April. “There are people whose story with the club is over, whatever happens. We will go forward with a healthy base of people who want to fight for the club and people who aren’t just there for their own sake. I’ve spoken and spoken, the people that this concerns will understand.”

Those comments shocked an emotional Ferri. “If our president said that, I don’t have a lot to say. I don’t even want to speak more than that.”

The president has turned on his players and the fans have turned on the club. With relegation confirmed before Montpellier’s match against Reims thanks to Le Havre’s draw against Monaco, the Mosson was sparsely populated, the atmosphere not aided by the closure of the ultras stand after violent scenes led to the abandonment of the match against Saint-Étienne in March. There was anger then, there is a feeling of ambivalent resignation now.

Those who were present for the non-event booed the entrances of Khazri and Savanier, witnessed a dire state of affairs. Montpellier are a club at war with themselves, but one despite relegation are trying to right their wrongs and look to the future. The future is uncertain though, and the fear of a Bordeaux 2.0 lingers. Montpellier’s 50th anniversary celebrations this season have been anything but. At their lowest ebb, the objective must simply be to survive for another 50.

Talking points

“We have this obsession with the Champions League,” said Luis Enrique abefore PSG’s meeting with Nice on Friday. That obsession has also become a distraction. Nuno Mendes insisted PSG were “always thinking about” completing an invincible season, however, their focus was clearly elsewhere and specifically on the match against Arsenal on Tuesday. Les Aiglons were ruthlessly efficient, taking their big chances and romping away 3-1 winners.

What was worrying from a PSG perspective was how one of the goals was conceded. Youssouf Ndayishimiye’s game-clinching third came from a free-kick and 38% of all the goals conceded by Les Parisiens have now come from set pieces. Their weakness is Arsenal’s strength and one that the Gunners will be hopeful of exploiting. “Records aren’t our primary goal, titles are,” said Luis Enrique last week. “If someone assured me that losing to Nice would get me into the Champions League final, I’d sign up immediatelyDomestic invincibility has been sacrificed; time will tell if it yields European glory.

The race for the Champions League remains enthralling. Amine Gouiri’s spectacular hat-trick helped Marseille comfortably beat Brest to cap a week that marked the start of a multi-week training camp in Rome – an unprecedented move to distance the club from what is perceived as a toxic atmosphere in their native city. They leapfrog Monaco, who went into the weekend second but finished fourth after a draw against Le Havre, while wins for Lyon, Nice, and Strasbourg mean there are four points separating second from seventh.