The Montpelier Herault tactician is having a great season with the club and former colleagues in Alain Giresse and Eric Di Meco took some time out to talk about a coach they feel is the best man for the job
The most discussed topic in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 these days is to see whether Montpelier Herault will lift their first-ever Ligue 1 crown or not. As things stand, La Paillade are well on course. Three points divide them and second-place Paris Saint-Germain and with just two games to go, some feel that Montpellier’s destiny is in their own hands.
Though Rene Girard has done a fine http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 with a limited budget, the journey hasn’t been easy. Almost 20 years back, Girard gave up on football and opened a lottery company in Nimes.
Tired and nauseated by too many disappointments, the Frenchman chose to take a year off. However, it seems that the time off he took has paid dividends.
Girard started out as the coach of Olympique Nimes. However, the love affair with a club he played for turned out to be a sour and short experience. Many colleagues and friends know that Girard has had a tough time in football and are happy to see him earning so much success, something they feel, he deserves.
Alain Giresse, who played with Girard at Bordeaux, says that when his friend chose to abandon football, it wasn’t because of spite as he wanted to move on from a difficult situation.
“This event (Nimes dismissal) has been useful. A coaching career is never straight. We always cross difficult periods that shape us.”
Former Marseille star Eric Di Meco, who played with Girard for the French national team, says that Girard’s handling of issues makes him a special person as he takes pressure off the team by putting himself on the firing line.
“He has handled the crisis that shook the team. The ‘everybody wants us’ or “we don’t want us to be champions”, this is how he takes pressure off you by attacking the press.”
Unconventional his methods maybe, Rene Girard has achieved what few people in France can claim to do.
“He is a man of nature, a man of the soil,” says Alain Giresse.
With just two games left and Lille to look at first, Girard must be having some sort of speech prepared for his players ahead of a game in which a win will take them closer to becoming French champions.
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