'I now know who my enemies are' – Battle lines drawn in Marseille's hierarchy
26/04/2024 17:04
Turning points can be tricky things to pin down but for Olympique de Marseille the relationship between president Pablo Longoria and general manager Stéphane Tessier was definitively broken on the 31st of March, in the moments that Marseille took to the field to host Paris Saint-Germain.
It wasn't the game or the defeat to their eternal rivals that signalled the break, but a tifo lofted above the South Winners bearing the image of a Redouane Bougheraba, a comedian from the city who has a good relationship with the ultras group.
To the South Winners, it was a symbol of a Marseille-born success story celebrated in the heartbeat of the city, but to the president, it was taken with far less warmth. According to L'Équipe, behind closed doors, Longoria felt it had brought "shame" to the club.
The president had been left "dumbfounded" by its unveiling and furious at what he considered to be a marketing stunt in the biggest game in French football, and it was let publicly known that the search for the culprit who had allowed this to be greenlit would be taking place.
The search didn't have to last long. Tessier had months in advance approved the tifo. Whether Longoria's reaction was political manoeuvering to paint his rival as 'cheapening' the image of Marseille or whether he simply didn't know who had given the go-ahead for the image is beside the point. To the public, the president looked as if he had no control of what was happening inside his club, while within Marseille it was nothing short of a declaration of war.
L'Équipe reports that the mood within Marseille is that of two camps weighing each other up before making the next move. Since the fateful meeting with the supporters in September, which saw then-manager Marcelino leave the club where he was eventually followed by the sporting director (Javier Ribalta) and the director of strategy and development (Pedro Iriondo), Longoria has been an increasingly isolated figure.
It looked as if Longoria was going to join his allies in leaving the team after the meeting left him questioning his future in the role. However, after a short period of reflection, Longoria returned, albeit far less engaged without his close network of colleagues that he had relied heavily upon, and more willing to delegate his responsibilities. These departures signalled a shift in the hallways of the club, and Tessier filled these positions with people loyal to him.
Longoria is left with only Marc Ortero, head of the training centre, and Medhi Benatia, his strategic advisor appointed in November. L'Équipe reports that this group are distrustful of Tessier, with Longoria allegedly declaring in private "I now know who my enemies are at the club. I can’t work with him anymore."
There has long been a feeling that Longoria has been ready to step down from his role as the president and that Tessier despite not having the same relationship with the owner Frank McCourt, has positioned himself as the obvious successor. The general manager has even managed to cultivate good relations with the ultras and is known to frequently meet with the spokesman and founder of the South Winners, Rachid Zeroual.
A stark contrast to Longoria who has been the frequent recipient of stinging criticisms from supporters unhappy with how his tenure in charge of the club has been shaping up, and frustrated by what they consider to be public attacks from him, such as with the Bougheraba tifo. A tifo that was on display once more on Wednesday night as Marseille hosted OGC Nice, but with an added caption "Criticize us, again and again. This is just the beginning okay, okay."
The battle lines have been drawn in Marseille, the question now appears to be who blinks first.
