First days in a new job do not come much worse than Olivier Ntcham’s at Marseille. Signed late on transfer deadline day to replace the Aston Villa-bound midfielder Morgan Sanson, Ntcham awoke to the news that his new boss André Villas-Boas had swiftly asked to resign over his very employment by the club. Ntcham has joined a club that is facing crises on all fronts, has changed beyond recognition in one short week and has just lost one of its greatest assets.
“He was specifically a player that I said no to,” explained Villas-Boas at a surreal press conference on Tuesday morning. “I learned of the signing when I woke up. I offered my resignation, saying I was not in agreement with the sporting strategy. I don’t want the club’s money. I simply want to leave. A gentlemen’s agreement about signing players has been broken. I really liked Marseille, but I’m a professional.”
In a bizarre twist, the Marseille board did not accept Villas-Boas’ offer to resign, which would have saved them from having to pay him compensation, but instead suspended him so they could take “disciplinary action” before removing him. “Olympique de Marseille announces the dismissal of André Villas-Boas,” said a club statement. “This decision became inevitable because of repetition of actions and attitudes which seriously harm the institution and its employees who defend it daily. The comments made today at a press conference, in particular about Pablo Longoria, head of football, are unacceptable.”
Rarely has a club been in such disarray. Villas-Boas’ chaotic dismissal came three days after Marseille ultras ransacked the club’s training ground. “Thefts were committed and vehicles were damaged,” said a defiant club statement after fans breached the gates of the training ground and set off dozens of fireworks, firecrackers and smoke bombs. “Five trees were burned with the sole aim being destruction. The damage done to the interior of the buildings amounts to several hundred thousand euros.” Marseille defender Álvaro González was injured as were several police officers and 25 arrests were made.
Marseille ultras have long been infuriated by what they see as president Jacques-Henri Eyraud’s attempts to reshape the club, laying off long-serving members of staff and saying that employees should not be Marseille fans as they are too easily affected by poor results. The team’s wretched recent form further fuelled fans’ anger. Marseille were title contenders in December. But, after one win in eight games, they are now ninth in the table, closer to the relegation zone than the league leaders.
Villas-Boas’ reign disintegrated alarmingly quickly. When Marseille beat Monaco in mid-December, it was their sixth win in a row and it cemented their place in a four-way title race. Their victory in the Classique in September was their first against PSG since 2011, ending a run of 20 games without a win against their rivals. This followed an impressive first season for Villas-Boas at the club. He moulded a functional but effective side on a minimal budget, making them comfortably the best of the rest in the shortened 2019-20 season.
Their limp exit from the Champions League this season was embarrassing, but it was clear – especially without their raucous Stade Vélodrome support – that Marseille were woefully under-powered for elite European football. A situation Villas-Boas summed up in November: “In order to be shit in the Champions League, you have to at least qualify for the Champions League. We did and we’re being shit.”
Nevertheless, the manager’s stock remained high. He was starting to discuss a contract extension with the club in December, with Longoria calling him “the perfect person to continue our project”. However, Marseille’s recent collapse pushed Villas-Boas towards the exit. After considering resignation after the 2-1 home defeat to bottom club Nîmes in January, he awkwardly joked at new signing Arkadiusz Milik’s unveiling that he might be fired live on TV, before later admitting he would leave at the end of June, when his contract expires.
Regardless of the catastrophic climax, Villas-Boas deserves considerable praise for what he achieved during his 18-month reign. He inherited a side that had failed to secure European football in the 2018-19 season and had finished 30 points adrift of champions PSG in fifth. The team had lost midfield warrior Luiz Gustavo, explosive winger Lucas Ocampos, defender Adil Rami and Mario Balotelli, who had scored eight goals in 15 games, yet he led them to second in the league. That was despite new striker Dario Benedetto’s erratic finishing, no replacement coming in for Ocampos and the fact that talisman Florian Thauvin missed the entire year through injury.
In one season, Villas-Boas converted raw young centre-back Boubacar Kamara into one of the league’s most intelligent holding midfielders; he cajoled the often aloof Dimitri Payet into some of his best form in years; and he moulded a steadfast defence. Sanson and Valentin Rongier were revelatory as a pair of creative, organising midfielders as Marseille out-played, out-thought and out-lasted the rest of the division in a run of 14 games without defeat between November and February. During that run, Marseille posted impressive victories over rivals Lyon, Lille (twice) and Rennes, while conceding just seven goals.
Form has been patchy this season but Marseille still looked likely to return to Europe. Given the resources available, Villas-Boas could not hope to maintain a title challenge. He has only spent £43m on players since arriving at the club in 2019 – less than six other clubs in the division.
Although he forced his own sacking, if agreements over recruitment were so brazenly broken, then the Marseille board has foolishly contributed to the exit of arguably their greatest asset, a coach who has achieved much in a short space of time. A club that has changed managers 20 times this century looked as if it had finally found the right fit. It is clear that, had conditions been different, Villas-Boas wanted to continue too, telling fans: “It was a magical year and a half. I am taking a lot of wonderful memories. It is a shame that things are ending in this way. I really liked it here. You have a very special love for your club. I have learned to love the club in the same way as you and I have always defended it.”
Ernesto Valverde, Maurizio Sarri and Rafa Benítez have been contacted about replacing Villas-Boas but none of them has responded positively to the call. Whoever steps in will face a raft of serious challenges, an unruly and violent fanbase who demand success regardless of circumstance, ongoing worries over Financial Fair Play that have drained an already minimal transfer budget, an increasingly weak squad propped up by loans and the ongoing financial crisis in French football caused by the TV rights farce and Covid-19. The incoming coach will be hoping for a better first day than Ntcham’s but that is not likely.
• This is an article from Get French Football News
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