Marseille are a managerless mess and their fans deserve some of the blame | Marseille

A coach’s life is never simple at the Vélodrome. After just seven games in charge, Marcelino resigned as Marseille manager last week in response to what he called “intimidation, threats, insults and slander”. The Spaniard became the fourth Marseille coach to resign in less than three years and he is not the first to do so under duress from the club’s volatile fanbase. Marseille, so often their own worst enemies, routinely implode and start again. As their 4-0 thrashing to PSG on Sunday night underlines, this latest farce will be difficult to overcome.

The trouble began at an “extremely tense” meeting last Monday. Marseille fans often enjoy an audience with the club’s management and last week’s gathering had been planned for some time. But things turned sour when fan groups took the opportunity to complain more aggressively than usual.

Their ire feels very harsh. The club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League group stage was disappointing – they were beaten by Panathinaikos on penalties in the third qualifying round – but the team had a decent start in the league under the new coach, remaining unbeaten in his five league games. Nevertheless, fan groups demanded that the executives in charge at the club – the president Pablo Longoria, director of football Javier Ribalta, financial director Stéphane Tissier and CEO Pedro Iriondo – all resign.

Marcelino’s functional style of football was central to the debate, with fans frustrated after draws with Metz, Nantes and Toulouse, three of the league’s weakest sides. “We don’t see the ball. We’re ashamed. You don’t respect us,” said one supporters’ group leader. Fans were also angry about the departures of fan favourites such as Dimitri Payet, Steve Mandanda, Mattéo Guendouzi and Alexis Sánchez.

Some supporters claimed the president had only appointed Marcelino because the pair had a prior relationship and it was even alleged that Longoria was siphoning off funds from transfer dealings. He reacted to this claim by commissioning an audit of his accounts to prove his innocence, giving over “my bank details, my phones, my emails, everything … even private conversations with my mother”.

The mood at the meeting became aggressive, with Longoria claiming the attacks on him were personal. “It started with insinuations and progressed to threats,” said the president. The French media reported that all four directors offered their resignations, with Longoria admitting it was “impossible to work” under such conditions, but he denied he wanted to walk away.

Marcelino, however, did. The manager explained in a statement that he and his staff felt they had not been shown the “obligatory respect” by supporters after aggression aimed at directors amounted to “severe threats, insults and slander” as well as “intimidation and individual attacks”. Such an “unstable situation”, the coach continued, meant the job “cannot be carried out” given the uncertainty over future “safety” and even “normality” expected at a football club.

This is not a new experience for Marseille. André Villas-Boas left in 2021 also fearing for his safety after fans stormed the club’s training ground and confronted players and staff. His uninspiring but effective side finished a creditable second in the shortened 2019-20 campaign but had dropped into mid-table at the time of the attack. Igor Tudor, despite exceeding expectations having engineered the club’s best opening half to a league season this century before finishing third, also resigned this summer citing the intensity and pressure of the role. “One season here is worth two or three seasons in another club,” he said.

Both coaches deserved far more support, as does Longoria, who ascended from sporting director to president during the reshuffle that followed Villas-Boas’ exit, replacing Jacques-Henri Eyraud, another figure of fan anger. Although far from popular, Longoria has miraculously bred some sense of stability and calmly navigated each surprise coaching shift, including Jorge Sampaoli’s shock departure last year. Many of the sales highlighted by fans were led by the players themselves or the coach in charge at the time. And, even still, the squad has continued to improve and it should be capable of being PSG’s nearest challenger in the coming seasons.

It’s been gradual but progress has been achieved in spite of the turmoil. Marseille have secured three podium finishes in the last four seasons after none in the previous six. After a disastrous 13th-placed finish in 2016, fans played the Benny Hill theme tune from the stands and held up large pictures of goats, the equivalent of being “a donkey” in English. This latest, and most unnecessary, fan outburst, however, may have destroyed that development under Longoria, who now faces his biggest rebuild yet.

Finding an outstanding manager who is willing to take the job in the current climate will be difficult. It’s a tough sell given that two of their four previous coaches were hounded out fearing for their safety. Only Rudi Garcia (2016-19) has survived more than 18 months since Didier Deschamps left in 2012. Meanwhile, American owner Frank McCourt says there needs to be a “strong collective effort, inside and outside” for Marseille to enjoy “profound change”, adding that he “strongly supports Pablo Longoria” in this “unacceptable” situation.

Much of the “profound change” McCourt talks about will have to be made by fans. In terms of stature and history, Marseille are perhaps still France’s biggest club but, since the collapse of colourful president Bernard Tapie’s reign in 1994 following the match-fixing scandal, the club has won just one league title and three league cups, all under Deschamps.

Although their 3-3 draw at Ajax in the Europa League on Thursday under interim coach Jacques Abardonado was credible, with the club in “one hell of a storm” as striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang described it, the 4-0 rout in Paris on Sunday shows Marseille are still struggling to keep up, despite recent progress. The main reason for their struggles is their perpetual run of crises, and supporter groups are the leading cause of the ongoing turmoil.

While their proud fanbase is understandably frustrated about the team’s long underperformance – and much of the last three decades has indeed been characterised by mismanagement – it’s time the supporters’ groups realised they are now partly, if not largely, responsible for the club’s stagnation. It’s change from within they should seek, rather than from Longoria or McCourt. Blaming everyone but themselves while constantly intimidating players and staff will only ensure another decade without the trophy they so desperately crave.

Talking points

Brest are top of the league after their latest victory, a 1-0 win over Lyon on Saturday. The fixture list has been kind but coach Eric Roy deserves significant credit for pulling together an effective, well balanced team from one of the weaker squads in the league. Romain Del Castillo has been brilliant in their versatile and slippery front three. A trip to second-placed Nice next week will help determine whether this run is sustainable. Whatever the outcome, relegation is no longer a major concern.

Newly promoted Le Havre joined Brest in the top six after their 2-1 win at home to Clermont. The Ligue 2 champions’ only defeat so far came to the table-topping Bretons. Luka Elsner’s appointment as coach last year was questioned after his underwhelming spell with Amiens, but the Slovenian, with some help from the club’s famed academy, has taken Le Havre from mid-table in the second tier to the fringes of the European spots – an incredible achievement. Tough games against Lille, Marseille and Lens are next up though.