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Bertrand Marchand Ruled Out!!! The FTF Pulls a U-Turn and Gives me a Migraine in the Process

April 14th, 2008 | By: Rami | 6 Comments »

After a weekend away on business, I returned home and began my regular bloggin routine. First I see that the Tunisian Olympic team didn’t qualify for the CHAN (the African Cup for Local Players) after losing on penalties in their qualifier. As disappointing as that news was, it’s nothing compared to what i learned when I watched dimanche sport. A member of the FTF was present to declare that despite previous confirmation, Bertrand Marchand will not be the next manager of our beloved Carthage Eagles! Wow, leave it to this miserable band of idiots to go back on a decision I (and many many others) thought was perfect. I’ll refrain from further insults (for a second) and stick to the facts. Here is the crux of the problem:

Bertrand Marchand has a contract with Etoile that runs till June 30th. Roger Lemerre’s ends on the same date. Perfect timing right? Well, not exactly as there’s four out of the six preliminary African Cup/World Cup qualifiers are in the month of June. While this could easily be solved by paying Lemerre his June salary and telling him to bugger off, the FTF (in all their wisdom) are not keen on doing this. Their interpretation is that a contract is a contract and it must be obeyed at all cost! They’d have you believe a contract is the word of god.

Thus it makes total sense to have Lemerre coach more than three fourths of the games and then have his successor deal with these results (sense the sarcasm?). Sure our group isn’t that difficult on the face of it but that’s what they said about our last group, and we came in second to Sudan (no disrespect intended there but we’re a lot better than them). So imagine we have a catastrophic string of results in those first four games? Improbable as that may be, it’s not outside the realm of possibility! The history of this wonderful sport proves that anything can happen in football.

Basically Marchand balked at this idea as it went against the previous accord he had with the incompetent members of our federation. Etoile had agreed to let him go at the end of May (see a contract can change!) but these guys won’t stand up to Lemerre and tell him to get the hell out! Marchand can’t come along halfway through the race. It’s unprofessional and he shouldn’t be put in that position especially since he will be signing a contract inextricably tied to the objective of qualifying for the African Cup and the World Cup in 2010.

What a fiasco. Seriously, can these guys just do us all a favor and resign in shame? If you listen to Bertrand explain the situation, it’s evident the guy really really cares about Tunisia and it’s chances. He has the ambition, he has the talent, and he has the know how. Most importantly he has professional principles.

Frankly, that can’t be said about the FTF. This much is clear when you listen to these guys speak about Marchand after the meeting that took place last friday. They went from singing his praises to saying he thinks too highly of himself and wanted too much money (both completely wrong as far as I’m concerned). Simply put, we’ve proven that we don’t deserve a man of his stature. We deserve authoritarian ass holes who scream at journalists (when they acknowledge their presence) and rule the Federation like tyrants. It’s the only way you can work with these f#&s. So thank you to the FTF, you really shat the bed on this one. When we bow out at the quarter final stage again in the African Cup in 2010 and then come back with a single point after a failed group stage in the most prestigious tournament on the planet (like the last three times), we’ll know who to blame. That’s if we qualify of course! Ugh.

If you’re interested in hearing class A rubbish. Watch for yourself:

Tv7 – Dimanche Sport 13/04 – (2)
Uploaded by SuperBeurkMan

Tags: Bertrand Marchand, FTF, Group H, Roger Lemerre, Tunisia Football, Tunisia Soccer

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Comments

By Rachid | April 14th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

Rami, I could not agree with you more! I kept shaking my head watching Dimanche Sport and listening to that FTF idiot explain his viewpoint. Razi put him on the spot with some good questions. It seems Lemerre’s ego got in the way and they keep letting him get away with it!!! Marchand made perfect sense in what he said. He was very reasonable. All he said is that he did not want to be responsible for Lemerre’s decisions (that tells me he does not think very highly of him either, but that’s beside the point). I am truly amazed at the level of incomptetence in the FTF management. They’re lining up behind Lemerre like sheep. It won’t surprise me if they decide to keep him! I was pissed off during last Sunday’s Dimanche Sport too. Zouaoui basically said he did not approve of chosing Marchand because he does not have any experience as a “selectionneur”. He forgot how few weeks back, he beat him in El-Menzah 2-0 by designing a game that took advantage of Esperance’s weaknesses! He was brilliant and that’s what our national team needs to win. What has Lemerre’s experience brought? They need to learn how to treat people with respect!

Posted from United States

By Skander | April 14th, 2008 at 8:59 pm

I find our not qualifying for the CHAN a bit of a shock. As a country with one of the strongest leagues in the continent, shouldn’t we contenders for the title? I’m not surprised at all by the FTF screwing up. They’re government bureaucrats, it’s part of their job description to make completely irrational decisions. Maybe we should just privatize the national team.

Posted from Japan

By Rami | April 14th, 2008 at 9:18 pm

Rachid, the lack of respect is exactly what I found so shocking! They’re treating a guy like shit because he actually wants to do a good job from start to finish. I don’t think any other manager is gonna like this idea either but we’ll see. You were shaking your head and I was screaming obscenities at my computer screen while watching that idiot. I couldn’t believe the things coming out of his mouth (and with a smile on his face no less). I hope this guy hears it from the real fans in the streets. I honestly don’t know how any of these cronies can have a clear conscience, if they had one to begin with.

Skander, excellent point about how ridiculous decisions seem to be part of protocol. God forbid we choose people to run our sport who actually know a thing or two about it. Given the fact that the government actually pays the salary we’re stuck with what we got unfortunately. I just wish we had a members who had real technical skills. We need to look at successful foreign models and try to replicate that because we’re clearly going in the wrong direction. Our players keep getting better and our officials keep getting worse.

As for the CHAN, I share your shock but to lesser degree. If you look at the team we lined up, it wasn’t our most competitive one (and we still came well within striking distance of winning anyways). As they alluded to on Dimanche Sport, I think no one really cared for this tournament to begin with. CAF basically had to twist our hand to even take part (Issa Hayatou doesn’t take no for an answer). We’re a country that is on the top of Africa at the moment in terms of club football and it’s a shame we won’t be represented but Lybia definitely needs this for their progression more than we do so good for them. As a Club Africain fan I’m actually delighted. Leave my Mouihbi and Yahia’s alone thank you very much. It can be looked at a variety of ways. Ultimately, the Olympic squad should have been playing in the Olympics. Too bad we missed the boat on that one. You’re right though, we were contenders for that title. Now Egypt will probably take it home…

By Moni | April 15th, 2008 at 9:41 am

Yo Rami , you know I’m not surprised by the FTF. This is typical tunisian style of running ofice.
But my question is Bertrand Marchand ? He will stay at ESS ore leave for an other club ?
And what about Lemerre, are we gonna stuck on him ? The FTF Guy said there are some “candidates” ?
Is it possible that in the end Marchand is oure new coach ?

Posted from Netherlands

By Rami | April 15th, 2008 at 9:53 am

Marchand will not be our coach if you believe what Hammami said. However, given the fact that they’ve gone back on their word more than once, we can’t really rule anything out. If I was Marchand I wouldn’t even take the job now if they begged me. The other candidates are Santini, Halilhodzic, and Rohr. Honestly I’m not thrilled about any one of them, especially Vahid who has a worse reputation than Lemerre and probably isn’t as good a coach. I read somewhere that certain “membre cadres” (important players in the team) said that they don’t want him as their coach.

They keep saying resigning Lemerre won’t happen but I don’t know what to believe anymore. Marchand could end up staying at Etoile but other clubs from across the region will be trying to pluck him.

Posted from United States

By Tahar | April 15th, 2008 at 5:20 pm

rabbi yostor! malla casse tete!

This is mind boggling. We always have to blow it! What is wrong with the ftf they always doom us to a sub par level. We can never have things legitimatly going well!?!?!?!
I agree with you Rami, if I were Marchand I would not accept the position no matter what.
With all that said Im an optimistic person, so I am giving Lemerre the benefit of the doubt and hoping he will man up and give up his duties and we then hve Marchand signing on. Wouldnt that be ideal, just the opposite of what our federation has done through the years.
Otherwise I would pray for (wow never thought I’d say that) Decastel over Vahid, Santini, and Rohr. Is Decastel even still available? I cant believe the FTF has me praying for the likes of Decastel?!?!!?!
crazy

last note…. i dunno much about him but i remember he did a good job with belgium and algeria, Waseige? but i remember him being old. Who would want to coach us now though????

Posted from United States

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