‘We’re done laughing’ – Montpellier president tears into relegation-bound squad | OneFootball

It’s hard to imagine Montpellier HSC’s season ending in any outcome other than relegation to Ligue 2. The 2011/12 Ligue 1 champions sit at the bottom of the table with 15 points having not won since the 26th of January.

There is a lifeline, as the club are not yet mathematically relegated, but what was already an unlikely scenario becomes ever more distant with each passing weekend. La Paillade look resigned to their fate, and there is little hope that the club will turn around their form in the five remaining fixtures.

Following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Anger SCO, the Montpellier owner Laurent Nicollin gave a frank response to DAZN when asked about whether some of the squad had given assurances that they would stay and fight for promotion next season: “You know a footballer’s word, we’re not going to look too far for it, especially with the season we’ve had.” He then ironically added, “[The squad] have been irreproachable since the start of the season, they’re exceptional, they’ve proudly carried the colours of La Paillade.”

Nicollin continued to lay into his squad, “At some point, we’re done laughing. There are people whose history with the club is over, no matter what. We’re going to start again on a healthy basis with healthy people, people who want to fight for their club and not people who are just here for their own sake. I’ve spoken. I’ve spoken. The people who are concerned will understand.”

The Montpelleir captain, Jordan Ferri (33), was asked to respond to his president’s comments, “The president just said that? He can have his opinion, he’s affected by the club’s situation. Maybe he wrongly thinks that some people don’t care. Regardless, today we showed that wasn’t the case. The issue was that we conceded two goals from their only two chances in the first half. Unfortunately, top-level football is about efficiency in both boxes.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland