The deep crisis in which the Marsella Olympic added a new chapter during the last hours: the renowned coach André Villas-Boas resigned his position at the press conference he held to express his outrage at the arrival of Olivier Ntcham as reinforcement.
The Portuguese coach appeared before the journalists to make a crude discharge and announce that he will leave the position he assumed in May 2019: “The transfer window ended with the arrival of a new player (Olivier Ntcham). It was not a decision that I made, I have nothing to do with it. I found out from the press in the morning when I woke up. This is precisely a player that I said no to. He was never a player that was on our list. He ended up coming and I was not aware of it ”.
The attention to the media was scheduled as a prelude to the duel that Marseille will have against Lens tomorrow for the 23rd date of Ligue 1. However, it ended up becoming an event that travels the world: “I woke up and looked at the site that is number 1 in France in OM news and that announced this information. Therefore, I submitted my resignation without wanting anything from OM. I do not agree with the sports policy ”.
Ntcham is a 24-year-old midfielder that started in Genoa in Italy and comes from playing for Celtic in Scotland. His hiring on loan until the end of the season was announced yesterday by the official account in Twitter of the French club, but apparently Villas-Boas was not aware of the negotiation.
But the scandal did not end here. The particularity of the case is that Marseille reported hours after the conference that they had taken the determination to “fire” DT: “This decision has become inevitable given the recent repetition of actions and attitudes that seriously harm the institution. The comments made today at a press conference regarding Pablo Longoria, general director in charge of football, are unacceptable ”.
“I made the decision to submit my resignation. I don’t want money from Marseille. I just want to leave for a difference with sports policy. It is a pity that we are reaching this point ”, warned Villas-Boas pointing against Longoria, but without mentioning it.
Marseille is in 9th place in Ligue 1, four points behind the ticketing positions for international tournaments. But the institutional context is more than delicate: over the weekend a group of ultras attacked the training center with the aim of obtaining the resignation of President Jacques-Henri Eyraud and his executive committee. In that fierce attack, the Spanish defender Álvaro González was attacked. “They are absolutely scandalous images. Those we see are not sympathizers. They are dishonest practices. We cannot afford, for whatever reason, such acts. We cannot accept these images in the Republic. It is also the image of France. When we talk about football and big clubs, it is also the image of France that we refer to”, Denounced the government spokesman Gabriel Attal in BFMTV about this theme.
Villas-Boas assured that his departure, in any case, has nothing to do with those serious incidents that occurred over the weekend. At the same time, he took care of the bad sports present: “Those results are my fault, but I can’t say the same for other things. I am very angry, nor in my worst nightmares did I expect to be in this situation. Four consecutive defeats had not happened to me in my career”. The DT had already threatened days ago with his departure, although the decision was boosted with this surprise signing.
The Portuguese of 43 years It is an emblem of European football. He made the leap to the big leagues by winning the 2011 UEFA Cup with the Porto, club with which he obtained three other local titles. That allowed him to add experiences in Chelsea (2011/12), Tottenham (2012/13), Zenit from Russia (2014-16) and Shanghai SIPG of China (2016-17).
Scandal in France: a group of ultras set fire to the surroundings of the Marseille training center and tried to enter the premises by force
They attacked the footballer Álvaro González in the fierce attack of the French ultras to the training of Marseille
