Jacques Cardoze’s stint as communications director at OM was fleeting, from May 2021 to February 2023, but intense. Although he does not wish to comment on his departure from the club – “there was a difference in strategic view” – the former France Télévisions journalist recounts the evolution of his relationship with Pablo Longoria, who hired him at the club. “At the beginning, he had just been appointed president, we got along really well, we were very close. Pablo “stinks like football” and in com, I press on it, obviously. We were coming out of Covid, from Jacques-Henri (Eyraud), who has plenty of qualities but who smells less like football, and we quickly strengthened ties with the fans.”
But in the summer of 2022, Pablo Longoria surrounded himself with Javier Ribalta (Pedro Iriondo arrived the previous summer), changed sporting direction with the arrival of Igor Tudor… but also his relationship with Cardoze. “He created a bubble around himself and I lost contact. When I called him, he said to me: “Meet Pedro.” When I texted him, he replied: “Meet Javier.” I considered him a brother… I didn’t understand how we could have gone from an almost fraternal relationship to nothing! Not even a shouting match, total cutoff, no more sound, no more image. I would have preferred it to stick me to the wall. »
Jacques Cardoze also remembers their discussions on the recruitment of his relatives. “Six months before Marco Otero arrived at the head of the training center, he told me: ‘I’m going to be criticized for bringing in another Spaniard.” But why is he doing it? Same with Marcelino. He doesn’t cannot at the same time blame some people for telling him that he is creating a barrier and at the same time doing everything to erect it. He must wonder about his clan side. If I felt it when I was close , others suffered from it too, it’s obvious. It’s symptomatic of what he may have done with the supporters: not sufficiently maintaining the link. And we must stop with the idea that everything the world wants it bad. The city only wants one thing: for it to work!”
Pablo Longoria, Jacques Cardoze and Javier Ribalta (left) in 2022. (B.Paquot/L’Équipe)
“He fired me so badly that I too have been followed for months. I still take medication”
He also shows no emotion in the face of the current psychological state of Pablo Longoria, mentioned in his interview with Provence. “He fired me so badly that I too have been followed for months. I still take medication. He also harmed others. In this story, there is an element of communication, I think. There is a lot of theater in Marseille, especially among the supporters, those we call the big mouths. It screams, it screams… Afterwards, it’s an intimate thing. I understand very well that he could be shaken… But he has seen others, Pablo. »
2023-09-22 06:15:00
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