Marcelino: 'Marseille is not a great club'
Reading Time: 3min | Wed. 11.10.23. | 16:59
Former Olimpique coach talked to the press for the first time since his resignation
Just a few weeks after his arrival, Spanish tactician Marcelino Garcia Toral announced his departure to the players after only seven matches. The group of extreme supporters demanded an urgent meeting with the club's directors. The Spaniard could not accept that the meeting escalated to the point of threats and pressure on the executives. At that point, Marseille were unexpectedly eliminated from the third qualifying round of the Champions League against Panathinaikos and had just two wins in six Ligue 1 matches.
President Pablo Longoria and his staff also decided to go, but changed their minds and eventually stayed, and appointed Gennaro Gattuso as the new coach. After the initial outburst, things got back to normal (for now), and L’Equipe called the Spaniard with a wish to record his side of the story.
"I'm better than three weeks ago, but my staff and I are still angry because they didn't let us work. It was an unreal and suffocating situation. These radical fans have so much influence... today it's difficult to eradicate it. In the evening, Pablo Longoria called me and told me what had just happened at the club headquarters. He and other leaders had received threats and were practically forced to resign. I was sad, surprised, also shocked because they had threatened him. He was overwhelmed with frustration. There are certain things we cannot accept. In life, and therefore in football. These are not normal behaviors" started the former coach.
Marcelino also explained how the decision to quit the job was made by all involved, including the president, who later still changed his mind after a long talk with the owner. Still, it was not possible for the Spaniard to return.
"Before training on Tuesday, the decision had been made, on his part and on all of ours. It involved Pablo and to the rest of the leaders. They could not accept, under any circumstances, this type of threats, nor continue working in this situation. I did not make the decision to leave, it was a general decision, given the absolutely reprehensible threats. When Pablo decided to continue, three or four days had already passed, it was not the next day. We had already signed the documents and several members of my staff had already left. We had no possibility of returning, especially because, in this environment of threats, even if there is no fear, it is not known what the next step will be. Everything that Pablo was or close to Pablo they wanted to eradicate completely, through threats, to generate fear, and that is not acceptable" explained the Spaniard.
In the end, Marcelino realises, like all the others who were involved with the club in the past, that his French giant is not run properly and that the fans are trying to run the club.
"I spent twenty years as a coach, and before that almost twenty years as a professional player, and I had never seen this in my life. And I don't think I will see it again. In any case, I really hope so. It is a way of proceeding that is very far from what reality should be, in 2023, in a civilized country. Football is passion, yes, but there are limits. We have had very difficult days. Very long days and very short nights, because It was impossible to sleep. We came in with a plan for a two-year project for this club and suddenly all that work, all that effort, all that energy was swept away by something completely irrational. We thought it was a great club in every sense of the word, but these unfortunate events show that it is not a great club as we would like to be. Some radical supporters who want to constantly influence events prevent it from being a great club” said former Marseille coach.
