On September 19, to everyone’s surprise, Marcelino decided to leave his position as coach of Olympique de Marseille, following the stormy meeting the day before between the leaders of the Olympian club and supporters’ associations. A meeting during which threats were allegedly made.
A little less than a month later, after having remained silent until now, the Spaniard finally decided to confide in L’Equipe to talk about this hasty departure, which he claims to have suffered more than something else. “I did not make the decision to leave, it was a general decision, given the absolutely reprehensible threats,” he asserts. Before adding: “It’s not that we wanted to leave, it’s that the situation was untenable. You can’t accept threats as normal. So, we made this decision. Then, if Pablo, Pedro (Iriondo, the strategic director), Stéphane (Tessier, the administrative and financial director) or Javier (Ribalta, the football director) change their minds, in circumstances that I do not know… There are everyone’s responsibilities, the fact of not leaving the club without leadership, in a period where matches follow one another with a competition in progress, all this has changed the initial decision. I respect all of that.”
Along the way, Marcelino takes the opportunity to paint a less than rosy portrait of OM, in particular its very particular environment: “We put all our enthusiasm into developing a super attractive project, in a big club. In any case, we thought it was a great club in every sense of the word, but these deplorable events demonstrate that it is not as great a club as it would like to be. Some radical supporters who want to constantly influence events prevent it from being a big club. I spent twenty years as a coach, and almost twenty years as a professional player before that, and I had never seen this in my life. And I don’t think I’ll see him anymore. In any case, I really hope so. This is a way of proceeding which is very far from what the reality should be, in 2023, in a civilized country. Football is passion, okay, but there are limits.”
The former coach of Sevilla FC and Valencia therefore left the Olympian ship without having experienced defeat in Ligue 1, but with an inevitably painful elimination in the Champions League against Panathinaikos in the preliminary round. “Pablo and the leaders trusted my staff and me to build a project and try, through this project, to bring OM back to a level in line with its history. That is to say, fighting to win titles, relying on a stable, serious and lasting project. And that was nipped in the bud after two months. It is the illogical that invites itself into the real world. I will never accept threats in the context of my work. I’m passionate about my job, I make decisions as a coach, and I always assume my responsibilities. But no one, neither managers, nor supporters, nor journalists, nor players will be able to influence my decisions. And Marcelino concludes, not very optimistic about the future for Marseille: “My very short experience makes me think that this is a club where creating a project is absolutely impossible. Because such a big club cannot be handled by a few. Serious clubs are managed from the top, and each problem, each situation is managed and sanctioned if necessary.