SM Caen finished the season in 5th place in the standings and has continued to progress this season just under three years after being taken over by Pierre-Antoine Capton and the American investment fund Oaktree. But behind the scenes, the departure of Stéphane Moulin before the end of his contract and the questions surrounding the withdrawal program of the American investment fund have fueled the concerns of supporters. For almost an hour, the chairman of the supervisory board of the Norman (Site notre bureau spécialisé) club came to meet them in order to discuss and provide answers to their questions in Hello Malherbe
The change of shareholder
« I hear that worry but I’m absolutely not worried for one simple reason which is that first on said where we are going financially. Passed the DNCG this Thursday. I was less comfortable in 2020 than I am now. We managed to do a lot of work. To reduce club expenses. As a team now and little by little more adaptation for Ligue 2. A PSE (Job Safeguarding Plan) has been put in place. So the club is stronger today. I’m not sure anyone was able to chat with people from Oaktree. It was an investment. For completely technical reasons, they leave. Not now. It could be in six months, in a year, in two years. We announced it but I always said that I would be present. It’s almost internal grub. It’s not a big deal and the shareholder who will come to my side today will respect the DNA of SM Caen. He will invest alongside me and ensure that the club continues to be stable. For the passage in front of the DNCG, Oaktree and myself have a letter to show that we will be there for the whole season so it is not a subject. On a very stable club and if on an ideal partner who is doing well at the Stade Malherbe Caen and who respects its values, who will not make us go into a multi-club thing, who keeps our DNA, well we will engage with another shareholder frankly corn – and believe me – it won’t change much in the history of Stade Malherbe and what we are going through.«
The criterion for the future coach: « to make us play (Site notre bureau spécialisé) well »
« There was an extremely painful situation for him which meant that Stéphane asked us to stop one before his contract. Last December, when he had his worries, we had already looked to see if another coach could come to fill in if Stéphane at one point wanted to slow down. We are responsible. We didn’t wait until the last week to work. We have met coaches and believe me – because we have met some and Olivier Pickeu continues to meet some – we have extremely talented people who will knowingly come to a Ligue 2 which will be very competitive and the main one has chosen that we have put in criteria it is to make us play (Site notre bureau spécialisé) well. I know it can work to take as few buts as possible in this championship, but that’s not what we want to do. Evidence of Strong Corn Defense on a desire to see a show and play well. What SM Caen offered this year and I’m sure that if Stéphane (Moulin) had stayed we would have gone up. Stéphane is unfortunately no longer there – and once again I regret it but we will have a very competent coach – at least in those we saw there – and which will ensure that the club will take another step next year.
The list is of 3 names and I left Olivier Pickeu the announcement on the hope in mid-June. I’m not going to play the guessing game because I have too much respect for the people we talk to. It will be a coach who speaks French – it’s essential – who can also be unanimous in the locker room like Stéphane. This is a team that was built around a much-loved coach. A coach who makes us play good (Site notre bureau spécialisé). What we think with Olivier Pickeu is that next year is going to be extremely difficult with experienced clubs and if we want the first matches to suit you as well as possible, it will require experience, someone who knows Ligue 2 and who is able to be plub and play, that is to say to arrive quickly enough and to make sure that we are competitive from June 30 for the start of the internship and for the start of the championship (August 05).
The priority for Stade Malherbe today is to focus on the choice of coach and we see it again on Thursday with Olivier (Pickeu) to determine it and make the final choice. Thursday is also the day when* you pass the DNCG. There is a very active schedule, not on the pitch but off next week. »
Pierre-Antoine Capton refused to comment on any name except that « Jean-Marc Furlan says it all in a somewhat long list« despite his bad address last winter. « He was smart enough to say he made a mistake and I think that’s pretty fair of him. »
Objective: « at least participate in the play-offs »
« The three-year plan for the climb has taken a hit with the department of Stéphane (Moulin). I think that if he and his staff had stayed, we had a good chance of reaching Ligue 1 next year. The team really accelerated and the work was paying off. Our role now – and I say this with regret – is to turn the page Stéphane Moulin but from June 30 there will be a new coach, find someone who will be able to take over this project in place. If we manage to have continuity in the work and in the mindset of the coaches – and we spoke with Stéphane about the choice of the future coach – I think we can try to be even better than this year. This is the objective that will be set for the next coach: at least take part in the play-offs next year. it would be good. »
Has he thought of separating from Olivier Pickeu?
« Never in life because Olivier Pickeu has all my confidence. We went looking for him in 2020. At the time he was called upon by very big clubs and when I asked him to come and take care of SM Caen, we were at the bottom of the hole. He accepted. He has been asked a lot : to carry out a PSE (Job Safeguarding Plan), to restructure, to manage the Training Center, to sell extremely good players, to bring in a technical team – he was the one who brought in Stéphane and his assistants – to manage the political aspect in Caen, the regionalization of the club, to find new partners – because we no longer had a sponsor, everyone had planted us – we did all that.
I asked him a lot, maybe too much. Have we made mistakes? Did he make mistakes? Maybe, like everyone else, but all I know is that he gives 100% of his time, his energy and his desire to Stade Malherbe Caen. He also had the intelligence to question himself in the subjects he had with Stéphane. No one is perfect and I know the club wouldn’t be where it is if Olivier wasn’t there. It’s been a rough time for him because social media has come out with just about anything and I am neither deaf nor blind. And I can tell you that he has all my confidence and that he can count on me as Stade Malherbe can count on him. »
