The crisis at Olympique de Marseille gets deeper and deeper, with the French giants’ interminable struggles on the field leading to mockery from their own fans, who have turned on the team as well as the club’s owner.
Marseille’s 0-0 draw at home to Girondins de Bordeaux in Ligue 1 on Sunday was played out to fan protests at the team’s struggles that featured banners depicting goats and the Benny Hill theme tune being played from the stands, but, along with the humor, the supporters also continued their theme of fury at the perceived apathy of owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, who inherited the club after the death of her husband, Robert, in 2009.
“Margarita rich incompetent heiress get lost,” read one banner unfurled behind the goal at the north end of the Stade Velodrome, while another read: “Margarita go back to your real job, housewife.”
Photo: EPA
The game itself ended in more bad blood with about 200 supporters having to be dispersed by riot police firing tear gas.
Marseille are on a club record run of 14 home top-flight games without a win since they beat SC Bastia 4-1 in September last year.
Home or away, they have not won in nine matches and as a result they are not safe yet from the threat of relegation, with just six points separating them from the drop zone and five matches still to play.
“We need three more points to ensure survival. It has been a difficult season. We need to finish it as well as possible and start again next season,” said goalkeeper and captain Steve Mandanda, just about the only Marseille player to avoid the wrath of the disgruntled supporters in recent weeks.
Marseille’s season has never recovered from the disarray of summer last year, when Marcelo Bielsa resigned in the wake of a 1-0 home defeat to Stade Malherbe Caen on the opening weekend of the campaign after uncertainty reigned for weeks surrounding his future.
Spanish former Real Madrid player Michel was eventually appointed as his successor, but has been unable to revive the fortunes of a team who finished fourth last season, but saw a host of key players depart, including Dimitri Payet, Andre Ayew and Andre-Pierre Gignac.
Marseille could yet salvage silverware from their season as they have a Coupe de France semi-final away to Ligue 2 Sochaux-Montbeliard next week, but even if they win that their all-conquering bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain could lie in wait in the final.
Media reports in France have indicated that president Vincent Labrune wants Michel sacked, but Louis-Dreyfus, with her hands firmly on the purse strings, refuses to sanction the necessary payoff.
She said last week that Michel would see out the season, but Marseille legend and club ambassador Basile Boli broke ranks to speak out publicly against the Spaniard on Sunday.
“I was surprised by Michel’s choices,” Boli, who scored the winning goal when l’OM beat AC Milan in the 1992-1993 UEFA Champions League final and later played for Rangers, told reporters after Sunday’s game.
“The Marseille shirt is important and has a history... This is a city that lives for football. The fans are going mad seeing their team like this and I understand them,” Boli said.
Louis-Dreyfus on Wednesday said she is putting the club up for sale.
“The price is not my first concern. However, the capacity of the new shareholder to build a team capable of winning at the highest level is essential,” she said in a statement obtained by BFM TV.
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