The serious accusations made by Julien Fournier, the former football director of OGC Nice, on the airwaves of RMC, against Christophe Galtier, did not provoke any particular reaction from the side of the Parisian coach, Thursday in press conference.
While his former Gym acolyte had explained that he preferred to keep quiet about the reasons for his arguments with Galtier last season, otherwise he "will no longer enter a locker room, neither in France nor in Europe", Galtier does not is not much delivered.
“He is very pretentious… I am not surprised at the way he expressed himself (…).
On the form, I am not surprised knowing the character.
This is what I have to tell you, ”he simply blurted out.
While the causes of their opposition, which led one to join PSG this summer and the other to leave for Parma, Italy, were for the moment only supposition,
L'Equipe
brought this Friday some solid response elements.
The cause of their confusion would be due to the sociology of part of the Nice locker room, of which many elements of the Muslim faith are required to do Ramadan, a practice that the former coach of the Aiglons considers difficult to adapt when one is a high level athlete.
A problematic Ramadan?
“Christophe has been leading teams for twenty years, he has trained players from all cultures, all religions, without any distinction, explained the entourage of the Parisian coach to our colleagues.
This type of reproach is completely false, lunar and extremely serious.
Still according to
L'Equipe
, Galtier, who decided last season during Ramadan to adapt the training sessions for his Muslim players (Brahimi, Boulhendi, Atal, Todibo, Lemina, Rosario, Boudaoui and Gouiri), would have all the same tried to convince them not to fast to maintain an optimal physical condition at a crucial moment of the season for the club.
In particular, he would have required them to be present in the refectory with the rest of the group, even if they decided not to eat.
If this decision would not have been badly perceived by the players, who understood that the question of group cohesion was important at this time of the season, others on the other hand would have had more difficulty passing, such as when he asked Hicham Boudaoui to eat before a match against Bordeaux on May 1st.
On arrival, the player was still a starter and Nice won against the Girondins (1-0).
“In all the clubs where he went, he never encouraged a player not to do Ramadan.
He has never taken a player off the match sheet because of fasting, ”assured a member of Galtier's entourage to
L'Equipe
.
In fact, in fact, none of the Gym's Muslim players saw their playing time decrease because of Ramadan.
Kept informed of the reasons for the disagreement between Fournier and "Galette", the Parisian leaders did not consider that this affair was a brake on the recruitment of the Marseillais.
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OGC Nice: Julien Fournier half-words serious accusations against Christophe Galtier
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OGC Nice
Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG)
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