Eyraud unveils plan to allow OM to "regain its rank of top European club"

Olympique de Marseille is changing. Andoni Zubizarreta is no longer the sporting director and current coach, André Villas-Boas, who allowed OM to finish second in Ligue 1 at the end of this 2019-20 season shortened by the coronavirus and to find the League champions for the first time since 2013, still leaves doubts about his personal future. In-depth changes are thus preparing in the organization chart of the Marseille club. And JHE, strongly criticized by the supporters, gives the keys of the changes to come on LinkedIn .

The Marseilles leader first recalls that "only the results on the ground count. If a football club is not an entity like any other, it must still adopt the attitude of successful companies: define and keep a course, always look as far as possible, he adds. Because without the obsession with the long term, success, even if it existed in the short term, would not be there in the long term. ”

Between ambition and humility 

And to continue: “Our primary objective is to obtain excellent sports results. It is our priority and it is such a difficult, uncertain and risky exercise that the greatest humility is required. In order to see further and allow the club to grow, this sporting structure is therefore necessary and essential ... but not sufficient. For four years, in parallel with the sportsman, we have been gradually transforming OM to always gain power and ensure that the organization of the club allows it to reach the standards of the European top 20. ”

"A culture of victory, excellence and innovation everywhere, and not only in the sports sector"

Since arriving at the head of OM, Eyraud explains that he has approached several large European clubs (Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester City) to learn "from great leaders, their organization, their methods, their infrastructures". “And that with only one objective: to determine the most efficient way to organize the club and to always strengthen it around a model that is unique to us. This shadow work is by definition invisible, not necessarily always understood, but nevertheless essential to the success of our project which aims, I repeat, to see OM regain its rank as a top European club, "says he still. Mr. Eyraud therefore aims to create "a culture of victory, excellence and innovation everywhere, not just in the sports sector". “From all these meetings and visits, I try to get the best for the development of Olympique de Marseille. This requires long-term development, in several phases. Today we have completed the first phase of our plan and are now entering the second, ”he says. With finances in the red, this second phase will pass, as we know, through an austerity cure. And it would be even more complicated if C1 were excluded for non-compliance with financial fair play ... 

"Over the past four years, the club has undergone a profound transformation in order to be able to meet the needs of future years," he swears. The lines of work were numerous: improvement of infrastructures (the Vélodrome stadium and the OM Campus in particular), new nerve center for training, integration of digital tools generalized internally and externally, media strategy completely redesigned. "Today, OM has 13 million subscribers on its social networks, which places us in the European top 20", rejoices Eyraud. Before adding: "I want OM to become the most technologically advanced French club. The analytical culture is also useful during our recruitments, where we use a lot of tests allowing the emergence of the personalities who seem to us best suited to the club culture. ”

"Head of Football" and "Head of Business"

The recruitment of the "Head of Football" also aims to have "a football specialist with a new kind of profile". The Marseilles leader develops: “This manager projects himself over the long term, supervises the training strategy, displays obvious transactional qualities to carry out the acquisitions and disposals of players within the framework of the objectives set. He is also the guarantor of the athlete's financial balance and perfectly masters the legal aspects specific to contracts and their negotiation. This logic also applies to the non-sports sector. This is why I decided to create a “Head of Business” position, to supervise all of the operational and functional functions of the club excluding football. It involves recruiting a very experienced manager with an excellent strategic vision. A leader capable of uniting teams and developing and monitoring everyone's action plans. A wise manager, who also has an intimate knowledge of the potential of brands and a fine experience of international contexts ”.

According to Jacques-Henri Eyraud, "one of the keys to the long-term success of the club will be the close relationship" between these two men. “We will continue to recruit renowned managers or experts, who will allow the club to continue to grow and support us in phase 2 of our strategic plan. Structuring the OM at the same time by recruiting very pointed experts, specialists in certain subjects, but also very experienced managers, capable of supervising global problems is a priority ”, testifies the president.

"It is my duty as President to lead this transformation, despite the gusts it can generate"

These new transformations are, according to Mr. Eyraud, “which will allow us to succeed in combining excellence at the sporting level and agility at the organizational level. And it is my duty as President to lead this transformation, despite the gusts it can generate, by continuing to observe what is done elsewhere, to test and define what can work best for us. Invent our own model. " 

The 52-year-old took the opportunity to sing the praises of his employer, Mr. McCourt. "His contribution is essential to our reflections on the organization of the club," he judges. He has achieved brilliant results in the United States, perhaps the first sports nation in the world, where professional leagues have long shown their lead and professionalism. His help is invaluable to us in overcoming crises and staying the course we have set since day one. ” Jacques-Henri Eyraud hopes, through this educational work, to help the people of Marseille to understand their logic, their motivations. "This work attracts less light, but it is just as decisive in bringing our club to new levels towards one goal: that OM regain its rank among the European top 20." Enough to calm the crowd?

OM's best moments in 2019-2020

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