There's no such thing as a friendly divorce, Lyon are living proof
Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 25.05.21. | 21:08
Outgoing coach Rudy Garcia storms on sporting director Juninho Pernambucano, who remains silent for now. But players hit hard on their former boss
Free lunch and a friendly divorce are probably two things that everyone would like to see, but they simply don't exist. And never will.
When the divorce knocks on your door, there's a significant chance it will end up badly, with tons of 'dirty laundry' being brought on under the spotlight. After years of love and compassion, it gets down to those harsh words, accusations and an inevitable question - who carries the primary responsibility for the break-up?
It's pretty much the same outcome regardless of the battlefield - genuine families or work organisations (football clubs included). The French giants Lyon are living proof of this thesis, with a nasty separation of their outgoing coach Rudi Garcia and the rest of the club.
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On his exit, Garcia fired some heavy artillery in the direction of the club's sporting director and his once closest ally Juninho Pernambucano. In an interview for L'Equipe, the French tactician didn't hesitate to criticise the legendary player, widely praised for his excellent free-kicks.
"It started well, but things started going off without my realising. After two or three wins in November, he stopped coming to congratulate me..." recollected Garcia and added:
"I found out that when the Brazilian recruits weren't playing, he wasn't happy. He preferred to win but with his players. He invested a lot in them, which is great, but he must have promised them that they'd be starters.
"But if we'd done that, it would have slowed the progress of some young players, Caqueret in particular. Juni's view was that Jean Lucas was better. The problem must have stemmed from there. And things quickly went downhill".
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Lyon, who finished fourth and were left of the UCL spot, were the table-toppers as recently as December but failed to stay at such level. Garcia thinks it's Juninho's fault.
"He was falling out with everyone. Already with Bruno Cheyrou (head of recruitment) in whom he maybe saw a rival. In Vincent Ponsot in September - and I had to calm things down. And just ask the youth training centre...
"I think he could become a good sporting director, but he needs experience. He still thinks like a player, is too impulsive. He didn't like certain players' attitudes but didn't realise he was doing the same with the South American players.
"He allowed Jean Lucas to go home a match early before the winter break. He failed to treat players equally. Look at Aouar [who refused to train for one match]. I suggested a fine, but he was suspended. Other players did the same but weren't suspended cos they were close to him.
"Since November, he [Juninho] has been scoring free-kicks into his own goal. I admire the player, but the sporting director failed to think before acting, "concluded Garcia.
There was no need to wait a long time for a strident response from the Pernambucano's entourage.
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Bruno Guimaraes, the midfielder of OL, said:.
"Everything started to go wrong when he [Juninho] lacked consistency from you!!!" wrote the Brazilian player on Twitter.
The club's owner and the president Jean-Michel Aulas fumed on Garcia also.
"I'm very disappointed with the scorched earth policy of Rudi Garcia, who rewrites history, forgetting that he had the best workforce. Too bad Rudi did not know how to work with Juni, who had chosen him and yet accompanied him. Juni has our full support. What a bad word from Rudi! "
What a dreadful epilogue this is...
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