Interesting interview with Gauthier Ganaye here

http://www.sofoot.com/gauthier-ganaye-ils-m-ont-dit-welcome-to-the-mad-house-449479.html

 

Good read that.

 

Interesting at the end how some French (presumably) people are interested in GG's progress and how the first one was knowledgeable about our one season in the Prem, albeit so many years ago.
Pity he didn't let slip a few secrets about "le takeover". Would have been good for "le tyke dragon".

 

Oui, trés bon!

Bonne chance M. Ganaye.

 

Love it how we didn't even replace the water bottle. "I have a first meeting in a meeting room at the Hilton Manchester Airport at the end of the day. When I see the small bottle of water already started in front of me on the table, I realize that I’m not alone on the spot.”

 

Bonnet de douche.

 

For those who can't be bothered to translate:How do you end up on the side of Barnsley?

An English friend warns me that they had mandated a recruitment firm to find a new CEO. I contact them, we exchange and I receive an email in February saying that I am shortlisted. I have a first interview in a meeting room at the Hilton Manchester Airport,

at the end of the day. When I see the small bottle of water already started in front of me on the table, I realize that I'm not alone on the spot. The discussions are not too formal, focused on my international profile, my French network. At no time do I speak of my age, but rather of my experiences in Lens,

considering that I still had several shareholder changes in 4 years. And then the owner superbly relayed the passion that drives him for the club. You would almost believe it, as when Gervais speaks to you about Lens. Two days later, while I'm on vacation with my wife in Abu Dabhi,

the cabinet tells me that I am being held for a final interview at Barnsley. I go around the facilities, I meet several people, employees. They are almost blown away by my English, wondering if I really understood what they were telling me. They have an accent to cut with the knife in this corner of Yorkshire anyway.

But in Leeds, I had learned to understand that accent and to talk like them! The next day, my wife joins me at Barnsley for the weekend, history that we discover a little corner, just in case. Barnsley then appears to us as an old mining basin that is struggling to mutate economically, with its economic and social difficulties.

You feel that life here is not the Côte d'Azur. The mentality of people, humility, work, warm integration make me think a little Lens, as a nod to fate. After, stage level, it remains different. Bollaert has hosted the Euro 2016. Barnsley's, he is still in his juice, the English. When you come in, it's a little Billy Elliot. (Laughter.)

You also meet during your first meeting President Maurice Watkins, who defended Cantona after his kung fu kick against the supporter of Crystal Palace.

Yes, I had done my homework and I knew who was who before meeting them. Maurice Watkins,

it was also thirty years on the board of Manchester United anyway, still one of the biggest lawyers in sports law here, a very famous personality.

During the interview, he told me a few anecdotes about the Ferguson-Cantona relationship, about the fact that Sir Alex sometimes sent the messages to Cantona by him,that he was a friend with Frédéric Thiriez too.

Gervais Martel: "The day I stop, Lens will be on track"

It's easy to say to his wife, "Pack your bags, we're going to live in Barnsley!" "?

The recruitment process lasted two months and allowed us to mature the reflection, to project, to discuss,

we make all the decisions together. And I'm lucky to have a woman who supports me 100%, (very invested in his professional career, like me), but mobile geographically, with a very flexible job. She is Scottish and also has a very international profile, she lives by the trip, likes to discover new cultures.

It looks like us. It made things easier because she was six months pregnant at that time.

Do you remember where you are when you learn that you have the job?

Yes, in my RC Lens office, I get a phone call from the recruiting firm. They tell me it's good and, also,

that I am the first French and the youngest also to manage an English club. I did not know it at all. I warn a week later the majority shareholder Lens, Joseph Oughourlian, and then I invite Gervais to lunch, a steak-fries. A good moment,

even though it was clearly not a trivial moment to leave Lens for me. I attend the unfortunate last match (note: Lens misses the rise in L1 in the last minutes), Bollaert and I take my duties in Barnsley on June 12, 2017.

The time has passed super fast and I ask a friend to visit an apartment that I spotted on the Internet. I signed the lease without even having visited it.

It was no worse that I was alone in Barnsley at that time! We had to bring in about fifteen players. I was doing H24, in close proximity to the board and the coach. Whenever I had a CEO or a sports director on the phone or SMS, they had this sentence: "Welcome to the mad house". I really appreciated.

Those who knew 2-3 words of French took advantage of them to stall them. It was nice. The fans have welcomed me very well, in the heat and the humor. I remember a "Gauthier Ganaye, it looks like the name of the villain in James Bond," which made me laugh. After, in the enterise,

some tried to test me for my age, but it did not destabilize me. Some are laughing today still. I feel sincerely in the right place at the right time. It really warmed me to come here, for this big challenge.

Have things surprised you since your arrival?

Not really.

You just realize that the French professional environment, concentrated between L1 and L2, is more fixed. Here you have five professional divisions, about 100 pro clubs with whom you can dealer. At first, it hurts your head, huh, because you do not know them all,

especially when you have to negotiate the sale or the coming of a player. And then it's not a myth: here, it's all about football, you play every three days, you feel its impact in people's everyday culture. And I even see a professionalism of the players further, in particular lifestyle hygiene.

You could not resist the Championship, where you play every Saturday and Tuesday, if not. Rotation in the group is much more accepted too.

For the moment, you are at the bottom of the Championship standings. Worried?

No. We have set maintenance as an objective. We have one of the lowest budgets in the division. Here, we only invest in players aged 24 or under, a vision in place before I came and I had to marry if I wanted to come here. Today we have the lowest average age of the five English divisions.

Even our coach is the youngest in the division. We have signed 15 recruits in the lower divisions in France and England, who had never experienced the Championship, the physical intensity rarely equaled. Today, our group is solidly constituted. After twelve games,

our recruits are no longer the same as in the recovery. They learned. If we take the results in detail, we see that we have lost a lot of points in the last minutes, perhaps because of our youth. Lately, against Hull, we are probably doing our best game, we hit 23 times, they twice, and we lose 1-0 at the end of the match. Without bragging, our ranking does not reflect the real level of the team.

Do you feel a filiation, in the way of doing, with Gervais Martel?

To tell you the truth, I never asked myself that question. But you can not work 4 years with Gervais and say he did not influence you. I may do

to be more attentive to my communication than him. He sometimes made com errors, but how can you do it when you stay in a club for twenty years? In any case, what I have always admired about Gervais is that he has always made his decisions. Even when they were bad and he took full mouth for that.

We can criticize him as much as we want, Gervais has never hidden behind someone or his little finger.

You had the right to a hazing by the way?
No, hoping that the question does not give them the idea. (Laughter.)

We have signed 15 recruits in the lower divisions in France and England, who had never experienced the Championship, the physical intensity rarely equaled. Today, our group is solidly constituted. After twelve games, our recruits are no longer the same as the restart. "

 

Thanks for doing the translation.

I like this bloke more and more. I hope he develops a really good relationship with Hecky and they can bring in some quality in January.

It is exciting times at Oakwell. 3 points (or even 1 against that lot) will still be the best sign yet that things are clicking.

 

“And then the owner superbly relayed the passion that drives him for the club.”

“The next day, my wife joins me at Barnsley for the weekend, history that we discover a little corner, just in case. Barnsley then appears to us as an old mining basin that is struggling to mutate economically, with its economic and social difficulties. You feel that life here is not the Côte d'Azur. The mentality of people, humility, work, warm integration make me think a little Lens, as a nod to fate”

“The fans have welcomed me very well, in the heat and the humor. I remember a "  Gauthier Ganaye, it looks like the name of the villain in James Bond Which made me laugh.”

Tha’ll do for me GG.

 

"we only invest in players aged 24 or under, a vision in place before I came and I had to marry if I wanted to come here. Today we have the lowest average age of the five English divisions"

Interesting that the under 24 age policy was in place before he came here, I wonder who the instigator of that was?

 

Errrm

 

I’m sure I said that on here...