The image strikes the spirits: a player of the French team daring to slap his coach. The decor? A boiling cloakroom, a tension at its height, a Roger Lemerre in Cran … This is at least what one might think about reading the first lines of this unusual story. The former coach of the Blues, known for his singular phlegm and his sentences never really finished, was allegedly struck by a tricolor player. An unthinkable scene at the time of the Zidane, Deschamps and Barthez.
But the truth is quite different. This anecdote does not go back to team A, but at the time when Roger Lemerre led the military selection (1986/1996). And the famous “executioner” was none other than… William Prunier, a solid defender well known in French football. “Put me a big slap to win!”would have launched Lemerre. Prunier is running, and Fabrice Henry, also a member of this selection at the time, attended the scene with fun. A slap on order, in a good -natured spirit, far from any hierarchical clash.
In the locker room of the Blues, Roger Lemerre took a slap. Literally.
This anecdote, told in the team, speaks volumes about the personality of Roger Lemerre. A lunar coach, sometimes confusing, but deeply endearing. Many of his former players evoke his unique style, her unanswered sentences, and his particular human relationship. Under his shame of shadow man, Lemerre also knew how to create memorable moments.
This day when Roger Lemerre asked to be slapped … and was really
Fabrice Henry also continues with another tasty memory: a match with OM, an urgent desire, a suspicious smoke … and Fabien Barthez, quietly installed on the toilet, cigarette in the beak, a few minutes from the kick -off. The image alone sums up the legendary phlegm of the porter of the Blues, as much as the delightful atmosphere which reigned in certain generations.
These scenes, which would make current preparers leap, recall an era when relaxed relaxation and characters shaped groups. Lemerre and his methods may have made you smile, but they also led France to the top in 2000. And left, in passing, imperishable memories to those who rubbed shoulders.
