It is a symbolic figure in the history of a program that has become cult for football enthusiasts. This Monday evening, the evening team celebrates its 4000th number. For the occasion, the channel has planned a special program, punctuated by a new documentary behind the scenes of the show and on the sometimes explosive dynamics between its consultants. A moment supposed to be festive and unifying … but the atmosphere is far from being as joyful as it is expected internally.
Domenech refuses the presence of a colleague
To everyone's surprise, Raymond Domenech set a radical condition to his arrival on the set: he categorically refuses to participate in the program Si Dominique Sévérac, journalist of the Parisian, is present. An ultimatum that has sown behind the scenes and tarnished the atmosphere of a birthday yet expected for weeks. This shade -free position placed Olivier Ménard and the production team against an embarrassing dilemma: maintaining the historic presence of Domenech, or preserving the usual composition of the plateau.
This tension is not trivial. If none of the two men has publicly commented on this episode, it is difficult not to see an echo in the fracture born during the 2010 World Cup and the Knysna fiasco, which Dominique Sévérac had largely covered for the Parisian. Since then, the relations between the former coach of the Blues and the journalist are notoriously tense. This episode also revives obvious: the evening team is as much a set of debates as an ego theater and rivalries. Johan Micoud and Stéphane Guy had already struggled on Kylian Mbappé, while Ludovic Obraniak and Sébastien Tarrago had brushed the physical incident in September.
A historical program under tension
Behind the scenes, some team members evoke a “Family lunch” where you don't always choose your guests. “We have to take people as they are, with their characters”, entrusted Dave Appadoo to summarize the spirit of the show. This 4000th edition is no exception: if it celebrates the history and the longevity of a flagship program, it also reveals the complexity of the human relationships that have been playing out since its inception.
This controversy will undoubtedly not question the hearing success of the talk show, which has become an unmissable event in the French sports landscape. But it somewhat tarnishes the image of a birthday that was to be festive. At a time when the evening team is preparing to write a new chapter in its history, this 4000th number recalls that behind the laughter and the fiery debates are sometimes hidden from stubborn resentments. And the one who opposes Raymond Domenech to Dominique Sévérac seems to last.
