Rzar
Bob McKinlay
https://www.sofoot.com/francois-modesto-nottingham-forest-est-un-geant-qui-dort-477145.html
You spent your career as a player between Corsica, Monaco and Italy. It does not make it strange to land here in the North of England?
It's true that this is the first time I'm in this kind of environment, but I like it a lot. I did not know Nottingham, except the history of the club, and it's a nice city. It's a city where I felt good from the first day. I arrived in January, I found myself eating alone in restaurants, as my wife and children stayed in Greece not to disrupt their schooling. And the people were super nice, very open. And then, even from a professional point of view, it's very exciting. It's a big club, a giant sleeping, it feels. It's important for a city like Nottingham to have a club in the Premier League, so we'll do everything we can to get there as quickly as possible.
Since January ? Your coming here was however formalized in October ...
In fact, for three years, I work at Olympiakos recruitment. And as President Evángelos Marinákis also bought Nottingham Forest, I work on both clubs."At the end of my career, I realized that being a coach was very difficult. I prefer this position of sports director, I like to situate myself between the management, the coach and the players. Being the link between all that and making decisions. "Since January, I'm shuttling between the two. But this is where I will be most often. At Olympiakos, everything has been done pretty much, it's pretty stable. Whereas here, you have to start all over again. We must do here what we did at Olympiakos. These are two clubs that play different footballs. Olympiakos is offensive, it's possession of the ball. Here, it's the duels, the one-on-one, it's more physical. But if we have one of the players who is not good here, we can send it to the other club to restart it for example. If it interests both coaches of course. This is what we have already done with Bouchalakis and Soudani for example.
How did you end up working on recruiting Olympiakos?
When I finished my contract at Olympiakos, I returned to Bastia to finish my career quietly. But President Marinákis made me sign a pre-contract that when I stopped, I would continue to work with the club by choosing my position with him. It was a huge chance. I have always been crazy about football, and I wanted to stay in this environment. But at the end of my career, I realized that being a coach was very difficult. It takes a lot of patience. It's something I did not feel. I prefer this position of sports director, I like to situate myself between the management, the coach and the players. Being the link between all that and making decisions.
How did you get that very strong relationship that binds you to your president?
It's a special story with him. When he bought the club in 2010, I am the first player he signs. So he trusts me right away. And then three championship titles, two cups, good courses in Europe ... Everything worked, I became a centerpiece of the team and I fully adhered to the project. After, I was surprised by his proposal. Olympiakos is a big club, it could have given the job to a lot of other former players of the club. He is a great businessman in Greece and in the world, I think he is not crazy and he saw something in me that could be good for his club. He has great confidence in me and I am very grateful to him. We have a relationship that goes beyond work. And then he was patient with me because at first I made mistakes too. It's normal, I was sports director at 38 years without experience. But he still trusted me, and today, if I'm here in Nottingham with this project, I owe it to him alone.
Since you arrived in January in Nottingham, Sabri Lamouchi has arrived on the bench and José Anigo has been recruited internationally. It was you who blew those names?
Of course. I made the link with Sabri. I had never worked with him, but I saw what he did in Rennes, how he played his team. And I liked it. José, we met in Greece when he was coach of Levadiakos. Before that, we had just crossed paths. We enjoyed ourselves in Greece, we saw each other from time to time, we drank coffee. And then José has a lot of experience, he stayed for 20 years in the biggest club in France with a lot of pressure at OM. He did a very good job at recruiting. And then, he met the president, it went very well.He helped us bring Brice Samba , Samba Sow, and other players. And since he had Sabri as a player at the time, it makes things easier. We all know each other well, we work together, it saves time at the very beginning of a project.
Some French coaches pointed out that they did not have a network, and that's why they could not export. Do you think that's true?
Already, you have to be competent. It is important. We have chosen Sabri because he is competent. But it's true that the network at the moment in football is very important. That's also why there are so many Portuguese coaches. Not only because they are competent, but also because they communicate very well and are well settled. Mourinho and others have paved the way, and now they are everywhere. They quickly opened abroad, at the right time, even in the staffs at smaller positions. We must be attentive to this and better showcase our coaches and our players.
R - Modesto might find it difficult to stick to his MO when looking for players for Forest now days because of the new work permit rules.