France goes 15 years back in time

February 12, 2008

We have talked already about the French National Team and the poor showings during the Eurobasket 2007. Now, after the episode Claude Bergeaud, the French federation announced the name of the new coach today. It will be Michel Gomez.

Gomez, who coached already the French National team from 1993 to 1995 will be the successor of Bergeaud. The choice who was already rumored through the French press and forums is quite frankly a huge surprise. When everything was going in direction of Antoine Rigaudeau to become the new head coach, his inexperience has apparently took him out of the race.

Gomez, who has not coached anymore on the highest level since 2002 where he was with Le Havre was in charge of the U20 team recently which he led to a mediocre 9th place in 2007. His coaching style and choices were heavily criticized during this tournament by the press who followed the tournament.

The question I asked myself a lot was why the French Federation did not go for a foreign coach in order to bring some new fire to the National team. If the English Football Association went that way and brought non-English coaches to be at the head of their National team. But the answer I found in an AFP article was quite hard. The foreign options are excluded because of financial reasons. WOW. And the advantage of Gomez is that he is already an employee of the French Federation. WOW AGAIN.

The French fans are already furious about this decision and some forum writers came already up with a nice pre-selection for the Qualifying phase that will start in September. Here it is:

Valery Demory
Christian Ortega
Richard Dacoury
Ken Dancy
Didier Gadou
Howard Carter
Franck Butter
Georges Vestris
Mickael Brooks
Naturalisation asked for Clarence Kea and Orlando Philips

By the way, Gomez will be assisted by Jean-Louis Borg (proposition made by Laurent Sciarra) and Jacky Commères. If any other European NT needs more information about the assistants, feel free to send us an email. 😉

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This post was published on February 12, 2008
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Comments: 4
  1. 15 years ago

    French basketball is becoming a pathetic joke. If I were Tony Parker, I would quit right now. There are TONS of young (or old even) European coaches who would take the job for next to nothing just to get that type of experience on their resume.

    The French are so xenophobic its ridiculous.

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  2. Eric
    15 years ago

    As you said pathetic.
    There were so many coaches in the clubs that could fit better than Gomez. It’s quite impossible for him to understand the back-ground of all those NBA-wanting teenager.

    But saying, France is xenophobic because of this silly decision is also senseless.

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  3. 15 years ago

    talking about xenophobic is probably a bit harsh. However, I understand Jonathan’s point as the French probably never really considered bringing in a foreign coach.

    Why? they prefer to give the job to a friend of the federation instead of brining in some new fresh blood. Probably this solution, if it is more than a time-limited one, was the easiest for the federation. At least, the “bigs” at the top are sure that they won’t get any trouble with Gomez, something that was not true with Bergeaud, which would have not been true with Rigaudeau and which would have been a big problem with any foreign coach.

    BTW, Gomez did not even know his new assistant personally. The two assistants have been chosen by the federation, not by the new head coach himself.

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  4. 15 years ago

    There is nothing harsh about the word Xenophobia. Check out the definition: Xenophobia is a fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.[1] It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning “foreigner,” “stranger,” and φόβος (phobos), meaning “fear.” The term is typically used to describe fear or dislike of foreigners or in general of people different from one’s self.

    French basketball (and France in particular) has shown time and time again to have a very aloof way at treating almost everything non-French.

    Take a look for example at the coaching situation in the French. The federation has created a situation where it is impossible for a foreigner to coach in France, unless they are a national team coach.

    The same thing goes for the way players get signed in France. Everything must be run through a French agent…that’s the law.

    Closing one’s borders consistently to avoid competition from the outside has been proven again and again as a poor way of doing business–in all industries. The French have patented that.

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