While Perpignan conceded this Saturday to Montauban an eighth defeat in eight days of Top 14, a crisis meeting is planned for Sunday and Franck Azéma could take his responsibilities.
The situation is serious in Perpignan. After saving its place in the Top 14 via an “Access Match” in three of the last four seasons, the Catalan club is going through a crisis which takes on greater proportions with each match. Traveling to the Montauban pitch for what was presented as the “match of fear” between the bottom two in the standings, Franck Azéma’s players were unable to raise their heads. They thus conceded an eighth defeat in as many days in the Sapiac bowl without managing to snatch a first defensive bonus point.
Still stuck at zero points in the French championship standings, the Catalans are now seven points behind Montauban when Lyon and Montpellier have already accumulated 18 points since the start of the season. A dark series that Franck Azéma presented to the press as “a vicious circle”, he who clearly does not have the solutions for his team to escape from it. This situation could very quickly have consequences within the Perpignan club.
Names already mentioned to replace Azéma
According to daily information The TeamIt is thus a question of a crisis meeting between the leaders of the USAP and their general manager, whose contract was extended until 2028 a few months ago. While François Rivière had confided in the columns of this same newspaper to have full confidence in the former coach of Clermont and Toulon, the defeat at Montauban could well be one too many. Franck Azéma could thus make the decision himself and leave his functions within the Catalan club so that a fresh eye can intervene to help him get out of the rut.
An upheaval of the technical management which would not be the first this season, Gérald Bastide and David Marty having left their functions three weeks ago now. If the former three-quarter center were to throw in the towel in the days to come, USAP leaders should not lack solutions to try to straighten out the club’s trajectory. Indeed, the names of Laurent Labit and Pierre-Henry Broncan are already mentioned as potential replacements for a mission which already promises to be complicated, if not already impossible.
