Pyre. Still burning. And to work to such an extent that after 11 long years of hard work, our roadmap allows us to return to the highest level.
So were the last years of François Bourgeais. The Frenchman arrived in Canada after five years as head of the pre-training center of FC Nantes, a French first division club, as well as a career of nearly 250 professional matches.
It was therefore in search of new challenges and experiences that he settled in Quebec in January 2012. During this long stay, he wore all the hats imaginable, including technical director and team head coach of the Premier League of Soccer of Quebec (PLSQ), head coach of the National High Performance Center, coach of the Canadian academy of Paris Saint-Germain and head coach at the college level, among others. In short, he rolled his bump.
Not only did he keep himself busy, but during those years, he also guided more than a dozen players who turned professional. What’s more, some have reached MLS, such as Charles Auguste and Mohamed Farsi, and another, Moïse Bombito, has even carved out a position with the Canadian national team.
By dint of achieving great things with little – we will come back to this – he fell into the eye of giants. This is why, in the coming days, he will fill a position at the FC Lorient Training Center, a French first division club.
“I am aware of the great opportunity given to me and, at the same time, of the recognition that a French pro club can give me,” admits Bourgeais at the end of the handset.
“I’m very happy to be back in France, especially in this club and with these people,” he said.
Even if Bourgeais is used to being an octopus man in Quebec, this experience will be invaluable to him in this Breton club. His official role will be that of assistant coach of the under-19 team. However, within the week, he will be a “flying coach” called to rub shoulders with a plethora of members of the Academy, both players and members of the coaching staff.
“I will be given the time to immerse myself in the methodology of FC Lorient and to be at the heart of the process of recruitment, development of young players”, he remarks. Ultimately, his mission will be to get as many candidates as possible through to the first team.
If he feels ready for this challenge, it is because there will be a bit of Quebec in him. And it goes beyond his dual citizenship.
From the outset, Bourgeais admits that “it wasn’t always easy” during his 11 years in Quebec and that, at times, there were “moments of discouragement”. Helped by his loved ones, he rolled up his sleeves and continued his acclimatization in the middle of Quebec amateur soccer.
He had to adapt to a different audience, time constraints, climate and also “the expensive side of the practice, which slows down development in a certain sense. Or at any rate, that doesn’t help,” as he notes.
Despite everything, a bunch of players were helped by Bourgeais to go to the professionals. If his methods were refined in Quebec, these are mainly lessons he learned from his first visit to France.
Some French internationals like Jordan Veretout and Léo Dubois were under Bourgeais’ charge at one point. However, there were also players who never reached their full potential.
“So obviously it’s not an exact science and error is always possible. But when you are wrong several times – this is what happened in my first years as an educator in France – well, you learn from your mistakes, ”he concludes.
Whether the names are Auguste, Farsi, Bombito or whether they are still unknown to the general public at the time of this writing, Bourgeais will go to France to do what he did for 11 years in Quebec: unearth and shine nuggets.
