There is so much to admire about Montpellier's surge to the Ligue 1 summit. René Girard's attack-minded team combine power and spirit with skill and determination. Their fearless attitude - as displayed in the superb victories over Lille and Marseille - makes for refreshing viewing.

Winning combination

Promoted back to the top flight two years ago, Montpellier's renaissance has been founded upon an extremely productive youth academy and intelligent recruitment.

Younes Belhanda, Benjamin Stambouli, Rémy Cabella and Abdelhamid El-Kaoutari were members of the outstanding youth team that won the Coupe Gambardella in 2009; they have since made the step up, joining fellow academy graduates Geoffrey Jourdren, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Jamel Saihi and Karim Ait Fana in the first-team squad.

The injection of youth has been complemented by some extremely shrewd signings. Newly capped French international Olivier Giroud is the obvious example, the powerful left-footer costing Montpellier just 2 million Euros from second-division Tours in 2010. The tall striker is top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 11 goals (just one shy of last season's tally), having scored a brilliant hat-trick against Sochaux last weekend.

Hilton impact

Giroud has rightly earned the plaudits, yet the summer capture of Vitorino Hilton has been equally important in my eyes. The calm, experienced and assured Brazilian centre-back, who had lost his way at OM, is a perfect foil for the team's athletic and exuberant skipper Yanga-Mbiwa.

It is no coincidence that Montpellier have emerged as serious title contenders.

The Nicollin Dynasty: 37 years and counting...

They have been impeccably managed by the longest-serving president in France, Louis Nicollin, who owns 99.9 percent of the club and remains hugely committed.

To say that Nicollin is a grounded figure would be an almighty understatement. The voluminous and often outspoken entrepreneur, who took charge in 1974, spent much of his youth helping his father, Marcel, get a refuse collection business off the ground. Never afraid to get his hands dirty, Louis Nicollin helped the family business evolve in to one of Europe's premier industrial cleaning enterprises.

Nowadays Loulou relies heavily on his sons, one of whom, Laurent, oversees the day-to-day running of the football club. Indeed, the 68-year-old's great strength is his ability to delegate cleverly. Not only does he have Laurent reporting to him on a regular basis, but Montpellier's highly capable coach Girard is supported by an admirable cast.

Keeping it in the family

Ex-club stalwart Bruno Carotti is the sporting director and another Montpellier man Michel Mézy - who enjoyed four separate spells as coach - has been employed as Nicollin's advisor, while respected youth guru Jean-François Domergue oversees the academy.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Montpellier enjoyed a spell in the limelight thanks to glamorous foreign stars like Carlos Valderamma and Roger Milla, and a couple of exceptional domestic talents in Laurent Blanc and Eric Cantona. Although they won the Coupe de France, the success didn't last.

This time around, the foundations appear more solid.

Nicollin in fine form

Probably the best thing about Montpellier's rise is extra coverage that Nicollin will receive. He deserves recognition, but above all he is a hugely entertaining personality. There is not a more straight-talking individual in football. His frankness and loose language often land him in trouble, yet any Nicollin interview is worth a read - as you can see below - and with the team flying high he has been in particularly fine form of late.

Nicollin and his team of young tyros are adding colour and spice to the French season. And the longer they stay in the title race, the more entertaining it is sure to become.

Best bits from Nicollin's latest interview, with L'Equipe, published last Saturday:

"Montpellier champions? Impossible. All I'm worried about is that we might qualify for the Europa League. That'd really p*ss me off. What a rubbish competition!"

"If I were at PSG, Lyon, Lille or Rennes, and Montpellier finished as champions, I'd want to stab myself in the backside with a sausage. What a disgrace that would be!"

"If Gignac joins us, he'll be back in the France team within six months. But it's impossible because of his salary. He drives a Maserati; if he comes here we'd give him a hatchback."

"I wouldn't refuse Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa a transfer because we'd find another stopper. He can go to Bayern. But he's not going to Lille or some middle-ranking English club."

"Last year, I thought René Girard wanted to join Bordeaux. I would have signed Raymond Domenech (to replace him). Domenech's got balls - although he doesn't always put them in the right place."

"I'm fat and ugly. But look at the France players: they're not exactly good looking."

"Like three-quarters of the country I don't like this (France) team. I only watched the France-US game because Olivier Giroud was playing. I didn't watch the Belgium match - there was a Western on at the same time."

Some past Nicollin classics:

"I'd rather my sons got involved in sport than classical music. That bores me senseless. I've got nothing against it, but I'd rather watch curling than listen to Mozart."
- fatherly career advice (February 2007)

"I couldn't care less, so long as he gets me in to the top division. If he'd been selling drugs or raping young girls, I wouldn't accept that. But I don't worry about such silly things…"
- on his coach Rolland Courbis being implicated in irregular transfer dealings (October 2007)

"I pay my players more than I pay my mistresses. And my mistresses actually give me some pleasure."
- on not getting value for money (April 2007)

"Well done Bastia. They have bigger balls than us. We have shriveled olives."
- after Montpellier lost to Bastia (March 2009)

"Pedretti ran the game in midfield. But that guy, when he comes to Montpellier, we'll look after him. He's a little poof."
- an ill-advised attack on Benoît Pedretti for which he later apologised (November 2009).

>> Week 15 review: Montpellier go top as PSG stumble

>> MATCH REPORT: Giroud hat-trick blasts Montpellier into top spot

>> CLUB PROFILE: Montpellier

>> More by Matthew Spiro