Haise working miracles at home but Europe a bridge too far for Nice | Luke Entwistle

From the colourful façades of Vieux Nice to the stands of the Allianz Riviera, there are remnants of Niçard, the language historically spoken in the region. Within the labyrinthine Old Town, street names are carved out in both French and Niçard, and the anthem of the city, Nissa La Bella, sang in traditional Niçard rings out around OGC Nice’s stadium on a fortnightly basis. But the language is no longer prominent, and at OGC Nice, nor are Ineos, the club’s owners.

The distance between Nice and Ineos is currently enforced. As part of the set of rules that allowed both of Ineos’ clubs, Manchester United and Le Gym, to compete in this season’s Europa League, it was stipulated not only that there could be no transfers between the two entities, to the frustration of Jim Ratcliffe who wanted to bring now-West Ham defender Jean-Clair Todibo to Old Trafford, but there couldn’t even be contact. Ineos Sport CEO Jean-Claude Blanc, a regular at the Allianz Riviera last season, as well as Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford, more infrequent visitors, have all, therefore, distanced themselves from the Ligue 1 side; the latter two watched on as their other side, Manchester United, beat Manchester City on Sunday.

Uefa’s edict, however, accelerated a more incremental process. Ineos insist that they do not wish to sell Nice, despite reports to the contrary. But as Les Aiglons’ president, Jean-Pierre Rivière, explicitly said in the summer of 2023, the ambition to challenge PSG, stated upon their purchase of the club in 2019, had faded. “Today, the very ambitious project is no longer on the agenda, the ambition is no longer to challenge PSG; the ambition is Europe,” said Rivère.

Talking to local radio station France Bleu Azur this season, Nice’s CEO, Fabrice Bocquet, revealed that Ineos’s initial plan was to spend €1bn at the club. FFP rules, rather than the purchase of shares in Manchester United put paid to those plans. With Ineos’ focus elsewhere, it was an austere summer at Nice, who despite selling Khéphren Thuram and Todibo, recorded their lowest spend since the 2016-17 season. There was a need to establish a “virtuous cycle” at the club, in the words of Rivère, whilst the TV rights fiasco also played a part.

There were limits set, leading Le Gym to turn towards low-cost options. In search of a striker, Neal Maupay was considered. He was unaffordable and they instead brought in Youssoufa Moukoko on loan. Thus far, it is a move that hasn’t worked, and despite a purchase option being included in the deal, it looks unlikely that his future and that of the club are entwined. Mohamed Abdelmonem is another move that is yet to work out but there are others that are: Moïse Bombito, Jonathan Clauss, and Ali Abdi all constitute successes at this early stage.

Recruitment is often the most scrutinised element when judging the functionality of the club but it isn’t necessarily here that the source of Nice’s current problems lie. Captain Dante has already missed eight matches through injury this year. His 41 years of age constitute a mitigating circumstance but that is not the case for the other names on the long list of absentees: Melvin Bard has missed seven games, Ali Abdi has missed six, Clauss five, Antoine Mendy eight, Youssouf Ndayishimiye nine, Tanguy Ndombélé four, Hicham Bouadaoui five, Jérémie Boga eight, Sofiane Diop three, Mohamed-Ali Cho six, and Gaëtan Laborde eight, whilst Morgan Sanson and Terem Moffi are yet to feature at all this season.

The players on that list aren’t bit-part players and their absence has been felt, particularly in Europe. Franck Haise’s side are currently second-from-bottom in the league phase, without a win and almost certainly eliminated. “The first analysis is that I am without 12 players, 13 from the 15th minute [following an injury to Ndayishimiye]. It is too much for us,” said Haise after the 4-1 defeat to Rangers, a match in which six academy players were in the squad, only one of which had made an appearance at professional level.

“It was a big disappointment to have not been up to the level in this Europa League but we have too many absentees to play every three days,” he said after this week’s 2-1 defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise, almost certainly the final nail in the coffin for Nice’s hopes of progression in the Europa League.

Among those absentees, there are unlucky instances: excessive tackles in training, Bard falling into an advertising hoarding, and an ACL injury for Moffi. But there are also muscular injuries, and in the case of Sanson, a costly misdiagnosis. The former Aston Villa man had in fact suffered a double fracture to his ankle, rather than a sprain, as had initially been thought. The medical department, less scrutinised than their colleagues in recruitment, are also a reflection of the club, and for Nice, currently not a good reflection.

Given the circumstances, inheriting a squad not tailored to his 3-4-3 and dealing with a seemingly interminable, even mounting, injury crisis, Haise is working miracles to keep the ship afloat. “I wouldn’t say that I’m worn out [by the injury crisis] but there is annoyance,” said Haise, who is confirming the promise that he showed at Lens; to do so, he has needed to show pragmatism, moving away from his favoured formation in recent weeks.

Even despite a disappointing draw against bottom side Montpellier (2-2), during which they conceded their advantage twice, Nice remain sixth. But there is a sense of what could be with this side. “I can’t wait to see this team at full strength,” said Rivère earlier this month. That day could lie somewhere in the distant future and with INEOS otherwise engaged, there is little prospect of significant January spending to alleviate the issues.

As Rivère says, there is an ambition for Nice to be in Europe but being competitive in Europe currently looks like a bridge too far and Ineos’ for-now-enforced diminishing presence will do nothing to help that.

Talking points

• PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi and his counterpart at Lyon, John Textor, sparred over the summer with the former telling the latter that he “doesn’t understand anything [about] football”. The reigning champions did their talking on the pitch as, after successive draws in Ligue 1, PSG returned to winning ways, beating OL 3-1. Unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions, Lyon were quickly left with a mountain to climb, finding themselves two goals down within 15 minutes. Désiré Doué, who surprisingly replaced Bradley Barcola in the starting line-up, put in his best performance since his summer move from Rennes. He assisted Ousmane Dembélé for Les Parisiens’ first and then drew the foul for the second, allowing Vitinha to slot home from the spot. That advantage was maintained with relative ease as they extended their advantage at the top.

• Draws for Marseille, Lille, and Monaco have allowed PSG to steal a march as the winter break approaches. Bafodé Diakité rescued a point late on for LOSC at the Vélodrome as OM came close but ultimately failed to register back-to-back wins at home (1-1) – it would have been the first time doing so this season. Having somewhat broken the curse of the Vél, beating Monaco a fortnight ago, it is nonetheless their home form that is proving to be their achilles heel as they struggle to sustain a title charge. Monaco themselves succumbed to a draw (0-0). They came up against a Reims side that have a knack for frustrating so-called bigger teams, particularly at home, but with just one win in their last five games in all competitions, the winter break is coming at the right time for Les Monégasques.
  

• Olivier Dall’Oglio was the latest managerial casualty in Ligue 1. He survived the 8-0 mauling against Nice earlier this season but after three straight losses, which see Saint-Étienne looming just one point above the relegation zone, the club’s Canadian owners pulled the plug after a 2-1 defeat to Toulouse. ASSE re-joined the top-flight thanks to their strong defensive record in Ligue 2 (31 goals conceded in 38 games, the best figures in the division), however, with 34 goals conceded in their first 15 games this season, they have the second-worst defensive record in the league and with only Le Havre scoring fewer, the writing had looked on the wall for some time.