After another defeat and an insufficient start to the season, OGC Nice president Fabrice Bocquet acknowledged the need to “raise the level.” In a context marked by supporter protests and doubts around INEOS, the club is experiencing an unstable period, both sportingly and institutionally.
The assessment from Fabrice Bocquet is clear. Following the match lost yesterday evening in Metz, the OGC Nice president did not hide his disappointment. “Tonight’s match is a true disillusionment. Beyond the result, what I find troubling is the content,” he declared to the Ligue1+ microphone. The Gym has suffered another defeat, following the recent setback in the Europa League against SC Freiburg and earlier in the league against PSG, “It’s difficult to compete in a championship and have high ambitions when you lose this type of match,” added the leader.
With 17 points on the board, three less than last year at the same time, the president admits that “the situation today is insufficient.” His words aim to be clear-headed: “Can we say that these recent results are undeserved? No, I don’t think so. Therefore, it means we need to improve. Significantly. Significantly and individually, we need to take more responsibility, we need to increase our demands, everyone at all levels.”
This demand, Fabrice Bocquet also ties to the notion of enjoyment. “It’s important, it’s even the foundation of performance and collective strength,” he insists. According to him, the team must rediscover the enjoyment of effort: “finding pleasure in demands, in performance, and in collective progress.”
However, the president admits that “many areas for improvement” remain. He mentions the “five penalties conceded since the start of the season,” a figure already higher than last season. Set-pieces remain another weak point. “We are not yet very efficient,” he acknowledges.
Fabrice Bocquet also sought to reaffirm the club’s internal cohesion: “The alignment between the president, the sporting director, and the coach, that is what has been our strength, and it is what continues to be our strength. (…) We are building something for the long term, whether it’s with Franck, his staff, with Florian, and it’s up to us to support it as best we can,” and to conclude, the most important thing is to have humility, and I think we do, to acknowledge that today, we’re not at the level and to ask what can we do to be more efficient? We will find the solutions together.”
The next event is already on the minds: the match against Marseille on November 21st. A home game “important,” according to the president, which will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Nice ultra movement. “We have to show something else,” he warns.
Persistent opposition around INEOS
These statements come in an already tense climate. For several months, OGC Nice supporters have expressed their dissatisfaction with INEOS, the club’s owner since 2019. In August, a petition demanding the departure of the British group gathered more than 1,300 signatures within a few hours.
The initiative was led by Loris De Gregorio, creator of the page Nice Stadium Supporters. For him, the club’s management has lost its direction: “We were all in favor of Ineos’s arrival in 2019. There were good things at first, but today there’s no longer any direction, no investment. Since the purchase of Manchester United in 2023, we see that Jim Ratcliffe doesn’t care about OGC Nice.”
On social media, reactions are multiplying. “We mostly all agree, Ineos out! Ratcliffe, Bocquet, and his crew out,” wrote one supporter. Another was already hoping for a return of former president Jean-Pierre Rivรจre whose political ambitions have dashed the hypothesis of another comeback. Officially, the club is not for sale, but budgetary choices raise questions.
Despite the 70 million euros generated by summer sales, Nice would have invested only about twenty million during the transfer market. Several key players have left the club, weakening a team already diminished by injuries. The elimination from the Champions League against Benfica has worsened the discomfort. Coach Franck Haise then acknowledged: “Today we don’t have the means to compete at that level, we just have to be realistic.”
There are also persistent doubts about INEOS’s commitment. The company increased the club’s capital this summer, a gesture presented as a sign of support but perceived by some as preparation for a possible sale. However, Jim Ratcliffe has assured that “INEOS’s commitment to OGC Nice remains absolute.”
Amid disappointing results, fan frustration, and questions about the owner’s strategy, the Gym is entering a decisive period. The reception of Marseille could mark a turning point. Sportingly first, but also symbolically, in the relationship between the club and its supporters. For Fabrice Bocquet, the path is clear: “It’s together that we will be able to move forward, and continue to look ahead.”
