Soon the transfer window. Will OGC Nice be active?
We don’t need to be active; we are active all year round. Roger Ricort is currently in Brazil to watch players. We are already preparing for next season. If there’s an opportunity to make a move on a player, we are capable of doing it. But we’re not under pressure. We have a young team, with some players who still need to prove themselves. We have real potential, so we’re not going to bring in a player just to hinder a young one. We’ll do it because it brings us an advantage, but especially with the future in mind, not immediately. For us, we don’t need anyone compared to the squad we have on the pitch. But if there’s an opportunity and it allows us to improve our squad for next season, we’ll take it.
There’s the case of Kanté, whose contract is ending at the end of the season. How is that looking?
Well, he’s at the end of his contract. We haven’t been able to find a deal so far in terms of renewing his contract. Today he plays, he’s a great professional so we have no worries with Cédric. We’ll see in a month or two if there’s a possibility for an opening. Otherwise, he’ll see out his contract and then leave, that’s part of life too.
OGC Nice will have a major project in defense next June as Hognon and Jeunechamp are also at the end of their contracts.
(Cuts in) No, Jeunechamp has a clause that if he plays X number of matches, his contract is automatically renewed, so it will be without a problem since he’s practically close to renewal. For Hognon, we’ll see his physical condition a bit as he has problems with his knee. But it’s not a major project. Rool is there, he’s renewed, Apam is here until 2013, Diakité until 2012. It’s not a major project. We always need to improve our squad, that’s for sure.
The club has improved its team even though it lost five of its key players. That must please you?
Of course. I heard fans saying at the start of the season, “This year is going to be a disaster, we’re going to go to Ligue 2, join Bastia,” because they saw our four major players (Koné, Ederson, Lloris, and Balmont) as well as Laslandes leaving. People were pessimistic while we still believed in it. When you’re at the helm of the club with Roger Ricort and the coach, we’ve always believed in it. We tried to recruit, we invested a lot of money, 18 million Euros for the future. We had confidence, we continued working. We knew the players we wanted, we suspected their ability to develop. We thought we’d have more difficulties than we’re experiencing today because it was a two-year cycle, like those we think about in football, you can’t think ahead five years. So we thought the team would be good but would struggle a bit this year. The blend happened better than we thought, thanks to the veterans who contributed significantly, be it Rool, Echouafni, Létizi or Jeunechamp. They brought their knowledge and the comfort the team had at the beginning of the season. Everyone gets their players taken at their level, Marseille with Drogba by Chelsea or Ribéry by Bayern Munich and Lyon with Malouda by Chelsea or Abidal by FC Barcelona. It’s part of the game.
“Cyril Rool embodies the OGC Nice spirit”
Two players are surprising this season, Habib Bamogo and Eric Mouloungui.
We always believed in Bamogo. He needed confidence, we relaunched him. He had a bit of a tough year last season because he lacked stability. Today he is a satisfaction and it’s good we didn’t make a mistake. As for Eric Mouloungui, we followed him last year at Strasbourg, we maintained a relationship with him, we know his abilities, his strengths, and his weaknesses. Today he is confident, we believe in him, we believed from the start. So it’s a satisfaction like Rémy, Faé, Coulibaly, Ben Saada, or Ospina.
You mentioned the veterans. Echouafni and Létizi are also at the end of their contracts next June.
We’re not in a hurry, we’ll see. There’s time. Having them is a bonus, but we’ll have to see where they are by March or April. We’re not in a rush to discuss with them. Lionel and Chouf will certainly stay in the football world, and why not at Nice. We’ll see what the future holds and whether we’ll be able to integrate them or not. But they truly embody the club’s spirit, so it’s good.
One player is truly impressive this year, Cyril Rool. Frédéric Antonetti said he has the level for the Champions League, do you agree?
Yes. Besides, it’s good that Cyril renewed his contract because otherwise, he would have been taken from us. He’s a great player, he has qualities and flaws too. And I appreciate him as he is. He’s one of the players that perfectly embodies the spirit that is OGC Nice today.
We talked about the veterans, but let’s talk about the young players a little. Where is the club in terms of training?
For now, it’s difficult because we have resumed a cycle. We don’t take care of the entirety of the training because it is partly managed by the association, so today we are working. Maybe we’ll have results in two or three years, but we do quite a bit of post-training if you will because we are scouting players from elsewhere who are seventeen, eighteen, whom we complete the training for, like Quansah and Adu, who you will see one day in the first team. They are players who will be starters like Drissa Diakité who came to us young, or like Mahamane Traoré will be when his physical problems disappear.
“Seeing Niçois booed pains me”
Since the club’s arrival in Ligue 1, only one player has regularly been a starter and Niçois, that’s Hugo Lloris. Doesn’t that disappoint you a little?
No, we took over the club seven years ago, and it takes time. It isn’t done in five minutes. There was Hugo, there is Modeste, Gace who is knocking at the door. But you know, the Niçois are not blameless, and I am talking even about the public. Because when I see how Modeste was booed the other day, while he’s a young Niçois, trained at the training center, who has been there for six to seven years, who comes in, who is nineteen and a half years old. Instead of boosting his confidence, he’s booed like he’s the last. Like Grégorini was booed, a Niçois trained at the club. Varrault, a Niçois trained at the club, booed, even insulted at times. So I say attention. We mustn’t make a mistake. If we start booing our youngsters from the training center, we will never get out of this. On the contrary, they need to be encouraged. From the moment the coach trusts them, they need to be supported. It is not by booing them that they will progress. And I’m tired of seeing Niçois booed, it pains me.
Do you believe that being Niçois has a cause and effect link?
No, but I find it’s not right. They are Niçois, we try to push them, to help them. A guy like Modeste, he needs to be encouraged, he’s only twenty years old, he doesn’t need to be booed. If he comes on and misses it, it’s part of the process. The day he crosses that threshold, he will be on point but it takes a little time. He needs to be encouraged, not booed. It’s shameful to boo him. Those who booed, they can look at themselves in the mirror, they shouldn’t be proud today.
There are two other projects beyond the players. The first is communication. There are two facets, OGC Nice Event and OGC Nice TV. The latter indeed wasn’t well received at the beginning of the season. They reproached the quality/price ratio offered. Do you understand them?
No, what was reproached is that before there were free insides whereas now you have to pay for access. I can tell you, as someone who often watches the post-match shows, that we are at the top. We are also on Onzéo where there are twenty-six-minute documentaries about our team that are better than those of Lens and Saint-Etienne. Konio Production does a great job. Our supporters, the only thing that bothers them is that it costs money. But those who paid and subscribed, 99% are satisfied. As for OGCNice Event, the new magazine will be published for the Christmas holidays.
How many subscribers are there to OGC Nice TV?
I believe we are around a thousand subscribers.
The other major project is marketing. Are there new partners who have come forward with the club’s good results?
No, our sponsors are happy to be here and want to continue with us. So we’re not going to push them aside when they were there during the tough times. We will work with them, envision the future with them. And if some disappear, others will replace them. I think today OGC Nice is a good product for sponsors. But for now, we haven’t sought to have others because we are at the maximum of our possibilities.
