One third into the championship, OGC Nice stands in 6th place in the rankings, providing an opportunity for a Top/Flop analysis. There have been noteworthy performances and highlights, but also disappointments like the draw at Troyes or the non-game against Guingamp. At home, the situation is problematic with few points taken (17th/20) as well as the injury list (long-term injuries). This Wednesday, take a look at the flops and a segment on the travel bans for supporters.
Flop 1: Struggles at home
If there is a hiccup in this Nice season, it’s in the home performances. After 6 or 7 matches (depending on the club), Nice is in 17th place tied with Toulouse. Sure, there was that exceptional 6-1 against Bordeaux and a win against Caen, but the other four matches are negative with a draw and 3 losses. As with last season, the Gym struggles in their den of the Allianz Riviera.
Since its inauguration in September 2013, Nice doesn’t seem to have fully acclimated to this stadium of nearly 37,000 seats. It is impressive, it can sometimes be loud, but it’s far from being an impregnable fortress. This season, however, Nice loves to play an attacking game. It’s supposed to be a positive point, but against very defensive and tight blocks, the Eagles often struggle and are countered frequently. The Plan B is seldom seen, and this is problematic when having to take the game to Guingamp
(loss 1-0) and against Lille (0-0). Lyon and Paris are arriving this Friday and in 15 days. Clearly, the Nice group will be tested on its ability to withstand “big” opponents, especially at home.
Flop 2: Injuries
It’s a half-flop but a flop nonetheless. For three to four seasons, a cascade of injuries has hit Nice all season long. As a result, the group shrinks visibly and logically weakens. The causes are not known, but several aspects raise questions: preseason preparation, recovery between matches, lifestyle, and the pitches. This last point is major. Indeed, a footballer without a field is nothing. The pitch seems to be a problem, especially at the Allianz Riviera where the turf is sometimes unworthy of a professional club, although this season, things are going (a bit) better. Sometimes too hard, too soft, too greasy, the Allianz’s pitch has caused many injuries in recent months and is often criticized by players. There’s also an element of bad luck: Romain Genevois suffered a leg fracture before a relapse (5 months), Alassane Plea’s meniscus injury (3-4 months), Mickaël Le Bihan’s stress fracture (3-4 months), and Niklas Hult’s groin issues (2 months). What’s remarkable is that with an often full infirmary, the Gym is doing quite well and as always relies on its training center. More to follow…
Flop 3: A stadium that feels a bit empty
It’s a sensitive point but worth some lines. If past seasons have cooled many supporters from going to the stadium — although major matches were packed — this season, the Allianz Riviera deserves to be much fuller. After 6 matches, the average barely reaches 17,000 spectators in a stadium of over 36,000 seats. The calls on social media are insufficient, yet Nice plays good football…part-time. There have been boring matches as they say in the jargon (Nice-Guingamp, Nice-Lille) but these Eagles deserve better than 14,000 or 15,000 spectators on Ligue 1 nights.
No complaints about the presence of the Populaire Sud, always there, but in the rest of the stadium, the empty seats count in the thousands… There’s a truly black point, that of access to the stadium; the message comes up (too) often from supporters and spectators. Is it normal to take over 1 hour or even 1.5 hours to go from parking lot to highway some nights? I doubt it. The tramway, within 2 years, will probably ease many issues, but in 7 months there is the Euro and a stadium supposed to be full, good luck… More seriously, the prices are not exorbitant, the game offered is good, the Allianz should regularly exceed 20,000 spectators.
Flop against the League and authorities: supporters travel bans
It’s an essential point, a “big flop”. In the first seven away matches, Nice supporters were banned from travelling four times, twice without any valid reasons. Last week, in Marseille, 0 Nice supporters, and even more ludicrous, the ban on placing a banner on the empty seats of the away section… Gentlemen from the League, Prefecture, and other authorities, how are you going to handle it next June when 10,000 Turks, 20,000 Poles, or 15,000 Croatians arrive in French stadiums? If it’s impossible to properly manage 400-500 people between Nice and Marseille, then dealing with thousands across France…
Yes, Nice supporters have a heavy history, especially last season with a pitch invasion (Nice-Bastia), incidents in the presidential stand (Nice-Evian) caused by the frustration of seeing their team fight for survival. Since then, everything seems peaceful, there have even been quite astonishing scenes upon the players’ return after victories in Bastia and Saint-Etienne, or before and after the success at Marseille. They are 400-500-600 and sometimes more waiting for the bus armed with flares, waiting for the players for a chant, a hug, and thanks. All the players say they are impressed. Gentlemen from the League, be serious, discuss, dialogue with the clubs and supporter associations to find the best solutions, or at least, the least bad one. If there are overflows, then they deserve to be sanctioned, but if nothing is tried, if we
“censor” indiscriminately, nothing will work. The images of joy from a supporters’ section, of communion with the players, are a good advertisement for a Ligue 1 so sad…
