And, for some, that is precisely where the shoe seems to pinch. Indeed, the departures are already numerous (Camara to Montpellier, Vahirua to Lorient, Varrault to St Etienne, and Bellion to Bordeaux) and rumors are growing about possible transfers involving Balmont, Koné, Fanni, or even Ederson who would leave if a club put 12 million euros on the negotiation table (there is a clause in his contract requiring OGC Nice to let him go starting from this amount). The only arrivals of David Hellebuyck and Vincent Hognon are not enough to reassure Nice supporters, who are thus merely content with the trials of young talents such as Jonathan Assous (trained in Nancy and playing at Creteil last year) and Herman Abanda (Cameroonian defender playing in Indonesia last season), Mohamed Yahaia (Ghanaian defender), and Billal Ouali (Algerian striker).
A rather lean catch, then, on the part of the Nice club, which, admittedly, has just signed Vincent Hognon for two years. The former solid defender from Saint Etienne, who spent 9 seasons at Nancy, was “surprisingly” left free by the Stéphane club where he spent the last five seasons (two in Ligue 2 and three in Ligue 1). With nearly 100 matches in green to his credit and 8 goals, not bad for a defender, the new eaglet, who played a significant role in the Stéphane promotion to Ligue 1 in 2004, thus comes to strengthen Nice’s backline. The Nancy native is thus moving from green to red… and black, asserting that “it’s a real choice on his part and that Nice attracted him.”
But the question still persists, and some supporters feel annoyed by a recurring discourse from some executives and players. “It’s the big stadium’s fault, we have the 19th budget in Ligue 1; we are looking for sponsors… It’s hard to make a worse advertisement for one’s club, and if I were a good Ligue 1 player, I would think twice before setting foot in Nice,” Stéphane, encountered at the Arson store, confirmed a doubt also present in the club’s official forum. Certainly, a big stadium does not make a big club, even if it does indeed contribute to its evolution, and the budget seems unsuitable for the flagship club of the Côte d’Azur. Wouldn’t it be wise to “sometimes learn to keep quiet” in terms of image and to explore all financial solutions to get out of the relegation zone of the top French championship? “For sponsors, it’s the same. They don’t want to come because the club’s image is poor (big stadium, justice, statements, supporters’ club). It would probably be wise to start sending out a different image of the club.” André, already sporting the new red and black jersey “made in Italy,” can’t grasp the difficulty of finding sponsors like other Ligue 1 and 2 clubs in a region where the economy is not among the least flourishing. A region and a department, moreover, in which OGC Nice is the only football club playing at the highest level.
In short, as usual, the Niçoise salad is copiously garnished, but remembering the nightmarish past periods (cf. the Italian period), one might say that it is not the worst situation the club with the black eagle has been faced with.
And then, there are always solutions to problems, right? Provided, of course, that you actively look for them!
