President, eight matches without a defeat, including the latest against Saint-Etienne under difficult conditions. A match that OGC Nice might have lost not long ago. Has the team become unbeatable?
No, we haven’t become unbeatable. We’ve had a bit of luck. I believe a lot in streaks, and right now we’re on a positive one, so we’re taking advantage of it. It’s good, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. In the world of football, things change quickly. We need to remember last year with Strasbourg, who were in a good position halfway through the season and then lost ten matches in a row, ending up in the second division. So, we must remain calm and composed. We are, and we’re enjoying good moments as we currently enjoy Nice’s second-place standing.
Saturday brings Grenoble to Ray. A trap game?
Yes, it’s a trap game because Grenoble will come to Nice trying not to lose, aiming for a draw, so I think they’re going to play very defensively. We’ll have to be patient and precise to try and score a goal that would earn us three points and put us in a good position before heading to Marseille.
Precisely, there’s Marseille, then Lille and Toulouse, three big clubs. How many points do you think you can get?
We need to take it match by match. First, we must focus on Grenoble. Then Marseille. If we beat Grenoble, we’ll head to Marseille much more relaxed and confident. We’re not going to start getting carried away. Today, we look forward to Grenoble with anticipation, hoping to get a positive result. Then we’ll see.
OGC Nice is on a European course. Yet everyone at the club talks about staying up. Why so measured?
We’re being measured because we’re like scuba divers. You know, divers work in stages. We have the fourteenth biggest budget in France; we don’t have the same resources as Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, and others. We have modest means, which is why we stay measured. We need to achieve our goal. The diver’s first stage is staying up. Then, we’ll try to climb as high as possible as we did last year. From the moment our stay is assured. But we have to go stage by stage, just like divers, and that’s how they don’t perish.
Eighteen points ahead of the first relegated team is still a nice margin.
Yes, it’s a nice lead. We’re calm; let’s not lie. We’re more assured than if we were three points ahead of the first relegated team. But we must remain calm and measured as we always have been up to now. That doesn’t mean, however, that we lack ambition.
Much talk surrounds a possible European qualification. Some supporters feel you’re somewhat crushing their dreams by saying so early that the European Cup is too high for Nice.
(interrupts) No, if we play in the European Cup, we will give it our all. We have no concerns there. Today, our objective is to aim as high as possible. We’re Niçois; we’re not going to back down, are we? Some see us in the Champions League, others in the UEFA. We need to stay calm; we’ll see where we are by April.
“Five years for the new stadium, it’s too long.”
Do you think that last year when you mentioned the European Cup being too high for us, it had an influence on the players?
No, the European Cup is still too high for us. For several reasons. The first is that we don’t have a stadium, and the current stadium isn’t approved for European games, meaning we’d have to play in Monaco or Marseille. The second is that to compete in the cup fully, we’d need four key players, meaning an additional six million Euros to spend. Now it’s up to us to be smart. We’re in a better financial position to acquire those four players than we were two years ago. So, I repeat, if we were to play in the European Cup, we would give it our all and give ourselves the means to do it.
OGC Nice has been in Ligue 1 for the seventh year. There have been two three-year plans; what is the third?
Now, we’ll work according to the new stadium, so we need to hold on for four or five years. We must manage to hold on, develop, all while having a tight budget because we don’t have the additional revenue a stadium would bring, especially in terms of VIP seats, corporate boxes, and a higher average attendance. So, we’ll have to play on for another four or five years. As long as we don’t have the stadium, we’ll always be somewhat restrained as we can’t compete without the necessary means against clubs like Rennes or Lille, not to mention Lyon, Marseille, or Paris. I refer to those clubs with infrastructures more substantial than ours. Although Lille could be compared to Nice.
Five years for a new stadium isn’t it a bit late?
It’s too long; it’s always too long. The only positive thing is that today, there’s a real schedule in place. I’ve spoken to the lawyers handling the file; things are starting to take shape. Sure, it’s too long, but it’s better for it to be a bit long, and we’re certain of getting there, than long and never getting there. We’ve been waiting for the stadium for seven years with previous city administrations, and it never happened. So, I hope the schedule set and solidified is respected so we can finally have the stadium. I still hope that we can gain a year if there are no legal challenges because, in the planned timing, the lawyers have anticipated possible challenges. I hope Niçois will be sensible and there will be no challenges from environmentalists, or any other cause. Without challenges, we might gain a year, perhaps.
Five more years at Ray. Can we imagine any improvements for the supporters?
Yes, the city is studying them. We already have two or three meetings with them to try to improve the site a bit, which is challenging, but we can do small things. And then, possibly, if we play the European Cup, try to improve to obtain the UEFA license, have a potential exemption with specific arrangements. We will see an evolution based on our ranking, and we’ll see if we can request a waiver.
Talking about the stadium, there’s also the training center. Several sites have been mentioned. Which one do you prefer?
I don’t know for now; we’re studying the possibilities. The problem is that having a training center means additional investments, thus additional management costs. This means a lower player budget. We’ll have to make a choice at some point. Either we focus on having a competitive team, or if investing in infrastructure, we risk it since our budget isn’t extensible. Today we know our maximum income; we can’t afford to invest three or four million more in a training center. So, we’d need a city-owned terrain where we could finance the necessary constructions. For now, we’re working on it. We have a meeting tomorrow (today) with city officials to see if there are available areas in the Plaine du Var. My priority is to establish a training camp in Nice. Because we have projects in Roquefort Les Pins or Villeneuve-Loubet, but our ambition is to stay in Nice.
“I’m not against making the richest pay.”
Is the absence of a training center and a large stadium so detrimental to a club like Nice?
Listen, I think we’re the last club in France to evolve under these conditions. Even smaller cities have their training camp or their stadium under construction, whether it’s Le Mans, Valenciennes, Reims, Amiens, or Sedan. Nice is the only one left; I hope we’ll achieve it soon.
OGC Nice is second in the championship but also in the League Cup quarter-finals. The match will be played in January midweek against Le Havre. Is a buy-one-get-one-free operation possible?
No, no. The public needs to understand. We can’t have a competitive team and ask to enter the stadium for free. It’s a package deal. The prices against Créteil were very low, three Euros for a standard seat. For Le Havre, we’ll offer reasonably low prices again to try and bring in as many people as possible, but people need to pay. You can’t have everything. Otherwise, we’re going in circles. We’ll do what we’ve always done. We’ve always offered competitive prices, which we’ll do again against Le Havre. We’ll have a pricing structure, particularly for the standard section, very low.
And for subscribers, who were used to a free match in recent years and didn’t get it this season?
They won’t get it anymore. It’s time to stop asking for free things. You have to stop. In all stadiums in France, prices are much higher than in Nice. We don’t have a stadium that allows us a different pricing strategy, and it’s not our goal either, especially concerning the lower north or south stands. We want to continue having our audience, offering a low price so that it’s affordable and families can come quietly. But we need to stop thinking everything can be free. So, subscribers pay a quite fair price, and when there’s a cup match, they can pay three or five Euros more; it doesn’t hurt them.
An investigation revealed at the start of the week in *L’Equipe* suggests that ticket prices should be higher. What’s your opinion?
I’m against it. Football is a popular sport. So, charging companies or VIP seats or box seats a high price, yes. But charging high prices for regular seats, no. I’m opposed to that, and it doesn’t significantly impact our budget. I support having a pricing policy open to as many Niçois as possible who can come to the stadium. I think our pricing is perfectly fair. However, I’m not against making the wealthiest pay more.
The League Cup remains a good or bad memory for you?
It’s a double memory. It was an extraordinary experience going to Paris and seeing 28,000 Niçois in Paris. Walking on the Champs-Elysées, I wandered in the afternoon; it was extraordinary seeing all these people in red and black, happy to be there, enjoying it. And then there’s a big frustration of not having won it because it was a match within our reach. So, it tarnished the celebration a bit, but it’s a fabulous story to have been in Paris, and for that, I’d like us to return to Paris to delight our Niçois and demonstrate their ability to travel and support their team.
Especially as the path seems open with Le Havre in the quarterfinals and a Ligue 2 club (Vannes or Metz) in the semifinals.
You never know what can happen. Look, Metz eliminated Lyon in the League Cup. They played against Créteil, who is in the National League in the Coupe de France, and they were eliminated. It’s open. The path is interesting for us, but what’s most interesting is playing at home. I think playing at our home ground is already an advantage, but a cup match is a cup match where the players rise to the occasion to go all the way. The League Cup, now with two matches to go, we’re in Paris for the final, so I can tell you that Le Havre will come with their claws out, but so will we.
