Reunion under high tension. The French technician changed his bench and is preparing to return to the Gym, Saturday October 1, at the Parc des Princes, in a less joyful context for the Nice team. Six months ago, Andy Delort crucified Keylor Navas at the Allianz Riviera, offering Christophe Galtier and OGC Nice a prestigious victory against Paris Saint-Germain (1-0). Since then, situations have changed a lot on both sides. The opportunity for franceinfo: sport to follow in the footsteps of Christophe Galtier’s short stay on the Côte d’Azur.
On paper, a good season
When Christophe Galtier joins OGC Nice on June 28, 2021, President Jean-Pierre Rivère and the leaders of Nice are convinced of having achieved a big blow. Champion of France with Lille and elected best coach of Ligue 1 for the third time, the successor of Adrian Ursea must take the Gym into another dimension. With a second place at the break, the “Galtier effect” is felt and the Nice supporters dream of qualifying for the Champions League. Nevertheless, the machine ran out of steam in the second half of the season. The Aiglons failed in the Coupe de France final against Nantes (1-0), and still snatched a fifth place in the league, synonymous with the Europa League conference.
“I am convinced that we could have, that we should have had a better season”, noted Julien Fournier in the columns of The TeamJuly 2, 2022, before qualifying. “But when I hear people, I have the impression that we have come out of an almost cataclysmic season”. In terms of results alone, it is impossible to prove the former Nice football director wrong. Under Christophe Galtier, Nice reached their best ranking since Lucien Favre (3rd, 2016-2017), and came close to a first title since 1997 (Coupe de France). So how can this taste for the unfinished be explained?
“The people of Nice are very impatient”, explains Eric Roy, consultant for franceinfo: sport and for whom the fall from second to second fifth place explains the disappointment of the supporters. “The defeat in the Coupe de France final also left a lot of traces”, specifies the former coach and sports director of Nice.
Tops but also flops
Owner of OGC Nice since August 2019, the wealthy English group Ineos had invested to offer sports guarantees to Christophe Galtier. If the transfers of Andy Delort, Jean-Clair Todibo or Pablo Rosario were successful, other operations were less successful. Bought at a high price from AZ Alkmaar, Dutch winger Calvin Stengs has never brought satisfaction, resulting in his loan to Royal Antwerp this summer. Same observation for his compatriot Justin Kluivert, on loan for a season by AS Roma. Flops that are as much attributable to Galtier as to the sports management for Eric Roy: “These are prototype players who pass for future stars but who find it difficult to confirm their qualities and what was expected of them”.
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In addition to the recruits, some young people have done well, like Khéphren Thuram and Amine Gouiri, who were the two players most used by Christophe Galtier. But this youth has sometimes been inconstant, like Gouiri, silent from January to May. “Christophe wanted to instill in him an additional requirement and he had difficulty in meeting expectations”, analyzes Eric Roy. “When you’re a young player, you have to understand that it’s not because you’ve had a few good months that it’s won. His shortage coincides with the much less good second half of the season for Nice”.
A break with Julien Fournier and the locker room
The prospect of Saturday’s match between PSG and Nice was the occasion for a real battle between Christophe Galtier and Julien Fournier. “Quite honestly, if I explain the real reasons why we argued, because that’s really the word, Christophe will no longer enter a locker room, neither in France nor in Europe”, dropped Julien Fournier, at the microphone of RMC on Tuesday evening. “I’m not surprised how knowing the man”, replied the coach, at a press conference the next day.
These frictions are not new. A first wick had been lit by Julien Fournier in The Team in July. “You never know a person until you’ve worked with them”, had assaulted the new football director of Parma, after having publicly criticized the tactics of Galtier during the final of the Coupe de France.
“If I explain the real reasons why Christophe and I had a fight, he will no longer enter a locker room in France and Europe. These are much more serious things than football”
Julien Fournier looks back on his chaotic relationship with Galtier in Nice. pic.twitter.com/wVjaDoNpB0
— After Foot RMC (@AfterRMC) September 28, 2022
These bad relations would have even rubbed off on the locker room. “Honestly, I think it’s a good thing that he [Galtier] leave. For having had two or three echoes with Nice players, there was a big break with the locker room, a lot of problems “, had revealed Yoan Cardinal at the microphone of RMC, on June 29. “The coach has alienated the locker room to make himself heard better. He played politics”, added the former Aiglons goalkeeper (2015-2021).
An inadmissible thesis for Eric Roy. “A locker room is always the same, does he say. In general, there are fifteen guys who play quite often and have a good relationship with the coach. Then you have the other fifteen who are not playing and who are unhappy. A coach is never unanimous and he is only judged for his results”.
“A missed date”
The departure of Christophe Galtier has caused a succession of changes within the Riviera club. Lucien Favre replaced him on the bench, Julien Fournier was sacked, Ineos Sports sports director Dave Brailsford arrived as reinforcements, and twelve players were recruited. Finally, Fabrice Bocquet has been appointed to the post of general manager, pending the arrival of a sports director. Big maneuvers that have not yet been digested by OGC Nice, who have taken eight points in eight Ligue 1 games this season. “Lucien Favre, with a reinforced workforce compared to last year, has not had better results”, remarks Eric Roy.
“Christophe Galtier’s move to Nice is for me more of a missed opportunity than a failure because the club brought in a coach who was successful and who was leading the team to take it to another level”, exposes Eric Roy, before concluding: “In terms of results, it had been a long time since Nice had been in this ranking at the end of the season.”.