Will Nice be the eighth elite club to change manager this season? After the inglorious defeat by Puy (1:0), this question is not irrelevant. Reinforced by his leaders in November, during the World Cup truce, Lucien Favre saw his position weakened by this disappointment inflicted on the 16th National. This is the second defeat in a row, after suffered in the championship in Rennes on January 2 (2:1), shuffles the cards and darkens the horizon of the Swiss techie. The latter brings back the feeling of helplessness and seems to have several levers to pull the disoriented collective out of the rut.
Back in September, Nice’s board was already keen to part ways with him. Approaching, Mauricio Pochettino, former Paris-SG coach, refused. Nothing is recorded at the moment, but reflection will be involved. According to our information, which confirms Nice Matin’s data, Didier Digard’s internal solution is gathering votes. The 36-year-old former Nice captain was named assistant coach a few weeks ago. The previously short-lived PSG midfielder (19 games in 2007-2008) ruled the technical fate of the reserve team.
The upcoming schedule may dictate the pace. Nice welcomes Montpellier this Wednesday before moving to Reims on Sunday 15 January. For Dante’s partners, a 15-day break will follow, as planned for the 16th Coupe de France final on the weekend of 21 and 22 January. Nice’s management can grant Favre, who returned to the club in June 2022 to take over from Christophe Galtier, a one-week reprieve, or take a more radical decision and make a decision on the spot within the next 48 hours.
Watching Abel Ferreira next summer
One thing is clear today. In the event that Favre manages to dodge the axe, it’s hard to imagine him extending his mission beyond the current season. Only an impressive recovery in L1 – OGCN takes an anonymous 11th place in 12 lengths from 5th place – may change the trend.
In the summer of 2023, Nice are exploring several directions in search of a new member to their bench. One of them, according to someone familiar with the matter, will lead to Sao Paulo, where Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira is refereeing. The contract of the 43-year-old Lusitanian is still for two years. His services will cost about 5 million euros. This amount is not an obstacle for Nice and its shareholder Ineos.
Ferreira enjoys a good reputation in Brazil. The Portuguese, who has been in power since 2020, is even the favorite to replace Tite at the head of Selecao, according to a recent poll by UOL Sport. With Palmeiras, he did win the Copa Brazil (2020), the South American Recopa (2022), the Paulista Championship (2022), two Copa Libertadores (2020, 2021) and the Brasileirão (Brazilian Championship) in November 2022.
With his 6 titles won with Verdão since 2020, Ferreira has become the third most successful manager in the club’s history alongside Luis Felipe Scolari. He can still enter the Palmeiras legend as he is only two titles away from Wanderlei Luxembourgo’s record. Previously, he had experience in Braga and PAOK Thessaloniki.
Source: Le Parisien
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