Botched window, muddled management and an inevitable fall to Ligue 2: Nantes’ bleak season | OneFootball

Nantes’ slide to Ligue 2 owed much to a botched summer window, muddled decision-making and 20 defeats in a season that used three coaches.

According to L'Équipe, five years after surviving a play-off against Toulouse, they will host TFC on Sunday already relegated following Friday’s 0-1 loss at Lens. Eight-time champions between 1965 and 2001, this is a third drop in under 20 years, the second under the Kita era.

Since December they were at best stuck in the play-off spot, top scorer Matthis Abline finished on six goals and two changes in the dugout did not alter course. Vahid Halilhodzic, 73, energised the side but could not reverse it. Bad luck featured, with 15 efforts hitting the woodwork and contentious calls such as Dehmaine Tabibou’s red card against Brest on 19 April, which also brought a four-match touchline ban for Halilhodzic.

The chief failure was the summer market, prompting a mid-season rebuild that helped but not enough. After Antoine Kombouaré’s exit, recruitment head Baptiste Drouet installed Luis Castro with four assistants amid tight finances and an end of cycle for several stalwarts, with Alban Lafont loaned out.

Sales raised €40m, led by Nathan Zézé at €20m, alongside a youth tilt and a €50,000 monthly salary cap. Doubts grew as signings underwhelmed, including Hyun-seok Hong, Hyeok-kyu Kwon, Uros Radakovic, Mayckel Lahdo and Amady Camara. Injuries to Francis Coquelin and Johann Lepenant bit, Abline, kept despite an offer of about €25m from Paris FC, scored only after nine games at Paris FC on 24 October.

Castro’s discontent over reinforcements spilled into public, then he was dismissed after a 1-4 loss at Angers, his departure finalised while he watched the U19s face Maccabi Haifa. Ahmed Kantari took over and winter arrivals included Machado, Cabella, I. Sissoko, Kaba, Guilbert, Sylla and Yousuf. A further striker did not arrive as Aboukhlal stayed at Torino and Simon Banza at Al-Jazira, with Junior Mwanga among the exits.

Camps in Andalusia and the Morbihan brought no lift. The Brigade Loire halted support in late January as home wins dried up, and Kantari’s league return was eight defeats and two victories. Nantes considered recalling Kombouaré, who chose Paris FC, before turning to Halilhodzic, who sought fervent backing.

Under him they led Strasbourg 2-1 on 22 March but lost 2-3, and a 3-0 win over Marseille on 2 May changed nothing. Friction behind the scenes and a structure without a sporting director compounded the slide. The Kita family points to recent survival, the 2022 Coupe de France and Europe, and plans to lean on Ligue 2-hardened players with an experienced coach to target a one-year return.

Source: L'Équipe