FEATURE | After Franck Haise’s rant, a reaction from OGC Nice? | OneFootball

Not every manager can launch an unsparing tirade without fear of consequence. Franck Haise can – and did – after OGC Nice’s latest European defeat, their fourth in a row in this season’s UEFA Europa League, against Freiburg (1-3). It is a run that means Nice remain pointless in this season’s UEL campaign, and on a run of 16 European games without a win. 

“We don’t have the level to play in Europe,” said Haise in his usual matter-of-fact way, but his voice was raised, and the desk thudded over the course of a 10-minute rant. “I’m a manager who protects his players a lot, I think. I have expectations in the office, but outwardly, I defend my players, but at some point, you have to say things.”

‘Stop falling over!’ – Haise

And say things he did. It was punchline after punchline. No one was spared, even perhaps the hierarchy, if you read between the lines. “When you don’t do enough, you don’t do enough; when you lose a duel and you’re on the ground the whole time, you have to say things…,” said the Nice manager, who was at pains to pass his message, already conveyed in the dressing room, but perhaps not heard, at least not by every player. Ironically, his microphone cut out towards the end of the tirade, but his thoughts on his side’s latest acquiescence to defeat on the European scene were already clear. 

“Since I arrived here, I have spoken about expectations, about daily work… we can’t fall over whenever there is a duel! It’s the same in training! Stop falling over! Yes, there are errors, there are always errors, but what are we doing about them? Are we bouncing back from them or what? We shot ourselves in the foot,” said Haise in a press conference attended by Get French Football News.

Photo credit: Luke Entwistle

The collapse against Freiburg was spectacular. Of this long and painful run without a win in Europe, this was the first time that Nice had taken the lead, but just 17 minutes after Kevin Carlos’ goal, Le Gym found themselves 3-1 down, with the Bundesliga side netting three in the space of just 13 minutes. 

Winless run ‘playing on [Nice players’] minds’

“We cracked in 13 minutes, not just mentally, but we cracked,” said Haise. Goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf agreed, stating that the run of games without a win in Europe is “playing on [their] minds”. It was two Melvin Bard errors that swung the game firmly in Freiburg’s favour, and while Haise didn’t spare his captain from criticism, his attack was on the collective. 

“So long as we don’t understand that we have to stick together all the time, that you can’t sulk when you come off, that you can’t sulk when you’re a substitute… show things on the pitch,” began Haise. “Some do it, but it has to be all the time; it isn’t your ego that will make you run!” 

But Nice need more than just willing runners. Haise repeated that he needs his side “at 110%, all the time, especially in Europe.” He added, “We don’t have world champions here.” That much is clear, and in part, the club’s transfer dealings over the summer are to blame. Quality left, it wasn’t replaced, even if money was spent, albeit uncreatively, by sporting director Florian Maurice. 

A pointed remark about Nice’s transfer dealings?

If you’re a manager openly stating that you are having to extract more than the maximum potential from your squad, what message are you trying to send? You’re saying that the squad isn’t good enough for the level that you’re playing at… and that is the case. Haise spelt it out in black and white. 

But Haise can say it with relative impunity when others cannot. The former RC Lens manager is untouchable, and he is for a reason. He is the man keeping Nice afloat, even if the boat doesn’t have an engine. In such circumstances, he can’t truly take them forward, but not sinking is, in the current circumstance, synonymous with succeeding. 

“The first person who wasn’t good was me, don’t you worry about that. If one day there is someone better, they (the club) will take them; I have no problem with that,” said Haise. But there is no one better, at least no one better than Nice, abandoned by their INEOS owners, could possibly attract. 

Nice are drifting; Haise is desperately trying to steer in the right direction, but he needs the help of his crew. Thursday night’s tirade was a call for help; Haise will just hope that this time he has been heard.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Nice