Antoine Kombouaré imposes strict dressing-room rules, phone ban at Paris FC | OneFootball

Antoine Kombouaré has moved quickly at Paris FC, sealing off dressing rooms and banning phones two weeks after arriving on a four-month deal with a one-year option if they stay up.

According to L'Équipe, access to the dressing room at Orly and on matchdays is now limited to first-team staff, with occasional exceptions. Directors and shareholders are kept out. President Pierre Ferracci is no longer welcome in pre-match hotel talks.

Injured or suspended players were barred before the 1-0 win over Nice, then welcomed in afterwards to celebrate. Kombouaré issued a reminder to the squad early in the week after the Lopez brothers and Samir Chergui did not attend, while he appreciated Hamari Traoré and Timothée Kolodziejczak.

At Orly, players and staff, including sporting director Marco Neppe, must leave phones on arrival and collect them when departing, with no use in the dressing room or warm-up area. Kombouaré preaches discipline and leads by example while avoiding criticism of predecessor Stéphane Gilli.

Training is longer and more intense, with duels, small-sided competition and frequent man-marking in box drills. Those who fall short are left out, as happened to Maxime Lopez and Willem Geubbels against Nice.

He wants quicker, more vertical attacks, informed by data that Paris FC concede many shots yet rank third in the top flight for possession in their defensive third. The squad travelled to Lyon on Saturday for Sunday evening's match. They were also gathered the day before facing Nice, though such stayovers are not guaranteed.

Source: L'Équipe