Latest news with #FranckHaise
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Uncertainty surrounds Tanguy Ndombélé's OGC Nice future
Tanguy Ndombélé (28) looked like a player reborn at the start of last season. The Frenchman looked to have got his career back on track after joining OGC Nice on a free transfer, following the termination of his deal at Tottenham Hotspur. For a short time, there was even talk of a return to the France set-up, however, the injuries that stalled his progress in recent years returned around the turn of the calendar year. Suffering from a pubalgia issue, his last appearance in Ligue 1 dates back to the end of February, whilst the problem has severely limited his gametime. His last start dates back to mid-January. He has not even been included in a matchday squad since February. Advertisement Speaking to L'Équipe last month, Franck Haise cast doubt over Ndombélé's future. 'If I could be sure that he could be 100% operational for a season, I wouldn't ask the question (about his future), but that isn't the case,' he said. L'Équipe understands that the midfielder's future is still up in the air. With his contract up next summer, he must convince Nice's hierarchy to retain his place in the squad. Get French Football News understands that the Frenchman is still struggling with the issue and there is no guarantee that he will be operational come the start of the season, which for Nice starts early, as they contest the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. GFFN | Luke Entwistle
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Nice reach Champions League in the one season Jim Ratcliffe stays away
'He hasn't seen a Nice match this season,' retorted Nice manager Franck Haise to denigrating comments from the club's own owner Jim Ratcliffe. Had the Manchester United shareholder watched Nice this season, he would have seen a team that has instilled principles and structures that have thus far failed to take hold at Old Trafford – and a side not reliant on a one-game shootout to secure their place in next season's Champions League. When Manchester United and Nice both qualified for the Europa League this season, Uefa stipulated that no one involved in one club's management, administration or sporting performance could have a decisive influence in the other club. Ineos concentrated on Manchester United and left Nice to their own devices. It has worked out well for the French club. 'I don't particularly enjoy going to watch Nice because there are some good players but the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited,' said Ratcliffe in March. When asked about the owners's comments, Haise said the Englishman was referring to what he saw 'at another time'. Indeed, there was a radical shift at the club last summer. Haise replaced Francesco Farioli, who left for Ajax. The Italian manager had taken the club into the Europa League but in a way that did not enthuse fans. Haise arrived with a completely different philosophy, style and formation. Despite meagre investment, he quickly had Nice playing more direct and less passive football, like his Lens side that had finished just one point behind PSG two seasons before. One of the pillars of that team, Jonathan Clauss, was the only major arrival at Nice in the summer. That one signing was all Haise needed to successfully implement his 3-4-3 system on the Riviera. Not that Haise has adhered religiously to that formation throughout. 'It has been a gruelling season,' he said before his team's 6-0 win against Brest on Saturday – a result that secured fourth place in Ligue 1 and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers next season. An injury crisis stretched the squad to its limits. Haise's response was pragmatism, something that is in short supply in Manchester. At times he cobbled together a side while missing as many as 12 first-team players. Results fluctuated, naturally, but Nice were never out of touch with the European places. On the final day of the season, it was simply a question of which European competition they would be playing in next season. Nice struggled in the Europa League this season, failing to win a game and finishing second bottom in the league phase. Those struggles, coupled with a perception that playing in the Champions League qualifiers is a poisoned chalice given the early start to the season and the potential physical consequences, led to a debate about whether it was best for Nice to miss out on fourth place. That argument was angrily refuted by Haise. 'Do these people want us to finish 14th? How can you expect competitors to want to finish fifth? Nonsense. How can you say that?' The response inside the Allianz Riviera on Saturday told its own story. 'We want the Champions League,' chanted the fans about a competition they have not graced since the 1950s, despite Ineos promising to lead them back there upon their takeover in 2019. Six years later and Nice have reached the qualifiers, at least, but Ineos cannot take too much credit – as Ratcliffe admitted a few months ago. 'The best season that Nice has had is this one where we've not been allowed to get involved,' he said. 'They've been so much better without our interference.' And Ineos may be forced to keep their distance again next season if Manchester United beat Tottenham on Wednesday night in the Europa League final and qualify for the Champions League. A continuation of the status quo may be no bad thing; Ratcliffe's comments did not go down well in the south of France. 'We can be annoyed, that's obvious, but is it really worth staying annoyed for a long time,' said Haise at the time. Ineos' lack of interest, however, will hold Nice back in the transfer window. 'Like other French clubs, we have to sell to buy this summer,' admitted Haise over the weekend. Despite the wealth of their owners, Nice are not immune to the financial crisis plaguing the French game. Some of their brightest talents will probably leave, including Evann Guessand, who scored his 12th league goal of the season on the final day. 'We know he will be one of the players that is highly sought after,' said Haise, who may also lose Marcin Bulka, one of the finest goalkeepers in Ligue 1 in recent seasons. Nice have been more than the sum of their parts this season thanks to Haise. Left to their own devices by their estranged owners, they will have to do it again next season if they are to continue their success. Lens 4-0 Monaco Lille 2-1 Reims Nantes 3-0 Montpellier Nice 6-0 Brest Lyon 2-0 Angers Marseille 4-2 Rennes PSG 3-1 Auxerre St-Étienne 2-3 Toulouse Strasbourg 2-3 Le Havre Will Still was emotional on Saturday as he announced that he was leaving Lens. He leaves his post after just one season due to personal reasons and with a desire to return to England to be closer to his partner, the TV presenter Emma Saunders. He has been strongly linked with the vacancy at Southampton. Still hasn't done his reputation any harm this season. Despite losing key players in the summer – Abdukodir Khusanov, Kevin Danso, Brice Samba and Elye Wahi – he led Lens to eighth. They will even qualify for the Conference League if Uefa ban Lyon from European competition. Strasbourg were in contention to qualify for the Champions League after going unbeaten from 2 February until a fortnight ago, but their charge collapsed at the wrong time. 'We didn't have any fuel left,' said Liam Rosenior after their season finished with defeats to relegation-threatened sides Angers and Le Havre. Strasbourg need PSG to do them a favour by beating Reims in the Coupe de France final. Reims may be distracted, with that final coming in the middle of a two-legged relegation playoff against Metz. It was Abdoulay Touré's last-minute Panenka penalty that gifted Le Havre the 3-2 win, guaranteeing their safety and pushing Reims into the dreaded playoff. The final weekend marked the LFP's annual anti-homophobia campaign, which, depressingly, was met with controversy once again. Mostafa Mohamed, a conspicuous absence in recent editions of the campaign, publicly stated his opposition to the cause and refused to play for Nantes, drawing criticism from across the political spectrum in France. Nemanja Matic also displayed his opposition by taping up the pride flag on the sleeve of his Lyon shirt; last year, Mohamed Camara drew fierce criticism for doing the same while playing for Monaco. It is a case of different season, same sad story. This is an article by Get French Football News
NDTV
18-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
PSG Success Barely Covers Up French Football's Woes
Paris Saint-Germain's progress to the Champions League final should be a cause for French football to celebrate but their achievement hardly disguises the fact that the game in the country is in crisis as the Ligue 1 season ended this weekend. PSG had already wrapped up a fourth consecutive domestic title long before the French campaign concluded, and Luis Enrique's team can also add the French Cup next Saturday. That will be followed by the Champions League showdown against Inter Milan on May 31, as PSG aim to finally get their hands on the trophy they covet most. France have won the World Cup twice and reached two more finals in the last seven editions. But French clubs have made a habit of underachieving in continental competitions, meaning PSG can become just the second club from the country ever to win European football's biggest prize, after Marseille in 1993. Put another way, France has still won as many European Cups as Scotland and Romania, or one fewer than Nottingham Forest. Little wonder, then, that the French footballing community seems united in getting behind PSG in the final, despite the impossibility for rival sides of challenging the Qatar-backed club domestically. "We are lucky to have a French team in the final," said Nice coach Franck Haise. "I am not a Paris supporter. My club is Nice, but I am eager to see Paris win the final. I am French, as I was when Marseille won in 1993." Marseille, Monaco and Lyon have at least all got to European semi-finals in recent years and should aspire to regularly compete at that level. Lyon's debts Yet the currently plight of Lyon, seven times French champions, is worrying. Eagle Football, the company controlled by American businessman John Textor and which owns Lyon, recently reported debts of 540 million euros ($603m). That has raised doubts as to Lyon's ability to remain a going concern, all the more so after their failure to qualify for next season's Champions League. Lyon were recenty warned that they would be demoted to Ligue 2 if drastic action was not taken to reduce their debts. Sports daily L'Equipe also reported that the club must accept sanctions from UEFA in order to be allowed into Europe at all next season. At least Marseille and Monaco know they will be in the Champions League along with PSG. TV deal Any French club unable to take a share of the riches on offer in Europe faces a challenging future because of uncertainty surrounding Ligue 1's domestic TV deal. A last-minute agreement for this season with streaming platform DAZN promised Ligue 1 clubs just 400 million euros a year to show the majority of matches per weekend. Adding in other deals, including with international broadcasters, the French league (LFP) was still far short of its stated ambition of bringing in one billion euros ($1.115 billion) annually from TV. As a result, Ligue 1's current TV deal is down on its previous contract, leaving France trailing even further behind Europe's biggest leagues -- the Premier League's upcoming domestic rights deal for the next four years is valued at 2.02 billion euros per season. What's more, the deal with DAZN is now expected to be broken early, with the French league instead looking to create its own channel to broadcast matches. And so in the short to medium term clubs can have no guarantees as to how much income they will receive from television. That can only make life harder for most, and the huge gulf between PSG and the rest may only grow larger. "PSG have invested a lot of money and are years ahead of us in so many respects but our ambition is still to be able to compete with them," insisted Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi. However, the Parisians are about to go to the Club World Cup in the USA, where the prize money on offer will see the winners receiving up to $125 million. Perhaps all PSG's rivals can hope for is that Luis Enrique's team come back from that tournament so exhausted that the playing field opens up a little next season.
New Straits Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
PSG success barely covers up French football's woes
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain's progress to the Champions League final should be a cause for French football to celebrate but their achievement hardly disguises the fact that the game in the country is in crisis as the Ligue 1 season ended this weekend. PSG had already wrapped up a fourth consecutive domestic title long before the French campaign concluded, and Luis Enrique's team can also add the French Cup next Saturday. That will be followed by the Champions League showdown against Inter Milan on May 31, as PSG aim to finally get their hands on the trophy they covet most. France have won the World Cup twice and reached two more finals in the last seven editions. But French clubs have made a habit of underachieving in continental competitions, meaning PSG can become just the second club from the country ever to win European football's biggest prize, after Marseille in 1993. Put another way, France has still won as many European Cups as Scotland and Romania, or one fewer than Nottingham Forest. Little wonder, then, that the French footballing community seems united in getting behind PSG in the final, despite the impossibility for rival sides of challenging the Qatar-backed club domestically. "We are lucky to have a French team in the final," said Nice coach Franck Haise. "I am not a Paris supporter. My club is Nice, but I am eager to see Paris win the final. I am French, as I was when Marseille won in 1993." Marseille, Monaco and Lyon have at least all got to European semi-finals in recent years and should aspire to regularly compete at that level. Yet the currently plight of Lyon, seven times French champions, is worrying. Eagle Football, the company controlled by American businessman John Textor and which owns Lyon, recently reported debts of €540 million (RM2.6 billion). That has raised doubts as to Lyon's ability to remain a going concern, all the more so after their failure to qualify for next season's Champions League. Lyon were recenty warned that they would be demoted to Ligue 2 if drastic action was not taken to reduce their debts. Sports daily L'Equipe also reported that the club must accept sanctions from UEFA in order to be allowed into Europe at all next season. At least Marseille and Monaco know they will be in the Champions League along with PSG. Any French club unable to take a share of the riches on offer in Europe faces a challenging future because of uncertainty surrounding Ligue 1's domestic TV deal. A last-minute agreement for this season with streaming platform DAZN promised Ligue 1 clubs just €400 million a year to show the majority of matches per weekend. Adding in other deals, including with international broadcasters, the French league (LFP) was still far short of its stated ambition of bringing in €1 billion annually from TV. As a result, Ligue 1's current TV deal is down on its previous contract, leaving France trailing even further behind Europe's biggest leagues – the Premier League's upcoming domestic rights deal for the next four years is valued at €2.02 billion per season. What's more, the deal with DAZN is now expected to be broken early, with the French league instead looking to create its own channel to broadcast matches. And so in the short to medium term clubs can have no guarantees as to how much income they will receive from television. That can only make life harder for most, and the huge gulf between PSG and the rest may only grow larger. "PSG have invested a lot of money and are years ahead of us in so many respects but our ambition is still to be able to compete with them," insisted Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi. However, the Parisians are about to go to the Club World Cup in the USA, where the prize money on offer will see the winners receiving up to US$125 million (RM537 million). Perhaps all PSG's rivals can hope for is that Luis Enrique's team come back from that tournament so exhausted that the playing field opens up a little next season. - AFP
Al-Ahram Weekly
18-05-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
PSG success barely covers up French football's woes - World
Paris Saint-Germain's progress to the Champions League final should be a cause for French football to celebrate but their achievement hardly disguises the fact that the game in the country is in crisis as the Ligue 1 season ended this weekend. PSG had already wrapped up a fourth consecutive domestic title long before the French campaign concluded, and Luis Enrique's team can also add the French Cup next Saturday. That will be followed by the Champions League showdown against Inter Milan on May 31, as PSG aim to finally get their hands on the trophy they covet most. France have won the World Cup twice and reached two more finals in the last seven editions. But French clubs have made a habit of underachieving in continental competitions, meaning PSG can become just the second club from the country ever to win European football's biggest prize, after Marseille in 1993. Put another way, France has still won as many European Cups as Scotland and Romania, or one fewer than Nottingham Forest. Little wonder, then, that the French footballing community seems united in getting behind PSG in the final, despite the impossibility for rival sides of challenging the Qatar-backed club domestically. "We are lucky to have a French team in the final," said Nice coach Franck Haise. "I am not a Paris supporter. My club is Nice, but I am eager to see Paris win the final. I am French, as I was when Marseille won in 1993." Marseille, Monaco and Lyon have at least all got to European semi-finals in recent years and should aspire to regularly compete at that level. Lyon's debts Yet the currently plight of Lyon, seven times French champions, is worrying. Eagle Football, the company controlled by American businessman John Textor and which owns Lyon, recently reported debts of 540 million euros ($603m). That has raised doubts as to Lyon's ability to remain a going concern, all the more so after their failure to qualify for next season's Champions League. Lyon were recenty warned that they would be demoted to Ligue 2 if drastic action was not taken to reduce their debts. Sports daily L'Equipe also reported that the club must accept sanctions from UEFA in order to be allowed into Europe at all next season. At least Marseille and Monaco know they will be in the Champions League along with PSG. TV deal Any French club unable to take a share of the riches on offer in Europe faces a challenging future because of uncertainty surrounding Ligue 1's domestic TV deal. A last-minute agreement for this season with streaming platform DAZN promised Ligue 1 clubs just 400 million euros a year to show the majority of matches per weekend. Adding in other deals, including with international broadcasters, the French league (LFP) was still far short of its stated ambition of bringing in one billion euros ($1.115 billion) annually from TV. As a result, Ligue 1's current TV deal is down on its previous contract, leaving France trailing even further behind Europe's biggest leagues -- the Premier League's upcoming domestic rights deal for the next four years is valued at 2.02 billion euros per season. What's more, the deal with DAZN is now expected to be broken early, with the French league instead looking to create its own channel to broadcast matches. And so in the short to medium term clubs can have no guarantees as to how much income they will receive from television. That can only make life harder for most, and the huge gulf between PSG and the rest may only grow larger. "PSG have invested a lot of money and are years ahead of us in so many respects but our ambition is still to be able to compete with them," insisted Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi. However, the Parisians are about to go to the Club World Cup in the USA, where the prize money on offer will see the winners receiving up to $125 million. Perhaps all PSG's rivals can hope for is that Luis Enrique's team come back from that tournament so exhausted that the playing field opens up a little next season. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
