With the arrival of Jean-Claude Blanc as executive director and Florent Ghisolfi as sports boss, OGC Nice intends to (re)find results as soon as possible. What if the INEOS project could finally start?
It will be a strange reunion, immediately after the breakup. Seeing your ex again a few weeks after the separation at an end-of-year party is always a bit special. Especially when you are no longer in the same clan, the same group. Thus, on the occasion of the Nice-Lens which counts for the sixteenth day and played this Thursday evening, Florent Ghisolfi will undoubtedly greet with discretion the Racing people with whom he was still working last October.
Now a former sports director at Aiglons, the Aubagne native is a real rookie of the OGCN team, and the first big coup for the club’s patron, INEOS. Given the great work done with Sang et Or, the former SC Bastia or Stade de Reims defensive midfielder naturally becomes a cornerstone of the new project.
Good intentions, with new men?
A project that also takes the form of a small revolution, as 2023 approaches. At the end of the year, Nice formalized a new important transfer: the arrival of Jean-Claude Blanc from Paris Saint-Germain, in a role of executive director expected in February. A sign that INEOS has big ambitions, and that pace and sporting results are not up to its tastes. Ranked eleventh in 2021-2022, the OGCN obviously aims for better…
Jean-Claude Blanc will become the CEO of@INEOS Sports from February 2023.? Press release: https://t.co/qZE31IczsB pic.twitter.com/TUXKCF1I8K
— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) December 27, 2022
“Jean-Claude Blanc will oversee INEOS’ entire sports portfolio, which includes football, Formula 1, sailing, cycling, rugby and running.said the Aiglon. In this context, she will work closely with Dave Brailsford who will focus on top-level performance management. Responsibility for the execution and management of sports activities rests with the management of each sports team. »
In 2023, target 2024!
For his part, the head of INEOS Jim Ratcliffe highlighted the “particular ambition to raise our standards in football” in front of the press and said he was convinced of it “Jean-Claude will bring his entrepreneurial and innovative talent to all our teams” . With this Blanc-Ghisolfi duo, Nice should in particular review their recruitment strategy, which has not always been optimal in recent times. The current problems, with Aaron Ramsey or Ross Barkley for example, have certainly prompted the top management to change things. And if Lucien Favre’s future still raises questions, other movements – in terms of human resources but also of decision-making orientations – should soon see the light. Because in these times when everyone is preparing for the New Year, a goal has been set: 2024.
It was precisely the enthusiastic sports director of INEOS Brailsford who publicly set the date on the columns of Good morning at the beginning of December, after the announcement of the arrival of the 2024 Tour de France in Nice, which was much commented and linked the goals of cycling to those of football: “It’s huge. We couldn’t have asked for more. It highlights the incredible attractiveness of Nice. I am very proud to live on the French Riviera, to have connections here and also to represent OGC Nice. We went together with Jim Ratcliffe to Qatar in the last hours. Everyone tells us about Nice. This is the right place. He was very proud. 2024 will become our priority. It will be an exceptional year for sport in France with the Olympic Games. We are also working hard to grow OGC Nice and be on top in 2024. Our motivation has never been higher, our pride too. » Dominating and then overtaking Lens would already be a good start.
“This arrival in Nice only accentuates our desire to establish ourselves here” reacted Dave Brailsford on the columns of @Good morning upon the announcement of the arrival of #TDF2024 in Nice@LeTour @VilledeNice
— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) December 3, 2022
By Florian Manceau
