Integrated into the professional staff during the lull, in order to bridge the gap between the players and Lucien Favre in particular, Didier Digard is a natural recourse to take over the team following the dismissal of the Swiss coach on Monday. At 36, the former club midfielder (2010-2015) knows the home very well because he also led the reserve from summer 2021 to last November, and was Adrian Ursea’s assistant after Patrick Vieira’s expulsion, during the second half of the 2020-2021 season.
This period allowed him to form close ties with Khephren Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo and he also maintains an excellent relationship with Dante, the captain who never hesitated to defend Favre publicly. Very popular in the locker room, Digard will have the task of straightening out the group with his strong personality, a far cry from that of the Swiss, who has struggled to reformulate his players.
He doesn’t have the BEPF yet, unlike Julien Sablé
He is destined for a coaching career and wants to take advantage of this opportunity but does not yet have the BEPF, unlike Julien Sablé who will accompany him. The former Stéphanois (42 years old) who arrived in November to succeed him at the helm of the reserve has already been appointed assistant to his former teammate at the Palestra (2010-2012).
They will join another historical assistant of the club, Frédéric Gioria, who keeps his post, as well as Nicolas Dehon, the goalkeeping coach. Present on the lawn on Monday morning for Favre’s last session, they will find the squad on Tuesday afternoon for the implementation before the match against Montpellier on Wednesday (21:00).
And then ? Le Gym indicates that Digard “takes the reins of the first team until further notice”, which does not prevent it from lasting a short time. Nice managers have already found this season that it was difficult to recruit a replacement for Favre, and it was last week’s poor results that precipitated his ouster. Now they have to find the coach who will finally embody the Ineos project for several seasons, and this is the first major project for sporting director Florent Ghisolfi.
