Gaëtan Laborde recognizes this, “there is a ‘Didier’ effect, something has changed. For the striker, his new coach is “someone very honest, who says things precisely, as he means them”.
Able to modulate the system of his team so that the animation disturbs the opponent, as during the victories in Lens and Marseille, Digard also conquered his players on the professional level.
“That he is competent, everyone knows it and he proves it, continues Laborde. He brings his aura and his experience. We players agree. »
Praised, too, for his relaxed style of dress, far from the codes of the coaches during his first match against Montpellier (6-1), Digard nevertheless intends to “remain hermetic” to this sudden ‘hype’. “I need to feel good,” he said. I dress how I like, to be comfortable. I can’t be another character. »
“Essential Pleasure”
For Digard, “pleasure is at the center”. “My job is a passion,” he says. Pleasure is dominant and essential. To be effective, it must be accompanied by the desire to give everything, to give to others, in order to receive. »
Communicative and empathetic, he says he is delighted to “see the supporters happy and behind the team”. This was the case on Sunday night, on the return from Marseille, where 200 of them were waiting for the team. “I saw the players behave like children. Most hadn’t known that, the real Nice,” he smiles.
He also appreciates “seeing a group having fun working together, players on the bench, encouraging, being happy because they contribute” to current successes. Of his praised proximity to his group, he underlines: “We can be close to the players and not make them play. The important thing is to be fair. They are waiting for this. »
This membership allows Digard, who intends to integrate the next promotion of the BEPF (professional football coach certificate), to ask a lot on the athletic level. “We won on everything that is done at high intensity: sprints, defensive withdrawals,” he says. Players optimize their runs. “If a fault opens, you have to be able to take it, he says. To surprise the opponent, you need significant changes of pace. Recovering the ball quickly requires great effort as soon as it is lost.
“To do so, it relies on the organization set up by Florent Ghisolfi, sports director. Now fully functional, the performance department headed by Laurent Bessière, defector from Lens, “punctuates the sessions and brings a lot of intensity”, specifies Laborde. Added to this are Julien Sablé and Frédéric Gioria, two deputies, former captains of the club like him, who Digard considers family.
“New life goals”
“Everyone must feel important and involved,” says Digard. I give directions. But I stay in the background and let them lead the sessions in total confidence. Players don’t need or want to hear my voice every day. It allows me to step back. I am not in permanent control. »
Digard can thus refine tactics and human relations. For now, it works. Nice sees the top of the table. “Even if it becomes accessible again, the worst thing is to make it an end,” he says. If we don’t want to fall back, we can’t tell ourselves that everything is going to roll. We always have to question ourselves. »
As for him, a former pro trained in Le Havre, passed through Paris, Nice and Seville, he plunges back into the field with delight. After “a real need to cut”, to devote himself to his five children, “because football is a terrible machine”, he has the family guarantee to leave.
“I learned about myself and set myself new life goals, like stepping back daily, not rushing headlong, he concludes. That feels good. As a coach, we also need that. »