News
The Revenant: Didier Digard comes back to Nice
A double reunion
Despite success with Nice in his tenure there, Digard wasn't kept on with the club bringing in Francesco Farioli to replace him, and he sought a lead role once more, and was lured to Normandy by the chance to reunite with a former teammate, Mathieu Bodmer, a well-traveled midfielder with whom he'd been teammates for Les Aiglons. Speaking this summer of the pair's relationship, he said, "With Mathieu, we've always talked about soccer, but we've never talked about the idea of working together. And in his head, the coach also had to be part of the long run. It's really not something I'd been looking at, even though I know him very well and we share the same footballing ideas,"
That philosophy hasn't always been easy to adapt with Le Havre -- Le Club Doyen are of limited means, but slowly but surely, Digard has his squad in contention for survival, despite a summer transfer window that saw only André Ayew -- out of contract at the time -- arrive. This is something that also mirrors he and Bodmer's experiences together with Nice, evincing a resilience that has served him well this season. By spreading the pitch and playing on the counter, the team under Digard have a disciplined and conservative approach, allowing them to stay in most matches, and to use their opportunism where possible, something the manager will surely want to bring to bear at the Allianz Riviera tomorrow.
A diminished Nice
Digard's task will perhaps be made easier by a raft of absences on the part of his former club. Coming off the back of a pair of 4-1 losses, to Rangers in the Europa League and to Olympique Lyonnais in the league, Franck Haise is enduring a difficult spell in charge of Les Aiglons, despite being sixth in the table. Terem Moffi and Sofiane Diop have been absent for most of the season (although Diop has now returned), limiting Haise's options in attack, but at present, defence is perhaps more of a concern.
For this encounter, he will have to do without the vastly experienced Dante, as well as fullbacks Melvin Bard, Jonathan Clauss, Ali Abdi and Antoine Mendy. This has not only forced Haise to make changes in personnel, but in tactics, as he's been forced to play with a four-man defence, which has had a knock-on effect in limiting their attack, something which Digard will no doubt be eager to exploit.
Predicted lineups:
OGC Nice (4-3-3): Bulka; Louchet, Bombito, Abdelmomen, Nandjou; Boudaoui, Rosario, Ndombélé (or Bouanani); Laborde, Guessand, Diop
AC Le Havre (5-3-2): Desmas; Nego, Salmier, Youté, Lloris, Operi; Kechta, Touré, Targhaline; Ayew, Sabbi
Read more:
