The FCN suffered a lot in this first half of the season, like Coulibaly.

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Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

  • Halfway through the championship, the Canaries have only 17 points, but are still not in the relegation zone.

  • FC Nantes has never been able to rely on a consistent playing background over time since August.

  • The complicated environment around and in the club has not contributed to giving serenity to this Nantes team.

They walked a fine line with a precarious balance without ever falling.

In this first part of the season, the Canaries, who remain unsuccessfully for nine games, flirted with the red zone (the last three places), but have never been tenants, even for one day.

Halfway through, FC Nantes, which changed its head three times on the bench (Christian Gourcuff then Patrick Collot then Raymond Domenech) owes its absence in the depths of the elite ranking only to "pursuers" ( Dijon, Lorient and Nîmes) for the moment of significant weakness.

Back on a first part of the season during which the Nantes club has more than ever hit the headlines.

More than worrying figures

Seventeen points in 19 days.

In Ligue 1, this is the worst mid-year record for FC Nantes since the arrival of Waldemar Kita as president in 2007. In 2016-2017, when René Girard was sacked at the end of November (and replaced by Philippe Mao in interim then Sergio Conceiçaõ), the club had five units (22) more mid-season (12th place).

In 2018-2019, after the dismissal of Miguel Cardoso (replaced by Vahid Halilhodzic), the Canaries had 23 points (13th place).

We have to go back a few months before Kita's arrival to find traces of such a difficult start to the season.

President Rudi Roussillon's FCN had changed coach three times.

Serge Le Dizet had been replaced by his assistant Georges Eo who himself had been replaced by the duo Michel Der Zakarian-Japhet N'Doram.

The Canaries had switched to the truce (after 19 days) to 17 points with three wins, three draws and eight losses.

Exactly the same numbers as today.

Without playing the birds of bad omen for the Nantes supporters, in May 2007, the FCN was relegated to Ligue 2.

A game that is most often relaxing

The observation is relentless: the Canaries have never mastered one of their nineteen games.

They often played at half-time as against Metz (1-1) - a meeting during which they undoubtedly signed their best period (the first) of the season - or in Lorient (0-2) or against Nîmes (2 -1).

During a rare success, against Brest (3-1) at La Beaujoire in October, Christian Gourcuff, coach at the time, had even confided: "I am not blind, I aspire to much better ..." He regretted the technical waste and the lack of control of his players on the game. Whether it was last season and this season before his dismissal, the Breton, whose method and minimalist communication were no longer in the locker room, will not have never put its mark on collective Nantes expression.

Patrick Collot, who acted for four games, did not work miracles with two draws and two losses, and a game still unattractive.

After the draw stamped "reinforced concrete" (0-0) against Rennes Wednesday, the Nantes have found color in the game (especially in the second period in Montpellier 1-1) with Raymond Domenech.

But, the building remains more fragile than ever.

An even heavier context

A #Kitaout hashtag on Twitter, “FC Nantes is for sale” banners flourishing in the city, demonstrations by supporters against the sports management of Waldemar Kita, a training center being searched by the judicial police… tensions have been high for several months around FC Nantes.

The harsh criticism of a president-owner, entangled in a case of suspected tax evasion, no longer seems to be the preserve of a minority.

Against a backdrop of unresolved TV rights, questions about the future of the club still remain unanswered: what about La Jonelière and the Beaujoire stadium, whose leases expire in June?

The dismissal of Christian Gourcuff seems to have been the last straw for many Nantes fans.

The vase then overflowed when they understood that it was Raymond Domenech, stamped Knysna, who was replacing him.

Within the club, the hotbeds of tension have multiplied and have never been extinguished against the backdrop of dismissed employees (dietitian, physical trainer, doctor of the center etc.).

The conflict between the medical staff and the professional staff did not help to bring serenity, especially under the Gourcuff era.

A period marked by discord between the Breton technician and certain trainers of the FCN, which reached its climax at the end of August-beginning of September with the passing of arms between Ziani (coach of the U19) and Gourcuff in the press.

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