Lille, Lens, Marseille, Monaco... In just over three months at the head of OGC Nice, Didier Digard has already built up an impressive hunting table. Thursday, April 20, he will try to add a place in the semi-finals of the European Cup while his Aiglons have all the cards in hand after their draw in the first leg on the lawn of Basel (2-2).

Not bad for a coach who didn't even have the required degree in France to lead a professional team. At first, the 36-year-old coach did not have his professional football coach certificate (BEPF). As a result, the club's leaders had to pay €25,000 for each game until Didier Digard finally got a place in the prestigious Clairefontaine squad on April 6.

🚨 Lucien Favre is no longer the coach of OGC Nice! The defeat in the Coupe de France against Le Puy en Velay sounded the death knell of the Vaudois' adventure. He has not really been helped by the management of the club during this season!

🤔 Where would you like to see it bounce back?

(@lequipe) pic.twitter.com/UYM62EEJnx

— Football Switzerland 🇨🇭 (@SuisseFoot) January 9, 2023

In any case, he has fully earned the trust of Ineos, the petrochemical group that owns the club. While he was initially only supposed to act as interim until a replacement for Lucien Favre was found, he was finally confirmed at the head of the team until the end of the season. And discussions are well underway to extend it beyond.

Former captain of OGC Nice

Born in Gisors, Normandy, in 1986, Didier Digard cut his teeth at Le Havre training centre and then in the first team from 2004. After spells at PSG and Middlesbrough in the Premier League, the Norman moved to the south of the France, as a midfielder for OGC Nice.

A city that he adopts and where he imposes himself as a sure value of the championship: he played 165 games with the Aiglons between 2010 and 2015 and even became captain. His last adventures as a player took him to Spain, but serious injuries forced him to hang up his cleats.

As part of his reconversion, he returned to OGC Nice, first in charge of the U17s, then he was entrusted with the reins of the reserve team. At the end of 2022, he joined the staff of the first team as an assistant, before being pushed to the front of the stage in the aftermath of Nice's huge disappointment in the Coupe de France, which fell to Petit Poucet du Puy-En-Velay in the 32nd final.

Close to the players and champion of intensity

Didier Digard has not lost his habits by moving from the reserve team to the first team. He remains very close to his players, never hesitating to room them as when he was just a member of the staff. And don't forget this incongruity: he is three years younger than his captain, Dante, 39.

At the helm of OGC Nice, Didier Digard has changed the training formula. The sessions are shortened but more focused on intensity. On the field, he opted for simple ingredients but applied seriously by his players: a classic 4-3-3 with pressing at the restart, a solid collective withdrawal and a lot of runs in front and on the wings. What to compose the tasty salad niçoise of this first quarter of 2023.

"The staff and the coach have put in place something very serious. We feel that the state of mind is much better. We all help each other, between players. And it shows, in the matches we play, that we are better in the 'juice', that we are more fighting, that we are better in the desire... What they have put in place works very well, "explained mid-February Jordan Lotomba, full-back of the club at a press conference. "Tactically, mentally, Didier Digard is very close to us, he knows how to talk to each player. It's not rocket science but we have a very good feeling right now, and I hope we'll keep it for a very long time."

On the front line of the Galtier affair

If sportingly, everything rolls for Didier Digard, he finds himself – despite himself – in the front line in the Christophe Galtier controversy. The current coach of PSG is accused of having made racist remarks during his time on the bench of OGC Nice.

>> READ ALSO: Suspected of racism, coach Christophe Galtier in turmoil despite the support of PSG

According to an investigation by the local daily Nice Matin, the two men hate each other. If there were never any professional hooks between the two because of Galtier's lack of interest in the young people of the reserve, it was criticisms aimed directly at Digard that would have ignited the powder. Galtier allegedly made "violent remarks" about the former midfielder's beard and conversion to Islam. The latter would have been tempted to go to the physical confrontation with the coach, but also to submit his resignation before Julien Fournier, director of football at the time, convinced him to stay.

🎙 Digard on the Galtier affair: "In the locker room, it's no longer a subject." pic.twitter.com/HzSNIhshV2

— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) April 19, 2023

Far from settling his accounts, Didier Digard follows the cautious communication of the owners of Nice on this case, referring the facts to two people no longer working in the club (Julien Fournier and Christophe Galtier). In a press conference, the coach of OGC Nice can not hide but remains very measured, ensuring that "the investigation is ongoing" and that the "truth will come out". The players, for their part, have still not spoken, officially to focus on the European Cup match.

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