Nice look revitalised under bright young manager Didier Digard

A nother weekend, another win for Nice. Their 3-0 victory against Ajaccio on Friday night makes Nice the form team in Ligue 1, with five wins and a draw from their last six matches. Few would have seen this coming when they sacked Lucien Favre a month ago. Favre had been successful in his first spell on the Côte d’Azur and had guided them to the last 16 of the Europa Conference League this season but, after their shocking exit to amateur opposition in the Coupe de France and the threat of relegation increased due to Ligue 1 being reduced to 18 teams next season, the club’s hierarchy decided they had to act.

French clubs are not known for taking risks when it comes to managerial appointments. The hiring of “experienced heads” in Ligue 1 has been a consistent theme, recently illustrated by the well-traveled trio of Michel Der Zakarian, Eric Roy and Laurent Blanc being appointed mid-season. But some clubs have taken bigger risks of late. In the autumn, Troyes appointed the young Australian manager Patrick Kisnorbo and Reims installed the 30-year-old coach Will Still, who remains unbeaten in the league.

Nice have, perhaps surprisingly given the money they have invested in the squad, also gone for youth, in the form of Didier Digard. The former midfielder, who is still only in interim charge, played more than 100 matches for the club a decade ago, having joined from Paris Saint-Germain. Those were hardly halcyon days for Nice, but Digard garnered a reputation as a hard-working, combative midfielder before decamping to Spain, where a series of injuries ended his career prematurely. He moved quickly into coaching and has been in charge of Nice’s reserves since 2021.

The 36-year-old has already worked wonders despite