Weekend Reading Material
By: Martha | July 26th, 2008
Inara reminded me about this picture, and it had to be shared.
•Sports.fr just ran a short but typically positive interview with Chouf, who admits he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about the transfer market, but is matter-of-fact about how things work at Nice. Also, he compares his old man self to fine wine, suggesting that he’s improved with age. Damn right.
•After Sportsboy asked about it in the comments, I’m working on getting a post together about the stadium situation in Nice. Until then, though, maybe Maurice Cohen’s comments can tide us over: He’s blaming the “infrastructure” for the club’s inability to land the desperately needed strikers, claiming that two or three players from “big European clubs” turned down transfers for that reason. Presumably part of the idea here is to put pressure on the new mayor of Nice to help push the new stadium plans through, but it’s also handy for Cohen to have an external scapegoat on which to place all responsibility for his failure to land players — if the ground is the problem, he’s not done a thing wrong. (He also says Tenorio — thought to cost about €5 million — is too rich for Nice’s blood, which other sources have been saying lately, as well. Whether this is true or not is anyone’s guess.)
•Cedric Kanté’s contract runs out at the end of this season, and so far the club — lousy with central defenders, no matter what you think of their quality — have thus far shown no interest in keeping him around beyond that time. As a result, he’s already thinking about moving on to “a more upscale club.” Alrighty then. I wonder where he thinks he’ll find more playing time. (He’s not, of course, focusing on it — right now the season is the priority: His goals are a)to stay up, and b)not to get hurt.)
•Also, for the French-reading detail fiends among you, the financial tally sheet from 2006-2007 was recently posted in a Nice forum — at the end, the club were in the red by about €2600. It’ll be interesting to see last season’s when it comes out, one hopes there will have been some sort of positive financial impact of challenging for Europe, rather than fighting for survival.
Friendly against ASSE tonight; will report on that tomorrow.
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Tags: Cedric Kanté, links, Maurice Cohen, Nice, Nice Team News, OGC Nice, Olivier Echouafni, stadiumSubscribe
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Comments
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I am consistently amazed at how younger players are shown the other side of how playing in places such as Nice add enormous value to the quality of life. It should be an easy tool of negotiating for Nice but they, like many have fallen short. It is also why Monaco has started to make efforts to bring players (i.e. the US) from outside the reason to play there.
The stadium issue is a foolhardy choice that involves real estate developers from outside the region, governments who wish to bolster revenue against citizens who know a large stadium would not only sit half-empty but be an environmental nightmare and infringe upon the area. I don’t think you could find a resident of the general area who wants to see the French countryside scarred with a large stadium or the necessary road system.
Posted from
Germany
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I don’t think the stadium would sit half empty. Usually when new, modern stadium is built the people will fill it up like in Grenoble which Cohen mentioned. Plus if you give them a good team to support its an added bonus. People dont wanna go to the Stade du Ray and be afraid and uncomfortable.
Posted from
United States -
I agree with you on an improvement of Stade du Ray but they can renovate or build something significantly smaller than proposed. The only reason they’ve talked of that size is to get in on the Euro bid. We’ll see though and I think developers will get their wishes.
Posted from
Germany -
I remember when they showed the designs and diagrams for the new stade du ray a few years ago it was 32,000 and that was before France announced it would bid for Euro 2016.
Posted from
United States -
you’re absolutely right with that. There is a large difference between that and from what I’ve heard as a 42000 seat stadium. You’re obviously a fan who has attended matches, what would you prefer?
Posted from
Bulgaria -
Nope I haven’t attended any matches. My opinion is that anything less than 30,000 for a city the size of Nice is not sufficient. 40,000 + may be too big bit but 30,000 should be the minimum. That new stade du ray plan seems the best to me. There was also a huge controversy with the new stade du ray about where to build it and that I know nothing about since I dont live around there.
Posted from
United States -
J, I wonder if the way a lot of young players are growing up with football — it’s an aspiration, a job, a way to advance — is one of the reasons they don’t see Nice as more than a low salary (surely not that much lower than what young players might get elsewhere) and a small ground. It doesn’t seem like they’re supposed to think of anything but reaching a higher level, and a bigger-name club, and it’s often mostly the older players — Reyes leaps to mind — who are willing to consider location and quality of life outside of football when they make decisions about where they’re going to play.
And thanks to both of you for your input on the stadium situation. J, I instinctively agree with you on the appeal of small, intimate grounds, but from a purely financial point of view, that might not be tenable. As you’ve said, it’s a business issue more than anything else, and Sportboy’s pointed out the obvious reason a bigger ground makes sense (especially, it seems, if you don’t live anywhere near it). It’s got to be a very, very hard sell to convince the new government and those who own the real estate to build small when all they can see is the potential € associated with 40,000 seats.
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United States -
Martha – please feel free to send me an email to talk about this further as I write about this general topic quite a bit in other venues. Obviously you are familiar with the special relationship Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs to there region and know how impossible it is to compare to other areas. It may even be why many outside of the area are intuitively attracted to Ligue 1.
As it relates to the stadium, I’m hopeful for a upgrade that is respectful of the area and not at the hands of foreign developers. However Nice, Monaco or Cannes are not easily comparable to anything in sport because to build a large stadium on the Côte d’Azur might be one the most difficult undertakings in sport, much less real estate.
Of course if you want to speak about complex stadium issues, consider Cagliari of Seria A – a stunning location that any player should be overjoyed with a contract offer but a small stadium. And one of my favourite places – Venice club Venezia -
Posted from
Germany -
The thing with the Stade du Ray is that they have the capacity to fill a bigger stadium, and if Nice want to consider themselves a growing club, they have to modernize, even a little bit.
On a general note, France have the worst stadiums out of any major league. They are old, dilapidated, and embarrassing. Most clubs have been trying to address this situation, but there are so many monetary and legal issues that it can take years to resolve stadium renovations. That’s because it’s often more difficult and expensive to upgrade old stadiums. Many of them are classified as historical landmarks, or they were built in such a way that it’s no longer possible to expand them in size without tearing down surrounding neighborhoods. Also, due to higher standards, it’s no longer an option to simply put on a fresh coat of paint. People want more amenities, which can’t necessarily be accommodated in an older stadium. So it’s cheaper to simply build a new stadium.
But the problem is that people don’t want huge stadiums and their attendant problems (construction, traffic, pollution, etc) cluttering their neighborhoods. Yet at the same time, they also don’t want stadiums outside the city limits because it’s less accessible. But they still want their stadiums.
Another problem is that nearly all stadiums are owned by the town, so most construction is funded by the taxpayer. It’s difficult to get approval for so much money thanks to the rising cost of building and materials.
It’s really hard to find a compromise. Lyon, despite offering to privately fund their own stadium, can’t get a building permit because the city is worried about public transportation to the stadium. This issue will keep stadium plans locked up for at least a year. Marseille have been trying to put a roof on the Velodrome for years. And let’s not even talk about Lille’s problems.
Ligue 1 can be so depressing sometimes. I mean, how sad is it that France’s most modern stadium houses a small, newly promoted club (Grenoble)?
Posted from
United States
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