Odds And Ends as Nothing Happens
By: Martha | July 31st, 2008
The white ones don’t look bad from the back, particularly when they’re in a grand setting and say “Rool.”
The team were officially presented to supporters today in a grand ceremony (by which I mean there were men in suits while the team wore tshirts and flip-flops), complete with a big, pretty banner and the promise from Deputy Mayor Christian Estrosi of a new, 40,000-seat stadium in three years. Well, thank goodness that’s sorted, right?
The stadium thing has become a major talking point for people at the club lately, a fact that, were this Milan, I’d assume had been dictated by the Mighty Media Machine to get the issue into the media as a new administration settles in. Since it’s Nice, however, it might simply be because they’ve recently been rejected by more than one player for that reason, and want it sorted — Cohen talked about it the other day, and Antonetti echoed his concerns in an interview yesterday, saying that potential singings had actually back out of agreements because of the stadium. (That, in turn, makes me wonder whether they’re not backing out for other reasons — salary, for example — and just citing the Stadium Situation as the reason because they know it’s a big deal to the club, and therefore will be accepted. Sorting that out would require either mind reading or way better sources than I’ve got, though, so I’ll have to just take it all at face value.)
In encouraging news, at today’s event Antonetti confirmed to a reliable source in the Nice forums that Eric Mouloungui will not be the last signing of the summer. In fact, the club are currently in talks with an unnamed striker (probably Dindane), one who hopefully won’t bail once he starts thinking about the size and condition of the ground — cross your fingers.
Also: A couple season previews for your perusal.
Category: 
Tags: Aruna Dindane, Frédéric Antonetti, links, Maurice Cohen, Nice Team News, OGC Nice, rumors, stadiumSubscribe
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Comments
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Get your tickets now for Euro 2016 in Nice.:)
Oh and I totally agree with your theory that salary was the main reason those players backed out.
Posted from
United States
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Sportboy, how in the world do you think they scored that upcoming Italy friendly @ the Ray? Do you think the Italian FA thought the fabled 40,000 seat ground was already built?
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United States -
friendlies are easy to organize when its on the Côte d’Azur - thats the real reason.
Posted from
Germany -
Ah, so at least the FAs get it! Now you just have to work on convincing the players, J …
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United States -
Is the Satde du Ray really that bad?
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United States -
Poor Lens are losing all their players..
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United States -
Martha - the regulatory bodies understand that quite well. LOL…want to see the lineup for visiting teams if Cannes ever made it up from the Championnat National.
Posted from
Germany -
Every Ligue 1 team that goes down loses all its best players. Its not like in England where a Crystal Palace gets relegated from the Prem and gets to hold on to Andy Johnson.
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United States -
Corey I don’t think any of us has ever been there — if Ursus is around he can answer your question from the perspective of someone who’s experienced the place. From what I’ve read (and see in the videos on the Nice site) it’s small with ancient facilities and is in pretty poor repair. Plus, the parking is apparently awful, but it can’t be unusual in that.
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United States -
In England clubs get money to “help” with the shock of relegation. The amount they get is equal to what top French team gets in total broadcasting rights. It’s outrageous, really.
Anyway, I didn’t think the Nice stadium was that bad to be the sole reason for rejection. Players would play in a shithole if they had enough incentives.
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United States -
Martha - I get there quite a bit and have for years. Yes, the stadium needs improvement but you’re not going to be make major additions in the area and construction will be problematic. As far as parking, the real estate is far too expensive to even consider and unless it is a deal via the government with little public debate it won’t be put up easily in or near the existing location.
Inara - I agree with you completely re the players but it comes down more to negotiations being run by agents and not the players. Watch the difference in negotiation tactics with Monaco now as it attracts players from the US -
Posted from
Germany -
Thanks for the insight, J! Having not been there it’s hard for me to make comparisons, but when I read complaints about the awful bathrooms, I think about the holes in the ground that pass for toilets in the San Siro and wonder if the standards are higher in France for some reason, or if people are more likely to put up with inconveniences in massive grounds that have undergone improvements in other places.
Inara, I agree with you — that’s why I was thinking salary has to be a big part of it.
Jennifer, even Juve lost a ton of people when they went down, and they were going to come right back up! (I don’t know if they get cash to help with the “shock” in Italy, but given the wild selling that goes on there, I sort of doubt it.)
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United States -
Salut copains; I’ve been in California (the real one, not la Californie in Nice).
j is spot on about le Ray; it is in the middle of a middle class residential area with no real room for expansion, and even necessary construction (like putting a roof on any of the three stands that lack one, or improving on the “temporary bleacher”-esque stand across from the Tribune Presidentiel or upgrading the portacabin toilets) is going to generate NIMBY opposition from the locals.
Knowing something about the history of Nicois politics, though, I wouldn’t bet my flat on the new stadium actually seeing the light of day within 3 years (though the fact that they have actually been able to build the tram line does provide some reason for hope).
I had to look up St. Isidore on the map, because it didn’t ring a bell. It’s about 6 or 7 km west of the centre, along the Var just off the A8 Autoroute and due north of the airport; parking would obviously be easier and there is local train service (on the Chemin de Fer de Provence “train des pignes”) that could theoretically be expanded for matches.
BTW, Martha, not all of the toilets at the Meazza are holes in the ground, you must have gotten “lucky”. And yes, there are no “parachute payments” for clubs relegated from Serie A, largely because it is generally unthinkable that any of the “big” clubs would get relegated except in extraordinary circumstances.
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Italy -
Foot Transfer magazine on Saturday said that the Brazilian “Bobo” from Besiktas has recently been proposed to PSG and at Nice. I bet he was one of the players from a “big European club” who Cohen said turned Nice down.
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United States -
That’s in the post I just put up, Sportboy, thank you! I got the impression from the piece that there was interest from Nice but no offer had been made; does it actually say the offer was turned down? (I’m using google translate, so these things get muddled sometimes.)
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United States -
Ursus, seriously? I’m not sure if I should be offended or proud that I got the hole kind BOTH TIMES. Clearly I was sitting in the wrong seats.
My comment about the stadium thing being sorted was failed sarcasm — based only on how those things work over here, it seems like there’s a long way to go yet before any chickens can be counted. I’m totally confused now, though, about why the same government that’s claiming it will soon build a big new ground at a new location paid for the swish new tram out to the Ray. Was that a private construction, do you know?
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United States -
Well, I’ve never been in the women’s toilets, but . . .
The tram wasn’t Ray specific. It happens to go by there but was really built for other reasons, including connecting the university and a number of residential areas to the centre and trying to reduce traffic downtown. In fact, they don’t even seem to put on extra service for matches, which leads to Tokyoesque-conditions immediately after games.
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Italy -
ursus arctos; I agree with you completely and I think I’ll raise you bet on the flat if a stadium is built. LOL. The only way a larger stadium will be built will be with an outside party and very powerful political faction behind them (i.e. for Euro bid). However to build outside in Saint-Isidore poses many more questions. Ignoring the environmental mess, strictly from a fan base, if you but there you will radically change who attends and it will be vacant and it won’t be much different for existing fans to go to a Monaco match as Nice.
Martha - if you ever need help with translation, please let me know as the online programs can be very confusing.
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Germany -
that might have been confusing - but I meant for some fans a new stadium in Saint-Isidore would make the trip not that much difference than going to a match in Monaco.
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Germany -
J, it was absolutely clear. And your point is well taken. With current transit connections, it is easier to get from Nice Ville (the central station) to Monaco (and the Louis II) than it is it to get to St. Isidore.
Of course, no real Nicois would ever do that (unless OGCN were the opposition), but floating fans would. And that is a very relevant consideration, given the nature of Nice’s population (lots of people from elsewhere) and OGCN’s relative standing in the French game (ou sont les neiges d’antan?). The last time we were in Nice, I was really troubled by the number of OM shirts I saw and the number of tourists who had gone to the OM superstore. It’s a very superficial measure, but it’s a valid one.
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Italy -
we’re in complete agreement and the other point, in continuation of the theme of Nice’s population, I doubt few of the influential residences want either the city or countryside (and road system) ripped up for a stadium that would rarely be full. I had a similar discussion with someone re Venezia who couldn’t understand why they didn’t build a larger stadium if promoted -lol
I think a re-construction on the present site including closing off the ends and a complete infrastructure overhaul could work as long as it doesn’t increase the stadiums profile or create problems with construction. It would be far under the 40,000 seater (i.e. 25,000) that some discuss but more appropriate in my opinion.
Re the shirts - that is very true and the adidas marketing machine of l’OM
Posted from
Germany
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