In an interview that appeared in local newspaper Nice-Matin, OGC Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivère looked back over the first half of the 2024-25 season and spoke of the club’s ambitions for the remainder of the campaign.

At the midway point of the season, between Ligue 1 and the Europa League, what have you made of it?

The Europa League has been a huge disappointment. We fought for a whole year to be in Europe and, unfortunately, we fell at the first hurdle. That’s the simple truth. Whether it be in Ligue  1 of in Europe, there's the frustration of thinking that with the squad we have and with a normal injury count of perhaps 2 or 3 players out, I think we would be better placed in the league and qualified for next round in Europe. We are frustrated.

Internally, have you managed to pinpoint the reasons for this series of injuries?

At first you think it’s just bad luck. Then you think, maybe we need to face facts. Everything has been analysed, injury by injury, when they happened. And it's true that we have to improve, obviously.

So many injuries at the start of the season has led some players to play a lot more than they otherwise would have. Unfortunately, it's a vicious circle. We've obviously assessed the situation and made decisions to try and improve things.

Will the mercato be the return of the injured players?

I think so. I remember matches in the league where we played well against the big teams, where we played some good football. I think that when the team has everyone available, it's possible to play some good football. So if we could get all our troops back for the second half of the season, it would be a good winter transfer window. Then you never know what we can achieve.

What have the first few months been like for Franck Haise and Florian Maurice?

First of all, I'm delighted that they both joined us. We had the opportunity to bring them in very quickly, which was a good thing. We have two extremely competent people. I've really enjoyed watching some of our team's games this year. We're playing good football again and creating chances. They're two great professionals, very competent, and above all, on a human level, they're quite remarkable people. That's good.

What was your favourite performance so far?

Against Paris Saint-Germain. They may have improved since, but we played some great football. We saw the potential of this team. We didn't sit back and wait for the counter-attack. We played good football in the first half and showed that we can fulfil some of our objectives, because unfortunately the Europa League has gone.

Is winning the Coupe de France one of those objectives?

I was asked if I'd rather finish in the top 6 or win the Coupe de France, and I replied, ‘Both!’ We have had a taste of the Coupe de France final. It ended sadly for us. But I'd love to go back and see 20,000 Nice fans at the Stade de France again.

And finish with a win this time.

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