A decade on from Knysna, and nearly 30 years after he last managed in France’s top flight, former national team coach Raymond Domenech took charge of FC Nantes for the first time on Wednesday. But what can he hope to achieve at a club where the glory days have become a distant memory?
It was the managerial appointment that would have made waves at the end of 2020 only to be eclipsed by events at Paris Saint-Germain, where Thomas Tuchel was sacked and replaced by Mauricio Pochettino. PSG have become the dominant force in the French game, but it used to be Nantes, the eight-time champions who strutted their stuff in the famous yellow jerseys and even invented a style of football that has become legendary, le jeu à la nantaise.
Domenech was officially named coach at the Stade de la Beaujoire on December 26, becoming the permanent successor to the sacked Christian Gourcuff in the dugout with Nantes 16th in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table, just three points above the relegation zone and without a win in eight matches.
His first game at the helm could not have been much bigger, a derby against Stade Rennais FC. Les Canaris obstinately held out for a 0-0 draw, with the new coach saying afterwards that his team had “laid the foundation stone”. The coming weeks and months could be interesting, however.
Too long out of the game?
Domenech is 68. His appointment until the end of the season has not gone down well with all Nantes supporters. After all, he has not coached at all since leaving the France job following their disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa, marred by the infamous players’ strike at their training base in Knysna. Not that he has disappeared from the footballing landscape: Domenech has been a prominent pundit for the television channel of L’Equipe. Yet, before Wednesday’s game against Rennes, he had not managed in the top flight since leaving Lyon back in 1993.
Contested club president Waldemar Kita
His footballing credentials cannot be doubted: Born in Lyon, Domenech played for his home-city team, notably winning the Coupe de France in 1973 with a final victory against…Nantes. He played for France and later won league titles with RC Strasbourg Alsace and Girondins de Bordeaux. Meanwhile, in recent years he has set up home on the Côtes d’Armor on Brittany’s north coast, not a million miles away from Nantes.
'Kita Circus'
Nevertheless, Nantes fans were quick to voice their disapproval of an appointment they saw as being in line with the chaotic running of the club by president Waldemar Kita. Domenech’s first training session was disrupted by a group of supporters loudly mocking the “Kita Circus” and claiming that the new coach’s “vision of football” would “make us laugh over the coming weekends”.
Watch highlights of Domenech's first game in charge
“There are problems at every club. If everything were rosy at leading clubs, you would have nothing to write about,” replied Domenech, who is the oldest coach in Ligue 1 as well as the 14th man to take charge of Nantes since Kita bought the club in 2007. Of his predecessors, perhaps the most successful was Michel Der Zakarian, who had two spells and notably led the team to their most recent promotion back to Ligue 1 in 2013. Since then, Sérgio Conceição and Claudio Ranieri have been the most eye-catching trainers at the club, but neither lasted long.
Bullish
Nantes have been champions eight times, a tally bettered only by AS Saint-Etienne, Olympique de Marseille and PSG. However, this year marks the 20th anniversary of their last title triumph, in 2001, and the intervening years have seen the club disappear from the very forefront of French football. Nantes were relegated twice and spent five seasons in Ligue 2 between 2006 and 2013. Their best finish since then was seventh in 2017, but otherwise Les Canaris have spent most of their time in the bottom half. All too often they have struggled to score goals. The best players to have emerged at the club in recent years - Valentin Rongier, Léo Dubois, Jordan Veretout - are now plying their trade elsewhere.
This time there is potential with the likes of Imran Louza, Ludovic Blas and Moses Simon all capable of providing ammunition and Randal Kolo Muani a promising striker. Kalifa Coulibaly, recalled against Rennes by Domenech, and even the sidelined Jean-Kévin Augustin have potential waiting to be coaxed out. Further back, Alban Lafont is a fine young goalkeeper. But is Domenech really the man to get this team climbing the table? Or will Nantes end up in a bitter relegation scrap while the focus is on the coach, and on Kita?
The new coach was bullish after Wednesday’s game, saying: “The return of Domenech is not what counts. Did Nantes look like a Ligue 1 team? I would say yes.”
