Nice's players and staff were attacked by their own fans a few months ago. On Sunday night, their ultras stormed the pitch after their goalless draw at home to Metz, forcing players to scamper down the tunnel. It was a perfect snapshot of the scale of Ineos' failure and the anger it has elicited from the club's supporters.
Nice's season began with Champions League qualifiers and could end with relegation to Ligue 2. Their failure to beat Metz on the final day means they will face Saint-Étienne in a two-legged relegation playoff later this month. The timing is a disaster for Ineos, who are looking to cut and run after failing to turn the club into challengers to PSG's dominance—their stated ambition when they bought Nice for €100m in 2019.
As Nice sought to avoid the relegation playoff, they had to do something they had failed to do since 29 October: win a league game at home. They could not have asked for better opponents. Metz were already relegated and had won just three league games all season, none under the management of Benoit Tavenot, who was appointed in January. Tavenot was looking for his first win of the season for any club, having gone winless in 11 games at Bastia before his departure in October. He ended the season with no wins, nine draws, 18 defeats, and two relegations.
It was a simple task, but Nice made it look herculean. "Get your arses into gear," was the chant from the home fans before the match. Even before kick-off, the atmosphere was a curious one, split between anger, celebration, and anticipation. "Everyone to Paris," read one banner, a reference to their Coupe de France final against Lens. Another large tifo celebrated club captain Dante, who hoped to play his final game at the Allianz Riviera before retiring at age 42.
The fans' anger quickly consumed their other two emotions, just as the two matches against Saint-Étienne in the relegation playoff will overshadow the Coupe de France final. "It is no longer a priority at all," according to Nice co-president Jean-Pierre Rivère. The team will travel to the Stade de France with their heads elsewhere, just as Reims did last season, when they lost to PSG in the cup final before losing to Metz in the playoff. Yehvann Diouf, who played in all three of those games for Reims last year before moving to Nice, will be desperate to avoid history repeating itself.
There have been warning signs for Nice, but few thought it would come to this. Their objectives before the season were vague. A return to Europe, without specifying which competition, was expected but never made explicit. With Ineos focused on Manchester United, the tap has been turned off at Nice. Important players such as Evann Guessand and Marcin Bulka were sold, and their replacements were not up to scratch; Kevin Carlos, signed to replace Guessand, has failed to score a league goal. Other players seemed reluctant to join, with Mahdi Camara snubbing Nice to join Rennes.
Franck Haise complained he did not have the players to challenge for Europe in the autumn and then went further, saying he simply could not "create a group" from the squad. Anger among the fanbase grew and was largely directed at the players, although sporting director Florian Maurice wasn't spared, nor was Fabrice Bocquet, who briefly took over from Rivère as president. In November, Terem Moffi and Jérémie Boga were attacked as they alighted the team bus outside the club's training ground after a defeat at Lorient. Both players left the club, Bocquet soon departed, and Haise was also gone by the end of the year.
Beyond that, Rivère's decision to bring back Claude Puel as manager proved disastrous. Rivère felt that Haise had lost his fight, so a mutual decision to part ways was arrived at in December. Puel has presided over just two league wins in 18 games. His tactics and selections have drawn fierce criticism. But there are ills everywhere, and as boos rang around the Allianz Riviera almost incessantly over the course of a drab draw, it was hard to discern who they were targeting. Everyone, it felt like.
The tension was building, and when the club's ultras made the trip down from the second to the first tier at half-time, it was clear they weren't looking for a better view. Their rampage around the pitch at full-time was followed by trouble around the stadium late into the night; staff, guests, and journalists were blocked in the stadium until after midnight. Puel said their "disappointment is legitimate," and Rivère called for "unity." But the fracture at Nice runs very deep. No one at the club seems capable of repairing it, and with talks with prospective buyers ongoing, that may soon no longer be of concern to Ineos. If they sell this summer, they will leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
