1st Training Session

“Why do you want us to change?

10 octobre 2017, 16h00

On Tuesday, in front of at least a hundred supporters, the Aiglons took part in their first session at their new training centre.

Cars and scooters parked in the same car park, but a different direction to head in when it came to going to see the players. A couple of steps to the north, underneath the autumn sun, in the softness of day. A perfect synthetic standing point, a welcoming food truck, kids playing, parents watching, journalists analysing and President Rivère at the edge of the pitch… On Tuesday, life got going at the new Gym HQ. The real beginning of this part of its history.

From a sporting perspective, the session went by as if nothing had changed. Or almost. “Honestly, it’s perfect”, delighted Vincent Koziello at the end of the morning, managing perfectly the art of summarising. Coming out of their new dressing room at around 10am, the staff and players only had a few strides to take before arriving at the hybrid pitch in perfect condition, and to get underway with technical drills and keep-ball exercises.

Le President Rivère sur le terrain, aux côtés des supporters et face aux médias #Entraînement pic.twitter.com/NRA6N9UTeB
— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) 10 octobre 2017

On the other side of the fence, the Nice fans were able to make the most of both the training session and the new decor at the same time. And a couple of metres weren’t enough to end good habits, as the Aiglons came over to greet the supporters as soon as Lucien Favre blew his whistle to mark the end of the serious proceedings. “Why do you want us to change? We used to go there before with pleasure, and now, that’s still the case” concluded Yoan Cardinale.

“We were a bit worried, we didn’t know how it would work out, which way we needed to go to get to the pitch, how we could see the players. But everything went well, so it’s cool”, explained the fans as they left the session.