It was a satisfied and thoughtful OGC Nice coach Franck Haise that spoke to the media following the big win over Brest in the final game of the Ligue 1 season that sees Les Aiglons finish in fourth place and qualified for the preliminary rounds of the Champions League…

Coach, it was a special night for you tonight (Saturday)...
These are the good times. I’ve been in and around football for 38 years, coaching for  22… Obviously the emotions aren’t always as intense as tonight. But when we put smiles on faces, make people happy… that’s what our job is really all about. 

Fourth place is a great finish for your side...
Yes, it’s great. You know as well as I, that we had some very difficult moments this season. To finish fourth, when we see the sides behind us, to finish with 60 points, to have scored a lot of goals… It’s very satisfying.

What did you have that saw you get the better of your rivals?
In the last few games, we made a few little modifications to bring our forwards a little closer together and put more pressure on our opponents’ central defence. We maintained a good mentality, managed the emotions. We remained calm, especially tonight, because Brest started very well. They weren’t just here to make up the numbers. But we were very efficient in front of goal in a short space of time. We stayed on the right track, while also being wary of the threat Brest could pose. And then we managed to kill off the match via Gaëtan Laborde late in the game.

Taking the season as a whole, to you think you deserve that fourth place? You often say the table doesn’t lie…
Nice are fourth. Even if we weren’t the most consistent side, and you need to be consistent to finish in the top two or three, we still made the most of our opportunities throughout the campaign. Even when we went through some pretty rough periods, we never lost sight of our goal, neither the coaching staff, nor the players. At a board level, the club never panicked, it remained calm, and that’s rarely the case in football. That’s important to get through tough periods.

It will be a long and difficult journey to qualify for the Champions League, but the club will obviously give it everything...
I can’t tell you what’s going to happen, where we will be, who we will play on the 5th or 6th of August. These are very special seasons, that require something different. I don’t know. What I can tell you is that we will fight with what we have, to the best of our abilities. We have qualified for these preliminary qualification rounds and we will give it everything, even if it’s likely we will come up against much stronger opponents. We showed we can do it by beating a few teams that were stronger than us this season.

Will you be looking for a little bit of revenge for your last European campaign?
First and foremost, we will be playing in Europe, and we hope it will be in the Champions League. We all want to enjoy the excitement of Europe and not just Ligue 1.

You left Lens looking for a new challenge. Has this been a perfect first season for you at Nice?
Not perfect, no. But given the context and everything that happened, it has been quite successful.

You recently revealed that you learnt a lot this season...
When you want to learn, you will aways learn. This job requires that you keep an open mind and stay calm as much as possible, even if things happen that can sometimes test you. You can always choose how you will react. I think I have improved in this department, but I’m not perfect yet. Everyone that works at the club, all the coaches – even if there will be some changes – everyone worked well, including the players, obviously, and it’s them that we should congratulate, illustrated by Terem Moffi and his goal. It’s symbolic, because we lost players to serious injury, lost some others late in the campaign. It was a really difficult season. To have finished fourth, with everything we’ve had to deal with, is very strong.

How will you celebrate tonight?
Tonight will be pretty quiet. Maybe a little glass of wine, we’ll see. I will let it all sink in slowly, but I will celebrate with my friends here in Nice, and those further away, in Normandy, and all over France. I’m thinking of them all tonight.

Evann Guessand was one of your key attacking elements this season. Will you be counting on him next year?
I don’t know what our squad will look like next season. Of course there will be changes. You can imagine that Evann is one of our players that has attracted a lot of attention. But what matters is what he achieved this season. He worked hard, very well and finished the season excellently. Like other French clubs, we will have to sell before we can buy. We know how it works. I know more or less what’s going to happen. What’s important is to enjoy the present moment, to congratulate everyone that helped the club reach this fourth place. We will continue next year with other players. That’s football.

You seem to be very calm tonight. You are going to celebrate a little aren’t you?
I’m often very calm. I’m not one to be the first to start dancing on the tables. I’m very happy for a number of people at the club and that is the most important thing for me. But I’m also happy for myself, don’t get me wrong! 

Is there one key moment or victory this season, more important that the others?
For me, the most important moment was when Youssouf Ndayishimiye equalised away to Strasbourg. If we hadn’t equalised then, I don’t think our end of season would have been the same. I remember saying on the bench that we were going to score, I really believed we would. That was a crucial moment and it had a real impact. Obviously there was also the win in Paris, but if we hadn’t scored that header in Strasbourg... By the way, that goal also ended up having a big impact on Strasbourg too. 

Did it give you renewed energy? 
Yes. Before that match, not many people believed in us anymore, understandably. But we said to ourselves we couldn’t throw in the towel and we played really well. We then won four of the next five. For me, it’s the key moment of the season because we were also getting towards the end.

Has this been the most trying season of your career? 
Physically I’m in good shape. The president (Jean-Pierre Rivère) told me I looked as good as I did at the start of the season. My most trying season was last year at Lens, but especially because I had taken on other, more demanding responsibilities. I feel I’ve navigated this season at Nice pretty well. When you’re a coach, you have to protect yourself to be able to help others, give your energy, be there for those that need you… I have really understood that in recent years. I managed to have moments where I could get away with my family, to get away from football, which in turn enabled me to stay fresh right to the end of the season.

Where do you rank this season in your career?
I had an incredible season at Lens, when we finished second in Ligue 1, set a new record points tally and qualified for the Champions League... But I think that this season, with everything we had to deal with, is a close second. I’ve been coaching in Ligue 1 for five years now and I’ve been lucky to enjoy some pretty good campaigns, even very good campaigns. That’s not always going to be the case.

Do you feel like you got the maximum out of your squad?
One can always do better. Even Luis Enrique says that he can always do better. We can do better. But I think we have worked hard and we can be proud of ourselves.

What do you think about now having to start pre-season training earlier next season?
I had already decided to start preseason a little earlier. When you lose a week’s holidays because you have the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League, it’s not a problem. We will start preseason on 23 June.

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