Florian Maurice spoke to the press after Nice's defeat to Lorient on Sunday (Matchday 14, 3-1). Here are the words of the Aiglons' sporting director.

Florian, it feels like Le Gym started off well but then shot itself in the foot...
That's exactly right. We started the match well, but unfortunately, as soon as there was a setback, we couldn't react to turn the match in our favour. It's a real disappointment tonight. A disappointment. And it's not the first one. Obviously, we're going to have to roll up our sleeves and work together. We obviously bear some responsibility for what happened today. We're not really satisfied with what we're managing to achieve with this squad. It's now up to us, all together, to find the levers to make it happen, because the situation is very, very bad. It's up to us to find the right elements to enable this team to rediscover its values and results.

What could these levers be?
It's what we do every day. We're not going to give up. The message will always be the same. We use both the carrot and the stick. It's our duty and our responsibility to ensure that this group can be together, work together, play together and, in difficult times, react together. Today, that's not the case. It is up to us to ensure that the team gets results, and as quickly as possible.

The coach clearly said tonight that OGC Nice is playing to stay up.
When you look at the results over the last few weeks, you obviously can't say that we're going to play in Europe. That's for sure. But I want us to keep fighting. Tonight, the situation is very difficult for OGC Nice, for the entire staff, for the players, for me. But I remain determined and I am convinced that we will succeed. We will succeed as long as everyone has the right mindset and puts things in place so that this team can show its true worth.

When a team loses six matches in a row, the question of whether the coach should stay inevitably arises...
There is no issue with the coach. The President spoke about it a few days ago. I will not comment on it. I am fully supportive of everything that is going to happen within the club. There is no issue with the coach today.

Will mindset be one of the keys to the winter transfer window?
Yes. Mindset is important. This summer, when we're doing the transfer window, we know the players' mindset. But it's not just the players who have arrived, the players who are here, it's a combination of things that mean that today, the team is not united. We're struggling to create cohesion with this group. Until we have that cohesion, we won't succeed. That's where it starts. We're not going to change 15 players in the winter transfer window. If we don't help this team, if the players don't help each other, it will be very difficult. But I'm convinced we'll get there.

OM went abroad for a few days last year. Could you envisage something like that?
There are things we need to think about in order to enable this group to live together. But it's also up to the players themselves to create something within the group. We don't have to go abroad to do that. We just need to manage to help each other, live together, work together and fight together to achieve our goals. Or fight for a goal that wasn't ours at the start of the season. I guarantee you that we won't give up and that we'll be there.

Do you feel that some players are letting their frustration spill over into the group?
I wouldn't say that. We lack cohesion. We can see that. Today, we're leading 1-0, and it's not the first time we've been ahead. And every time there's a slight setback, we can't recover. That proves that we lack cohesion, perhaps values, at a given moment, to fight and go and get results.

The coach said he has never experienced anything like this in his career. Have you?
Yes, I've been in squads where it was difficult. Here, it's not necessarily difficult, it's a squad that needs to spend time together, to be more united, more cohesive, even if we sometimes feel that we are. When I see the lads going about their day-to-day, there are things that arevery good. But right now, the results mean we're not where we want to be. There are shortcomings in that regard. We need to fix them, and we will fix them.

 

---