President Jean-Pierre Rivère and vice-President Maurice Cohen flanked Claude Puel at his presentation this afternoon. It was an opportunity for Le Gym's leaders to explain how the appointment of the new coach came about. 

Jean-Pierre Rivère: ‘Claude Puel is the obvious choice’

"I came away from the St Etienne match with a rather strange feeling. I told myself that the problem was deeper than I had imagined, ultimately, seen from the outside, since I had not been at the club for the last few months. After three days, I called Franck Haise, who is someone I rate very highly in terms of his skills, of course, but also as a person. We spoke openly and honestly with each other and came to the conclusion that perhaps it was time to part ways because, for a multitude of reasons that can be added up, I think we had indeed reached the end of an era. So it was done in a very humane, very honest manner and with a single objective: the best interests of the club.
"Then came days of negotiations, in a good spirit, with the coach's agent and his lawyers. It took a lot of time and energy. And when we realised that we were going to achieve something positive, we had to decide, in a very short space of time, in a day and a half, let's say, who would be the right person to take over with a short-term mission, a real challenge. I said to myself: Claude Puel, it's obvious (...) I think he's the perfect man for the job, in my opinion, because I know Claude, he said it himself, the harder it is, the more he likes it (...).
"I discussed it with Maurice Cohen and agreed that I would call him. I was very happy to be able to talk about football with Claude again. And there too, I found someone who was quick to make a decision, who has made a lot of effort on many issues for the club. I could feel someone who loves OGC Nice.
"We managed to bring all that together and today we are able to present Claude to you. He will be the OGC Nice manager for this mission, which I repeat is to avoid relegation and save our position in Ligue 1, that is our main objective. That doesn't prevent us, as competitors, from imagining other things, but for now, that is the objective.
"But we're going to make sure that tomorrow, there are smiles all around the club, at all levels, and that things become much less difficult and that we all enjoy ourselves. That doesn't prevent us, however, from thinking about the second and third stages. But for now, there is an urgent stage and I think it's essential that we all unite on this. (...) We're going to bring together everyone who loves this club and we're going to rise to this challenge (...) We need love around this club. It's normal for a club to go through bad patches, but if we want to bounce back, the love of a club is a strength. And beyond the energy of the heart and the positive energies I mention, you need competence. And when you take Claude, there is competence.

"Our past differences? If the three of us are here today, with Maurice Cohen, it's because there's no problem. Otherwise, we wouldn't be joining forces in an adventure like this.
"Sometimes in life, there can be points of disagreement. Remember, we went through a rough patch at one point, where every time we lost a match, the same question came up. When will Claude Puel be sacked? After the sixth defeat, I announced that I would extend his contract. Not to be provocative, but simply because I was convinced that he was the right coach at the right time in the club's history, and we all know what he has brought to OGC Nice. When we spoke on the phone, it was obvious to us (...) We had already met again in Monaco in early September, on our shared birthday, and we talked for maybe half an hour... Sometimes it clarifies the past and allows you to look to the future with serenity. You don't do things like this on this type of mission if you don't want to. This project is a real sharing experience."

Maurice Cohen: ‘Our team has grown.’

"Last week, I said that with Jean-Pierre Rivère, we had come as a team. Our team has grown with Claude. I'm very happy to see him here. We've often crossed paths on other fields, especially golf courses... 
"He is here, like us, with Jean-Pierre, to help OGC Nice because he loves this club. The boycott of the Populaire Sud? We met with the supporters, and it went well. We talked, we said what we had to say, and that must also remain confidential because it's important that it stays that way. 
"We have a good relationship with them and we're still in contact. We don't have any major concerns. We'll see how things develop. We hope they'll come back to the stadium. If they want to come back, of course, we'll be very happy."

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