Football: pros, reserves, U18, U17 nationals, Nîmes Olympique in the tough, analysis and explanations

Crocos (ici Sbaï, en National) ou Crocodilets, les Rouges ne sont pour l’instant pas à la hauteur des attentes. Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

Les pros, la réserve, les U18 et les U17 nationaux de Nîmes Olympique sont en deçà de leurs objectifs. On a interrogé les quatre entraîneurs. 

It was less than five years ago, at the beginning of 2020. The first team was playing in Ligue 1. The reserve team was playing in National 2. The U19s were playing in the national championship, as were the U17s who were playing at the top of the table. And Nîmes Olympique had an approved training center, with aspiring or professional trainee contracts allowing it to retain its nuggets.

The abandonment of the accreditation, enacted in 2021 by President Rani Assaf for financial reasons (operating costs and necessary work), led to a flight of talent. And the tumble in the rankings.

A disappointing first half of the season

The pros 14th in the National while they were aiming for the leading roles; the reserves 7th in Regional 1 and out of the fight for promotion; the U18s 4th in their R1 group (behind Alès, 3rd) and therefore very far for the moment from returning to the U19 national championship; and the national U17s in the last four of the South-East group: the four main NO teams are behind their objectives.

Coaches' feelings

Adil Hermach (N) : “I'm the first to say that I'm not happy. I'm disappointed but not dejected. You know very well what we're lacking: efficiency. We can't capitalize on our strong moments. And when you don't score (only 9 goals, worst attack in the National, Editor's note) psychologically, you give confidence to the opposing team. Afterwards, we're not doing too badly (4th best defense, 12 goals), that means there's real teamwork. We're going through a difficult period but I say it loud and clear: I still have confidence in my players and my team”.

Mickaël Gas (reserve): “Let's just say it's still pretty tight (after 9 matches, NO is 6 lengths behind the leader Atlas Paillade, who has a game in hand, Editor's note). In any case, I expected that in the first part of the season, we would be in the soft underbelly, without paying too much attention to ourselves, because we have become much younger. Every weekend, we have six or seven U19 starters (born in 2006). If the priority objective was to move up to N3, we would not play so young.”

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Yannick Bileck (U18): “It's certain that, for me, my objective, before the season started, was to move up to U19 Nationals. Which is still the case today, despite our start to the championship not being up to what I had hoped, with 3 disturbing defeats (NO, which has a game in hand, is 10 points behind Saint-Clément). Afterwards, we have good players, we work, we put things in place. It takes more time than expected, but we must not forget that the players are U17s who played to stay up last season and who were relegated 23 times out of 26. So, maybe at some point, we are in our place. In any case, I am not going to give up, we are going to work and we will see what happens.”

Salim Fiorentino (U17): “There is the feeling of not being paid our fair value in relation to our content, which is far from disgusting. We beat Saint-Etienne, the leader, drew in Lyon and Monaco… We lost points at the end of the match, we could easily have 8 more, but we are responsible for our scenarios. We work well but, without taking anything away from my players, who have the merit they have, of course it weakens us to no longer have the approval, to not be structured like a professional club. Not on the mass of players, which remains of quality, but on two or three talents that we could have in addition. Like a goalscorer…”

What to hope for the second half of the season?

Better, of course. For everyone. “I'm not playing for the last places. The ranking doesn't scare me, assures Hermach. I know where the club should be, between 6th and 8th-9th place. It's up to us to turn things around, to continue to believe in it and to tell ourselves that things will turn around. We'll get there. We have to hang on and start again with positive things.”

For his part, Gas reminds us that in “At the start of the season, we never said that the first objective was to move up. The aim of a reserve team is to train. My idea is to play very young so that next season, there will be first, or even second, senior years who are at the same level straight away and we can play for promotion. There, the objective will be to be in the race for as long as possible, and if we are still in the running in the final sprint, it could be really interesting”.

For Bileck, “the first part is not over yet because, in addition to making our little journey in Gambardella (in the 32nd round, Nîmes plays Montferrand, R1, Saturday at 2:30 p.m.), we are missing two first leg matches. Now, it is up to me to find solutions that will allow us to achieve our objectives. Afterwards, when we are Nîmes Olympique and I see that there are better players than us at Saint-Clément, Castelnau or Canet… that is an observation. We know the situation, it is not an excuse, far from it, we must not hide behind it, but it is not easy. In the second half of the season, the goal will obviously be to win all the matches. We lost in the first two (Saint-Clément and Canet) but we will host them. Let's say that it's not off to a good start (for promotion to U19 Nationals), but it's not impossible”.

In U17, finally, “why not score those 8 more points that we could have deserved in the first part? hopes Fiorentino. Many are discovering the level and when you go from regional to national, you take a slap in the face. Last season, the end of the championship was better than the beginning. It would also be good to stay earlier to integrate U16s and gain time”. If they don't leave for other skies next summer…

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