Back in the 1990s, Nantes were defined by their distinctive playing style, le jeu à la Nantaise, characterised by flair and attacking thrust. There was substance in addition to the style, with the Loire club winning a league title and reaching the Champions League semi-finals. The modern-day incarnation are not distinguished by anything that happens on the pitch, but more by the way they have been managed. La gestion à la Nantaise has consisted of the implementation of a revolving-door policy when it comes to managers and, in the words of their current head coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, “improvisation and incompetence at every level”. It means the eight-time Ligue 1 champions are staring down the barrel of relegation to Ligue 2.
Those comments from Halilhodzic came back in 2021, two years after leaving Nantes which, incidentally, was his last gig in club management prior to his return in March. At 73, he became the oldest person to lead a Ligue 1 side. “I’m done with football,” he said recently after a draw against Brest, and given that he had been out of work since 2022, many thought that he already was prior to his unexpected return.
