Jean Canesse, Media365, published on Thursday December 19, 2024 at 11:29 p.m.
While FC Nantes is in bad shape in Ligue 1, Waldemar Kita is considering dismissing Antoine Kombouaré. And Habib Beye – who would have been a priority – would now be sidelined to take his place on the bench.
Will Antoine Kombouaré still be the Nantes coach in 2025? On the Canaries bench since March, the Kanak coach is on the verge of losing his coaching position, according to West France et The Team. The 61-year-old technician had already been dismissed from his duties in the spring of 2023, four days from the end, before being offered the same position again by Waldemar Kita a year later. The current bad situation of FC Nantes could therefore still deprive him of a complete exercise with his team, as the halfway point in Ligue 1 approaches (15 days out of 17), the Yellow and Green flirting dangerously with the zone of relegation.
Despite a slight improvement in Paris (1-1) and against Rennes (1-0), stopping four defeats in a row, the FCN relapsed last weekend, and not in an anecdotal manner. In Brest, Kombouaré’s players lost in a big way (4-1), only two points ahead of the relegation zone, and a change of course would be seriously considered just a stone’s throw from the winter break. In recent days, the name of Sergio Conceiçao had also leaked to the press, but the former coach of FC Porto (2017-2024) and… of Nantes (2016-2017) would have refused to return to Jonelière .
Beye was met on Wednesday
Waldemar Kita, the president, and his son, Franck, would therefore have changed their tune and the second named, general director of the club, would have even already met Habib Beye on Wednesday morning according to Ouest-France. Probably to test the waters. National champion with Red Star in 2023-2024, Beye is currently free from any contract, having once again become a consultant for Canal+ in recent months.
The former OM and Newcastle player (non-exhaustive list) has, however, regularly confided his desire to one day coach a Ligue 1 team, he who, at 47, has never known the elite or even Ligue 2 on a bench (three seasons in National between 2021 and 2024). Obviously, this avenue was ruled out in the last hours, according to L’Equipe, while discussions focused on the constitution of the staff of the Franco-Senegalese technician. If Beye should therefore not coach Nantes, the profiles of Philippe Montanier, Stéphane Moulin and other Claude Puel would also be considered by the Nantes management, in the event of a change of coach, again according to the daily newspapers cited. In the meantime, and for the club’s last match of the calendar year, Antoine Kombouaré should officiate well against Drancy on Saturday in the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France. Before packing up again?
