Even if he is offended that the journalists were able to write it, Antoine Kombouaré was on the verge of being fired by FC Nantes according to Daniel Riolo. But one detail scuppered the arrival of Habib Beye, targeted to succeed him and who was very close to signing.
Before the Coupe de France match against Drancy at the end of December, very big doubts surrounded the future of Antoine Kombouaré at FC Nantes. The team's poor results pushed Franck and Waldemar Kita to speak with several coaches and mainly with Sergio Conceiçao as well as Habib Beye. The dream leading to the Portuguese coach quickly evaporated as the one who stayed seven years at FC Porto accepted an offer from AC Milan, where he succeeded his compatriot Paulo Fonseca.
On the other hand, negotiations were very advanced with Habib Beye, without a club since his departure from Red Star at the start of the summer. In After Foot on RMC, Daniel Riolo revealed behind the scenes of this about-face by the Kita clan, who finally decided against all odds to keep Antoine Kombouaré in his post. According to the journalist, it was a disagreement over the identity of the performance manager within Habib Beye's staff that put an end to the current Canal+ consultant's track. “Obviously they wanted to fire Kombouaré, that it was confirmed. With Habib Beye, it was complete” first warns Daniel Riolo in the preamble before continuing.
Kita refused Beye… because of a detail in his staff
“Except that in the constitution of the staff, there was no performance manager. When the Kitas knew that there was perhaps the possibility that Grégory Dupont would come (with Beye) – who is a big name among performance managers – it excited them a little because he worked with Zidane and he is extremely respected. The Beye clan called Greg Dupont to see if he was coming but he told them he couldn't decide that quickly. Kita called (Beye) back in the evening: 'he (Dupont) is coming or not?'. 'No, maybe he won't come.' “Oh no, we’ll let it go then.” But who is important, the physical preparation or the coach? It’s all the madness of the Kita family” told the journalist, for whom the simple refusal of Grégory Dupont ultimately caused the end of the Habib Beye trail in the eyes of Waldemar and his son Franck Kita.
A huge twist of theater which ultimately benefited Antoine Kombouaré, who is still in office today even though his departure was in no doubt within the management of FC Nantes. We imagine that on Habib Beye's side, the regrets are also enormous because the former OM captain came within a whisker of having his first experience on a Ligue 1 bench.
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