In the mixed zone, after the new defeat (0-2) of the Canaries, the FC Nantes goalkeeper returned to the boiling context which surrounds the team, and the anger of the supporters who tried to invade the pitch on Sunday.
FC Nantes is stuck in a time loop, condemned to seeing the same scenario repeat itself every season, at regular intervals. Winter is barely showing the tip of its nose, but the sporting crisis is already well established. “Yes, it's been going on for years. I'm in a good position to say it because I've been here for a while and the seasons are similar,” goalkeeper Alban Lafont coldly observed in the mixed zone. “Now what are we going to do next? We have to focus on simple things, get back together as a united group with only one idea in mind: winning matches.”
Humiliated at La Beaujoire (0-2) by Le Havre during a match interrupted twice, the last time when added time had just started, Nantes slipped dangerously towards the depths of the ranking. The Canaries have once again failed and have not won for nine matches in Ligue 1. They can even expect to experience a new ordeal this week since their next match turns out to be a perilous trip to Paris. Enough to fear a fifth setback in a row. The last spark to light the fire, in a highly flammable context?
“Kombouaré? I don’t think he’s in danger”
“When there are bad results in the clubs, the supporters are not happy. They expressed it in their own way, I don’t necessarily have a reaction to that,” commented Alban Lafont. Many banners had flourished in the stands, before more serious incidents punctuated a stormy end to the match, one of which attacked the “tourists” of the team. “Welcome to Football Club Med de Nantes”, jeered the Nantes supporters before kick-off.
“I don’t think we’re tourists, after all, I’m inside,” reacted Lafont. “I know that everyone is giving 100%, is affected at the moment. Whether it's the coach, the staff, the players, the president too. Everyone wants to do well. I haven't seen this banner. But what the supporters are saying at the moment is normal because there are bad results. We will move forward with those who support us and we will be accountable at the end of the season.
Will Antoine Kombouaré still be at the helm of the team next year? Kanak has had a disastrous record since his return to the FC Nantes bench, with a disastrous average of 0.9 points per match. Obviously, unless things are rectified at the Parc des Princes next weekend, the future of Kombouaré appears very uncertain. “No, I don’t think he is in danger,” said Alban Lafont. “In any case, he has the support of the whole team. He also gives his all. He is a coach who brings a lot to everyone. He has all our support. The only thing he wants is is to get out of this situation. We have to give him the time, the chance to get us out of all this and we will all do it together.”
