The transition from 2024 to 2025 was extremely eventful in Caen. In the middle of the afternoon of Sunday December 29, Nicolas Seube, 23 years old with the Rouge et Bleu including more than 500 professional matches and inducted onto the bench at the end of 2023 while the club was sliding down a dangerous slope in Ligue 2 , was dismissed causing a great shock wave among the followers of the Norman club. Boss of Caen since last summer, via his investment fund Coalition Capital (80% of shares), Kylian Mbappé validated the arrival of the Portuguese Bruno Baltazar, unknown in France except among observers of the Polish and Cypriot championships, for replace it. A coach, who did not hide his ambitions during his induction, mentioning in particular “the European Cup“.
“Mbappé lives light years away from a modest club like Caen”
The day after this decision by the new management, which invested nearly 20 million euros last summer, paying off part of Malherbe’s debts, Norman supporters did not hide their anger. “Let the new leaders know: the weed-loving public is not impressed by star names, by hypothetical international influence, or other flamboyance. In Malherbe, it is only work and loyalty that make legends“, wrote the Malherbe Normandy Kop in a press release.
Contacted by Eurosport.fr, Christophe Vaucelle, president of MNK 96, will not soon forget the call from Ziad Hammoud, deputy president of the SMC and close to Kylian Mbappé, nine days ago. “At 1:02 p.m., I see a missed call on my phone. Quickly, I contacted him again and he told me: ‘we saw to make two or three readjustments’. In fact, he tells me that Nico Seube, guarantor of the club’s values, is fired. I hang up on him. For me it was the beginning of the end.”
The boss of the Caen supporters group has a target: the new Malherbist management. “We knew that she was going to release Nicolas Seube after taking office. Now, I’m afraid of what happens next with Kylian Mbappé. What awaits us? What are they going to do with our club, which is popular and has 10,000 subscribers? Kylian Mbappé is another football. He lives light years from a modest club like Caen“, insists Christophe Vaucelle.
On January 3, during the reception of Clermont (0-1), resulting in a tenth defeat this season in L2 relegating the weed-fighter to five points from fifteenth place, the Caen fans once again expressed their dissatisfaction: ” Mbappé, the SMC is not your toy” or “Before wanting to shine internationally, respect local figures”, could we read in the aisles of the Stadium Michel-d’Ornano.
“Instead of taking its head out of the water, Caen is sinking a little deeper into it”
Former defender of the Norman club between 2005 and 2009, Brahim Thiam, protagonist of the rise to the elite in 2007, returned, with concern, to the situation at Stade Malherbe. “Instead of taking its head out of the water, Caen sinks a little deeper into itthe beIN Sports consultant first told us. Afterwards, it is also important to remember that if the team is in this place this season, it is because it does not deserve to be anywhere else unfortunately. The coach is the first fuse when things don’t work.” The former Malian international, however, believes that Nicolas Seube did not have the means to follow through on his ideas.
-“He showed last season (6e) that he was capable, with a team and players who were not his, of doing very good thingshe noted. After the club’s late resumption, Nicolas Seube wanted wingers or transition players. Finally, we brought back center forward Kalifa Coulibaly. It’s like asking for a fork at a restaurant and being given a knife. Afterwards, maybe we wanted him to cut himself and hurt himself.“
“Everything that happens good or bad at the club will be associated with Mbappé”
At the heart of this period of turbulence, Ziad Hammoud spoke publicly to justify the very unpopular choice to replace Nicolas Seube. “I understand the anger of the supportersassured the former director of strategy and investments of beIN Media Group at a press conference. We made this decision in the best interests of the club, even if it puts us in an uncomfortable position. If we wanted to reverse the trend, it was now.”
For the new management of the club, the end of the season will not be the most relaxing if the current sporting dynamic were to continue. “Everything good or bad that happens at the club will be associated with Kylian Mbappé, even if he is not the one in charge on a daily basis. As they say, he will be responsible for debts and profitsremarked Brahim Thiam. In the club, I do not sense any alarming talk about the fact that Stade Malherbe is in danger compared to the position it currently occupies. I’m not sure that the fight to stay in L2 was in their forecast.”
Saturday afternoon, Stade Malherbe does it again at d’Ornano against Grenoble. For the sporting future and the serenity of the club, defeat will already be almost forbidden for Alexandre Mendy’s teammates.
