Marked for Jonathan Clauss
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Aug 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Sofiane Diop was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match19 Aug 2028
It finished 3‑2, and it was Terem Moffi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to OGC Nice.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Clauss, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Marked 8.98 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.57, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
OGC Nice are making the ground bigger
Work is signed off on a capacity of 38891. It is the sort of decision a club is judged on twenty years later, by people who were not there when it was taken.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” OGC Nice may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Jun 2028
OGC Nice say no — this time
The offer from Ipswich Town for Morgan Sanson was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market12 Jun 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at OGC Nice heard it as anything else.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Sofiane Diop was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vincent Marchetti and OGC Nice agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market6 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Adama Soumaoro
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Adama Soumaoro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around OGC Nice the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market6 Mar 2028
Jonathan Clauss wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at OGC Nice hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jonathan Clauss commits to OGC Nice for another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Sofiane Diop was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Jonathan Clauss
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match4 Mar 2028
0‑1 to Le Havre AC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Loan watch6 Mar 2028
Otis Caporusso: I did not sign for OGC Nice to play for other people
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at OGC Nice and a proper look at me.” He remains Le Havre AC’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Terem Moffi leaves them behind him
Shots: 14. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jan 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match15 Jan 2028
No end in sight to OGC Nice's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at OGC Nice has to find a result from somewhere.
Market17 Jan 2028
OGC Nice say no — this time
The offer from Valenciennes for Kader Bamba was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market17 Jan 2028
The paperwork is done: Jeremy Agbonifo joins from RC Lens in a deal worth $840.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Sofiane Diop in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Jan 2028
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market17 Jan 2028
Business is business: Djelan Morana goes
Tours paid $130.0K and OGC Nice took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Clauss, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
A performance of 8.56 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market6 Dec 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at OGC Nice heard it as anything else.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Sofiane Diop was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match4 Dec 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Melvin Bard gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
A performance of 8.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
The one thing Breel Embolo could not do
Shots: 13, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonathan Clauss trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad6 Dec 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Youssouf Ndayishimiye. OGC Nice will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Sofiane Diop in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Jonathan Clauss
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match26 Nov 2027
1‑2 to Utrecht, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match27 Nov 2027
0‑1 to FC Lorient, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Youssouf Ndayishimiye will call it something else in private.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Yehvann Diouf lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Audace Cerignola to sit and watch. I want to come back to OGC Nice and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to OGC Nice's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at OGC Nice has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Sofiane Diop in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Moïse Bombito, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Yehvann Diouf knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OGC Nice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match16 Oct 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad13 Sep 2027
Sofiane Diop was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match11 Sep 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation OGC Nice did not have in the autumn.
Market13 Sep 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Match11 Sep 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Musa Al-Tamari’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to OGC Nice.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A performance of 9.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Clauss, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Marked 8.75 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Ali Abdi keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” OGC Nice may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market6 Sep 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at OGC Nice, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Sofiane Diop in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match4 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, OGC Nice do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Jun 2027
OGC Nice are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 55 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market28 Jun 2027
Vitesse come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and OGC Nice did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Sofiane Diop in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Ali Abdi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Musa Al-Tamari
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Jonathan Clauss keeps the shirt for now, at OGC Nice's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
Paris Saint-Germain paid $44.8M and OGC Nice took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market21 Jun 2027
OGC Nice say no — this time
The offer from Valenciennes for Ali Abdi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Sofiane Diop was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market21 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Otis Caporusso signs something — a contract at OGC Nice or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A new face in his position, and Jonathan Clauss suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. OGC Nice have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and OGC Nice did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Jun 2027
Jonathan Clauss wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at OGC Nice hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
37 appearances away from home and 16 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market7 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Ali Abdi again, and this time the name on the line is Valenciennes. OGC Nice are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market7 Jun 2027
Ali Abdi is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at OGC Nice has been clear about where Ali Abdi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad7 Jun 2027
No hiding place for Youte
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Youte, and the manager let it.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Allan Saint-Maximin
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. OGC Nice would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Sofiane Diop was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Antoine Mendy knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OGC Nice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch24 May 2027
12 appearances at Eibar and the goals keep coming. OGC Nice are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Allan Saint-Maximin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match30 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, OGC Nice do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match30 Jan 2027
FC Lorient made OGC Nice work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Marked 8.81 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market2 Nov 2026
Jonathan Clauss wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at OGC Nice hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Oct 2026
2‑3 to Olympique de Marseille, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Melvin Bard gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.98 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 132% of everything OGC Nice earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Sofiane Diop finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. OGC Nice have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
The match ball belongs to Elye Wahi, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
One of those days for Elye Wahi
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 3‑3 draw with RC Strasbourg leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Stade Rennais to sit and watch. I want to come back to OGC Nice and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. OGC Nice lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OGC Nice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
209% of the income goes out in wages at OGC Nice
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.84, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Isak Jansson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with FC Lorient leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Jonathan Clauss. OGC Nice will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
4.15 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.