Claude Puel Returns To OGC Nice As Interim Head Coach After Haise Departs

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Nice have dismissed head coach Franck Haise and turned back to former boss Claude Puel, with the team currently 13th in Ligue 1. Puel has agreed a short-term deal running until the end of the season, as the club reacts to a damaging run of six straight league defeats.

The decision follows a difficult 2025, in which Nice lost 24 of 47 matches in all competitions, with 17 wins and six draws. That total of 24 defeats equals the club’s worst figure for a single calendar year in professional competition, first recorded in 1987, and raised serious concerns.

Haise had delivered progress in 2024-25, guiding Nice to fourth place in Ligue 1 and a Europa League spot. However, this season’s European campaign collapsed, with Nice losing all six group matches and already unable to reach the play-offs. Haise’s spell ended after a Coupe de France win over Saint-Etienne, which carried Nice into the last 32.

Haise explained the departure in a statement, saying: "In agreement with president [Jean-Pierre] Rivere and given the sporting situation, we have chosen to end my mandate as coach of Nice, and those of my assistants Lilian Nalis and Johann Ramare. I would like to thank all the people who work every day for the club and hope its supporters and its entire environment to quickly return to a positive sporting dynamic."

Puel previously managed Nice from 2012 to 2016, delivering fourth-place finishes in both his first and final Ligue 1 campaigns. The 2025 return places Puel in charge for at least the remainder of the current season, with the task of lifting league form and stabilising performances.

Puel’s first match back as Nice head coach is scheduled at home to Strasbourg on 3 January, followed by a Coupe de France trip to Nantes eight days later. Those fixtures arrive as Nice attempt to halt their slide and rebuild confidence after a year marked by frequent defeats and stalled European progress.

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Nice now move forward with Claude Puel back on the touchline and a clear short-term objective. The club seeks to climb from 13th place, reduce the number of defeats, and give supporters a more stable team, after a turbulent year that ended Franck Haise’s time in charge.