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OGC Nice manager Franck Haise has fired back at Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who recently admitted the French side don’t excite him as much.
Ratcliffe’s INEOS firm has owned Nice since 2019, but his focus on the club has noticeably dwindled since acquiring a minority stake in United.
United’s involvement in this season’s Europa League has forced Ratcliffe and INEOS to temporarily scale back their involvement at Nice, as UEFA rules prevent dual influence over two clubs in the same competition.
However, in a recent interview with The Times, Ratcliffe revealed he doesn’t really enjoy watching them play. The British businessman said, “I don’t particularly enjoy going to watch Nice because there are some good players. But the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited.”
Ratcliffe’s comments landed him in hot water with Nice supporters and it seems Haise wasn’t pleased with them either.
The Nice boss pointed out that Ratcliffe hasn’t attended a game this season, suggesting he has no grounds for his comments.
Haise remarked [as quoted by The Sun], “The article that [the comments] appeared in was a lot more complete than that. But he hasn’t seen a Nice match this season.”
“He’s speaking a bit more about what he saw at another time.”
“With the people who are here at the club, we are here to make the club progress in order to be even better.”
The 53-year-old coach added, “It’s not that serious. We can be annoyed, that’s obvious. But is it really worth staying annoyed for a long time?”
“We have got to keep working, enjoying ourselves and we have got to be doing the best possible. We have to move on and continue on our path.”
Nice currently sit in fourth place in the French top flight.
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