Coach: Pablo Correa
Stadium: Stade Marcel Picot
Last Season: 5th in Ligue 2

DEFENCE

Nancy had a bit of a goalkeeping merry-go-round last season. Paul Nardi was sold to Monaco but loaned back for a year. However, he seemed to regress and was eventually dropped. Guy Rolland Ndy Assembe took over, although it’s unclear if he’ll be part of the squad this year or not. Brice Samba has signed from OM for a year long loan and I think he should do a decent job. Starved of opportunities at OM, a whole season in Ligue 2 starting should serve him well. Unfortunately for Nancy, they’ve lost their best defender Joel Sami. Solid as a rock and experienced, they will surely miss his presence at the back. One young stud they have is Clement Lenglet. A number of clubs are interested in him though so it’s quite possible he could depart before the end of the transfer window. They look well set out wide with both Cuffaut and Muratori proven quality options at Ligue 2 level. Again though, with the latter there are doubts if he’ll stay at the club or not. They have signed fullback Mickael Chretien, a former player who knows the setup here and he should go well enough. Overall the defence looks a bit downgraded but should be strong if they keep players.

MIDFIELD

They’ve lost Ibrahim Amadou to Lille and this is a blow because he had a strong previous campaign. A couple of other guys such as Iglesias have also departed, although the Lorraine outfit have signed a couple of interesting additions. Diallo Guidileye has proven experience at both Ligue 1 and 2 level and should provide a solid base in DMID, whilst Loic Puyo from Orleans is an excellent signing. Puyo was easily Orleans’ best player last season and showed his class with a number of goals and assists. Now surrounded by a higher standard of quality, his level should improve even more. Nancy have some other decent players in the middle. Walter, Coulibaly, Lusamba and Cetout should all go well enough.

ATTACK

Twelve-goal man Mana Dembele has gone back to Guingamp and as of yet they haven’t found a replacement. Youssouf Hadji scored a whopping 14 times last season which was a great return from only 26 starts, although he can’t be relied upon to repeat it. At 35, he’s no spring chicken and will likely regress sooner rather than later. He’s a nice partner for someone but I don’t see how he can lead the line on his own. At least the supply line is going to be plentiful. Maurice Dale provided 10 assists last season, and coupled with new man Anthony Robic, they look well set out wide. Also remember Puyo will offer loads of creativity from the AMID role too. Youngsters such as Alexis Busin will play their part and this will be a strong offence. If they could sign a proven 10-15+ goal man to replace Dembele, then this would be close to a 10/10 rating.

COACHING

Pablo Correa is certainly an asset for Nancy, although will be disappointed not to have obtained promotion in his first full season back at the club. He is a legend here and all the fans love him, so that’s always a massive positive. Extremely experienced in French football, he used to be known for negative tactics, although in the last couple of years has clearly been more willing to ‘have a go’. Perhaps at Ligue 2 level he prefers his teams to try and dominate and outscore their opponents rather than grind out results. Nancy should in theory have a great home advantage because of their artificial surface, yet only possessed the 7th best record at home last season. They were 5th best away which is rather a surprise. Perhaps this year they will re-assert their home field dominance.

CONCLUSION

Nancy have to be classed as one of the promotion contenders simply because they possess such good all-round strength. The worry is that on paper this squad seems slightly weaker than last season and some of their better players have departed. Question marks over some other potential departures before the end of this transfer window are also worrying, although at least the club have been signing some good-quality replacements. The team has ambition and the president said he wants them to get back into ligue 1 as soon as possible. They are hindered by the new rule of only two teams going up, but all factors indicate they’ll be in the mixer.

Prediction – 3rd