sport news Nice have struggled this season with Mauricio Pochettino linked trends now
They always say you should 'never go back' in football. It's not the same second time around and Nice coach Lucien Favre is currently discovering that in painful fashion.
His first spell with the club from the French Riviera was a roaring success as he guided them into the Champions League for the first time in the modern era.
He helped establish Nice among the elite of French football again and made them a real thorn in the side of Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Lyon and Marseille. They were clearly on an upward trajectory.
Nice had big expectations this season - but early results have been thoroughly disappointing
Time may be nearly up for manager Lucien Favre, who only returned to the club in the summer
Mauricio Pochettino, latterly at Paris Saint-Germain, has been named as a possible successor
When he returned there in June, the anticipation was for more of the same, especially when backed with the billions of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos.
Instead they've become a basketcase. An assembly of Premier League cast-offs, some of whom Favre either didn't want or doesn't know anything about, they've won just two of eight Ligue 1 games so far and Favre is facing the sack with the name of Mauricio Pochettino looming large.
Things hit a fresh low on Sunday when defender Jean-Clair Todibo was sent off after just nine seconds - unsurprisingly the fastest sending off in Ligue 1 history - and they slumped to a 1-0 loss at home to Angers.
Favre's ailing team have also been beaten by Clermont, Marseille and Monaco, and held to draws by Toulouse and Strasbourg.
Their Europa Conference League campaign hasn't exactly started in electric fashion either. They were held 1-1 by Cologne on a night of shocking violence in the stands and then drew by the same scoreline away to Partizan Belgrade.
Jean-Clair Todibo was sent off after just nine seconds as Nice were beaten by Angers
Nice's home Europa Conference League match with Cologne was marred by violence
Fans clashed in the stands before kick-off at the Allianz Riviera, causing a delay to kick-off
It's all a bit of a mess and all the while Ratcliffe, the richest man in Britain with a worth of £6.33billion, is being linked with a buy-out of Manchester United from the hated Glazer family.
The official line is that the Americans won't sell the club but Ratcliffe is one of the few people in the world who has not only the capital to buy them but an emotional connection.
Nice's owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is Britain's richest man, has made no secret of his interest in buying Manchester United
For many United fans, the INEOS boss is the only hope of freeing the club from the clutches of the Glazers.
Pochettino, himself mentioned in the same breath as United a fair bit in the past few years, might be advised to steer well clear even if Nice is an attractive place to live and work.
The Argentine likes a slow-build project but there's been a churn of managers at the Allianz Riviera since Favre was spirited away to Borussia Dortmund in 2018.
Patrick Vieira, Adrian Ursea and
