Puel returns to Nice as interim head coach after Haise departs
Former Southampton and Leicester City boss Claude Puel has returned to Nice, with Franck Haise leaving after six straight Ligue 1 defeats.
Nice have parted ways with head coach Franck Haise with the side sat 13th in the Ligue 1 table, bringing former boss Claude Puel back on a short-term contract.
Puel, who previously led Nice from 2012 to 2016, overseeing fourth-place finishes at the start and end of his tenure, will take the reins until the end of the season.
Nice opted to make a change in the dugout after losing six successive league games prior to the international break, though they did beat Saint-Etienne to reach the last 32 of the Coupe de France in Haise's final game in charge.
Haise led Nice to a fourth-place finish last season, securing Europa League qualification, though they have lost all six of their league-stage games in that competition and a play-off spot is already beyond them.
He said in a statement: "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's first game back at the helm will be at home to Strasbourg on January 3, before his team visit Nantes for their next Coupe de France tie eight days later.
Nice lost 24 of their 47 matches in 2025 in all competitions (W17 D6), the joint-most defeats in a single calendar year in their professional history (also 24 in 1987).













