Objectives, coach, squad: what Usam Nîmes is preparing for 2024

Lundi de reprise au Parnasse : Poyet, Sissoko, Dupuy et les Nîmois foncent vers la phase retour. MIDI LIBRE – MIKAEL ANISSET

The Nîmes handball players, 8th in Starligue, resumed training on Monday January 8. Always thinking about tomorrow and Europe. And while the club's management is busy behind the scenes…

Objective recovery

Thirteen operational players on the floor of Parnasse: the pros Baznik, Poyet, Rebichon, Sissoko, Tobie, Konradsson, Dupuy and Guéric Vincent, with the young Del Blanco (goalkeeper), Antic, Peyre, Varlet and Ganaël Vincent. The Egyptians Sanad and Abdelhak are in the selection.

Minel (shoulder problem), Acquevillo (recovered from a broken foot), Demaille (elbow), Derisbourg (knee), Gibernon (meniscus) and Gallego (knee) will gradually resume handball , by the end of February. Kamtchop-Baril next season. A next season which is being prepared, at the same time as the second part of the 2023-2024 championship.

Goalkeeper Del Blanco and other young people from the training center integrated into the winter preparation of the professional group. FREE MIDI – MIKAEL ANISSET

Objective top 5

It has not changed, even if Nîmes (8th tied with 7th, Aix, and 3 pts from 5th, Limoges) has fallen behind. "We have 16 points having played the first part of the championship with more than four injuries per match on average. And we should have 18 given the refereeing decisions at the end of the match against Aix. All while experiencing a season of transition, analyzes President David Tebib. In these conditions, finishing top 5-top 6 would be a good performance. To do this, you will need to approach 40 points. We therefore have between 10 and 12 successes (over the 15 remaining days) to obtain."

Objective Europe

Three consecutive seasons in the European Cup (2019-2022), two without continental competition… the Green team has a furious desire to return there. Except that France now only has four tickets left. But according to our information, she could be offered a fifth for the preliminary round of the European League. Usam can and must believe in it.

Objective coach

As Midi Libre revealed before Christmas, it is a given: Nîmes will change coaches next summer. This is not a sanction against Yann Balmossière, but a collective decision of the Usamist staff and management. “Balmo”, who does not have the diploma to coach in Starligue and who is covered by general manager Jérôme Chauvet on the bench, will also pass it. But in six months, he will become number 2 again, and everyone will find their place.

Who will occupy number 1 ? The first names mentioned (Tarik Hayatoune, Sébastien Leriche, Laurent Busselier) are no longer relevant. French and Spanish trails are explored. With one thing in common: knowledge of the Starligue…

Players objective… but not joker

L’Usam will surely not take a medical joker. Defender Dupuy, before leaving for Dunkirk, definitively slides into the pivot position for the return phase. The position will be reinforced for the following financial year: the arrival of a massive and promising foreigner (Polish ?) is well underway. He will be the third recruit after Pardin (Aix) and Gibelin (PSG).

Concerning the end of the contract, Acquevillo will extend. Rebichon could also come back. Not Minel, who should continue his career in D1. It also seems complicated for Gallego, while two players seem to have an exit ticket: Baznik and Sanad…

A training course, a tournament and internationals

PROGRAM After two weeks of vacation, the Usamists met last Friday for a medical update, while the staff met in their side. Monday, it was CrossFit (physical) in the morning and handball in the afternoon at Parnasse.

A course and a tournament are on the menu for winter preparation. Three days of work à Pierrelatte (Drôme) with, at the end, a friendly match against à Valencia (D2), January 19 à 20 hours. Then, on the 25th and 26th, meet à Saint-Etienne for the “Hand élite 42” with Usam-Aix and Montpellier-Dijon in the semi-final on Thursday, and small final or final on Friday.

The competition will resume Saturday February 3 or Sunday February 4 at Paris, against PSG, in the quarter-final of the Coupe de France. And the championship Thursday February 8 (8:30 p.m.) at Cesson-Rennes. The month of January will pass without Sanad or Abdelhak, who will play the African Cup of Nations with Egypt at home. home, from 19 to 29. No Usamist, however, à the Euro in Germany.

Finally, at the start of this new year, Thibault Le Bourhis (goalkeeper), Tom Mirt (left winger) and Reyhan Zuzo (center half) participated in the game. oacute; &agrav; a friendly tournament in Spain with the France U21 team.

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