With 23 managerial appointments since Waldemar Kita bought Nantes in 2007, relegation beckons for Les Canaris
Back in the 1990s, Nantes were defined by their distinctive playing style, le jeu à la Nantaise, characterised by flair and attacking thrust. There was substance in addition to the style, with the Loire club winning a league title and reaching a Champions League semi-finals. The modern-day incarnation are not distinguished by anything that happens on the pitch, but more by the way they have been managed. La gestion à la Nantaise has consisted of the implementation of a revolving-door policy when it comes to managers and, in the words of their current boss Vahid Halilhodzic, “improvisation and incompetence at every level”. It has the eight-time Ligue 1 champions staring down the barrel of relegation to Ligue 2.
Those comments from Halilhodzic came back in 2021, two years after leaving Nantes which, incidentally, was his last gig in club management prior to his return in March. At 73, he became the oldest manager to lead a Ligue 1 side. “I’m done with football,” he said recently after a draw against Brest, and given that he had been out of work since 2022, many thought that he already was prior to his unexpected return.
Continue reading...Athletes are helping to promote a new film about the crisis, reaching people ‘in a way that scientific reports never will’
It wasn’t so long ago that UK government briefings from Downing Street were essential viewing. Professors Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance were household names in Britain and there was a roaring trade in “next slide please” mugs. Four years after the final Covid lectern was put away comes an attempt to alert the public to another emergency – the climate and nature emergency. And sport could be the secret weapon in spreading the word.
The National Emergency Briefing was held in London last November, in front of over 1,000 guests including MPs. It brought together experts from the fields of nature, climate, tipping points, weather extremes, food security, health, national security, economics and energy transition to sum up the scale of the challenge ahead and what could be done about it. A condensed version of the day was made into a 45-minute film, The People’s Emergency Briefing, which was released earlier this month, with backers including the British Ecological Society and the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
This is an extract from our newsletter, The Hotspot. To subscribe just visit this page and follow the instructions.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Mayor raises concerns about using public money to support firms ‘who act contrary to London’s values’
Sadiq Khan may oppose Scotland Yard using Palantir’s AI systems to process criminal intelligence because of his “concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values”.
The mayor of London’s office made the statement after the Guardian revealed last week that Palantir, which works for Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown and Israel’s military, has held talks with the Metropolitan police over a wide-ranging contract that could run into tens of millions of pounds.
Continue reading...Commons speaker to grant application by Tories for vote on investigation into whether PM misled MPs, say sources
Keir Starmer will face a vote on whether to launch an investigation into claims he misled the Commons over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.
Sources have told the Guardian that the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, is expected to allow a debate on Tuesday on potentially referring the prime minister to the privileges committee.
Continue reading...Moderna developed an mRNA Covid-flu combo vaccine and it’s been approved for use in the EU, “but it continues to be shelved in the US, where it was developed”.
Space Force awards 11 firms prototype deals to build orbital interceptors
The United States Space Force (USSF) has awarded eleven companies contracts to develop space-based interceptors for President Trump's Golden Dome program, in agreements worth up to $3.2 billion.…