Vieira hoping for lift-off after awful start with Nice

PARIS: Patrick Vieira’s appointment as coach of Nice in the close season was hailed as a great coup for the Ligue 1 side, but the former France midfielder is already facing mounting pressure after just three games.

Nice go into a tough assignment away at Lyon on Friday on the rebound following a 4-0 trouncing at home to Dijon last weekend, which left the Cote d’Azur club with just a single point to their name so far this season.

The depressing performance against Dijon, which ended with widespread whistles from home fans at the Allianz Riviera, came after Nice had lost at home to newly-promoted Reims on the opening weekend, followed by a 1-1 draw at Caen.

Vieira was appointed in July to succeed Lucien Favre after his departure for Borussia Dortmund. Now 42, he returned to France with a burgeoning reputation in management after two years in MLS with New York City FC.

While he still had everything to prove in coaching, Nice were applauded for attracting a member of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning side, one of the finest midfielders of his generation.

But early results have tempered that initial wave of enthusiasm, and — who knows — could have given his old Arsenal and France team-mate Thierry Henry reason to be cautious about accepting the Bordeaux job.

While Henry will not be returning to Ligue 1 after rejecting that offer, Vieira is bullish about the task facing him.

“You really get to see the character of your players when times are tough. It’s a great challenge. I believe in the players. We will turn things around, without any doubt,” he said after last week’s game.

This week Vieira called one journalist “cheeky” for asking him if he should be worried about his future at the club, but a trip to Lyon is harldy the ideal fixture.

In Vieira’s defence, Nice lost two outstanding players in the summer, with Ivorian Jean-Michael Seri sold to Fulham and Alassane Plea leaving for Borussia Moenchengladbach.