Ex-France coach Domenech gets a clown’s welcome at Nantes

NANTES, France: Raymond Domenech’s first training session at Ligue 1 club Nantes Wednesday was marred by a band of supporters playing circus music with a ‘ringmaster’ taking aim at the former France coach and club owner Waldemar Kita, and comparing players to goats.

An onlooking Domenech, who has signed a six-month contract with Nantes for his first job since the fiasco at the 2010 World Cup, had taken a back seat to allow club trainer Cyril Moine to put the players through their paces.

But the peaceful atmosphere soon changed, with Domenech, who last coached a club side in 1993 and left his role as les Bleus boss after finishing bottom of the group and suffering a player revolt in South Africa, the clear target.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Kita Circus! The Kita Circus brings you some new amazing new acts,” boomed a member of the ‘Brigade Loire’ supporters’ club to a background of deafening circus music.

“Raymond Domenech will explain to us his vision of football, what will make us laugh on the upcoming weekends.”