French manager Franck Haise has revealed he’s turned down approaches from Everton, Brighton and Nottingham Forest, because he doesn’t think his English is good enough yet.
Haise is currently manager of Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais. He is highly regarded in France having risen to prominence during a historic spell at RC Lens. He’s since managed at OGC Nice and now Rennes.
His time at Lens is perhaps his most memorable, after being appointed as first team manager in February 2020.
2022/23 was when success really came as he guided them to second in Ligue 1, just a point behind champions Paris Saint-Germain.
That achievement saw them qualify for the Champions League group stages for the first time in two decades. It also earned him the prestigious 2023 Ligue 1 Manager of the Year award.
Premier League offers
He joined Nice in 2024 and guided them to the Champions League too but left in December 2025 after a difficult run.
A return to former club Stade Rennais followed in February. He immediately turned the club’s form around, guiding them to the Europa League last season.
An impressive body of work like that is hard to ignore. And he admits that he’s had offers in the past, specifically from Everton, Brighton and Nottingham Forest.
“Every time, I was the one who declined to take discussions any further because I didn’t feel ready,” he told So Foot.
“There was interest from Brighton, Everton reached out as well, and Nottingham made inquiries.”
Language barrier
The crux of the problem, for Haise at least, is that he doesn’t believe his English is good enough to get the message he wants to share across.
“Rightly or wrongly, I still feel that my level of English isn’t good enough,” he added.
“For communication, for how I’d speak to the players, the staff. I’ve almost reached a thousand-day streak on Duolingo (laughs). I mean, it’s only Duolingo, but I am making the effort. Perhaps I’ve created that barrier for myself.”
Fortunately for Everton, Brighton and Nottingham Forest, if they want to offer him a position again, he would be interested.
Haise is not willing to say that it’s his ambition to work in the Premier League. But he will say it’s an opportunity he wouldn’t say no to.
“An “ambition”, I’m not sure, but it’s an opportunity I wouldn’t say no to. Much like working with a national team, it’s just another facet of the profession,” he concluded.
