It’s obviously a time to put a technician out. In the space of five days, four clubs have changed coaches, or laid off their current coach: unheard of in Ligue 1. With a special season in more ways than one (four runs, Winter World Cup) , the clubs seem less hesitant to blow their first fuse, and this after only ten days. Peter Bosz in Lyon, Jean-Marc Furlan in Auxerre, Michel Der Zakarian in Brest, and Thursday October 13, Oscar Garcia in Reims, the waltz started at a frantic pace. And according to our consultant Eric Roy, former player and tactician of OGC Nice, it is not about to stop anytime soon.
4 – With the replacement of Bosz (Lyon), Der Zakarian (Brest), Furlan (Auxerre) and Garcia (Reims), this is the first time that 4 teams have changed coaches on the same day at the during a Ligue 1 season. The previous record was 2. Valse. pic.twitter.com/SxmWcgNn42
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) October 13, 2022
Oscar Garcia is the fourth coach sacked or dismissed in five days, does such a series surprise you?
Eric Roy: What is surprising is this domino effect. It is the number relative to the time that has elapsed. But surprised on the merits, not really. Clubs in France are already suffering from sporting instability linked to many factors. This year, there are more runs than last season with 18 clubs in 2023, it only exacerbates this instability. The championship is so homogeneous that there are practically 10-12 clubs which are affected by relegation. As soon as things start badly for a team, the easy solution is to change. With the sword of Damocles of the four descents, that the clubs are even less patient and translate their fears into repeated sackings, it is something I imagined.
Isn’t it paradoxical to have such a density in the last third of the classification, where a victory can make you gain several places, and to be so impatient?
Yes, and it is all the more true that of the four teams currently relegated, there is only one which has changed coach. But we hear that Antoine Kombouaré is in danger in Nantes, that Gérald Baticle is also in Angers… It would not be to have a point or two more that would change the situation. In Reims, we talk about personal problems for Garcia, there is the unforgivable gesture of Jean-Marc Furlan in Auxerre, but don’t we give ourselves as good a conscience to find the right reasons to change? And it seems obvious to me that we are not going to stop there. On arrival there may be between six and eight clubs that will change.
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Is there a good time to change trainers?
From time to time, the psychological shock can come into play and be a solution. For him to play, the club, the whole institution must do the right analysis to find out if there was a fracture between the coach and his group. And it’s not always easy to determine. We do not know the environment from the inside, but it is often for a crisis of results. And the four clubs that changed coaches haven’t won any of their last five games. The only “exception” is Lyon, whose fear is not of going down, but of not being at the top of the rankings.
For clubs, is it better to decide after ten days but with a series of matches to revive, or to be patient and take advantage of the World Cup period to have time to work behind the scenes?
When you are a coach, you do a year-round plan on work, especially athletic. This season, the planning is quite simple: a classic first part then a second with a big cut that gives you time to redo your preparation. I think a lot of clubs have in mind this option of waiting for the break to change, like Nice where Lucien Favre was in difficulty. On the other hand, every game that passes is lost points. You might as well have four to five games to play for a new coach in order to get a clearer idea of his team and make it work as he sees fit. Then you have the time of the truce and the transfer window to adapt your workforce. There is no right and wrong option. Only the result tells you that.
How complicated is it to find replacements, coaches available at this time of the season?
There are a few free technicians today capable of performing well: Jocelyn Gourvennec, Christophe Pélissier, Sabri Lamouchi… The temptation of foreign coaches exists, but the more involved you are in your championship, the less time you have to react and that is more difficult with the language barrier and the assimilation time of the French championship. When you change, it’s to have an immediate impact. What would be fun would be for coaches who have just been fired to be taken on by a club that is changing coaches. Conversely, not sure that a club will seek Peter Bosz and Oscar Garcia.