Fabio Grosso at Olympique Lyonnais, it’s (already) over. Arriving in the Rhône on September 18 to succeed Laurent Blanc, the Italian coach never managed to make his mark and lift up the Rhone club. Under his command, Les Gones only won once in seven matches and failed to climb the rankings, falling to eighteenth and last place in the standings. Worrying results…and insufficient for John Textor. The American owner of the Lyon team has decided, according to various sources (L’Équipe, RMC Sport, Foot Mercato etc.) to lay off the 46-year-old technician. He will be replaced temporarily, at least for the next match against RC Lens (Saturday, 5 p.m.), by Pierre Sage, the director of the training center.
Several names have come out in the press in recent hours to succeed Fabio Grosso. First of all, that of Bruno Génésio. The ex-Lyon player has two significant advantages, that of being free since his departure from Stade Rennais…and, above all, that of being acclaimed by part of the Rhone locker room, as revealed by Foot Mercato. Two former Marseillais, namely Jorge Sampaoli and Igor Tudor, whom David Friio, the future sporting director of Les Gones – he should officially take office this Friday – knows well having worked with them on the Canebière, were also cited. However, neither the Argentinian nor the Croatian seem interested in the position, according to La Provence and Foot Mercato respectively.
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The next few hours promise to be (still) hectic for Olympique Lyonnais. It is David Friio who should be responsible for choosing the next coach of Les Gones. He must not make a mistake to prevent his (future) club from sinking further. As a reminder, the Rhone team is bottom, with only seven points on the clock, five points behind the non-relegation leader but with one game in hand.