Interim coach of Lyon since the sidelining of Fabio Grosso, Pierre Sage will lead Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday in Besançon (2:30 p.m.) to face Pontarlier (N3, 5th div.) in the 32nd final of the French Cup, still waiting to be officially appointed.
“I was simply told that the interim period would continue a little longer and that we had to ensure the resumption with the players” said Sage (44 years old), cautious in his language elements.
The official continuation of his mission is linked to negotiations on the financial conditions of Grosso’s departure which have still not been concluded.
But Sage, who initially returned to Lyon in July as director of the training center before replacing Grosso at the end of November, should at least finish the season after having concluded the year 2023 well with three consecutive victories against Toulouse (3-0), Monaco ( 1-0) and Nantes (1-0).
These matches allowed OL to escape the red zone in the league (15th) after the two defeats which followed the interim coach taking office against Lens (3-2) and Marseille (3-0). .
Since the resumption on December 31, two new assistants, Jamal Alioui, (41 years old) former Moroccan international trained at Olympique Lyonnais – without having played professionally there – and Damien Della-Santa (34 years old), have come to strengthen the management.
“There was a need to strengthen the staff independently of me. Two new people came to act on the necessary parameters, support for the collective plan in sessions and during matches (Alioui) and a little more individualized support (Della-Santa),” explained Sage, architect of their integration.
“The conditions of the interim are becoming clearer and the presence of these two new assistants will be a parameter to take into account at the end of the season,” admitted Sage, who also still has former Lyon defender Jérémy at his side Bréchet (44 years old), French champion in 2002 and 2003.
The objectives for the second half of the season to ensure maintenance in Ligue 1 were also set by the coach.
“The line remains the same. The team needs to score between 18 and 19 points, i.e. six wins and a draw, and this requires a second game richer in points than the first. The nine points accumulated before the break change nothing. We are still far from the objective and we will still have to work a lot to achieve it,” he insisted.
Sage will also have to combine the entry into the Coupe de France and the resumption of the championship with news linked to the transfer window in January.
“The primary desire is to strengthen the team to have more resources and variety in our game while leaving the players in a state of confidence in their position. Do not necessarily double or triple where there was satisfaction. Logics supported by the club,” he explains.
But while waiting to see the group evolve further, after the officialization on Friday of the first two recruits of January, the goalkeeper Lucas Perri and the defender Adryelson, two Brazilians from Botafogo, club of the Eagle galaxy of John Textor, owner-president of the ‘OL, Lyon must reach the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France.
And we should expect to see the best Lyon team of the moment against Pontarlier.
“I know this club well which I have faced in the past. It’s a team that puts a lot of commitment and is well organized. It’s up to us to make the match as positive as possible for us and as quickly as possible. It’s up to us to make the match difficult for them,” concludes the technician from Jura who will therefore be on familiar ground “facing an entire region”.
Even if it means looking like “a traitor” in the eyes of Franche-Comté if OL qualifies.
