Loading ...Aug 26 2008
Nantes Fires Der Zakarian, Likely to Hire Perrin
FC Nantes finished last season second behind Le Havre in France’s Ligue 2 but seem to have lofty expectations for return engagement in Ligue 1. At least, their owner does. That’s the best explanation as to why coach Michel Der Zakarian was fired today, only three matches into the season. Though they are not being used, there are a couple of better reasons why Der Zakarian could have been fired.
I caught Nantes’s match against Bordeaux from this weekend, one of the few Ligue 1 matches I was able to see. From that match, featuring a struggling newly promoted club against a team that finished second last season, Nantes did look over-matched, but that’s a story no different than gets replicated in every David-Goliath match-up across Europe. The problem seems to be that Nantes’s owner doesn’t see his side as a David, even after his players have shown to be one. But the fact that his players were not trying to transcend the role of underdog is one of the reasons Der Zakarian could have been fired. Nantes has only had one point in three matches even though they have had at least one winnable fixture.
The second reason: Alain Perrin. Perrin is the former coach at Olympique Lyon who led the club to last season’s Ligue 1 title. He took over early in the season and helped the team to (what in hindsight was) a strong showing in Champions League and their seventh consecutive title. Despite this resumé, Perrin was not retained as Lyon looked to Claude Puel, who had built an impressive track record with Lille. Perrin may have won the league, but Lyon came very close to capitulating late in the season to Bordeaux, and he has some other checkers in his coaching past. Still, when somebody with the recent success of Perrin is available, a team like Nantes should gauge his interest. That’s tough for whomever is the current coach, but that’s also the business in which those coaches elect to earn their living.
Perrin seems to be the heavy favorite to get the job, which would be a good hire for Nantes, but it’s not the reason the club his given for letting Der Zakarian go. They are disappointed in the coach’s performance, and prematurely so. They are only three matches, if four months, away from gaining promotion. Apparently, last season is forgotten - overshadowed. Unless Nantes had made it through the league once, through the 18 matches in which they could have given a full measure of how they stack-up against the full table, last year’s achievements should matter.
Perhaps there is something I’m missing here. Maybe there’s more than an owner’s misplaced ambition that has Der Zakarian out of a job, but that’s the only reason that adds up.
Links
Nantes sack coach after three games
Nantes split with Der Zakarian after poor start
Nantes split with coach after poor start
Off-field tragedies overshadows Nantes’ travails
Perrin back to management
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