With the dismissal of Lucien Favre at Nice, preceded only by a few hours by the suspension of Julien Stephan, the coach of Strasbourg, the Ligue 1 has now nine coaches dismissed since the beginning of the season.
Didier Digard, new coach of Nice
Nice was eliminated this Sunday in the round of 32 of the French Cup by Le Puy, a National team. And the day after this bitter defeat, on January 9, his coach, the Swiss Lucien Favre, was forced to leave his post as coach. His assistant Christophe Moulin was also dismissed. Both were under contract until 2024.
This decision takes effect immediately and it is therefore Didier Digard, former midfielder and captain of the club, who will be on the bench in Nice on Wednesday for the reception of Montpellier in Ligue 1.
He will be assisted in the staff by Frederic Gioria, another historical figure of the Côte d'Azur club, and by the goalkeeper coach Nicolas Dehon, two technicians who were part of Favre's staff.
The announcement of the Swiss coach's departure comes a few weeks after the arrival at the club of Florent Ghisolfi, former sporting director of Lens. Next month, Paris SG's deputy general manager Jean-Claude Blanc will take up his position as executive director of the Ineos Sport group, which owns OGC Nice.Julien Stephan dismissed from Strasbourg
Strasbourg coach Julien Stephan has been "dismissed as a precautionary measure," the Alsatian club announced on January 9, currently 19th in Ligue 1 and eliminated from the French Cup on Friday, January 6.
For his first season at the head of the team, the 42-year-old coach led Racing to an excellent 6th place in the championship last year. But the current season is a long descent into hell for the Alsatians, penultimate with only one victory in 17 games.
Strasbourg was also eliminated on Friday January 6 in the French Cup at home by Angers, in a penalty shootout.
The interim head of the team will be ensured "until further notice" by Julien Stephan's assistant, Mathieu Le Scornet (39).
Ironically, for the only success of Racing this season in the championship, in Angers in early October, it was the latter who replaced Julien Stephan on the bench, then affected by the Covid-19.
Strasbourg sees two difficult matches coming up, with the reception of Lens (2nd) on Wednesday and a trip to Lyon (8th) on Saturday.
Julien Stephan had previously coached Rennes, from December 2018 to March 2021. He had left the Breton club on his own after a series of poor results. He won the French Cup in 2019 with Stade Rennais.
