FC Lorient will be looking for a new tactician after announcing on Sunday the departure of their coach Christophe Pélissier.
Lorient announced Sunday the departure of its coach Christophe Pélissier, who had obtained the rise in Ligue 1 in 2020 but has struggled to snatch maintenance for the past two seasons.
In a statement, the club said the new manager would be announced on Monday. According to a source close to the club, it could be Régis Le Bris, current head of training.
Under contract until 2024, Pélissier wanted to stay and seemed to have been confirmed a month ago. But the president of the club, Loïc Féry, had demanded in a press release “a more serene and more efficient next season”.
While next season must end with four relegations in L2 to allow the transition to 18 clubs, Lorient would like to save itself the horrors of the last two seasons.
At the bottom of the hole at the start of January 2021, the Merlus grabbed 16th place last year and maintained it thanks to a spectacular rebound during the home matches of the second leg.
This season, Lorient has floated, regularly lacking inspiration, and only owed its salvation to the poor form of its direct competitors. Once again 16th, the Merlus finished worst attack in the championship with 35 goals (against 50 last year), tied with Metz.
On several occasions during the two seasons, Féry stepped up to support Pélissier, but while the coach complained during the season about the quality and quantity of his squad, the president insisted on recalling at the end of May that the club had the 12th budget of L1 and had invested 37 million euros in transfers for two years.
Sunday, Féry greeted Pélissier “a hard worker who knows how to lead men, without ever abdicating” and assured that his departure took place “in exchange and mutual respect”.
In the club’s press release, the ex-coach expressed his pride for the rise and maintenance in L1 and considered that in the world of professional football, these three years at the head of the team corresponded to “a long cycle” .
In his place, Lorient is preparing to appoint Régis Le Bris, 46, who has just validated his professional coaching certificate (BEPF).
This former full-back trained in Rennes spent two years in L1 at Rennes then three in L2 at Laval before moving on to training. After eight years in Rennes, since 2012 he has been in charge of the Merlus training center and since 2015 coach of the reserve team.
Amateur of an attractive game, he carried the team to the gates of the National, since it finished 2nd in its group of N2 (4th division) this season, the best ranking among the reserves of L1.
