"Losc and all the components of the club would like to sincerely thank Jocelyn Gourvennec for his collaboration, his commitment and his professionalism throughout this 2021-2022 season", wrote the club in a press release published on its website.

The name of Portuguese technician Paulo Fonseca (49), former coach of AS Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Porto, is mentioned by the press to succeed Gourvennec on the Lille bench.

Certainly reached the knockout stages of the Champions League (eliminated by defending champion Chelsea), Losc on the other hand missed their career in Ligue 1, finishing in a very dull 10th place for a defending champion.

The company certainly did not look very promising for the former U23 international, who arrived at the head of a team weakened by several departures but also by the drop in performance of several executives, including Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz, seems he caught up with the weight of his 36 years.

Succeeding also the charismatic Christophe Galtier, darling of the public but gone to live a new adventure in Nice, augured a challenge of the most delicate to take up, which the sequel would only confirm.

The last weeks of the season were particularly difficult for the former player, shouted down by part of the public after several poor performances.

"We are having a season that is successful for some sides, missed by others," he said two days before the end of the championship.

"We did things that I would describe as interesting and important despite everything: winning a title (the Champions Trophy, editor's note), it's not trivial, making an 8th final of the Champions League it's not is not trivial. But the classification is not in conformity, we missed our final sprint".

Gourvennec also had to manage the Hatem Ben Arfa case, with whom he had an altercation.

Shelved less than three months after his arrival, the whimsical gifted was finally fired at the end of an adventure that will have undermined the serenity of an entire group.

The Cup with Guingamp

At 50, Jocelyn Gourvennec is nonetheless a name that counts in French football.

A great traveler who passed successively through Lorient, Rennes, Nantes, Marseille, Montpellier, Bastia, Angers and Clermont... he will have obtained his finest feats of arms as a coach.

After starting out at La Roche-sur-Yon, he successively managed Guingamp (2010-2016), the Girondins de Bordeaux (2016-2018) Guingamp again (2018-19) then Lille after a year of transition spent as a consultant at Canal More.

The Breton native of Brest won the Coupe de France with Guingamp in 2014, then was a finalist in the Coupe de la Ligue in 2019, still with En-Avant, before winning the Champions Trophy with Losc at the start of the season. last season.

His Lille adventure started well...

© 2022 AFP