Toulouse has put "an end to the professional group coach contract" to Alain Casanova, announced the club in a statement released Thursday. Until further notice, the group will be coached by Denis Zanko, current technical director of the Toulouse club training center, it was added.
This dismissal comes after the defeat at home against Bordeaux in the derby of the Garonne (3-1) and while the club occupies the 18th place in the championship, very far from the ambitions of the leaders. At the head of the Toulouse team, Alain Casanova led 47 games but had only 10 wins.
The 3rd Ligue 1 coach thanked since the beginning of the season
"The club thanks Alain Casanova for his commitment and professionalism during all his years at the club," writes the TFC in its statement. Alain Casanova returned to the TFC at the start of the 2018-2019 season after being the first coach of the era of President Olivier Sadran to be fired on March 16, 2015 after a 1-0 loss to Lens. Previously, President Sadran, who took the Rennes club of Toulouse in 2002, had never dismissed a coach.
Alain Casanova is the third Ligue 1 coach to lose his position this season because of the results, after Sylvinho in Lyon, and Ghislain Printant in Saint-Etienne. To replace it, the name of Frédéric Hantz has already been whispered for several days. After the first start of Casanova, Dominique Arribagé had followed on the bench, but was dismissed after a defeat in Rennes (2-1) a little less than a year later and replaced by Pascal Dupraz author of the famous remontada.
On January 20, 2018, Dupraz had left his place to Mickaël Debève officially for health reasons, before Casanova arrived, called for help by Sadran. For this season, after several difficult exercises, the TFC had wanted to offer a year of recovery by investing in recruitment, including with Wesley Said, his most expensive transfer in its history for a sum between 7.5 and 8 million dollars. euros.