Raymond Domenech.

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Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / SIPA

  • After a month and a half in Nantes, Raymond Domenech was fired from his coaching position.

  • With the former coach on the bench, the Canaries have not won a victory in seven games.

  • 20 Minutes

    takes stock of what didn't work for Raymond Domenech at La Jonelière.

46 days.

Raymond Domenech, who, on December 31, said he was "happy" and who shared "his pleasure" to find the football fields after ten years of absence, is no longer the coach of FC Nantes.

The management had been considering parting with it for a fortnight.

This is done while the coach is currently in isolation due to a positive and then negative test for Covid-19.

The scene that took place before his eyes on Sunday had no doubt given him an indication of his fate.

Before the kickoff of Nantes-Lille (0-2), in the locker room, he had seen the president Waldemar Kita, motivated the players one by one as could do a technician ... The successor of Christian Gourcuff will therefore not have won no game in seven games, achieving a worse ratio of points won per game (0.57) than Gourcuff (1), Cardoso (0.75) or Girard (1) and stretching the Canaries' streak to fifteen games.

Why did it not work at all for the one who was still claiming on Tuesday that he would not give up?

Explanations.

Complicated results and a game at half mast

At the end of January, Raymond Domenech had spoken of a calendar worthy of "Alpe d'Huez".

Since his arrival at the end of December, it has been mostly high mountains for the Canaries.

Out of the seven matches with Domenech on the bench, the FCN had to work against five of the current top seven in Ligue 1: Lille (1st), Monaco (4th), Rennes (5th), Lens (6th) and Metz ( 7th).

Against less upscale opponents, FCN drew (1-1) in Montpellier and Saint-Etienne (1-1).

The former coach of the Blues tried without ever finding the key tactically.

Its training never progressed in its collective expression steadily.

Sporadically, the Canaries seemed to be on the right track as in Saint-Etienne (1-1), but quickly fell back into their through the next game, leaving again and again a glimpse of a very feverish defensively and devoid of ambition. offensive

Domenech obviously cannot shoulder all the responsibility as long as he has not been helped by overwhelmed players and no longer at their level (Pallois, Louza, Girotto, Coco etc.).

A Domenech never in the shoes of the savior

On the day of his presentation, Domenech insisted on the fact that despite his short contract, he did not see himself at all as "a firefighter on duty".

The technician never wanted to put himself in the shoes of a commando leader as Sergio Conceição and Vahid Halilhodzic had done before him.

However, it was believed that his paternalistic side with the players and his calm on a daily basis could give more confidence to the players… In vain.

He was accused of a great laxity in his human management.

Its credo: to empower players as much as possible.

A possible method perhaps with Zidane, Thuram or Vieira, but much more complicated with a group lacking in leaders and in which the professional conscience of some leaves seriously to be desired.

There are many examples of player carelessness.

On the morning of Nantes-Lens, breakfast and the walk being optional for Domenech, players got up just before 11 a.m. for a match scheduled for 3 p.m.

At least twice, after defeats, the players were surprised to see their coach not lead the cleansing session.

During one of his absences, on a Monday, and while Domenech had a medical appointment, a meeting between the management and the players was even held without him.

Asked about his lack of grip, the former coach of the Blues had tried to explain clumsily: "Do not tell me that it is because there is one who arrived two minutes late for breakfast that there is a lack of authority… ”At Jonelière, the lack of a real sports director or a president (Waldemar Kita) on a daily basis has not helped to correct this lax technician.

Internal relations that are not serene

When Domenech signed, President Kita asked him if he wanted to come with a deputy.

RD had chosen Robert Duverne.

The relationship of his two men was not easy with the former staff, especially Patrick Collot (assistant) and Cyril Moine (physical trainer).

The first, who had acted between Gourcuff and Domenech, struggled to find his place.

Especially since President Kita had announced that he would take a coach… without an assistant.

Raymond Domenech is the choice of Waldemar Kita, pushed in particular by his ex-sports advisor Gilles Favard (close to the former coach).

His son Franck Kita, Deputy Managing Director, and Philippe Mao, sports coordinator, were not at all excited about this appointment.

As often at FCN Kita, the last days of the transfer window have given rise to some tensions between the president and the coach, in particular on the case of the former Rennes striker, Nelson Oliveira.

This was Domenech's priority.

Kita didn't hear it that way.

In the last hours, the former coach has challenged cases led by management (Ounas, Mendoza).

Refusals which have accentuated the already very large gap between management and Domenech.

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