Lens coach was sacked after 9-1 lose to Como in UCL.
According to AFP, which spoke on Tuesday to a person with ties to the French side, Lens have sacked their coach Yannick Cahuzac, scarcely seven days after a 9-1 defeat by Como at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in the Champions League. The sports daily L’Equipe had carried the news first.
Why Lens dismissed Cahuzac
Cahuzac had been in the job for under two months. The axe fell after the heavy defeat by Como a week ago, suffered by the holders of the French Cup, and after a further 2-1 setback in Ligue 1 against Marseille on Sunday at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, the club's own ground.
“We feel like we’re in a bad way. We feel that Wednesday’s result has left its mark,” Cahuzac conceded once the Marseille game had ended.
“We’ve managed to pick ourselves up. But we’ve got quite a few gaps in the team, and we feel we’ve lost our confidence.”
A one-time captain of the club, he had stepped in during mid-September, replacing the German Dino Toppmoeller, who had unexpectedly left after only four rounds of Ligue 1 fixtures.
Cahuzac's record in charge
Over nine games at the helm, Cahuzac recorded three victories and six defeats in all competitions, leaving the side sitting 11th in the league. The key points of his short spell were:
- Three wins and six defeats in nine games in all competitions.
- 11th place in Ligue 1 after the 2-1 loss to Marseille.
- No points whatsoever in Europe, with defeats by Sporting Lisbon and Club Brugge before the Como hammering.
Most damaging of all, the coach, who is 41, collected nothing in the Champions League, and the Como result equals the largest margin of victory seen in the competition's modern era.
The president's speech
Lens president Joseph Oughourlian told Ligue 1+ on Sunday that he had instructed that the words “never again” be written across the dressing-room walls, and called the outcome “In front of our fans, here at Bollaert, this is unacceptable.”
The club, then managed by Pierre Sage, who now coaches Crystal Palace, lifted the French Cup last season and ended the league campaign in second place, with only Paris Saint-Germain above them.
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What motivated the decision?
The northern side then lost 2-1 at home to Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday, a result that strengthened the case for the move and left them 11th in the French table. Cahuzac, who once captained the club, had stepped in during mid-September, after it ended its association with Dino Toppmöller.
Across his short spell of nine matches, Cahuzac won three and lost six. Europe proved especially painful: the team collected no points at all there, going down to Sporting Lisbon, Club Brugge and Como.
Could Pierre Sage return to Lens?
French media reports suggest that the Lens board is already considering a potential reunion with their former manager, Pierre Sage. Sage successfully guided the club to a French Cup victory and a second-place Ligue 1 finish last season before leaving for Crystal Palace, where he is currently on the brink of being dismissed himself.
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