The former coach of the Blues, officially inducted on the bench of the first team, replaces Christian Gourcuff, sacked in early December. His short contract (six months) is more like a rescue mission than it appears to be a reconstruction project with a long-term view.
The supporters of the Canaries expected everything, Patrick Vieira, Antoine Kombouaré and even Rolland Courbis … Few had probably imagined for a single moment to see Raymond Domenech (68 years old) sitting on the bench of the Canaries, also famous seat ejectable. First because the former national coach (2004-2010) who became a sports consultant has not coached a professional team for ten years, a distant time that stirs up very bad memories, that of the disaster of the World Cup in Africa, crowned by the strike of the French players and the lamentable episode of the bus in Knysna, of which Domenech was, unwillingly, the sad and powerless symbol, before being replaced by Laurent Blanc. This sporting, moral, human and media fiasco will earn the “butcher” (his nickname when he was a player) a letter of dismissal for “serious misconduct” from the French Football Federation.
Very quickly, Raymond science was made a new virgin on the TV and radio sets (RTL, Europe 1, L’Equipe 21), sometimes rubbing up against this press that he had shouted at the end 2000s, a lean period that followed the disappointment of Berlin (2006), this World Cup final lost on penalties against the Italians, sporting peak reached by Domenech with the Blues.
A derby against Rennes from the start
His last club experience goes back a long way and it was rather a success: Domenech is the one who brought Olympique Lyonnais – his team at heart – back to Ligue 1 (it was in 1989, two years after the arrival of the president Jean-Michel Aulas). After this 5-year parenthesis, punctuated by a few participations in European cups, his name was associated with the France Espoirs team, for which he ensured the preparation selection for eleven years, until his passage at the A.
In Nantes, after the interim provided by Patrick Collot, Domenech’s mission is quite simple: straighten the bar and remove the FCN from the danger zone. After their defeat in Lyon on December 23 (3-0), the Canaries point to a worrying 16th place, two points behind the barrage. The work of the new coach promises to be immense: his communication, so perilous with the Blues; will be one of the keys to its success, or the reason for its future failure, one more for Waldemar Kita who, at this stage, has decided to keep in place the members of the staff officiating at La Jonelière: Patrick Collot, the preparers physical Cyril Moine and Guillaume Marie and goalkeeper coach Willy Grondin.
No doubt that the opening of the winter transfer window constitutes another lever on which Domenech will want to rely to expand the workforce in order to face the second phase of the championship, with, in focus, a derby against Rennes as soon as the resumption. , January 6th.
« I am very happy and very proud to join today a mythical French club like FC Nantes. I can not wait to get to work with the staff and do everything to ensure that the club finds a place worthy of its rank Domenech said in a statement released on Saturday evening.
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