He will not have resisted the long series without success of FC Nantes current 17th and first relegation. Antoine Kombouaré is the 13th coach to be sacked this season. FC Nantes formalized this Tuesday afternoon his replacement by Pierre Aristouy, supported by Oswaldo Vizcarrondo.
In detail, no less than ten L1 formations have activated this lever. In chronological order, there was Lyon (Bosz, October 9), Auxerre (Furlan, October 11), Reims (Garcia, October 13), Montpellier (Dall'Oglio, October 17; then Pitau February 7), Troyes (Irles, November 8), Angers (Baticle, November 24; Bouhazama, 7 March), Brest (Der Zakarian), Strasbourg (Stéphan, 9 January; Le Scornet on February 13), Nice (Favre, January 9) and therefore Nantes this Tuesday, May 9. In Brest, Auxerre and Troyes, 3 technicians of the club (Grougi, Padovani and Robin) even ensured the interim before the appointment of the new coach.
😯 After the dismissal of Antoine Kombouaré, half of the coaches present at the beginning of the season in @Ligue1UberEats were dismissed from their duties. pic.twitter.com/gsJi4f3Pmo
— Prime Video Sport France (@PVSportFR) May 9, 2023
This is the record score for the French championship, tied with that of the 2015-2016 season. As in that season, ten clubs had resorted to a change of coach - Marseille, Lille, Troyes, Lyon, Montpellier, Rennes, Bastia, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Reims. Marseille (Bielsa, Michel), Montpellier (Courbis, Baills) and Troyes (Furlan, Robin) had even changed twice. During the 2004-2005 season eleven clubs (Ajaccio, Bastia, Bordeaux, Caen, Istres, Lens, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, PSG and Strasbourg) had changed coaches. Istres had even done it twice (Bazdarevic, Gravelaine).
These last months have been the scene of singular situations, as in Montpellier where three technicians succeeded each other on the bench, Dall'Oglio, Pitau, then Der Zakarian - with a certain happiness in the end, the MHSC having quietly validated its maintenance in the elite. "Ligue 1 has been particularly shaken by this anxiety of the four relegated at the end of the season (due to the passage to 18 clubs next season), said Raymond Domenech, president of Unecatef, the union of French graduate coaches, in the columns of L'Equipe last month. There was a wave of panic at the start, where clubs wanted to do something before it was too late. »
The Club would particularly like to thank Antoine Kombouaré for the maintenance obtained at the end of the 2020-2021 season, the France Cup won in 2022 and the return to the European scene of the Yellow House this season. pic.twitter.com/tBByRgMPrn
— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) May 9, 2023
The trend seems to be spreading in Europe. With 13 coaches sacked, the French championship is on par with the Premier League, where the financial stakes of a presence in the elite are even more considerable than in France.
In the 21st century there is no season without departure or change of coach in L1. The three most "stable" seasons, with only three coaches replaced over the entire year, were 2014-2015 and 2009-2010 and 2005-2006.