Fabio Grosso sacked as shortest managerial reign in Lyon’s history comes to an end
Olympique Lyonnais have confirmed the departure of Fabio Grosso. The Italian manager was in charge for just seven games, making it the shortest reign of any manager in the club’s history.
Grosso took over from Laurent Blanc in mid-September with OL in 16th place and without a win since the start of the season. The Italian failed to spark a revival, and despite earning the club’s first victory of the season against Stade Rennais just before the international break, OL returned to losing ways over the weekend.
Prior to Sunday’s defeat against Lille OSC, Grosso had received the public support of the club’s owner, John Textor. However, speaking to RMC Sport, the American owner struck a less assertive tone. “We’ll see,” he said. Just days later and Grosso is gone. Having taken charge of just seven games, it is the shortest reign in the club’s history. He beat Sylvinho’s unwanted record (11 games as Lyon manager), set back in 2019.
It is also the joint-shortest reign in Ligue 1, with Guy Roux and Marcelino registering equally short stints as managers of RC Lens and Olympique de Marseille respectively.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the departures of assistants Raffaelle Longo, Francesco Vaccariello, Vittorio Carello and Mauro Carretta have also been confirmed. Pierre Sage, the head of the academy side, has taken over on an interim basis and will lead the club against Lens on Saturday. He will be aided by Jérémie Bréchet, Jean-Françoios Vulliez and Rémy Vercoutre.
Lyon will now search for Grosso’s long-term successor. According to RMC Sport, Bruno Genesio, Jorge Sampaoli and Igor Tudor are all in contention to become Les Gones’ new manager.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
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