LYON: Olympique Lyonnais have sacked coach Pierre Sage, the French Ligue 1 club announced on Tuesday, after a winless run of five matches across all competitions.

Lyon are sixth in the French top-flight after managing just one win in their last five league games. They were also knocked out of the French Cup following a defeat by French fifth-tier club Bourgoin-Jallieu in the round-of-32.

Frenchman Sage, 45, was hired on a interim basis in November 2023 before being rewarded with a new contract until June 2026 after he guided the club to Europa League qualification last season.

“Olympique Lyonnais has been compelled to suspend coach Pierre Sage and staff members Jamal Alioui, Rui Lemos, Denis Valour and Remy Vercoutre, pending a decision in the next few days,” Lyon said in a statement.

“This sporting decision, made in the current context of the 2024-2025 season, does not call into question the tremendous work carried out at the beginning of 2024, for which Olympique Lyonnais will always be grateful to Pierre Sage and his team.”

Meanwhile, Lyon’s owner John Textor told AFP on Tuesday that former AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca will take over as coach of Ligue 1 side.

“Barring the unexpected, yes, Paulo is going to be our next coach,” said Textor. “He has a little bit of work to tie things up with his former club. That’s happening very quickly. We expect to see him there this week. We expect to announce him this week as our new coach.”

Fonseca, 51, has been out of work since leaving AC Milan in December after only joining the club in the close season.

“I think right now, we need some structure. We need some foundation. We need some discipline,” said businessman Textor.

“And that’s why I think experience matters in this case, and I think Paulo has it, not only in other leagues, but in this league,” he added.

Lyon next face Bulgarians Ludogorets in the Europa League on Thursday, before they travel to Ligue 1 top-four rivals Marseille on Sunday.

And Textor expects Fonseca will be on hand to watch those matches from the stands before taking over the reins.

“I can tell you, he’ll at least be in the stadium,” said Textor. “He will have met the team by then. We like to think we can get him on the sideline.”

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2025