OM: Jean-Louis Gasset as a firefighter on duty

Jean-Louis Gasset at OM's bedside, it's done. As was announced since Monday afternoon, the 70-year-old technician takes over from Gennaro Gattuso on the Marseille bench. It is a huge honor for me to join this legendary club that is Olympique de Marseille, he declared in a press release. I can't wait to start working with this group to prepare for the next deadlines and give the best of ourselves. »One season, three coaches for OM, Marcelino having given up his apron after only seven matches, in September, when the rag was burning with the supporters. Four including Pancho Abardonado, who had worked as a temporary worker in Amsterdam (2-2) and Paris (4-1 defeat). The current Villarreal coach himself took over from Igor Turdor, who left at the end of the previous campaign.

Former coach of AC Milan, where he experienced his finest hours as a player, Gattuso had to put the Olympians back on the right path with his banter and his volcanic personality. Appointed on September 27, he failed. 24 matches in all competitions, nine wins, eight draws and seven defeats (45 goals scored, 35 conceded). The setback in Brest on Sunday (1-0), during the 22nd day of Ligue 1, was one too many. Ninth in the standings, 23 points behind the Parisian leader and six points from the European places, the Marseillais have already taken the door in the Coupe de France, eliminated on penalties by Rennes (1-1, 8-9 tab). They remain in the running in the Europa League, having been held by Shakhtar (2-2) last Thursday, in Hamburg, in the first leg play-offs. The return is Thursday, at the Vélodrome.

This will be the first challenge for firefighter Gasset, appointed for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign. The native of Montpellier has his experience and… his availability, he who is free. And for good reason, he has just left the Ivory Coast selection. A start in the form of a thunderclap, at the end of a catastrophic group stage but which allowed the Elephants to reach the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations through a mouse hole. We know the rest: the said Elephants won the coronation under the orders of Gasset's former deputy, Emerse Faé, who has since been confirmed.

Also read: Laurent Blanc, exemption, Ivory Coast… Five things to know about Jean-Louis Gasset

After experiences in Montpellier and Caen, Istres a little later, Jean-Louis Gasset wore the role of number for a long time under Luis Fernandez (PSG, Espanyol) and Laurent Blanc (Bordeaux, French team, PSG). He then stood on his own two feet to take charge of Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux and therefore Ivory Coast, of which he had been coach since May 2022. Beyond the results, the Olympian team no longer responds to the image of the performance in Brest, 11 against 10 for a long time. The Hamburg match was not much better in terms of content, spirit, play. There is an urgent need to breathe new life into this team for Gasset, who will be in office until the end of the season in class before passing the baton to another coach, yet another.

Note that two former OM players, the Englishman Joey Barton and the Brazilian Brandao, have applied to take over from Gattuso. It remains to be seen who will be on the Marseille bench when next season resumes. It is said here and there that Christophe Galtier, currently stationed in Qatar, could be called upon. The name of Lille's Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca also comes up. Two tracks which are not new on the Canebière, where we are definitely experiencing a complicated and hectic season, on the field but also off it. Pablo Longoria is more weakened than ever... It's up to Jean-Louis Gasset to bring back some calm, if possible. He is holding his first press conference this Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the Robert Louis-Dreyfus training center.