Paul Le Guen

Paul Le Guen
Personal information
Date of birth (1964-03-01) 1 March 1964
Place of birth Pencran, France
Playing position Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1989 Brest 154 (6)
1989–1991 Nantes 76 (1)
1991–1998 Paris Saint-Germain 344 (24)
Total 478 (23)
National team
1993–1995 France 17 (1)
1998 Brittany 1 (0)
Teams managed
1998–2001 Rennes
2002–2005 Lyon
2006–2007 Rangers
2007–2009 Paris Saint-Germain
2009–2010 Cameroon
2011–2015 Oman

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Paul Le Guen (French pronunciation: ​[pɔl lə ɡwɛn] or Breton pronunciation: [pawl lø ɡwɛnː]; born 1 March 1964) is a French football manager and a former player. His last role was as manager of the Oman national football team, from which he was relieved in November 2015.

Playing career

During his playing career he enjoyed successful stays with FC Nantes and PSG and won 17 caps for the French national team.

Club level

During his playing career, Le Guen played at Stade Brest for six years, Nantes Atlantique for two years, before leaving Brittany for Paris St. Germain where he played for seven years (with 478 appearances and a Cup Winners' Cup medal in 1996).

International level

At international level he played 17 times for France due to injuries and he was part of the team which lost out on a trip to the World Cup in 1994, along with Eric Cantona and David Ginola. He ended his playing career by taking part in a friendly where his home region of Brittany faced Cameroon on 21 May 1998. The match finished 1–1.

Managerial career

Le Guen had a successful managerial career in France, most notably leading Olympique Lyonnais to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles. He has also managed Stade Rennais, Paris Saint-Germain, Glasgow Rangers and the Cameroon national team. In July, 2016, he was to be named manager of the Nigeria national team, but didn't agree to the contract terms.

Rennes

During his time at Rennes between 1998 and 2001, Le Guen was noted for signing then unknown players, such as Shabani Nonda and El Hadji Diouf, who under his guidance, developed into talented footballers. He resigned from Rennes in 2001 after a fall-out with the club's board. This led to him taking a year off from football.

Lyon

Le Guen replaced Jacques Santini as manager of Olympique Lyonnais in 2002 after they captured their first league title. Le Guen experienced a grim start to his managerial career at Lyon, winning only 3 games of the first 9, but eventually took Lyon to a further three consecutive championships and reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-final. He resigned from his position at Lyon on 9 May 2005, the day after the club won their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 championship. He was replaced by Gérard Houllier.

After leaving the club, Le Guen embarked upon another year away from football management. During this time he turned down management positions at several top European clubs including Benfica and Lazio and also stated that he would not return to manage his former club PSG.[1]

Rangers

On 11 March 2006, it was confirmed that Paul Le Guen had agreed to replace Alex McLeish as manager of Rangers starting in the 2006–07 season.[2] Le Guen signed a three-year contract[3][4] with the option to extend his stay at Ibrox,[1] and quickly acquired a number of players.

However, Le Guen made a poor start to his Ibrox career. His record across his first ten league games was the worst start to a season by an Old Firm debutant since John Greig's team won only two, drew six and lost two of their opening ten games in 1978–79.[5]

On 8 November, Rangers were knocked out of the Scottish League Cup at the quarter-final stage by First Division side St Johnstone. The result, the first time Rangers had been knocked out of a cup tournament by a lower league side at home,[6][7] prompted protests outside Ibrox and demands for the situation to improve.

On 1 January 2007, Rangers announced that Le Guen had stripped Barry Ferguson of his captaincy of the club and dropped him from the squad for a match the following day. BBC Sport reported that Ferguson would not play for Rangers again under Le Guen.[8]

Murray announced on 4 January 2007 that Paul Le Guen had left Rangers by mutual consent.[9] This made him the club's shortest-serving manager, and the only one to leave the club without completing a full season in charge.

Le Guen's European record with Rangers has been described as being 'excellent' after remaining unbeaten in the UEFA Cup and finishing at the top of their group.[10][11] Although it was the poor domestic results that ultimately led to his departure.[10]

Paris Saint Germain

Le Guen in 2008

It was announced on 15 January 2007 that Le Guen would return to the club he once skippered as a player as first team coach replacing Guy Lacombe at Paris Saint Germain. When he arrived, PSG were lying 17th in Ligue 1 but he led them to safety in his first season finishing 15th.[12] As the 2007–08 season in Ligue 1 unfolded, it was clear that Le Guen was getting inconsistent performances from the crop of players, as the club was in the relegation zone with four games in the league season remaining, while winning the Coupe de la Ligue and qualifying for the final of the Coupe de France. Winning the Coupe de la Ligue guaranteed PSG a place in the UEFA Cup for the 2008–09 season. PSG announced in May 2009 that Paul Le Guen would not be offered a new contract and would leave at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Cameroon national football team

Le Guen was named Cameroon national football team manager in July 2009, signing a five-month contract.[13] He made an immediate impact by leading the team to qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.[14] He also stripped veteran defender Rigobert Song of the captaincy and appointed Samuel Eto'o as the new captain. Both players responded well to the change with Eto'o getting goals, and Song winning back his starting spot as the Lions qualified for the finals. However Cameroon were the first team officially knocked out of the 2010 World Cup. He announced his resignation on 24 June 2010.[15]

Oman national football team

Towards the end of the 2010–11 season, Le Guen claimed he had received job offers from several Ligue 1 clubs that were seeking new candidates to fill the remaining vacancies, but he turned them all down. He eventually accepted an offer from Oman national football team on 11 June 2011.[16] He led Oman to qualification for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, where they were to be absent in 2011. Oman were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament with one win and two losses. He was sacked on 19 November 2015 after a poor start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.

Honours

Club

Managerial statistics

As of 18 July 2016
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Rennes France 1998 2001 121 53 22 46 43.80
Lyon France 1 July 2002 1 June 2005 155 84 43 28 54.19
Rangers Scotland 9 May 2006 4 January 2007 31 16 8 7 51.61
Paris Saint-Germain France 15 January 2007 1 June 2009 110 53 24 33 48.18
Cameroon Cameroon 1 July 2009 24 June 2010 19 7 5 7 36.84
Oman Oman 27 June 2011 19 November 2015 83 32 26 25 38.55
Total 519 245 128 146 47.21

References

  1. 1 2 Darren Tulett (21 May 2006). "Le Guen's insight and analysis a real Plus for French TV". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 2006-09-22. (See "Life and Times of Le Guen": 2005-6)
  2. ↑ Murray’s moonbeam vision doomed to destruction right from the outset, The Times, 1 August 2007
  3. ↑ "Rangers name Le Guen as manager". BBC News Online. 11 March 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-22.
  4. ↑ Alan Campbell (12 March 2006). "Le Guen is new Rangers manager". Sunday Herald. Archived from the original on 15 March 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-22.
  5. ↑ Andrew Smith (15 October 2006). "Rangers faithful question whether Le Guen is tackling the problem". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
  6. ↑ Colin Duncan (9 November 2006). "A Disaster Waiting To Happen". Daily Record. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  7. ↑ Matthew Lindsay (9 November 2006). "Nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide for Le Guen". The Evening Times. Archived from the original on 14 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  8. ↑ "Gers strip Ferguson of captaincy". BBC Sport. 1 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  9. ↑ "Le Guen and Rangers part company". BBC Sport website. 4 January 2007.
  10. 1 2 "Smith hoping to continue Euro form". Metro. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  11. ↑ "Ferguson wants more from Rangers". BBC. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  12. ↑ "Le Guen returns to coach at PSG". BBC Sport. 15 January 2007.
  13. ↑ "Le portail du Cameroun|Cameroon Portal". Cameroun Link. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  14. ↑ "Indomitable Lions roar through to record sixth finals". ESPN. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  15. ↑ "2010 World Cup profile: Cameroon". Sports Illustrated. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  16. ↑ "Le Guen named as new Oman coach". FIFA official. 11 June 2011.
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