The Perrin Chronicles: Part III

By: Inara | May 30th, 2008

I’m not a fan of Alain Perrin, but I’m starting to think he’s getting the raw end of the deal.

Here’s a guy who finished the year with 79 points, who led Lyon to their first ever domestic double, who – after an admittedly bad start to the Champions League – resurrected Lyon’s European campaign admirably well, who helmed Lyon during one of the worst injury crises in their history, who put up with the overbearing pair of Jean-Michel Aulas and Bernard Lacombe, who takes crap from everybody, and who, despite all this, remained discrete and never once mouthed off in the press.

And yet by next week, he may end up as the first Lyon manager to be sacked in nearly 20 years.

Gee, that almost makes Real Madrid, Inter, and Chelsea look like reasonable clubs.

This exact poster is currently hanging above Perrin’s desk.

So what went wrong with our boy Alain (affection ally known by the players as PPH – Passera pas l’hiver)?

Statistically, he’s done a great job as coach. Lyon ended the season with only two less points than they did last year, they have never scored so many goals before, they won a couple of trophies, and it’s the first time in years that a Lyon player ended as Ligue 1’s top scorer.

Results are not Perrin’s problem. It’s his personality. Or lack thereof. He doesn’t have the kind of strong temperament that makes his players – and his opponents – respect him. It’s a given that to be a coach of a club like Lyon, who are striving to push Marseille and PSG off the map in terms of popularity and who are trying to attract a better breed (read: foreign) players, you need a manager who has enough charisma to draw you in. Take a look at Avram Grant at Chelsea – he was fired just because his name is not Jose.

Aulas, who isn’t known for his diplomacy, went so far as to say this, right after Lyon won their title:

“To be a coach of a club like Lyon, you have to win trophies – that is obvious. But it’s also good to get on with your major players and show you have the ability to progress.”

Ouch. But it’s true. Perrin isn’t on the best of terms with most of Lyon’s staff (besides his assistant, Christophe Galtier). Throughout the season, there have been reports on showdowns between Perrin and Robert Duverne, Joel Bats, Remi Garde, and even Doc Amprino!

And let’s not get into Perrin’s relationship with Aulas and Lacombe. Let’s just say that “cordial” would be pushing it. If you watch videos of Lyon celebrating the title, you’ll notice that while Aulas was carousing in the locker room with the players, Perrin was notably absent. It was Aulas’s name that the players chanted. It was Lacombe they pushed under the showers and doused with champagne. Perrin was just…milling around.

Frustrated, buddy?

Perrin’s absence in transfers is also noticeable. His name hasn’t been linked at all with the incoming players, be it Ederson, Miralem Pjanic, or Hugo Lloris. Lloris actually said in his interview that he hadn’t had any contact with Perrin but with other members of Lyon’s staff. Granted, Lyon managers don’t have much say in transfers, but they are permitted opinions. We all knew who Houllier wanted, even if he didn’t get them. But Perrin doesn’t bother at all, as if he knows his opinion doesn’t matter.

He has also at one point or another pissed off several of the senior players. It’s interesting to note that unlike last season, when Juninho came to the defense of Gerard Houllier, he has yet to do so for Perrin. Not even Karim Benzema has anything nice to say about his manager. And of course, he had a direct hand in the Hatem Ben Arfa debacle. In fact, the only player I can recall who defended Perrin was Jeremy Toulalan, but he’s so polite he would find something nice to say about Satan.

But it’s not just people skills. It’s his boldness. Or lack thereof. Lyon are at the stage in their development where their next move could either make or break them. But if they fail next year to make progress in the Champions League, they’ll be in serious trouble in terms of credibility. Lyon are always reaching a certain point in Europe before falling behind again, and that needs to stop. But the only way to pass that hurdle is having that extra spark that propels them further. A spark that Perrin doesn’t seem to possess.

So what does all this mean? Well, I wasn’t kidding when I said that Perrin may be the first Lyon manager to be sacked in nearly two decades. Aulas hates firing people (so far the only guy he fired was the manager that had been in charge when he took over in 1987). Instead, Aulas browbeats his managers into resigning. But Perrin doesn’t look like he’ll oblige Aulas. He said a few days ago that he has a contract until 2009, and he intends to honor it. So if Aulas wants a new manager, he’s going to have to fire Perrin, and that will make it a very messy affair.

Right now, Perrin, Aulas, and the players who aren’t in Euro 2008 are all in Dubai for a friendly match. The club’s stance is that they will evaluate Perrin’s situation when they return to France next week. Nothing is decided. Supposedly.

But yesterday, L’Equipe ran a headline that Aulas will fire Perrin and replace him with Claude Puel. Aulas denied that of course, but he did admit that Lacombe was in Brazil talking to Vanderlei Luxemburgo and that the profiles of Laurent Blanc and Didier Deschamps appealed to him…

Yeah, Perrin’s going to be fired.

Tomorrow, I’ll go over possible replacements.