Roger Lemarre was sacked as coach of 1998 world champions France yesterday following their first-round exit at the World Cup finals."Roger Lemerre has been relieved of his duties as coach by the Federal Council of the FFF," Claude Simonet, president of the French Football Federation, told reporters in Lyon yesterday.
"He will remain with the National Technical Directorship (DTN) as he has an open-ended contract whereas his one as coach of the French team was limited to two years (till 2004). After paying tribute to his efforts as French coach we then told him to step down so he could take on other challenges," he added.
Simonet said the council had not discussed the reasons behind the disastrous campaign, but he did not hold that Lemerre had been hugely at fault. "I can't say that Roger Lemerre was at fault. I do not remember him committing a serious mistake and we did not analyse the reasons for the failure of the campaign. All I would say is that the luck that was with us in 1998 deserted us in 2002.
"In a business you change strategy from time to time and I cannot say that Roger Lemerre was against such a change. The conversations which we held together indicated to me that this would be a solution that would please him," Simonet added.
Simonet said a successor would be named as quickly as possible.Names being bandied around include former French international midfielder Alain Giresse, who was part of the great team of the 1980s which reached two World Cup semi-finals and won the Euro 84 trophy, and Lyon boss Jacques Santini, who guided them to their first title last term.
French under-21 coach Raymond Domenech has also been mentioned, though his strong personality may count against him, and Frenchman Philippe Troussier has also entered the frame after his successful spell in charge of Japan. Troussier, though, has joined legend Michel Platini in calling for a foreigner to be appointed to the post.
The 61-year-old Lemerre paid the price for France's first round exit at the World Cup finals, where they garnered just one point and failed to score a goal. Lemerre, who also guided France to the Euro 2000 title, had refused to resign, claiming he was not solely responsible for the woeful performance in Asia.
Lemerre had signed a new contract just prior to the finals which it is estimated could cost the FFF around a million euros. Simonet indicated there would be further discussions over the final sum paid out. "There will be more talks on that matter but I will keep my word and Roger Lemerre will receive honourable treatment," he said.
Lemerre was always fighting a losing battle to keep his job given that no previous French manager had ever survived the fallout from a disastrous international campaign.
Stefan Kovacs, Henri Michel, Michel Platini and Gerard Houllier have all been forced to leave their posts after failure to either qualify or make an impact at the World Cup or the European Championships.
