Written by: AFP
French champions Lyon are set to name former Portsmouth coach Alain Perrin, seen here in 2006, as their new manager replacing Gerard Houllier.
PARIS (AFP) - French champions Lyon are set to name former Portsmouth coach Alain Perrin as their new manager replacing Gerard Houllier.
The paper said that Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas would meet with 50-year-old Perrin on Monday and that an announcement was expected.
"We have already spoken about how we could proceed but I don't know exactly what will be discussed in the meeting.
"There is nothing to stop me from thinking that Mr. Aulas does not have two or three meetings of the same nature during the day," he told L'Equipe sports daily.
The Lyon job became available on Friday when former Liverpool coach Houllier resigned saying that his decision to leave has "nothing to do with people or my health."
"I'm in top form and Lyon has even rejuvenated me. I just need to take stock and I will not be going to other clubs." explained Houllier.
Houllier led Lyon to a record-breaking sixth straight league title this season, but success in the Champions League remained out of reach as they crashed out in the last 16 to AS Roma.
Perrin was coach at Marseille from 2002 to 2004 before heading to Portsmouth where he lasted only eight months before being sacked over poor results.
He returned to France with unfashionable Sochaux at the start of this season and enjoyed success earlier this month as the side from eastern France won the French Cup defeating Marseille in the final.
He says he is now ready to face a new challenge.
"Before going to Marseille, I didn't know if I was up to being in charge of such a high pressure club. Today, I feel I am ready for the challenge."
Perrin's current boss and chairman of Sochaux, Jean-Claude Plessis will not stop him joining Lyon, despite the fact that he still has a year left on his contract.
"Whenever a coach leaves here they end up in Marseille, Paris or Lyon. Surely that will give someone else a desire to work here?" said Plessis referring to past coaches Jean Fernandez and Guy Lacombe.
If the L'Equipe report is correct, Perrin would become the eighth Lyon coach under current manager Jean-Michel Aulas in a bid to win the club's seventh consecutive French title next season.
Source: soccerway.com