Paul Le Guen

Infobox Football biography
playername = Paul Le Guen


fullname = Paul Le Guen
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1964|3|1
cityofbirth = Pencran
countryofbirth = France
currentclub = Paris Saint-Germain
position = Manager
years = 1982-1983
1983-1989
1989-1991
1991-1998
clubs = AS Brest
Stade Brest 29
FC Nantes Atlantique
Paris Saint-Germain
Total
caps(goals) = 000 0(0)
154 0(6)
076 0(1)
248 (16)
478 (23)
nationalyears = 1993-1995
nationalteam = France
nationalcaps(goals) = 017 0(1)
manageryears = 1998-2001
2002-2005
2006-2007
2007-
managerclubs = Stade Rennais FC
Olympique Lyonnais
Rangers
Paris Saint-Germain

Paul Le Guen (born March 1, 1964 in Pencran, Brittany) is a former French international footballer and a football manager. He is currently the manager of Paris Saint-Germain.

Le Guen had a successful managerial career in France, most notably leading Olympique Lyonnais to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles. He has also managed Rennes and had an unsuccessful brief spell at Rangers. During his playing career he enjoyed successful stays at FC Nantes and Paris St. Germain and won 17 caps for the French national team.

Playing career

Club level

During his playing career, Le Guen played at AS Brest for six years, Stade Brestois, FC Nantes 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

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 May 9, 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.cite news|author = Darren Tulett|title = Le Guen's insight and analysis a real Plus for French TV|publisher = Scotland on Sunday| date = 2006-05-21|url = http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=753162006|accessdate = 2006-09-22 (See "Life and Times of Le Guen": 2005-6)]

Rangers

On March 11 2006, it was confirmed that Paul Le Guen had agreed to replace Alex McLeish as manager of Rangers starting in 2006-2007. Rangers chairman David Murray described Le Guen's capture as "a massive moonbeam of success" for the club. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article2176234.ece Murray’s moonbeam vision doomed to destruction right from the outset] , "The Times", 1 August, 2007] Le Guen signed a 3 year contract [cite news|title = Rangers name Le Guen as manager|publisher = BBC News Online| date = 2006-03-11|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/4791030.stm|accessdate = 2006-09-22] [cite news|author = Alan Campbell|title = Le Guen is new Rangers manager|publisher = Sunday Herald| date = 2006-03-12|url = http://www.sundayherald.com/54561|accessdate = 2006-09-22] with the option to extend his stay at Ibrox, 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. [cite news|author = Andrew Smith|title = Rangers faithful question whether Le Guen is tackling the problem|publisher = The Scotsman| date = 2006-10-15|url = http://sport.scotsman.com/football.cfm?id=1527662006|accessdate = 2006-10-15]

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, [cite news|author = Colin Duncan|title = A Disaster Waiting To Happen |publisher = The Daily Record| date = 2006-11-09|url = http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=a-disaster-waiting-to-happen%26method=full%26objectid=18066498%26siteid=66633-name_page.html|accessdate = 2006-11-09] [cite news|author = Matthew Lindsay|title = Nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide for Le Guen |publisher = The Evening Times| date = 2006-11-09|url = http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/sport/6029579.html|accessdate = 2006-11-09] prompted protests outside Ibrox and demands for the situation to improve and David Murray to leave the club. [cite news|author = Keith Jackson |title = 1 Month to save your job |publisher = The Daily Record| date = 2006-11-09|url = http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=1-month-to-save-your-job%26method=full%26objectid=18066504%26siteid=66633-name_page.html|accessdate = 2006-11-09]

On January 1 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. [cite news|title = Gers strip Ferguson of captaincy |publisher = BBC Sport| date = 2007-01-01|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6223023.stm|accessdate = 2007-01-01]

Murray announced on 4 January 2007 that Paul Le Guen had left Rangers by mutual consent.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6231489.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Le Guen and Rangers part company|date=4 January 2007] This made him the club's shortest-serving manager, and the only one to leave the club without completing a full season in charge.

Later that year, sports journalist Graham Spiers published, "Paul Le Guen: Enigma" (ISBN 1845962915) documenting his tenure at the club. According to Spiers, Le Guen left the club because he was being "undermined" by other Rangers personnel, including Ferguson and then club doctor, Ian McGuinness. [ [http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/catalog/book.htm?command=Search&db=main.txt&eqisbndata=1845962915 Paul Le Guen: Enigma - A Chronicle of Trauma and Turmoil at Rangers] , Random House, ISBN 1845962915]

Paris Saint Germain

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 1st season finishing 15th. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6263353.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Le Guen returns to coach at PSG|date=15 January 2007] As the 2007-2008 season in Ligue 1 unfolds, it is clear that Le Guen gets inconsistent commitments from the current crop of players, as the club was in the relegation zone as of 20 April, with four games in the league season remaining, yet are as of that date Coupe de la Ligue champions and reside among the final in the competition for the Coupe de France. Winning the Coupe de la Ligue means that they are guaranteed a place in the UEFA Cup for the 2008-2009 season. PSG finished 16th in the 2007-2008 season.

Honours

Ligue 1 Championship: 3
* 2002, 2003, 2004

Trophée des Champions: 3
* 2002, 2003, 2004

Coupe de la Ligue: 2
* 2001, 2008

Managerial stats

References

External links

*soccerbase (manager)|id=1935|name=Paul Le Guen
* [http://www.fff.fr/servfff/historique/historique.php?id=LE%20GUEN%20Paul Profile on French federation site]
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=14866 national-football-teams]