Nantes axe Girard

 

Nantes have confirmed they have sacked Rene Girard after just seven months in charge of the Ligue 1 strugglers.

 

Girard was made Michel Der Zakarian’s successor in May by the French side after the Canaries avoided relegation by nine points last season.

 

The 62-year-old has struggled to have any real positive impact since being made Nantes manager and leaves the club in the bottom three, one point adrift of safety.

 

“FC Nantes and Rene Girard have decided, amicably, to put an end to their collaboration, as with their deputies Nicolas Girard and Gerard Bernardet,” a statement read on their official website.

 

“FC Nantes would like to thank them for their professionalism and investment. Philippe Mao, coach of the CFA team, will be temporarily in charge of the professional team and this as soon as the Canaris moved to Guingamp on Saturday.”

 

Nantes axe Girard

 

Nantes have now failed to score in each of their last three matches and the 6-0 defeat at home to Lyon was seen as the last straw for Girard. Despite the thumping result, their games have been relatively low scoring. In fact, only SC Bastia’s league matches (27) have seen fewer goals than Nantes (33) of teams in the bottom six.

 

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