Olympique Lyonnais owner John Textor has said that he regrets not sacking Laurent Blanc earlier and believes that his decision to allow the Frenchman to oversee the opening gameweeks of the Ligue 1 season explains Les Gones’ start-of-season struggles.
Textor was speaking after Lyon’s latest loss. Sunday’s defeat to Clermont Foot, who went into the ninth gameweek of the season bottom, sends Lyon to the foot of the table. Les Gones are the only team yet to register a victory in France’s top-flight so far this season, whilst they also have the second-worst defence in the division.
There was talk of Blanc’s departure even before the start of the season. The Frenchman took over from Peter Bosz in October 2022, before Textor took control of the club, and finished the season relatively strongly. However, his side struggled in pre-season, and Blanc even joked that he wouldn’t be in the dugout for Lyon come the first game of the season. Whilst Blanc did oversee the start of Lyon’s Ligue 1 campaign, he didn’t last long, getting the sack in early September. He was replaced by Fabio Grosso, who has not overseen an improvement in results.
Speaking in the mixed zone after Lyon’s defeat to Clermont, Textor brushed off the “nonsense” notions of Lyon being at risk of relegation. He also took the blame for Lyon’s poor start to the season and notably admitted that he regretted not sacking Blanc earlier.
“The work wasn’t there in the pre-season. I made a mistake. I should have made a decision in the summer. I should have made a decision after our Belgian team Molenbeek, which was half-constructed, ended up beating us in the pre-season. That should have never happened,” began Textor.
The American owner added, “If anyone wants to talk about the slow start, and who is responsible, I’m responsible for that. I should have acted sooner.”
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
