Appointed coach of Lyon to replace Laurent Blanc, the Italian Fabio Grosso enjoys a positive image at OL as a former French and world champion player, who will nevertheless still have to prove himself on the bench to turn around a moribund team, last in Ligue 1. In a club which is sinking week after week into a governance crisis with a shareholder war between the former owner Jean-Michel Aulas and the new one, the American John Textor, and sporting (1 draw , 3 defeats), this nomination is the new episode of an incredible soap opera.
It began on May 5 with the dismissal of Aulas from his position as executive president and continued with the decision of the DNCG to restrict the club’s recruitment conditions at the beginning of the summer. What followed: a catastrophic start to the season, punctuated by a home rout against Paris Saint-Germain (4-1) on September 3, before Blanc’s departure was made official a week later.
After that, the names of several European technicians filtered into the media, from Habib Beye (Red Star) to Olivier Glasner (ex Eintracht Frankfurt) via the Briton passed by Chelsea Graham Potter, the Spaniard Julien Lopetegui or the former of PSG Christophe Galtier. Some were reportedly proposed by agent Jorge Mendes. The latter notably managed the transfer to PSG of the nugget Bradley Barcola, trained at OL.
Double
The last track mentioned was that of another Italian, Gennaro Gattuso. But the profile of the former AC Milan midfielder, who has known seven clubs in ten years, may have seemed inappropriate for a club looking for new stability. Because Fabio Grosso, 45, will already become Lyon’s fifth coach since June 2019 and the departure of Bruno Genesio. Never seen before at OL.
He nevertheless has the advantage of having been a former left-back defender of Olympique Lyonnais for two seasons (2007-2009), winner of the French Cup-French Championship double in 2008 under the orders of Alain Perrin, leaving the memory of a pleasant, courteous and high-class man, speaking French fluently. Italian international (48 caps), former player of Perugia, Palermo or Inter Milan, he was world champion in 2006, something of which former president Jean-Michel Aulas was very proud at the time of his presentation to Lyon city hall.
Laborious journey
After ending his career at Juventus Turin (2009-2012), he became coach of the Primavera of the Turin club (2013-2017) before continuing with a fairly laborious career, mainly in the Italian second division (serie B). If he remains on a positive note at Frosinone (March 2021-June 2023), which he helped bring up to Serie A in the spring, caution remains in order.
He only stayed one season at Bari (July 2017-June 2018), less than a year at Hellas Verona (June 2018-May 1, 2019) and only had a brief stint at Brescia (November- December 2019, 3 matches, 3 defeats), still in the 2nd division. He had little more success at FC Sion (August 2020-March 2021), the Swiss club of the sulphurous president Christian Constantin, where he recorded 10 defeats in 25 matches.
With OL, he could take advantage of a seemingly favorable schedule to finally launch the season, including matches against Reims, Brest and Lorient between now and the next international break in October. But for the moment, Lyon doesn’t scare anyone.