History of Olympique Lyonnais

History

Beginnings

Olympique Lyonnais was established in 1896 originally as Racing Club de Lyon, which is currently known as the multisport club

By 1945, Lyon Olympique were managed by Félix Louot, who provided the leadership, determination and faith in order to create professional football in the city of Lyon. His principles helped the club win the southern pool of the final wartime championship by two points over Bordeaux. In the national final, which pitted them against Rouen, Lyon Olympique lost the match 4–0. These successes propelled the club to the first division, but also led to problems regarding the cohabitation of amateurs and professionals within Lyon Olympique Universitaire. Due to numerous disagreements, Louot and his entourage began to contemplate forming their own club.

On 3 August 1950, Louot's plan came to fruition when Olympique Lyonnais was officially founded by Dr. Albert Trillat and numerous others. Due to the split, Lyon moved into the Stade de Gerland, a stadium designed by local architect Tony Garnier. The club's first manager was Oscar Heisserer and on 26 August, played its first official match defeating CA Paris-Charenton 3–0 in front of 3,000 supporters. In 1951, the club was crowned champions of the second division, thus moving up to the first division. Lyon were relegated back to the second division after just one season, despite Heisserer coming out of retirement as a player. Lyon spent the next two seasons in Division 2 building for the future by signing players such as Åke Hjalmarsson and Erik Kuld Jensen. Eventually, during the 1953–54 season, the club achieved promotion back to the first division under the leadership of Heisserer, who departed the club after a four-year stint as manager. He was replaced by Julien Darui, who only managed the club in the first division for six months before leaving his post. Lucien Troupel replaced him.

Troupel joined the club midway through the season, where Lyon ultimately finished in 12th position. Despite the inconsistent start, Troupel developed a squad full of talent, which included savvy veterans like

Olympique Lyonnais enjoyed limited success in the 1960s, partly due to the play of strike force

The

Mignot first season was mostly timid as the club finished a modest ninth in the league and were eliminated in the round of 16 in the Coupe de France. This inconsistent season was primarily due to Di Nallo breaking his leg in just the fourth match of the season. Despite a healthy Di Nallo returning for the 1969–70 season, Lyon still suffered, finishing 15th.^[2]

The 1970s saw the arrival of Yugoslavian

Despite early positives in Jacquet's run as manager, his four-year run (1976–1980) was uneventful with the club fighting relegation in two seasons including barely surviving in Jacquet's final season. During Jacquet's tenure, Lyon changed presidents and also lost Bernard Lacombe to rivals Saint-Étienne. Midway through the 1979–80 season, Jacquet announced he was departing the club at the end of the season. He was replaced by Jean-Pierre Destrumelle, who hired former Lyon man Fleury Di Nallo as his assistant.^[3]

Destrumelle spent only one year at the club, but brought in several notable players such as Jean Tigana, Alain Moizan, Simo Nikolić and Jean-Marc Furlan. The club finished in the top half of the table and also played in front of a record crowd for the Stade Gerland with 48,852 spectators on hand for the visit of Saint-Étienne, a figure that would remain a French record for ten years. The next six years (1981–1987), the team played under three different managers, Vlatko Kovačević, Robert Herbin and Robert Nouzaret, and also were operated by numerous presidents and chairmen. By 1987, the club were playing in the second division.

Budding success

In June 1987, Rhône businessman Jean-Michel Aulas took control of the club and invested in the club with the objective of turning Lyon into an established Ligue 1 side. His ambitious plan, titled "OL – Europe", was designed to develop the club on the European level and back into the first division within a time-frame of no more than four years.

Aulas' first season (1987–88) in charge was a success as the club finished a respectable second in Groupe B of the second division only faltering in the promotion play-offs. Three different managers served under Aulas during the season. Nouzaret, who started the season, departed midway and he was replaced by Denis Papas who only lasted a few months. Former Lyon player Marcel Le Borgne took over and managed until the end of the season.

The following season, Aulas brought in 36-year-old Raymond Domenech, who was born in Lyon and played for the club during the 1970s. Domenech had previously performed well in a player-coach role as manager of Alsatian club Mulhouse. Aulas also brought back Bernard Lacombe, who, now retired, took the position of sporting director. The aspiring chairman gave both Lacombe and Domenech carte blanche to recruit whichever player they saw fit to help the team reach the first division. Domenech, in an effort to increase competition in the squad, brought in several experienced players such as the Congolese striker Eugène Kabongo and François Lemasson, but also focused on the club's youth teaming the veterans with the likes of Bruno Ngotty and Pascal Fugier. Led by 21 goals from Kabongo, the strategy and results were immediate with the club achieving promotion to Ligue 1 after a scoreless draw against Olympique Alès. Lyon were crowned champions of Ligue 2 for the third time.

Lyon's first top-flight season under Domenech saw them finish eighth in the league, safe from relegation, despite struggling early on during the season. In Domenech's second season in the first division, he completed Aulas' plan of reaching Europe finishing in fifth following a victory over Bordeaux at a sold-out Gerland on the last day of the season. Initially, the finish did not insert Lyon into the

Aulas' first choice replacement was former

The 3–1 victory assured Lyon their first-ever Ligue 1 title. It was their first French league title since the 1944–45 season. In an otherwise dormant season for the club, which had gone backwards in its European ambitions, the domestic title was considered as a bright spot. More importantly, it instilled a winning mentality among OL players, who had previously been known to buckle under pressure when it came to key moments of previous seasons. The 2001–02 winning campaign marked the beginning of what would become known among French followers as the "Lyon DNA" for the following few seasons: the ability to overcome deficits, deal blows to their opponents when it mattered the most and win tightly contested games, and a belief among the players that, on the domestic front, they could overcome any kind of adverse circumstances and rally precisely when everything appeared to play against them. This DNA was to play a crucial part in subsequent league successes of 2002–03 and 2003–04, when Lyon came from behind to win the title on each occasion.

A fortnight after the win over Lens, Santini announced that he would be departing the club to take over as manager of the

Le Guen's second season saw Lyon win their third consecutive league title for the

Domestic domination strengthens, progress in Europe

The 2004–05 season saw Lyon win their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title by a majority margin. With many of his players being linked to clubs abroad, Le Guen openly denounced the rumors keeping his core players at the club and also signing Ligue 1 starlet Eric Abidal from Lille and Sylvain Wiltord and the Brazilian defender Cris and striker Nilmar from abroad. Lyon began the season capturing their third straight Trophée des champions defeating Paris Saint-Germain on penalties and got off to a fast start in the league. By October 2004, the club had easily achieved a sizable lead that they would never give up winning the title by an amazing 12 points. By comparison, in their previous title-winning campaigns of 2002, 2003 and 2004, the club's lead over the second placed team had never exceeded three points.

In the Champions League, the club's dominance on the domestic level was finally shifting to the European level. Lyon cruised through to the knockout rounds losing only to Manchester United, and topping their group ahead of the English giants. In the knockout stages, Lyon dominated Werder Bremen 3–0 in Germany and destroyed them 7–2 at the Gerland. Going into the quarter-finals, Lyon were heavy favorites against Dutch club PSV, but were shockingly held to 1–1 draws in both legs and eventually bowed out on penalties, also penalized by a number of dubious decisions from match officials. On 9 May 2005, with Lyon favorably ahead in the league, Le Guen announced that it would be his final season at the club. He resigned, despite being offered a three-year contract extension by management.^[5] Following the season, midfielder Michael Essien was awarded the UNFP Player of the Year award becoming the first Lyon player to achieve this honor.

Just two weeks after Le Guen's announcement, on 29 May 2005, club president Jean-Michel Aulas announced that the club had reached an agreement with former national team and Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier with the latter agreeing to a two-year deal that brought him back to France club football management 17 years after he had left Paris Saint-Germain. Houllier, already equipped with a championship side, brought in strikers Fred and Norwegian John Carew and midfielders Benoît Pedretti from Marseille and Portuguese international Tiago from Chelsea to fill the void of the departed Essien, who moved to Chelsea. The Essien transfer concluded a summer-long transfer battle between the Ghanaian and the club. Houllier, a known youth developer, also increased the playing time of youth products Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Jérémy Clément. He also inserted Juninho as lead captain.

Lyon began the

The

After the season, manager Gérard Houllier's contract expired and he departed. His track record was largely positive: he had not only maintained OL's stronghold on French football, but reinforced it, leading them to record points totals (84 in 2005–06, 81 in 2006–07) and record leads over the second place team (15 and 17 points respectively). Till date, those points tallies remain the highest ever achieved by Lyon under any manager in their league history, something few fans had anticipated at the time of his departure. Houllier's main failure had been the Champions League. In spite of going within seconds of leading OL to their first ever semi-final of the competition in the 2005–06 edition, Houllier's side had ultimately succumbed to late Milan goals. 2006–07 had been even worse, with Roma humbling the France team in the round of 16, signalling Lyon's earliest European exit since the 2002–03 season.

League and Cup double amid struggles

In need of a replacement, Aulas decided to bring in former

The league season was marked by some erratic performances, disciplinary problems, and by a much less marked domination; Bordeaux emerged as serious contenders for the title and Lyon, despite maintaining first place for the entire season, struggled losing to minnows Caen, Lens, and Le Mans. Lyon were also swept by rivals Marseille, who defeated Lyon 1–2 at the Gerland and hammered them 1–3 at the Velodrome with Lyon's lone goal coming from an own goal by Lorik Cana. The club endured disciplinary issues with Ben Arfa and defender Sébastien Squillaci coming to blows in a training session, as well as the Brazilian Fred's constant undermining of the club's management, which ultimately led to his departure.

Eventually, the league was decided on the final day. In Lyon's match against Auxerre, Benzema scored a goal (his 20th that season in Ligue 1), a mere 24 seconds after kick-off, followed by goals from Fred and Kim Källstrom, securing the league for Lyon. OL finished the season with only 4 points separating them from second placed team, Laurent Blanc's Bordeaux. In fact, they owed their league success largely to the direct results between the two clubs, which had seen Lyon dominate their rivals 3–1 and 4–2. Apart from those two games, Bordeaux had managed to match the Lyonnais' level of performances in the season, something no team had been able to achieve since the 2003–04 season when Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco had finished close to Lyon.

Benzema was later awarded the UNFP Player of the Year becoming the fourth straight Lyon player to accept the honor. In the cup competitions, Lyon performed well, reaching the final eight in the Coupe de la Ligue and also winning the

Coach Alain Perrin, who had been under pressure from the very beginning of the season with the club struggling unusually in its first league games, was widely expected to lose his job. In fact, it was only his positive results that had managed to keep him in charge till the end of the season. As early as September 2007, he had been rather cruelly nicknamed "PPH: Passera Pas L'Hiver" (French for "Can't Last Beyond Winter") by sections of the French media.[7] Though the trophies won spoke in Perrin's favour, his lack of grip on his players and coaching staff (there were news of clashes involving Hatem Ben Arfa, Joël Bats and Robert Duverne) cast doubt on his ability as a manager. Furthermore, Perrin's chequered record as the manager of another big France club, Marseille, did not help his cause. Taking all those factors into account, Aulas fired him from his job at the end of the season.

With hindsight, Alain Perrin's record no longer seems as negative as it appeared at the time when the events happened. To his credit, he managed to create what was arguably the most entertaining Lyon side to have performed in the French League, in which they scored 74 times, a club record. Conversely, they also conceded more often than in previous seasons (37 goals), a logical consequence of Perrin's highly offensive 4–3–3. Perrin's credentials are further boosted by the several injuries to key players (Cris and Grégory Coupet) throughout the season and the fact that he was the first manager to place such a degree of trust in the talents of Karim Benzema, playing him as his central striker when previous coaches had often been using the attacker in wide positions. In addition, Hatem Ben Arfa, who had complained of being frozen out by Perrin, later clashed with all his subsequent coaches in France (Eric Gerets and Didier Deschamps), thereby clearing the blame which had been placed on Perrin's shoulders at the time when the conflicts were brought to the public's knowledge.

The Claude Puel years: dethroned and current state

Following the season, it was announced by Aulas that Perrin would not be returning as manager of the team, despite being the first Lyon manager to win the double. Lyon management attributed the firing to "Perrin's several malfunctions that affected the squad daily throughout the season" and their constant failure in Europe.^[8] Following an extensive search, which linked the Lyon managerial position to several managers, including former Manchester United assistant and then current Iran national team coach Carlos Queiroz,^[9] Brazilian manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo,^[10] and former France players and managers Didier Deschamps and Laurent Blanc^[11] to name a few, it was announced on 18 June 2008 that Lille manager Claude Puel would succeed Perrin.^[12]

Before Puel's arrival as manager, Aulas made several transfers, which included bringing in

In the cup competitions, Lyon were embarrassed by second division club Metz losing their opening match in the Coupe de la Ligue 1–3. In the Coupe de France, Lyon defeated Marseille in the round of 32. In the ensuing round, they suffered defeat by Lille 2–3, despite coming back from a goal down on two occasions. Lyon later lost to Lille in the league a mere three days later and, on 11 April 2009, following a draw with Monaco, lost their grip on first-place position. Lyon followed the draw by going on a three-match winless streak, which included a loss to title contenders Bordeaux and a disastrous defeat by Valenciennes, which effectively eliminated the club from title contention. Despite going undefeated in their final four matches, Lyon finished in 3rd position behind Marseille and champions Bordeaux. The finish ended an impressive streak of seven successive titles. For the first time since the 1999–2000 season, the club finished out of the top two. However, by winning 3–1 at the Vélodrome against Marseille on 17 May, they helped Bordeaux take the lead and eventually win the league, thus gaining the satisfaction of having hurt bitter rivals Marseille's chances in both the Coupe de France and Ligue 1.^[14]

The following season would bring no such domestic satisfaction as this time, Marseille did manage to win the league for the first time since 1992, with Didier Deschamps at the helm. On their way to the title, the Mediterranean club beat Lyon 2–1 in March to begin an impressive run of successes that proved to be decisive. For Lyon, the fact that the title was won by their rivals made the fall from grace experienced since 2008 under Claude Puel even more bitter. Their second-place finish with 72 points offered little consolation.

Performances in the Champions League proved to be the season's biggest satisfaction, though the Lyonnais' run ended abruptly with a 3–0 semi-final loss at the Stade de Gerland against Bayern Munich (0–4 loss on aggregate). Lyon's run in the competition included a memorable win at Liverpool in October 2009,^[15] making them the second France club to win a game at Anfield after Marseille in October 2007. The club finished second of its group behind Fiorentina and was drawn against Real Madrid for the round of 16. Despite odds being heavily stacked against them for the tie, France took a surprise lead when Jean Makoun scored a long-range effort. They held on to their lead, but were still expected to be eliminated in the second leg with the Spanish giants playing at their home ground. At the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid took an early lead through Cristiano Ronaldo and looked like they would easily get past their opponents. However, Lyon produced a resilient performance and managed to keep their deficit to one goal. In the final 15 minutes, Miralem Pjanić scored from close range to give his side a crucial away goal. The match finished 1–1 and Lyon advanced to the quarter-finals. With the win at Liverpool, the qualification over two legs against Real Madrid turned out to be the highest point of Claude Puel's stint as club manager. In the quarter-finals, Lyon eliminated fellow French side Bordeaux, winning the first leg 3–1 at home and losing the second leg in Bordeaux 0–1. This was followed by Lyon's elimination by Bayern Munich.

In the summer of 2010, Jean-Michel Aulas' marquee signing was playmaker Yoann Gourcuff from Bordeaux, following a lengthy negotiation process.^[16] Jimmy Briand also arrived on a free transfer from Rennes. Having endured a poor 2009–10 season which had culminated in a shambolic 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign in South Africa, Gourcuff was expected to revive his career in Lyon. However, he failed to perform to the expected level, seemingly unable to shake off his disappointing World Cup campaign. Another player struggling to deal with the aftermath of that World Cup was Jérémy Toulalan, who used to be one of the club's most reliable performers.

2010–11 ended up as the club's worst season since they became genuine title contenders in the early 2000s. For the first time since the French league had reverted to 20 clubs (that is, 2002–03), Lyon ended the season with less than 65 points, with 64. The previous worst had been 68 in 2002–03, a tally that had been enough for the club to win the league at the time. Only the erratic form of direct competitors Paris Saint-Germain allowed the Lyonnais to hang on to third place, qualifying them for the preliminary round of the 2011–12 Champions League. In the Champions League, Lyon again met Real Madrid in the round of 16, but failed to reproduce the upset of 2009–10. After a 1–1 draw at the Gerland, the Gônes were soundly beaten 3–0 in the Spanish capital. Progress in the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France was also unsatisfactory.

For the first time since Jean-Michel Aulas purchased the club in 1987, fans revolted against the manager in charge. Claude Puel was repeatedly attacked through banners deployed in home games that lambasted his record. During a game at Gerland against Caen in the spring of 2011, towards the end of the season, OL supporter groups produced several banners directed at Puel, including one that read, "Puel, la seule chose que t'aies gagné à Lyon c'est l'argent" ("Puel, the only thing you managed to win in Lyon was money").^[17] The banner was deployed 20 minutes before the match ended, and this was followed by thousands of fans leaving the stands. In the same match, the fans had chanted the name of Gérard Houllier, who for them was a symbol of the club in the days when it used to win games with dazzling performances. Earlier in the season, following a derby loss at home against Saint-Étienne, Aulas had to calm down fans who were asking for the manager's head.

In June 2008, Aulas had appointed Puel as an English-style manager with broader prerogatives than usually allowed for France managers. In spite of disappointing results, especially during the 2010–11 season, he kept repeating that Puel would see out his contract that ran until the summer of 2012. However, in the spring of 2011, a separation between the two parties was already looking inevitable. Puel could not see eye to eye with the fans, who perceived him as a man from the south who had ruined their club and ended its dominance on the French football scene. He suffered the ignominy of becoming the first OL manager since Bernard Lacombe to have a trophyless career on the Gerland bench. However, unlike Lacombe, Puel had arrived at the club at a time when it was the top side in France and with millions spent on transfers such as Hugo Lloris, Ederson, John Mensah, Miralem Pjanić, Lisandro López, Bafétimbi Gomis, Michel Bastos, Aly Cissokho, Dejan Lovren and Yoann Gourcuff, he had a moral duty to bring home trophies, which he failed to do.

In addition, the former Monaco manager was handicapped by his poor communication skills and his apparent lack of enthusiasm during media events. His tactics were perceived as negative and for the first time in decades, Lyon were being associated with boring football. His relationship with players was equally poor, to the point that during the 2010–11 season, no one would speak out in defence of him when he was criticized by fans or the media. Several players, including Yoann Gourcuff,^[18] hinted that their poor form could partly be explained by disagreements with the coach's tactics. Finally, Puel also took a lot of stick for his excessively physical training regimes that led to a lot of muscular injuries in the course of the 2010–11 season.

Taking into account that poor record on all counts, Jean-Michel Aulas was forced to reconsider his initial plans. On 15 June 2011, Lyon began procedures to end Puel's contract. On 20 June 2011, Puel vacated his post, but both parties are still negotiating over his severance allowance. Former Lyon and Arsenal player Rémi Garde has taken over as club manager, with the primary aim of repairing the damage done by Puel's reign.

References