Lille OSC - Managerial History

Managerial History

Former coaches include Georges Heylens (1984–1989), a former Belgian international player, Jacques Santini (1989–92), who managed France between 2002 and 2004, Bruno Metsu (1992–93), who managed Senegal in the 2002 World Cup, Pierre Mankowski (1993–1994), who was formerly the assistant coach of the French national team and Vahid Halilhodžić (1998–2002), who can be credited with the club's revival in the late nineties. The current coach, Rudi Garcia, who played for Lille from 1980–1988, replaced Claude Puel at the beginning of the 2008 season. Puel had been with Lille since 2002. Thanks to his successes with the club, Puel had been approached by Portuguese club Porto to replace José Mourinho and league rivals Lyon to replace Alain Perrin; he finally decided to join Lyon after six seasons at the club.