Claude Puel
Puel as Lille manager in 2006
Personal information
Full name Claude Jacques Puel[1]
Date of birth (1961-09-02) 2 September 1961 (age 62)[2]
Place of birth Castres, France[2]
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1970–1977 Castres
1977–1979 Monaco
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1996 Monaco 488 (4)
Managerial career
1999–2001 Monaco
2002–2008 Lille
2008–2011 Lyon
2012–2016 Nice
2016–2017 Southampton
2017–2019 Leicester City
2019–2021 Saint-Étienne
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Claude Jacques Puel (French pronunciation: [klod pɥɛl]; born 2 September 1961) is a French football manager and former player. He spent his entire playing career with Monaco, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his first full season in charge. He has also managed Lille, Lyon, Nice and Saint-Étienne in Ligue 1, and Southampton and Leicester City in England's Premier League.

Playing career

Puel started his football career as a youth with Castres FC, where he was spotted by AS Monaco, joining their training centre in 1977. He played his first professional game in the 1979–80 season. He spent his entire career at Monaco, playing 601 official matches in total. During his time at Monaco, he won two championships and three French Cups.[3] He also played under compatriot Arsène Wenger who jovially recalled being on the wrong end of a sliding tackle saying "Even on the morning of a Cup final he could tackle and even if it was the manager then no problem!".[4]

Managerial career

Monaco

Before being appointed as the manager of Monaco, he was the physical trainer and manager of Monaco's reserve team. He was appointed as the manager in January 1999. He won the French Championship in 2000, with players such as Ludovic Giuly and Marcelo Gallardo.[5]

Lille

Lille were one of the winners of the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, having defeated U.D. Leiria of Portugal 2–0 in extra time in the final after a goalless aggregate draw.[6]

Lyon

Puel joined Olympique Lyonnais, the team who had won the last seven French league titles, on a four-year contract on 18 June 2008.[7] In 2010, he helped the club reach the semi-final of the Champions League for the first time in its history. In his final game in charge in May 2011, he defeated his former club Monaco and ended their 34-year spell in the top flight.[8] Lyon terminated his contract on 20 June 2011, although he had just finished third, as he had not won a trophy in his three seasons.[9]

Nice

On 23 May 2012, Puel reached agreement on a three-year deal with OGC Nice.[10]

Southampton

On 30 June 2016, Puel was appointed the manager of Southampton on a three-year deal.[11] On 14 June 2017, Puel's contract was "terminated with immediate effect".[12][13][14] His sacking yielded mixed reactions. In his only season in charge, Southampton reached the League Cup final and recorded an 8th-place finish in the Premier League, albeit with 17 fewer points than his predecessor Ronald Koeman attained the season prior. Puel was particularly criticised for his defensive tactics, with Southampton's scoring record one of the poorest in the league.[15] Sports journalist Paul Doyle called Puel "a victim of Southampton's admirably unreasonable expectations".[16]

Leicester City

On 25 October 2017, Puel was appointed as the new manager of struggling Premier League side Leicester City, replacing recently sacked Craig Shakespeare, on a contract running until June 2020.[17] His first game in charge came on 29 October, when they beat Everton 2–0 in the Premier League.[18]

From 31 January 2018 until the end of the season, Leicester recorded only three wins from 14 league games,[19] a dismal run that saw Puel accused of negative football.[20] His decision to block Riyad Mahrez's transfer to Manchester City on deadline day resulted in the player going absent from training for ten days.[21] Puel joined Leicester in 13th place and helped the club climb up the table to finish in ninth position.[22][23] After the season concluded, it was speculated that Puel would be leaving the club, though he continued as manager.[24]

Puel's decision to leave Adrien Silva out of the first team squad and make him train with the under-23s was criticized by the player's father, who accused the manager of unfairly "picking on his son".[25] A shock 2–1 FA Cup third round defeat to League Two club Newport County on 6 January 2019,[26] in which Puel was jeered by Leicester fans for fielding an understrength side,[27] was voted by BBC viewers as the biggest upset of the competition.[28] After six league games without a win,[29] Puel was sacked by Leicester on 24 February 2019, following a defeat at home to Crystal Palace the previous day.[30]

Saint-Étienne

On 4 October 2019, Puel returned to Ligue 1 when he was appointed as AS Saint-Étienne's new manager, on a contract lasting until 2022.[31] Two days later was his first match, the Derby du Rhône against his former team Lyon, and won 1–0 at home with a last-minute goal by substitute Robert Beric.[32]

Puel's team beat reigning champions Rennes in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France on 5 March 2020, to reach the final for the first time since 1982.[33] They lost that match on 24 July, by a single goal to Paris Saint-Germain.[34]

On 5 December 2021, Puel was sacked after a 5–0 loss to Rennes, with his team in last place with two wins from 17.[35]

Personal life

Puel has two sons and a daughter. Both of his sons, Paulin and Grégoire, are professional footballers and played under his command at Nice.[36]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 5 December 2021[37]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
Monaco 13 January 1999 30 June 2001 113 56 24 33 049.56
Lille 1 July 2002 17 June 2008 299 119 94 86 039.80
Lyon 18 June 2008 20 June 2011 156 76 44 36 048.72
Nice 23 May 2012 24 May 2016 169 69 38 62 040.83
Southampton 30 June 2016 14 June 2017 53 20 13 20 037.74
Leicester City 25 October 2017 24 February 2019 67 23 18 26 034.33
Saint-Étienne 4 October 2019 5 December 2021 88 26 23 39 029.55
Total 945 389 254 302 041.16

Honours

[38]

Player

Monaco

Manager

Monaco
Lille

Southampton

Saint-Étienne

See also

References

  1. ^ "Entreprise SC Lingoirlene à la Turbie (06320)" [Company SC Lingoirlene in la Turbie (06320)]. Figaro Entreprises (in French). Société du Figaro. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
    "Claude Puel". BFM Business (in French). Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Puel: Claude Puel: Manager". BDFutbol. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Claude Puel: Five things Southampton fans should know about their new manager". GiveMeSport. 30 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Arsene Wenger recalls moment he was floored by Saints boss at Monaco". Evening Standard. 9 September 2016.
  5. ^ Pepper, Chris (20 February 2017). "What happened next? Monaco's last team to win Ligue 1 in 1999/2000". Squawka. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Lille l'a fait" (in French). Eurosport. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Puel appointed Lyon manager". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Lyon's Puel relieved but 'sad for Monaco'". UEFA. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Lyon fire Puel after trophy drought". Times Live. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Accord de principe avec Claude Puel". www.ogcnice.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Puel appointed Saints' First Team Manager". Southampton FC. 30 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Club Statement: Claude Puel". Southampton FC. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Claude Puel: Southampton sack manager after one season in charge". BBC Sport. 14 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Claude Puel sacked as Southampton manager after one season in charge". Guardian. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  15. ^ Wilson, Jeremy (14 June 2017). "Claude Puel sacked by Southampton with Thomas Tuchel on list of potential replacements". Telegraph. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  16. ^ Doyle, Paul (15 June 2017). "Claude Puel a victim of Southampton's admirably unreasonable expectations". Retrieved 15 June 2017 – via The Guardian.
  17. ^ "Leicester City Confirm Claude Puel As First Team Manager". Leicester City F.C. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  18. ^ "Leicester City 2–0 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  19. ^ Steve Sutcliffe (5 May 2018), Leicester 0–2 West Ham, BBC Sport, retrieved 11 December 2018
  20. ^ Tottenham 5–4 Leicester, BBC Sport, 13 May 2018
  21. ^ Chris Bevan (10 February 2018), Manchester City 5–1 Leicester City, BBC Sport, retrieved 17 December 2018
  22. ^ "Premier League 2017/18". Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  23. ^ "How Claude Puel calmed Leicester down and carried them up the table". Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  24. ^ "Brendan Rodgers linked with unlikely Leicester City move". Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  25. ^ Adrien Silva's Father Criticises Foxes Manager Claude Puel for Poor Treatment of Son, 90min, 19 January 2019, archived from the original on 9 February 2019, retrieved 18 September 2020
  26. ^ Michael Pearlman (6 January 2019), Newport County 2-1 Leicester in FA Cup third round, BBC Sport, retrieved 10 August 2019
  27. ^ Under-pressure Leicester boss Puel has been forced to defend his team selection after his side crashed out of the FA Cup, ITV News, 7 January 2019, retrieved 10 August 2019
  28. ^ FA Cup third round: Which result was voted the biggest shock?, BBC Sport, 7 January 2019, retrieved 10 August 2019
  29. ^ Adam Bate (24 February 2019), Claude Puel sacked by Leicester: Five reasons why it went wrong, Sky Sports
  30. ^ "Claude Puel sacked by Leicester after 16 months in charge". Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  31. ^ "Ligue 1 : Claude Puel officiellement nommé entraîneur et manager général de Saint-Étienne". L'Équipe (in French).
  32. ^ White, Adam; Devin, Eric (7 October 2019). "Claude Puel joins St Étienne and immediately turns up heat on Lyon". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  33. ^ "Boudebouz, Puel, Stephan… Les principales réactions après Saint-Etienne – Rennes (2-1)" [Boudebouz, Puel, Stephan… The main reactions after Saint-Etienne – Rennes (2-1)] (in French). Football 365. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  34. ^ "Perrin didn't intend to hurt Mbappe – Puel". beIN Sports. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  35. ^ Abbott, Matt (5 December 2021). "Former Leicester City manager sacked with club rock bottom after 5-0 hammering". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  36. ^ Clayton, Mark (25 October 2017). "Who is Claude Puel? All you need to know about man set to be City's next boss". Leicester Mercury.
  37. ^ "Claude Puel career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  38. ^ "C. Puel: Trophies". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  39. ^ "Mbappé suffers ankle injury as PSG beat 10-man Saint-Étienne to lift French Cup". The Guardian. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
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