Ludovic Magnin
Magnin lining up for Switzerland in 2006
Personal information
Full name Ludovic Magnin[1]
Date of birth (1979-04-20) 20 April 1979 (age 44)
Place of birth Lausanne, Switzerland
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Lausanne-Sport (manager)
Youth career
1987–1996 FC Echallens
1996–1997 Lausanne-Sports
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2000 Yverdon Sport 96 (2)
2000–2002 Lugano 47 (0)
2002–2005 Werder Bremen 45 (4)
2005–2009 VfB Stuttgart 103 (2)
2010–2012 FC Zürich 56 (1)
Total 347 (9)
International career
2000–2010 Switzerland 62 (3)
Managerial career
2018–2020 FC Zürich
2022 Rheindorf Altach
2022– Lausanne-Sport
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ludovic Magnin (French pronunciation: [maɲɛ̃]; born 20 April 1979) is a Swiss football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Lausanne-Sport.[3] He played as a left-back for the Switzerland national team, Yverdon Sport, FC Lugano, Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart, and FC Zürich.

Club career

Youth teams

Born in Lausanne, Magnin started his career at FC Echallens, where he played until 1996. He spent one season at Lausanne Sports before joining second-tier Yverdon Sports.

Switzerland and Germany

In 1999, he made his professional debut for Yverdon Sports. In the summer of 2000, he transferred to Ticino side FC Lugano, then playing in the first-tier Axpo Super League.

In the beginning of 2002, Magnin made his biggest career move by joining Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for the transfer sum of approximately 1 million Swiss Francs. He won the double of Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with the Northern German side in 2004, but had bad luck with many injuries and played only 45 games in four years in Bremen.

In 2005, he transferred to Southern Germany, to Swabian side VfB Stuttgart. There Ludo, as he is being called by Stuttgart fans, became a first-team regular within the first season and was a key player for his team in the following 2006–07 season, when he became German champion for the second time in his career. In early 2008, he extended his contract until June 2010.[4] When his starting position in the team began to erode in the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Magnin decided to leave Stuttgart in order to keep his chances of playing for the Swiss national squad at the 2010 World Cup. Therefore, he returned to his native country in January 2010, joining FC Zürich.[5] Magnin made 103 appearances scoring two goals in four and a half years at VfB.

On 27 August 2012, Magnin announced that he had decided to end his playing career. Having suffered a back injury before the 2012–13 season, he expected to play until the end of the season, but shortly after admitted that it was impossible to remain as a player. He also mentioned that he would serve as an assistant coach of FC Zürich junior team.[6]

International career

Magnin has acquired 61 caps and scored three goals for the Switzerland national team since his debut in 2000. He has been called up to the 2008 European Football Championship, where he has inherited the captaincy due to an injury to Alexander Frei and was the vice-captain after Frei. He also participated at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2004.

Magnin was initially omitted from the Switzerland squad for the 2010 World Cup but was later called up to replace the injured Christoph Spycher.

Managerial career

FC Zürich

On 20 February 2018, Magnin was announced as the new head coach of Swiss Super League club FC Zürich, replacing Ulrich Forte.[7] His first trophy as a manager was the 2017–18 Swiss Cup, where Zürich beat Young Boys in the final on 27 May 2018.[8] He was dismissed after more than two seasons in charge after a poor start to the 2020–21 season, which saw the club bottom of the league after three matchdays.[9]

Rheindorf Altach

On 30 December 2021, Magnin became the new head coach of Austrian Football Bundesliga side Rheindorf Altach, who were bottom of the league. He signed a contract until 2023.[10] On 20 May 2022, after a crucial 2–1 win over WSG Tirol, Altach avoided relegation by finishing one point ahead of Admira Wacker Mödling.[11]

Lausanne-Sport

Three days after heeding Rheindorf Altach from relegation, Magnin was announced as the new head coach of his hometown club Lausanne-Sport, who had recently been relegated to the Swiss Challenge League.[12]

Career statistics

International

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Magnin goal.
List of international goals scored by Ludovic Magnin
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 13 February 2002 Tsirion Stadium, Limassol  Hungary 1–0 2–1 Friendly
2 8 October 2005 Wankdorfstadion, Bern  France 1–1 1–1 2006 World Cup qualifier
3 11 September 2007 Wörtherseestadion, Klagenfurt  Japan 1–0 3–4 Friendly

Managerial

As of match played 1 December 2022
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
P W D L Win %
Zürich 20 February 2018 5 October 2020 108 38 25 45 035.2
Rheindorf Altach 30 December 2021 23 May 2022 13 4 3 6 030.8
Lausanne-Sport 23 May 2022 present 19 9 3 7 047.4
Total 140 51 31 58 036.4 —

Honours

Player

Werder Bremen

VfB Stuttgart

Manager

FC Zürich

References

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Switzerland" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Ludovic Magnin" (in German). fcz.ch. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  3. ^ "FC Zürich 2016-17 UEFA Youth League squad". UEFA. 26 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Magnin stays in Stuttgart". vfb.de. 4 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Heading home". vfb.de. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  6. ^ "Ludovic Magnin beendet Profikarriere" (in German). fcz.ch. 27 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  7. ^ "FC Zurich part company with Uli Forte - Ludovic Magnin appointed new head coach of the first team". FC Zürich. 20 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  8. ^ "FC Zürich gewinnt den Cup-Final gegen YB mit 2:1". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 27 May 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Football: le FC Zurich se sépare de son entraîneur Ludovic Magnin". Le Nouvelliste (in French). 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Ludovic Magnin wird neuer Cheftrainer beim CASHPOINT SCR Altach" (Press release) (in German). Rheindorf Altach. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Europäische Fussball-Ligen - Magnin schafft mit Altach die Mission Klassenerhalt". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 20 May 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Trotz Klassenerhalt: Altach-Trainer Magnin wechselt in die Schweiz". Kurier (in German). 23 May 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.

External links

FC Lausanne-Sport – current squad
Current Swiss Super League managers
Switzerland squads
Managerial positions
Categories