Claude Puel

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Claude Puel
Claude Puel.jpg
Personal information
Full name Claude Puel
Date of birth (1961-09-02) 2 September 1961 (age 55)
Place of birth Castres, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
Southampton (Manager)
Youth career
1970–1977 Castres
1977–1979 Monaco
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1996 Monaco 488 (4)
Teams managed
1999–2001 Monaco
2002–2008 Lille
2008–2011 Lyon
2012–2016 Nice
2016– Southampton

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Claude Puel (born 2 September 1961 in Castres) is a French football manager and former player who is the current manager of Premier League club Southampton.[1] He spent 17 years playing for AS Monaco.

Playing career[edit]

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.[citation needed]

Managerial career[edit]

Before being appointed as the manager of Monaco, he was the physical trainer and manager of the 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. In July 2001, his contract was not renewed and he left Monaco after 24 years at the club as a player and a coach.

In July 2002, he was appointed manager of Lille, where he became one of the longest serving coaches in the French League (serving for six consecutive seasons). Puel courted controversy on 20 February 2007 in a UEFA Champions League match against Manchester United in Lille.[citation needed] After Ryan Giggs scored a quickly taken free-kick late in the game, Puel was thought to be encouraging his players to walk off the pitch in protest,[citation needed] although the game eventually continued after a short delay. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson described the incident in an interview with ITV after the match as 'disgraceful' and 'intimidation of the referee'". He's a young guy so he will learn to hold it down soon. Hopefully he doesn't learn the hard way."[this quote needs a citation]

Puel joined French club Olympique Lyonnais on 18 June 2008.[2] He signed a four-year contract with the seven time French champions. He also became Lyon's 4th different manager in the last 4 years. In 2010 he helped the club reach the semi-final of the Champions League for the first time in its history. Lyon terminated his contract on 20 June 2011, although he had one year remaining on his contract with the club.

On 23 May 2012, Puel reached agreement on a three-year deal with OGC Nice to take a coaching job.[3]

On 30 June 2016, Puel was appointed the manager of Southampton on a three-year deal.[1][4]

Honours[edit]

As a player[edit]

Monaco

As a manager[edit]

Monaco

Managerial statistics[edit]

As of 19 November 2016
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA +/- Win %
Monaco 13 January 1999 30 June 2001 107 54 22 31 190 129 +61 50.47
Lille 1 July 2002 17 June 2008 297 115 101 81 350 270 +80 38.72
Lyon 18 June 2008 20 June 2011 156 76 43 37 254 167 +87 48.72
Nice 23 May 2012 24 May 2016 169 69 34 66 237 231 +6 40.83
Southampton 30 June 2016 Present 18 7 6 5 20 14 +6 38.89
Total 747 321 206 220 1,051 811 +240 42.97

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Claude Puel: Southampton appoint Frenchman as manager on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016. 
  2. ^ "Puel appointed Lyon manager". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 18 June 2008. 
  3. ^ "Accord de principe avec Claude Puel". www.ogcnice.com. Retrieved 24 May 2012. 
  4. ^ "Puel appointed Saints' First Team Manager". Southampton FC. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.