Mavuba expected to replace Irles as Bordeaux’s promotion hopes fade | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, Bordeaux have suspended head coach Bruno Irles after back-to-back defeats, and U16 boss Rio Mavuba is expected to take over. Hopes of promotion to Ligue 3 this season are slim.

Irles was appointed in August 2024, shortly after the club abandoned professional status and dropped into National 2. Consecutive losses at La Roche-sur-Yon, 1-0, and against Chauray, 1-3, prompted Sunday’s decision.

Bordeaux sit six points behind leaders La Roche-sur-Yon, who have a game in hand against third-placed Bayonne, with seven matches remaining. Some sources say Irles’s message was no longer landing with the squad.

Mavuba, 42, came through Bordeaux’s academy and won 13 France caps. He debuted on 10 January 2004 in a 2-1 win at Montpellier, then moved to Villarreal in 2007 before joining Lille in 2008.

He won the league and Coupe de France in 2011 with Lille, returned to Bordeaux in October 2020 after Sparta Prague and Mérignac-Arlac, and has also worked in TV. He later coached the reserves and U19s while completing DES, BEFF and DESJEPS badges, before taking charge of pre-formation in 2022. He even registered to play in August 2024 to avert a B-team forfeit.

This season his U16s are perfect, 18 wins from 18 with a +84 goal difference. His brief is to chase the best runners-up spot across the three National 2 groups. That could still take Bordeaux into the new Ligue 3 if two clubs are relegated and or the federal DNCG refuses a National 2 promotion.

Source: L'Équipe