Saint-Étienne in talks with Norwegian coach to replace Olivier Dall’Oglio | OneFootball

Days after sacking Olivier Dall’Oglio, Saint-Étienne are zeroing in on his replacement.

The man projected to take his place on the sidelines for Les Verts is Eirik Horneland, who guided SK Brann to the Norwegian First Division title in 2022. L’Équipe reports that the 2022 Norwegian First Division Coach of the Year is the frontrunner to take charge of the former 10-time Ligue 1 champions. The 49-year-old surprised many at Brann last Tuesday by announcing his resignation as head coach, which was done on the team’s WhatsApp account.

In 2023-24, Horneland guided Brann to their seventh Norwegian Cup in club history, while he won over 60% of his matches at the helm of that club. Before his time in Bergen, the former defender had coached Norwegian sides Haugesund and Rosenborg Ballklub.

Last Friday, a 2-1 defeat versus Toulouse FC was the final nail in Dall’Oglio’s coffin, the third successive loss for Les Verts in Ligue 1. The former manager at Montpellier had guided this team back into the top-flight last season, finishing third in Ligue 2 with 65 points.

After 15 matches this season, Les Verts are sitting in the relegation play-off position with 13 points, and only a point above Le Havre AC and automatic descent back into Ligue 2. Their final fixture of 2024 will be against Olympique de Marseille, with that round of 64 Coupe de France meeting occurring on Sunday at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

According to L’Équipe, Horneland could be introduced as the new Saint-Étienne boss as early as Thursday.

Laurent Huard, the academy coach of Les Stéphanois, was named the caretaker manager of the senior squad following Dall’Oglio’s sacking.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre