Why Philippe Montanier is leaving Saint-Étienne after a gruelling season and recruitment doubts | OneFootball

Philippe Montanier is leaving Saint-Étienne at the end of his contract after four months at two points a game, capped by Ligue 1 play-off defeat to Nice, 0-0 and 1-4. According to L'Équipe, the club did not formally ask him to stay and have begun seeking a replacement.

The 61-year-old met Huss Fahmy last Saturday, president Ivan Gazidis’s deputy and club director of operations and sporting lead. Fahmy tested his appetite to continue at L’Étrat and pursue promotion, but no extension was offered.

Montanier did not want to remain in Ligue 2 and sensed there was no shared will to continue. He reflected on a campaign marred by injuries to key players that slowed the run-in, a recurring issue at the club.

Arriving in late January, he tightened the defence and produced five straight wins to restore automatic promotion hopes. A 0-2 loss at Bastia on 18 April preceded two more defeats, forcing a play-off with Rodez, 0-0 then 7-6 on penalties, before the Ligue 1 play-off with Nice.

Over four months he struggled to mobilise the club’s resources and questioned a squad stocked with centre-backs yet short of attackers. He was not convinced he could turn it around in those conditions, nor that he would control summer recruitment, so he chose to move on and informed his superior.

The report said the replacement will be foreign. His predecessor, Norwegian Eirik Horneland, resigned in January and had shown limits in a division where Ligue 2 experience is prized.

Source: L'Équipe