Christian Gourcuff to miss Lorient centenary amid rift with Loïc Féry | OneFootball

Christian Gourcuff will not attend Lorient’s centenary celebrations this weekend, maintaining his long-running rift with club president Loïc Féry.

According to L'Équipe, the former manager has declined invitations and will be absent from both the Paris FC match on Sunday and the legends game on Monday.

The date coincides with his 71st birthday and he will probably spend the day with family, perhaps only glancing at the result later.

Former players and staff had pushed hard for a return. Hesitant early in the week and ready to make an effort for his ex-players, he ultimately stuck to his principles.

The club regrets his absence and says he will appear on a mural unveiled at Le Moustoir on Sunday. Féry also saluted his importance at a gala dinner, drawing warm applause.

Their rupture stemmed from repeated late-window sales that Gourcuff felt showed a lack of ambition, including Lynel Kitambala in August 2011, Arnold Mvuemba in September 2012, Alaixys Romao in January 2013 and Mario Lemina in September 2013.

On leaving in 2014 he said he had promised never to return and would stick to it. His last visit to Le Moustoir came with Nantes’ 2-0 win on 8 November 2020, a month before his sacking and still his last victory as a coach.

Yann Jouffre said Gourcuff and Féry come from very different worlds, portraying the coach as romantic and the president as pragmatic from finance, and added that his absence will be felt at the centenary.

Source: L'Équipe