French World Cup coach Raymond Domenech under fire French team out
The coach of the recently ousted French World Cup side, Raymond Domenech, is no stranger to controversy. The French team performed horrendously during this World Cup and they were sent packing after a loss to hosts South Africa. The entire French team was in doldrums and it showed after some poor playing in their matches. Just how much blame can we heap onto the coach and is he deserving of it? Well it seems he has been a controversial figure for a long time and he is leaving the French side after 6 years of leading it.
Domenech's problems were evident for all to see when after the French loss to South Africa, he refused to shake the South African coach's hand. The snub occurred when Carlos Alberto Parreira, the South African coach, came over to Domenech at the conclusion of the game and wanted to shake his hand. The Frenchman refused to do so mentioning that Parreira had insulted his team by saying that they should not have beaten Ireland in qualifying because of a handball goal by Henry. The South African coach was stunned because according to him he had never said anything of the sort. It was a very poor ending to the French campaign and an even poorer ending to the French coach's career at the helm of France.
Is it really fair all the criticism this coach receives though? He took over as head coach of France when some very senior players had hung up their boots for good, but he managed to persuade them to come back into the team. With some great senior players back on his squad he led the French team all the way to the finals of the 2006 World Cup only to lose the match on penalties. At the same time though he has also been severely criticised many times for his choices and management decisions and whenever the team do not perform well, (FIFA, 2010). All teams lose, but it could be that he lost some of his supporters with statements he made to the media after the team lost.
He has made some very colourful comments in the past. Once he said that he was a permanent contradiction and another time he said that if he had to put up with himself he would probably hate himself too. He also once told reporters that he did not give a d**n what anyone said about him, his coaching style or how he dealt with his players. Even though he has led the national team for longer than any other person has, he has managed to split the team down the middle with his style of management.
The recent happenings going in the French team had been worrying for the coach. He does not need to worry about it anymore as he is being replaced in the top position. He reportedly had a falling out with Nicolas Anelka and the striker apparently swore at him and was sent home before the match against South Africa. Something was very wrong during that time for this incident to take place, but because of it the entire French team refused to attend training. They did that in order to protest against the sending home of Anelka. The result of that protest was that Patrice Evra had the captain's armband taken away from him and he sat the match out on the bench. It just showed that the coach had lost complete control of his team and it was evident by their performance on the field. The team was only able to score a late goal, but it was not enough to see them win the match against the South Africans.
The man who led the French national team for 6 years will make way for his replacement and will probably go home for some well earned rest. Hopefully he will stop making controversial statements about the team that he was in charge of and do whatever he wants to do in peace and quiet. But knowing this interesting man, do not be too surprised to see him pop up sometime in the very near future.
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