Claude Puel

Claude Jacques Puel (; born 2 September 1961) is a French football manager and former player. He spent his entire playing career with Monaco, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his first full season in charge. He has also managed Lille, Lyon, Nice and Saint-Étienne in Ligue 1, and Southampton and Leicester City in England's Premier League.

Playing career

Puel started his football career as a youth with Castres FC, where he was spotted by AS Monaco, joining their training centre in 1977. He played his first professional game in the 1979–80 season. He spent his entire career at Monaco, playing 601 official matches in total. During his time at Monaco, he won two championships and three French Cups. He also played under compatriot Arsène Wenger who jovially recalled being on the wrong end of a sliding tackle saying "Even on the morning of a Cup final he could tackle and even if it was the manager then no problem!".

Managerial career

Monaco

Before being appointed as the manager of Monaco, he was the physical trainer and manager of Monaco's reserve team. He was appointed as the manager in January 1999. He won the French Championship in 2000, with players such as Ludovic Giuly and Marcelo Gallardo.

Lille

Lille were one of the winners of the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, having defeated U.D. Leiria of Portugal 2–0 in extra time in the final after a goalless aggregate draw.

Lyon

Puel joined Olympique Lyonnais, the team who had won the last seven French league titles, on a four-year contract on 18 June 2008. In 2010, he helped the club reach the semi-final of the Champions League for the first time in its history. In his final game in charge in May 2011, he defeated his former club Monaco and ended their 34-year spell in the top flight. Lyon terminated his contract on 20 June 2011, although he had just finished third, as he had not won a trophy in his three seasons.

Nice

On 23 May 2012, Puel reached agreement on a three-year deal with OGC Nice.

Southampton

On 30 June 2016, Puel was appointed the manager of Southampton on a three-year deal. On 14 June 2017, Puel's contract was "terminated with immediate effect". His sacking yielded mixed reactions. In his only season in charge, Southampton reached the League Cup final and recorded an 8th-place finish in the Premier League, albeit with 17 fewer points than his predecessor Ronald Koeman attained the season prior. Puel was particularly criticised for his defensive tactics, with Southampton's scoring record one of the poorest in the league. Sports journalist Paul Doyle called Puel "a victim of Southampton's admirably unreasonable expectations".

Leicester City

On 25 October 2017, Puel was appointed as the new manager of struggling Premier League side Leicester City, replacing recently sacked Craig Shakespeare, on a contract running until June 2020. His first game in charge came on 29 October, when they beat Everton 2–0 in the Premier League.

From 31 January 2018 until the end of the season, Leicester recorded only three wins from 14 league games, a dismal run that saw Puel accused of negative football. His decision to block Riyad Mahrez's transfer to Manchester City on deadline day resulted in the player going absent from training for ten days. Puel joined Leicester in 13th place and helped the club climb up the table to finish in ninth position. After the season concluded, it was speculated that Puel would be leaving the club, though he continued as manager.

Puel's decision to leave Adrien Silva out of the first team squad and make him train with the under-23s was criticized by the player's father, who accused the manager of unfairly "picking on his son". A shock 2–1 FA Cup third round defeat to League Two club Newport County on 6 January 2019, in which Puel was jeered by Leicester fans for fielding an understrength side, was voted by BBC
...