Girondins de Bordeaux have relieved Jocelyn Gourvennec of his duties as head coach following the 2-0 Ligue 1 Conforama Week 21 defeat at home to SM Caen.
Bordeaux announced the news via a brief communiqué on their official website on Thursday morning:
"As of today, Jocelyn Gourvennec will no longer hold the responsibility of coaching the senior team. [Club physio] Eric Bedouet has taken charge of the squad ahead of the imminent announcement of a head coach."
After a successful stint as manager of small-town Brittany club EA Guingamp, Gourvennec took the reins at Bordeaux in May 2016 and led the Girondins to a creditable sixth-place finish in season 2016-17.
Downward spiral
Season 2017-18 has been a much different proposition, however, beginning with a failure to make it through qualifying and into the Europa League group stage in the pre-season. Then, Week 8's 6-2 Ligue 1 Conforama hiding away to Paris Saint-Germain sparked a downward spiral from which Gourvennec could not get his side to emerge despite the rise of some exciting talents like Brazilian young gun Malcom.
The club's directors held faith with their man through a month of December 2017 that featured five defeats on the trot in all competitions but, even though the Girondins scored a 1-0 away win in their Week 20 trip to Troyes, Coupe de France elimination at the hands of amateurs US Granville and Wednesday night's home defeat to Caen sealed Gourvennec's fate.
