Claude Puel has left Saint-Etienne after two-years as coach, the club has confirmed.
Sunday's 5-0 home defeat at the hands of Rennes was the last straw for Saint-Etienne Executive President Jean-François Soucasse, who took to the club's Twitter account to announce the news shortly before 8pm on Sunday.
Statement
The short statement said: "The Executive Chairman of AS Saint-Étienne (Jean-François Soucasse) has taken the decision to withdraw from Mr. Claude Puel, until further notice, from the management of the professional team."
Former Saint-Etienne captain Loïc Perrin was handed the role of 'sporting coordinator' on Monday morning - taking control of all sporting activities in the interim.
Puel is the first Ligue 1 Uber Eats managerial casualty of the season and the club's decision to part with the 60-year-old, brings to a close what has been a traumatic start to the season.
Basement boys
With nine defeats from 17 games, Les Verts are languishing at the bottom of the table but only two points from safety in what is a congested bottom half of the standings.
But for the excellent displays of striker Wahbi Khazri, Saint-Etienne would almost certainly have been further in the mire, with the Tunisian netting seven of the club's 17 goals so far this term.
Ex-Lyon and Leicester City coach Puel, took over the reins in October 2019 succeeding Ghislain Printant and had been the target of the boo-boys at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard for some time. Despite an upturn in form during October and November when Les Verts took eight points from a possible 12, three consecutive defeats have ultimately sealed his fate.
