Coach No.7: Georges Peyroche (1979-1983 and 1984-85 - 211 matches)
An international striker (three caps) with Saint-Etienne, Nîmes, Strasbourg and Stade Français, Georges Peyroche coached at Lunel and then Lille, where he was fired in 1976 after four seasons. After a period away from the game and a difficult stint with Moroccan outfit Oudja, Peyroche joined PSG in 1979. It was the start of a great working relationship which included two Coupe de France (French Cup) wins. Suffering from stress, Peyroche took a year’s sabbatical before returning to the club after an eight-month absence at the request of president Borelli and immediately qualified the side for the UEFA Cup. The following season, however, was a disappointment and Peyroche ‘resigned’ midway through the campaign. He went on to coach Périgueux, Quimper and Valenciennes, with whom he eliminated Paris from the 1990 edition of the Coupe de France.
Coach No.8: Lucien Leduc (1983-84 - 38 matches)
An historical figure in French football succeeded Peyroche’s first stint at the club. Lucien Leduc, a France midfielder (four caps), played for Boulogne, Roubaix (champion of France in 1947), Sète, Red-Star and Racing before switching hats and becoming a coach at the ripe old age of... 34. He took charge of Annecy, Monaco (champion of France in 1961 and 1963, Coupe de France in 1963), Servette de Genève, Angers, Marseille, Reims and Algeria before returning to Monaco and winning a third championship crown in 1979. Nearing his retirement, he remained on the Parisian bench for less than a year before ceding his place to his predecessor Georges Peyroche.
Coach No.9: Christian Coste (1984-85 - 15 matches)
Head of the PSG youth centre, Christian Coste replaced Peyroche, after the latter was fired. A France striker (five caps, two goals), Coste played for Sète, Lille, Reims, Laval and Thonon before coaching Swiss club Chenois for three seasons. Under his guidance, PSG survived the drop from Ligue 1 before losing another final of the Coupe de France, this time to Monaco. Despite an honourable record, Coste became Gérard Houllier’s assistant, before leaving the club a year later to coach Annecy. Since 2001, he has occupied the post of National Technical Director of Gabon, where he coaches the women’s team.
Coach No.10: Gérard Houllier (1985-88 - 123 matches)
A former English teacher, Gérard Houllier played for Touquet (1973-76) before beginning his coaching career at just 26 years of age. He took charge of Le Touquet, Noeux-les-Mines and Lens. In his first season at PSG, Houllier was crowned champion of France, delivering the national title to the capital for the first time in 50 years. Unfortunately, the rest of his tenure was to prove less prolific. After a brief spell, where he was replaced by his assistant Erick Mombaerts, he returned to save the club from relegation. In 1988 he left the club to join the French Football Federation. Assistant to Michel Platini, Gérard Houllier inherited the country’s top coaching job, only to abandon the post after the heart-breaking loss to Bulgaria on November 17, 1993 (1-2) which cost Les Bleus a place at the 1994 World Cup finals. He became National Technical Director and took charge successively of the France Under-18s (1994-96) and Under-20s (1996-97). In 1998, Houllier left France to join Liverpool, with whom he won the UEFA Cup (2001), the FA Cup (2001), two League Cups (2001 and 2003), one Charity Shield (2001) and one European Supercup (2001). An impressive record for a man that suffered a heart attack in October 2001 which kept him sidelined for four months.
Coach No.11: Erick Mombaerts (1988 - 8 matches)
Having played for Montargis, Nemours, INF Vichy, Lens, Noeux-Les-Mines and Montluçon, Erick Mombaerts, then 28, joined the Auvergne League as the National Technical Director’s representative. Following the departure of Christian Coste, Gérard Houllier, whom had coached Mombaerts at Noeux-Les-Mines, offered him the position of head youth coach at just 30 years of age! Following a series of eight games without a win, Mombaerts replaced the future Liverpool coach for an interim spell which was to last just 55 days before President Francis Borelli decided to reinstate Houllier during the winter break. Mombaerts returned to the youth centre until 1989 when he moved on to Guingamp and then Cannes. In 1995, he returned again to the National Technical Direction before signing as head coach for Toulouse in 1999, whom he coached back to the French first division.
Coach No.12: Tomislav Ivic (1988-90 - 86 matches)
As a player, Tomislav Ivic spent 13 years at FC Split, but is best known for a successful coaching record which boasted 12 titles after spells at Hadjuk Split, Ajax Amsterdam, Anderlecht, Panathinaikos, Avellino and FC Porto. With Paris, Ivic went close to producing a miracle in his first season, with the club falling just short of the league crown. However, the following season was a disappointment and Ivic left the club to continue his globe trotting at Atletico Madrid, Marseille, Benfica, Fenerbahce, Porto, Standard de Liège, Iran and the United Arab Emirates! After a second brief spell at Marseille and a heart attack in December 2001, Ivic retired from coaching at 68 years of age.
Coach No.13: Henri Michel (1990-91 - 41 matches)
Playmaker with Nantes and the France national team, Henri Michel (58 caps, three championships and one Coupe de France with Nantes) first tasted coaching with the national team as assistant to Michel Hidalgo and won the Olympic gold medal in 1984 and finished third at the 1986 World Cup. The National Technical Director responded favourably to PSG’s advances and spent one season at the capital club before continuing his career in Africa with Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia – becoming the first man to coach three different countries at three different World Cup finals tournaments. After a spell in Greece with Aris Salonika, he returned to Africa in 2003 with Raja Casablanca.