VIDEO. John Textor reinforces Pierre Sage as Olympic coach… and kisses him

What a comeback for the Olympics! Red light in the winter break, Olympique Lyonnais is 6th in the championship (tied with Lens) and in the fight to secure a European place next season a day before the end of the championship.

Winner at Clermont (1-0), on Sunday May 12, Lyon will host Strasbourg on the last day of Ligue 1, next weekend, a team that has nothing left to play.

Meanwhile, on the eve of this victory in Clermont, John Textor, the Lyon president, put an end to the rumours: he confirmed Pierre Sage as Olympic coach next season. He even gave him a kiss as he passed him as he got back on the Gones bus and left the Clermont stadium.

“I still believe in him”

John Textor took the opportunity to pay tribute to the work of his coach who transformed Lyon by taking over from Italian Fabio Grosso. – I made a lot of mistakes last summersaid the president of the mixed zone Olympics after the match in Clermont. We have very good people around the club, but we didn’t have enough energy and commitment and we put ourselves in a terrible situation.”he analyses. “But it’s so nice to see the team play well.” Pierre and I already got along well before I thought of him for the coaching position. I knew he had a good brain and a good heart, that he communicated very well. He hadn’t trained before, but I believed in him and I still believe in him today. It’s amazing to see how united they are behind their coach. Pierre did an amazing job and the team was great. »

For the future, the Lyon president believes he has “a difficult match against Strasbourg. They already beat us. And then you have to be ready for the Coupe de France. It’s about being in a good mood, playing well to finish the season in good shape. I’m very happy with how the season ended. We had a very, very difficult period at the bottom of the table. I never thought we could get relegated, but I can’t say I expected us to be this good either. It’s great. »