Lyon list down to three

[Quaresma07]

Lyon list down to three
skysports

Lyon are reported to have narrowed the list of possible new coaches down to three.

Gerard Houllier, Guy Lacombe and Claude Puel are the three names now believed to be left in the running to replace Paul Le Guen - who will leave Stade Gerland in the coming weeks.

Houllier has all the credentials wanted by OL chairman Jean-Michel Aulas and he and assistant Patrice Bergues are free of commitment and ready to return following their departures from Liverpool last year.

Lacombe is currently with Sochaux and he is leaving due to his relationship with chairman Jean-Claude Plesses - who has agreed to let him leave.

The lack of silverware in his past is against Lacombe, but he is very highly regarded in the French game.

The final candidate is Puel - and would probably be the hardest to land as he is contracted to Lille.

Aulas is waiting for Puel to confirm his future plans, but he insists he will wait.

"I will talk after Ajaccio or after Auxerre, or when they have secured second ranking [in Ligue 1]," said Puel.

Raynald Denoueix looks to have dropped out of the running for the Lyon job, but he is now being linked with Lille and most strongly Sochaux.
"He is the perfect type of coach if Lacombe leaves," Plesses said of Denoueix.

Another name out of the reckoning is Monaco's Dider Deschamps.

"To me it is very clear: Deschamps is at Monaco and he is still under contract with us for two years," said Monaco chairman Michel Pastor

"He is a coach I have a great respect for. And I can't see why people go on talking about that [Lyon]. Moreover he even denied he could leave. I have no worries."