The 58 year old Claude Jacques Puel is a former player of the AS Monaco. And he was also the manager of the club and led them to league title in his first season of leadership. In 2017 he was appointed by the struggling side of Leicester City to be their manager.
In 2017, he replaced Craig Shakespeare. And he was on a contract running until June 2020. But he was sacked before that in February this year after 16 months in the club. Bredon Rodgers took over his role. And now he is hired by Saint Etienne. He took over the position of Ghislain Printant.
In February the Leicester City team suffered a great defeat of 4-1 at the hands of Crystal Palace. After the defeat they decided to sack him and appoint Brendon Rodgers as the team’s manager and his successor.
Puel came to the scene to help the struggling team of Saint Etienne. And he returns to Ligue 1 with Saint-Etienne sitting second from bottom of the table having won only twice in eight matches. He was appointed before the sunday’s derby against fierce rivals Lyons. He coached them for three seasons after sells at Monaco and Lille.
Saint Etienne have lost four times alone in this season and Puel is here to change that. He passionately made a statement in an interview that he isn’t just here for the match with Lyons but he is serious about his job
“The local derby is not the be-all and end-all of what I do here, The real job starts after that, I’m here for a (long term) project.”
It’s to be seen how the team performs under his guidance on Sunday against the Lyons.