Ligue 1 McDonald's 26/27: The 18 managers in numbers
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For the third consecutive season, RC Lens will start the campaign with a new coach. After Will Still in the 2024/25 season and Pierre Sage last time around, Dino Toppmöller will take charge of Les Sang et Or at the start of the season, following a first victory at home against PSG in the Trophée des Champions.
12
During the off-season, 12 clubs changed their manager compared with the previous Ligue 1 McDonald’s season. This is a record in the 21st century.
4
In charge of Paris Saint-Germain for a fourth consecutive season, Luis Enrique is chasing a historic record: to win the league title four times in a row.
The Spaniard has won the last three Ligue 1 McDonald’s titles. The feat had not been achieved since Laurent Blanc between 2014 and 2016, also with the current two-time European champions. Before them, Paul Le Guen had accomplished it with Lyon (2003–2005). Further back, Robert Herbin (Saint-Étienne) and Albert Batteux (Saint-Étienne) are the only other coaches to have done so.
8
At the start of the season, eight coaches have never previously managed a Ligue 1 McDonald’s team as a head coach: Toppmöller, Davide Ancelotti, Paulo Fonseca, Berthel Askou, Filipe Luís, Julien Lachuer, Stéphane Dumont and Patrick Videira.
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Two coaches are returning to the top flight this season: Will Still at AJ Auxerre (93 Ligue 1 McDonald’s matches with Reims and Lens) and Liam Rosenior at Paris FC (51 Ligue 1 McDonald’s matches with Strasbourg).
Most experienced Ligue 1 McDonald’s managers
- Bruno Genesio — 300 matches
- Franck Haise — 212 matches
- Paulo Fonseca — 121 matches
- Olivier Pantaloni — 115 matches
- Luis Enrique — 102 matches
- Will Still — 93 matches
- Didier Digard — 89 matches
- Alexandre Dujeux — 80 matches
- Liam Rosenior — 51 matches
- Stéphane Gilli — 23 matches
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Half of the 18 coaches at the start of the season are foreign. Among the 12 new managers, 58% are not French, confirming the trend towards an increasing number of foreign coaches in the league.
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In the 21st century, Olympique de Marseille are the club with the most managerial changes during the Ligue 1 McDonald’s off-seasons, with a total of 12.
By replacing Habib Beye with Bruno Genesio this summer, the Marseille club strengthened its position at the top of this list, ahead of OGC Nice (11), who also changed their managerial staff by appointing Olivier Pantaloni.
300
Approaching his 60th birthday (he turns 60 on 1st September), Genesio is the most experienced manager in Ligue 1 McDonald’s in the 2026/27 season, with 300 matches as a manager.
This comes ten years after his managerial debut in January 2016 with Lyon. Freshly appointed at Marseille, the French manager is now in charge of his fourth different club, following spells at Olympique Lyonnais (2015–19), Stade Rennais (2021–23) and LOSC (2024–26).
33
Back in the top flight with AJ Auxerre, Still will once again be the youngest of the 18 coaches at the start of the season.
The Belgian-British coach is 33 years old (born in October 1992). Only Ancelotti, who joined LOSC, is also under 40 (he turned 37 on 22 July). Didier Digard just reached 40 on 12th July.
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Julien Lachuer is not the only head coach to have started his career as a goalkeeping coach.
After beginning in that role at Amiens and then Brest between 2010 and 2022, Lachuer subsequently became Éric Roy's assistant before succeeding him following Roy's death during the summer.
New Strasbourg arrival Hugo Oliveira is also a goalkeeping specialist. He notably worked with the Portugal national team from 2009 to 2011, before joining Benfica, where he worked with goalkeepers including Jan Oblak and Ederson.
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