It was under cover of darkness that Yannick Cahuzac took his place in the Lens dugout at the Stade Louis II on Friday night. The lights dimmed as the players made their entrance and Cahuzac, who had been named interim manager just three days earlier, sat alone, leaning forward on a seat that Dino Toppmöller would have occupied if not for a dramatic turn of events last week. Cahuzac’s appointment, much like his entrance in Monaco, had a stealthy quality, as if he had always been there and the switching of the lights was mere confirmation of his presence.
Cahuzac left Lorient, where he had been Olivier Pantaloni’s assistant, at the end of last season to return to Lens, where he had finished his playing career before working as Franck Haise’s assistant in the 2022–23 campaign. He was spoken about as a future No 1, but that was not the role he took in the summer. Cahuzac is still an apprentice who has not yet obtained his coaching qualifications so he returned to the club as an assistant to Toppmöller.
The German had the unenviable task of succeeding Pierre Sage, who hastily departed to Crystal Palace after guiding Lens to a maiden Coupe de France triumph and a second-place finish in Ligue 1 last season. Lens were not expected to soar as high this season. Speaking in the summer, the club’s sporting director, Jean-Louis Leca, said they were “not a Champions League club” and that an eighth-place finish in Ligue 1 would represent success.
Toppmöller’s first game in charge brought silverware as Lens beat PSG in the Trophée des Champions; his first Ligue 1 game was a resounding 5-2 win over Auxerre; and his side took all three points away to Slavia Prague in their first Champions League game – not a bad start after a summer of upheaval and the departure of several important players. Results have dipped in recent weeks but expectations were being met. Hence the shock last week when it was announced that the German had left the club by mutual consent.
Having taken charge of just six games, Toppmöller is Lens’s shortest-serving manager since the second world war. His exit says more about the club than it does the man. Explaining the parting of ways, the chief executive, Benjamin Parrot, revealed a divide, not necessarily between Toppmöller and his squad, but rather within the staff itself.
Toppmöller brought two assistants with him. Lens tried to sack one of them, Nelson Morgado, but Toppmöller stayed loyal to his assistant and refused to accept his dismissal. He left and Cahuzac stepped up in his place.
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