Alain Casanova (born 18 September 1961) is a French former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He most recently was

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Swiss side

Lausanne-Sport Football Club Lausanne-Sport is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport compete in the top-tier Swiss Super League after being promoted in the 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League Season. The ...

Career

Born in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

, Casanova played for

Cournon Cournon (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Cournon are called in French ''Cournonnais''. See also *Communes of the Morbihan department The following is a list of the 249 Commun ...

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. At Marseille, he made no professional appearances, but was on the bench at the

1991 European Cup Final The 1991 European Cup final was a football match held at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, Italy, on 29 May 1991, that saw Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia defeat Marseille of France in a penalty shoot-out. After normal time and extra time could not ...

, which the team lost to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. On 30 May 2008, he was named as manager of former club Toulouse, after the sacking of

Élie Baup Élie Baup (; born 17 March 1955) is a French football manager and a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His last post was the manager of Ligue 1 side Marseille. Managerial career 1994–2009 As the club manager of Bordeaux, Baup won ...

. In his first season in charge, the team came fourth, and qualified for the renamed

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, while striker

André-Pierre Gignac André-Pierre Christian Gignac (born 5 December 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. Gignac began his career in his home Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône, playi ...

was the league's top scorer with 24 goals. The side also reached the semi-finals of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

, where they lost 2–1 to

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

; in the

2009–10 Coupe de la Ligue The 2009–10 Coupe de la Ligue was the 16th edition of France's league cup, organized by the LFP. The defending champions were Ligue 1 club Bordeaux who defeated second division club Vannes 4–0 in the 2009 final. The competition began on 2 ...

, Toulouse reached the same round and were eliminated by the same score after extra time by Marseille. He was dismissed in March 2015, with the club three points from safety in 18th with nine games to play; he was Ligue 1's longest-serving incumbent manager at the time. On 13 June 2016, Casanova was named as the new manager of

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

club

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

, succeeding

Antoine Kombouaré Antoine Krilone Kombouaré (; born 16 November 1963) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Nantes. Playing career Born in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, Komboua ...

on a two-year deal with the option of a third. He was sacked on 20 August 2017 after losing all four of the team's first matches of the new season. On 22 June 2018, Casanova was named once again as the manager of Toulouse in Ligue 1, replacing Michaël Debève. He was sacked on 10 October 2019, with the side down in 18th place. On 3 February 2022, he was confirmed as the new head coach of struggling

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

. Despite improving on their performance, he was unable to fend off the looming disaster and three rounds before the end of the season, the club's relegation was already confirmed with a twelve point deficit. On 22 May 2022, his contract at Lausanne was terminated.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Le Havre *

French Division 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Profes ...

: 1984–85

References

External links

Alain Casanova
at Om.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Casanova, Alain 1961 births Living people Footballers from Clermont-Ferrand French men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Le Havre AC players Olympique de Marseille players Toulouse FC players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players French football managers Toulouse FC managers RC Lens managers Ligue 1 managers Ligue 2 managers INF Vichy players 20th-century French sportsmen