Claude Jacques Puel (; born 2 September 1961) is a French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent his entire playing career with

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his first full season in charge. He has also managed

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

, and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in England's

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Playing career

Puel started his football career as a youth with Castres, where he was spotted by

, joining their training centre in 1977. He played his first professional game in the 1979–80 season. He spent his entire career at Monaco, playing 601 official matches in total. During his time at Monaco, he won two championships and three French Cups. He also played under compatriot

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...

who jovially recalled being on the wrong end of a sliding tackle saying "Even on the morning of a Cup final he could tackle and even if it was the manager then no problem!".

Managerial career

Monaco

Before being appointed as the manager of Monaco, he was the physical trainer and manager of Monaco's reserve team. He was appointed as the manager in January 1999. He won the French Championship in 2000, with players such as

Ludovic Giuly Ludovic Vincent Giuly (born 10 July 1976) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. Giuly represented France national football team, France at international level, gaining 17 Cap ...

and Marcelo Gallardo.

Lille

Lille were one of the winners of the

2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup football finals (the summer football competition for European clubs that had not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions) were won by Lille, Schalke 04, and Villarreal. All three teams advanced to the UE ...

, having defeated União de Leiria of Portugal 2–0 in extra time in the final after a goalless aggregate draw.

Lyon

Puel joined

, the team who had won the last seven French league titles, on a four-year contract on 18 June 2008. In 2010, he helped the club reach the semi-final of the Champions League for the first time in its history. In his final game in charge in May 2011, he defeated his former club Monaco and ended their 34-year spell in the top flight. Lyon terminated his contract on 20 June 2011, although he had just finished third, as he had not won a trophy in his three seasons.

Nice

On 23 May 2012, Puel reached agreement on a three-year deal with

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on a three-year deal. On 14 June 2017, Puel's contract was "terminated with immediate effect". His sacking yielded mixed reactions. In his only season in charge, Southampton reached the League Cup final and recorded an 8th-place finish in the

, albeit with 17 fewer points than his predecessor

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

attained the season prior. Puel was particularly criticised for his defensive tactics, with Southampton's scoring record one of the poorest in the league. Sports journalist Paul Doyle called Puel "a victim of Southampton's admirably unreasonable expectations".

Leicester City

On 25 October 2017, Puel was appointed as the new manager of struggling

side

, replacing recently sacked

Craig Shakespeare Craig Robert Shakespeare (26 October 1963 – 1 August 2024) was an English professional footballer and coach best known for managing at the time Premier League club Leicester City in 2017. A midfielder, Shakespeare began his playing career w ...

, on a contract running until June 2020. His first game in charge came on 29 October, when they beat Everton 2–0 in the Premier League. From 31 January 2018 until the end of the season, Leicester recorded only three wins from 14 league games, a dismal run that saw Puel accused of negative football. His decision to block

Riyad Mahrez Riyad Karim Mahrez (born 21 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and captains the Algeria national team. He is regarded as one of the best African players of all time. Ma ...

's transfer to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on deadline day resulted in the player going absent from training for ten days. Puel joined Leicester in 13th place and helped the club climb up the table to finish in ninth position. After the season concluded, it was speculated that Puel would be leaving the club, though he continued as manager. Puel's decision to leave Adrien Silva out of the first team squad and make him train with the under-23s was criticized by the player's father, who accused the manager of unfairly "picking on his son". A shock 2–1 FA Cup third round defeat to League Two club Newport County on 6 January 2019, in which Puel was jeered by Leicester fans for fielding an understrength side, was voted by

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

viewers as the biggest upset of the competition. After six league games without a win, Puel was sacked by Leicester on 24 February 2019, following a defeat at home to Crystal Palace the previous day.

Saint-Étienne

On 4 October 2019, Puel returned to Ligue 1 when he was appointed as

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

's new manager, on a contract lasting until 2022. Two days later was his first match, the ''Derby du Rhône'' against his former team Lyon, and won 1–0 at home with a last-minute goal by substitute Robert Beric. Puel's team beat reigning champions

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France on 5 March 2020, to reach the final for the first time since

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

. They lost that match on 24 July, by a single goal to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. On 5 December 2021, Puel was sacked after a 5–0 loss to

, with his team in last place with two wins from 17.

Personal life

Puel has two sons and a daughter. Both of his sons, Paulin and

Grégoire Grégoire is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname / Family name * Alexandre Grégoire (1922–2001), Haitian painter * Antonina Grégoire (1914-1952), Belgian commercial engineer, feminist and communist, ...

, are professional footballers and played under his command at Nice.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Monaco *

: 1981–82, 1987–88 *

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 ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

: 1985

Manager

;Monaco *

: 1999–2000 *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

;Lille *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Southampton *

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Saint-Étienne *

runner-up: 2019–20

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puel, Claude 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from Castres Footballers from Tarn (department) French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AS Monaco FC players Ligue 1 players AS Monaco FC managers Lille OSC managers Olympique Lyonnais managers OGC Nice managers Ligue 1 managers Southampton F.C. managers Leicester City F.C. managers AS Saint-Étienne managers Premier League managers French expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Monaco Expatriate football managers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England French football managers French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco French expatriate men's footballers French football coaches 20th-century French sportsmen Occitan sportspeople