Alain Casanova (born 18 September 1961) is a French former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He most recently was manager of Swiss side Lausanne-Sport.

Alain Casanova
Casanova as manager of Toulouse in 2008
Personal information
Full name Alain Casanova
Date of birth (1961-09-18) 18 September 1961 (age 62)
Place of birth Clermont-Ferrand, France
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+12 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1970–1980 Cournon
1980–1983 Vichy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1990 Le Havre 233 (0)
1990–1992 Marseille 0 (0)
1992–1995 Toulouse 76 (0)
Total 309 (0)
Managerial career
2008–2015 Toulouse
2016–2017 Lens
2018–2019 Toulouse
2022 Lausanne-Sport
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career edit

Born in Clermont-Ferrand, Casanova played for Cournon, Vichy, Le Havre, Marseille and Toulouse. At Marseille, he made no professional appearances, but was on the bench at the 1991 European Cup Final, which the team lost to Red Star Belgrade in Bari.[1]

On 30 May 2008, he was named as manager of former club Toulouse, after the sacking of Élie Baup.[1] In his first season in charge, the team came fourth, and qualified for the renamed UEFA Europa League,[2] while striker André-Pierre Gignac was the league's top scorer with 24 goals.[3] The side also reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, where they lost 2–1 to Guingamp;[4] in the 2009–10 Coupe de la Ligue, Toulouse reached the same round and were eliminated by the same score after extra time by Marseille.[5] 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.[6]

On 13 June 2016, Casanova was named as the new manager of Ligue 2 club Lens, succeeding Antoine Kombouaré on a two-year deal with the option of a third.[7] He was sacked on 20 August 2017 after losing all four of the team's first matches of the new season.[8]

On 22 June 2018, Casanova was named once again as the manager of Toulouse in Ligue 1, replacing Michaël Debève.[9] He was sacked on 10 October 2019, with the side down in 18th place.[10]

On 3 February 2022, he was confirmed as the new head coach of struggling Swiss Super League club Lausanne-Sport.[11] 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.[12]

Managerial statistics edit

As of 30 June 2022
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Toulouse   30 May 2008 16 March 2015 290 102 80 108 035.17
Lens   13 June 2016 20 August 2017 49 23 12 14 046.94
Toulouse   25 June 2018 10 October 2019 51 11 18 22 021.57
Lausanne-Sport   3 February 2022 30 June 2022 18 2 4 12 011.11
Total 408 138 114 156 033.82

Honours edit

Le Havre

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Alain Casanova entraîneur du TFC !" [Alain Casanova manager of TFC!]. Toulouse FC. Archived from the original on 1 June 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  2. ^ "VIDEO. Le TFC propose un "best of" de son ancien entraîneur Alain Casanova" [VIDEO. TFC propose a "best of" of their former manager Alain Casanova]. 20 minutes (in French). 30 March 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Gignac, 2 buts la saison dernière, 24 cette saison" [Gignac, 2 goals last season, 24 this season]. Le Parisien (in French). 30 May 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Guingamp fait pleurer Toulouse et s'offre sa finale" [Guingamp make Toulouse cry and reach the final]. 20 minutes (in French). 22 April 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  5. ^ Stival, Nicolas (4 February 2010). "La vidéo de la demi-finale Toulouse-Marseille" [The video of the Toulouse-Marseille semi-final]. 20 minutes (in French). Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Toulouse sack manager Alain Casanova, promote Dominique Arribage". ESPN FC. PA Sport. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Alain Casanova becomes RC Lens manager". Get French Football News. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Ligue 2 : Lens suspend son entraîneur Alain Casanova, Sikora attendu" [Ligue 2: Lens suspend manager Alain Casanova, Sikora in line]. Le Parisien (in French). 20 August 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Transferts : Casanova à Toulouse, c'est signé" [Transfers: Casanova to Toulouse, it's official]. L'Équipe (in French). 22 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Communiqué officiel" [Official statement] (in French). Toulouse FC. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. ^ "ALAIN CASANOVA EST LE NOUVEL ENTRAÎNEUR DU FC LAUSANNE-SPORT!" [ALAIN CASANOVA IS THE NEW TRAINER OF FC LAUSANNE-SPORT] (in French). FC Lausanne-Sport. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  12. ^ "MERCI ALAIN CASANOVA!". lausanne-sport.ch (in French). Lausanne-Sport. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.

External links edit