Club bullies drive agitators out – Toppmöller loses job at Lens
Dino Toppmöller was dismissed by RC Lens after only four league games. The 45‑year‑old coach lost his position because he opposed the dismissal of his long‑time assistant coach Nelson Morgado – a move that caused an uproar among the club’s bosses.
Successful season start with Super Cup
Soccrates Images/GettyImages For Dino Toppmöller, the new season with RC Lens could hardly have started better. After his signing in France, he immediately won his first official competitive match and at the same time his first trophy, when Racing Club defeated Paris Saint‑Germain 1‑0 in mid‑August and was able to celebrate the French Super Cup.
Weak league run after strong start
The promising start continued initially with a 5‑2 home win against AJ Auxerre, but then a clear setback followed: in Ligue 1 there was only one point from three games, even though Lens briefly won the Champions League opener at Slavia Prague 3‑2.
Internal power struggle triggers dismissal
According to reports, Toppmöller was dismissed by the French because his assistant coach Nelson Morgado was supposed to leave. The assistant was regarded as too inconvenient for some people at RC Lens, and because Toppmöller resisted the exit of his long‑time colleague, his own dismissal followed. It was confirmed that he would be fired after only four league games, while an official confirmation from the northern French side is still expected later this week.
In the upcoming league match at AS Monaco on Friday, the former Eintracht Frankfurt coach is not expected to sit on the bench any longer.
For the succession, Lens apparently plans an internal solution: the current assistant Yannick Cahuzac, 41, is set to temporarily take over the head coach role together with Bilil Hamdi. Cahuzac had already been considered in recent times as a candidate for the coaching position at Lens.
The patience of those in charge, who are apparently not satisfied with the tenth place in the still‑young Ligue 1 season, seems short, and the final decision on the permanent appointment is expected in the coming days.