Jean Fernandez
Jean Fernandez ( born October 8, 1954 in Mostaganem, Algeria ) is a French former football player and current coach.
Player
Fernandez came in 1962 with his parents from Algeria to France; the family settled in cerium in the Hérault. Jean unlaced his boots as a teenager for the neighboring AS Béziers, where he was employed from 1972 as a defensive midfielder in the Zweitligaelf and from 1974 as a professional. In 1975 he moved to Olympique Marseille for whom he played five years. As a further career he occupied the Girondins Bordeaux (1980-1982) and the AS Cannes ( 1982-1984 ). For Marseille and Bordeaux, he played in that time a total of 209 games in Division 1, of which 142 (one goal ) at Olympique and 67 at the Girondins. With Marseille, he won the French Cup in 1976 also. With the French Olympic team in 1976, he took part in the Olympic Games and was eliminated in the quarterfinals to eventual winners, the GDR, from. Jean Fernandez is the father of a now adult son.
Coach
At the end of his playing career he was already working in the youth development center of his club as manager: from 1984 to July 1990 he worked in Cannes, starting in 1987 as head coach of the Profielf at first and second league. There he formed including the young Zinedine Zidane, he also started the first time in a league match in May 1989. This was followed by a six-month commitment to OGC Nice and from January 1992 with his old club Olympique Marseille, where he first turn at youth level and worked as an assistant in the league team. At the beginning of the 1992/93 season he was there then, temporarily, as the main person responsible on the sidelines, then returned to the second member. He was in 1987 elected coach of the year.
There followed several years abroad: from 1993 when the Saudi club Al -Nasr, whom he helped to the state championship in 1994 and to which he returned after a familial interlude at Lille OSC (1994 /95). In February 1996, Fernandez joined Al -Shabab, where it won even two titles (championship golf littoral in 1996 and Saudi Cup 1997), trained from July to December 1997, Al- Wahda a third club from the kingdom, and finally returned to Al -Nasr with which he was able to win the 1998 Asian Super Cup for club teams. 1998/99 secured the Tunisian club Etoile Sportive du Sahel Fernandez ' services.
Then the Frenchman returned to Algeria the French professional football back and trained there in succession FC Sochaux (1999-2002), with whom he 2001 's re-emergence in the highest league managed to FC Metz (2002-2005, there also resurgence in the Ligue 1) and in the season 2005/ 06 Olympique Marseille. From summer 2006 to 2011 Jean Fernandez was head coach at AJ Auxerre. Overall, he had graduated to the end of season 2007/ 08 in France's top flight 413 encounters in the chair of the head coach, but so far there - in contrast to his "Arab years " - still can not win a national title. From 2011 on, he worked for AS Nancy, where he announced his retirement in January 2013 because he the team - after completion of the first round in 2012/13 only bottom club - could no longer motivate. Six months later, he accepted the offer to look after the HSC Montpellier; However, this commitment lasted only five months.
Fernandez is a coach who relies heavily on the young and the young players the chance to prove themselves in the " rough air" and to develop. Besides Zidane, he has also ( even with ES du Sahel ) made Francileudo dos Santos Silva, Emmanuel Adebayor, Mamadou Niang, Franck Ribery and Toifilou Maoulida to regular players, followed by still remember especially the fans in Metz with respect. Ribery, meanwhile, has converted to Islam, Fernandez, who again was his coach in 2005/ 06, referred to in an interview as his " spiritual father ".