For those who do not follow the French championship with a minimum of assiduity, the names of the coaches of several clubs, starting Friday for the 23rd day of Ligue 1, would be surprising. Dismissed from his position as coach of Stade Rennais on February 9, where he was replaced by Franck Haise – himself fired from Nice at the end of 2025 – Habib Beye will take his place on the bench of Olympique de Marseille, the Marseille club announced on Wednesday February 18 in a press release. The former OM captain – who played there from 2003 to 2007 – succeeds the Italian Roberto de Zerbi, whose “end of collaboration” with Marseille was announced a week earlier, during the night.
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This appointment comes the day after yet another twist in the crisis plaguing the Marseille club – currently fourth in L1, five points behind 3rd – with the announcement by the American businessman and owner of the club, Frank McCourt, that Medhi Benatia, the resigning club’s football director, was going to stay until the end of the season, seeing his prerogatives broadened. And it concludes, at least temporarily, several weeks of turmoil in the Marseille city.
Greeting a technician who “built a unique trajectory in French football, first as a combative and respected player, then as an ambitious and thoughtful coach”Olympique de Marseille observes in its press release that “the circle seems closed (…)from the green lawn of the Vélodrome to the sidelines of the enclosure »for his former defender. But emphasizes that “the hardest part is probably facing him”. Because Habib Beye, who also cut his teeth as a star consultant on Canal+ before launching his coaching career at Red Star, has the mission of putting a team back on track whose transalpine predecessor often criticized the inconstancy and errors of its leaders.
“This team remains of a very high level”
Pitifully eliminated at the wire of the league phase of the Champions League, with the epilogue an improbable scenario and a goal from… Benfica goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin, at the last second, in another meeting, the Marseille players are struggling to stay the course this season. Despite a largely reinforced squad, Benjamin Pavard’s teammates are unable to string together results. And the rout on the lawn of the Parc des Princes against rival Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on February 8 (5-0) sounded the death knell for the volcanic Roberto De Zerbi in Marseille.
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Choice of Mehdi Benatia, whom he had met at the Commanderie when he was a player – the football director was training at the club – Habib Beye returns to the Marseille city with a clear mission: to qualify Marseille for the next Champions League, therefore to finish among the top three in the ranking. Fourth place is also qualifying, but through risky jump-offs. The former Senegalese international, trained at PSG, will begin his mandate on Friday February 20 on the Brest pitch, while the team is also still in the running in the Coupe de France. And he himself must redeem himself, after a mixed experience in Rennes to say the least.
“I know this club very well, I know that the crisis sometimes does it good”observed Habib Beye about OM on February 3, after the elimination of his then club, Rennes, by Marseille in the Coupe de France (0-3). Quoting former Marseille president Pape Diouf, the Franco-Senegalese technician continued: “When the fire burns in Marseille, you sometimes have to let it burn: it keeps the emulation going”observant “tension, but this team remains at a very high level. » Barely a few weeks later, it’s up to him to demonstrate it. And to put out the fire that is burning down the Old Port.
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