Christian Gourcuff
Christian Jean Gourcuff (born 5 April 1955) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Ligue 1 club Nantes. Club career. During his playing career, Gourcuff played for Rennais, US Berné, Guingamp, Rouen, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Lorient, Le Mans and Montreal Supra. International career. Gourcuff played one match for the Brittany national team in 1988. It was an indoor game against the United States, and the final score was 6–2 in favor of Brittany. Managerial career. Becoming a player-manager at the age of 27, Gourcuff coached Lorient, Le  Mans, Pont-L'Abbé, Stade Rennais and Al-Ittihad, and is considered in France as a shrewd tactician with a strong commitment to attacking football and an eye for young talent. Gourcuff is thus widely credited with having overseen the progress of youngsters such as Jérémy Morel, André-Pierre Gignac, Kevin Gameiro, Morgan Amalfitano, Michael Ciani, Christophe Jallet, Laurent Koscielny, Bruno Ecuele Manga and Lamine Koné. From 1989 onward, Gourcuff exclusively focused on management after retiring from playing at the age of 34. Gourcuff has spent a total of 25 years in charge of Lorient in three different spells ranging between  1982 and 2014. Algeria. On 4 August 2014, Gourcuff was officially unveiled as the new head coach of the Algeria national football team, taking over the vacant spot left by the departure of Vahid Halilhodžić. On 3 February 2015, Gourcuff was given a new deal despite Algeria's quarter-final exit at the Africa Cup of Nations. Personal life. His son, Yoann, is also a professional footballer who represented France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Honours. Orders