The French Football Federation has announced that national team coach Raymond Domenech will remain in charge, despite France’s mediocre performance at Euro 2008. France finished bottom of its group with one point and one goal from its three games against Romania, Holland and Italy.
“Domenech’s record is not that bad as coach. It is not catastrophic,” said FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes. “He qualified for a major competition two straight times. I did not want emotion and passion to get the better of reason.” The FFF said Domenech, who received 18 votes to stay with one abstention, has had his targets “re-defined, and his managerial responsibilities re-evaluated.”
Escalettes said Domenech must change his ways and avoid the sort of comments that were “sometimes like pouring vinegar on a wound. He only has one mission now, to concentrate on what happens on the field.” Domenech’s personal views were “sometimes disastrous, aggressive and lacking clarity. He has a few years of experience behind him, and it’s up to him to show he can bounce back from this failure.”