We are on July 1, 1998 and all of France vibrates for the World Cup of which it is the host country. This is the day that Paris Saint-Germain chooses to formalize the name of his new coach: Alain Giresse.
Then aged 45, the former midfielder is a technician who is on the rise after two and a half years spent on the bench of Téfécé. It is none other than the first choice of Charles Biétry, who has just succeeded Michel Denisot as president of the club of the capital.
The season begins perfectly with obtaining a title from the first official match played. Indeed, PSG wins the Champions Trophy by beating RC Lens (1-0). During the first day of D1, the defeat against the Girondins de Bordeaux (3-1) is overshadowed by the fantastic goal of the summer transfer window, Jay-Jay Okocha. Despite two victories during the following days, the Red and Blue fail to play the leading roles in the league. Worse, they are eliminated pitifully in the first round of the cut of the cuts, by the Maccabi Haifa (1-1, 3-2).
Alain Giresse, ephemeral coach of PSG
The defeat in the return match, at the Kiryat-Eliezer stadium, still constitutes one of the worst humiliations in the history of the Ile-de-France club. However, it is not the one that seals the fate of “gigi”. It is the setback during the next match, at home against RC Lens (0-1), in which Marco Simone misses a penalty after having slipped.
“The following week, it was an late afternoon in Octoberremembered Giresse during an interview given to turn in 2018. The training had just ended, it was already dark. There, the president, Charles Biétry, comes to see me and says to me: 'It's over, it's over, you stop'. Something like that. It was raining, it was dark, it all made up that I keep a certain bitterness of this announcement. The decision is what it is, I must respect it, but, put a minimum of forms there, it costs nothing. »» After only eight first division days, Giresse is dismissed. He will be replaced in the process by the Portuguese Artur Jorge.
