Alain Perrin

Managerial career

Perrin began his coaching career at AS Nancy in 1983, as junior coach to Arsène Wenger. He built up a reputation as a talented young coach whilst at the club, and was appointed to run the club's academy.

In 1993, Perrin had his first chance at management, taking over as manager of French National 2 (fourth division) club Troyes AC, quickly taking the club to Ligue 1 after three promotions in six seasons, and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. This success led to his being offered the position as manager of Olympique de Marseille in 2002.

During his time at the club, Perrin paid a French domestic transfer record for Didier Drogba. However, Perrin was sacked by Marseille, after a poor run of league form in January 2004.

Perrin was linked to a number of positions around Europe, including the position of manager at Southampton. However, in July 2004 he was named manager of Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates. Perrin had little luck with his new club however and was sacked after a disappointing run in October 2004.

In April 2005, he was appointed manager of Portsmouth, replacing caretaker Velimir Zajec, who had been in charge, since previous manager Harry Redknapp left in November 2004. Immediately, he was nicknamed 'Reggie' by the British press, and the Pompey fans, after the character Reginald Perrin from "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin". He succeeded in keeping the club in the top flight, and will be fondly remembered for the 4-1 win of local rivals Southampton, a result that contributed to their eventual relegation. However, just 8 months into the job, and after achieving only four wins from 20 games, Perrin was sacked.

He remained out of football management for 6 months, before returning on 19 May 2006 to the familiar territory of the French league at Ligue 1 side Sochaux. In 2007, he won the French Cup with his new club over Marseille.

Perrin took over as manager of Olympique Lyonnais on 30 May 2007, after Gérard Houllier resigned earlier that month. In his first season, he led the club to a seventh consecutive Ligue 1 championship title. He also managed to retain the French Cup which he had won with Sochaux the previous year. He left the club in June 2008. He was rumoured to take over the position of French national manager, but it was confirmed on 3 July 2008 that Raymond Domenech would remain in the position. On 11 November 2008, he became the new manager of Saint-Étienne, and was fired on 15 December 2009.

On 1 June 2012 Perrin decided to leave Al-Khor Sports Club to take up the vacant Qatar U23 position. His first assignment was to lead the team at the AFC Under-22 qualifiers, however the team were unable to make the tournament after they were knocked out in the group stages of the qualification process. Despite this disappointment Perrin continued to lead them into the 2012 Under 23 Gulf Cup of Nations where the team fared considerably better reaching the semi-finals of the tournament and eventually coming fourth overall in the competition.

On 20 December 2012, Perrin joined Al Gharafa and left just about two months after. In March 2013, he was appointed new head coach of Umm Salal to replace Bertrand Marchand. However, he resigned from his post on 30 September 2013.

On 28 February 2014, he was named as new China national football team manager, replacing Antonio Camacho. On 5 March 2014, China qualified for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. In the tournament, Perrin secured a 1–0 victory for China over Saudi Arabia and two another 2–1 victories over Uzbekistan and North Korea. China finished first in the group and qualified to knockout stage after 11 years, where they faced host country Australia in quarter-finals where they lost 0–2.

Manager

Honours

Troyes

Sochaux

Lyon