Much-travelled Sousa takes over at much-troubled Bordeaux

Bordeaux (AFP) – Paulo Sousa took over as coach at Bordeaux on Friday in a season at the club which has not offered vintage football on the field but has been a whirlwind off it.

Sousa, 48, is the club’s fourth manager in a season in which the ownership has also changed.

He is a former international midfielder who won the Champions League with both Juventus and Dortmund. 

Sousa has coached QPR, Leicester, Swansea, Videoton in Hungary, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Basel and Fiorentina but has been without a club since leaving Tianjin Quanjian in October.

“We are confident that Paulo Sousa will bring all our fans the pleasure they expect from coming to the stadium to see their team play and will achieve the ambitious goals we have set him,” said the club’s American owner Joe DaGrosa, who took Bordeaux over in November.

According to press reports, Sousa will bring his long-standing assistant Victor Sanchez Llado, a Spaniard, and two other coaches with him.

“The vision of my role in Bordeaux, as with each of the clubs I coached will consist in creating and developing a philosophy and a game identity that reflect the club’s history and is sustainable in the future,” Sousa told the club website.

Bordeaux sacked Brazilian Ricardo Gomes on February 26 after only one win in six games and the club languishing 13th in Ligue 1.

Ricardo replaced Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet in September but was named general manager because he lacked the necessary certificates to coach in France.

Eric Bedouet, the official coach under Ricardo, has had two stints as interim manager. The appointment of Sousa means the second lasted just one game, a 2-1 home defeat to Montpellier and remained in 13th.