Fournier replaced by Lacombe as Paris St Germain coach

Laurent Fournier has been dismissed as Paris St Germain coach and replaced by ex-Sochaux manager Guy Lacombe.

Lacombe has signed a two-and-a-half year deal and will lead his first training session on Wednesday, PSG chairman Pierre Blayau told reporters yesterday.

"A new season starts tomorrow. Guy Lacombe will have no pressure," he said.

Fournier, the first coach sacked in Ligue 1 this season, had been in charge for less than 11 months. Monaco coach Didier Deschamps was replaced by Italian Francesco Guidolin in September but the former France captain had stepped down.

PSG lie sixth in the 20-team standings on 31 points from 19 matches, one adrift of second-placed RC Lens but a distant 13 behind runaway leaders Olympique Lyon.

Fournier, who replaced Vahid Halilhodzic in February and lifted the club from 12th to ninth in Ligue 1 last season, won the former Cup Winners' Cup with PSG in 1996.

"I have a lot of respect for the former coach, for what he did for the club," said Blayau.

But he added: "PSG have not met their ambitions. Do the players have ambition? Do they want to play next September in San Siro or at the Bernabeu?"

Lacombe has been without a club since leaving Sochaux during the close season.