RC Lens has officially announced the appointment of Didier Digard as head coach. His contract runs until the end of the following season, in June 2028.
He becomes the third coach used by the club after only ten matchdays of the championship. Results remain far from those that had been expected.
The news came as a surprise. The Artois club chose to take a firm stand from the very statement officially announcing the signing.
According to Racing, the idea of a stopgap firefighter does not hold. The length of the commitment points in the same direction.
The club is categorical: the time has come for a restart and for building, not merely for putting out a fire.
It recalls that its decisions are based on observable facts, a thorough analysis of the profiles studied, and convictions. Outside comments, sometimes seemingly unanimous, may have fueled narratives far removed from the thinking carried out internally.
The situation is tense, but Racing judges it anything but desperate so early in the season. Lens is seven points behind the podium and still fields the sixth-best attack in the top flight, with a talented squad.
Thierry Henry's interim spell was not conclusive. The club was eliminated in the Champions League group stage and earned only one point in six matches.
Since the start of the season, they have no longer borne fruit: no wins and only two points collected in ten matches.
It is now up to Didier Digard to write a story that will be more favorable to him, at a club that claims a building project rather than a mere rescue.