When Christophe Galtier leaves his post as Saint-Etienne head coach at the end of the season, he will have been in charge at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard for the best part of seven-and-a-half years.
The 50-year-old will leave as Europe’s second-longest serving manager, trailing only Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who arrived at Highbury in 1996, when Galtier was still a gritty middle-of-the-road defender at Marseille.
But though Wenger has many more managerial miles under his belt, he could still learn from his compatriot’s sense of timing.
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t is clear from the atmosphere around the club, in the stands, on the field and in the dugout, that the Galtier era at Saint-Etienne is over. A natural cycle has turned, with a likely seventh place finish in Ligue 1 this season meaning the side will miss out on European football. It is a sad and somewhat unjustified end to a spell that history will look back on as a success.
Galtier restored Saint-Etienne to their rightful status as one of France’s top clubs. After more than three decades without a trophy, he led the country’s most successful domestic side to the Coupe de la Ligue and lifted them back into Europe on a consistent basis for the first time since the 1980s.
In the current climate, challenging monetised sides such as Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and, to a slightly lesser extent, Nice for the Ligue 1 title is not a possibility for Les Verts, who have hit something of a glass ceiling.
Missing out on Europa League qualification, though, was a sufficient message to suggest to the coach that his time was up.
The reaction of the fans was one of warm gratitude for his efforts, despite a below-par finish to his tenure.
Take this in contrast to the events in North London, where large sections of the fans are pitched against Wenger, who has yet to confirm whether he is staying or going.
After 20-straight years of Champions League football, a perfect record for their manager, it is entirely possible that the Gunners miss out on the top four and, therefore, the opportunity to compete among Europe’s elite.
To fans, this may be seen as a catastrophe, but for the club, it is simply the end of an exceptional run. All of the other big English clubs have been absent from the elite competition for periods over the years, with Manchester United even able to become the richest club in the world when not in the competition.
But just because Arsenal have enjoyed such an impressive run of qualification, it should not mean that Wenger is untouchable, particularly in light of the club’s persistent failure to challenge even once in the tournament.
As a result, a fifth-place finish would be a natural bookend to the Frenchman’s time at the Emirates.
His legacy will never be destroyed with the Gunners – far from it – but it does stand under threat of being tarnished by his apparent contentment to settle for mediocrity. His persistence in retaining the hot seat at Arsenal appears to be more about proving that his methods still work than any rational belief that he is still the man for the job.
This, it seems, is where he differs from Galtier, who remains a coach still young and ambitious enough to have to care about his image. The Saint-Etienne boss is acutely aware that his stock threatens to fall if he remains at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, thereby hampering his marketability to secure a job in the Premier League, where he has previously worked as an assistant at Portsmouth.
“I got annoyed. I was frustrated by the bad luck we had this season, aggravated by the number of injuries and absentees in major matches. And yet somehow we enjoyed a very successful run in Europe,” Galtier told RMC.
“I accepted the criticism. Sometimes it was justified, sometimes it was not. Obviously, it stung.”
These were not the words of a coach resigned – they were the words of a coach still with a passion for bettering himself.
Galtier will not allow himself or his persona to grow stale; Wenger has been stale for so long that he does not even appear aware of the fact.
Galtier has recognised that it is time for an injection of fresh ideas into Saint-Etienne to give the club a chance to continue to grow.
Wenger must realise the same thing at Arsenal, to shake them out of their mediocre status quo and allow them to once again challenge for top honours. He has done an exceptional job, but his final act to allow the team to flourish must be to stand down at the end of the season.
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