Oldham Athletic have announced former Monaco coach Laurent Banide as their new manager. 

This announcement has been long awaited following Pete Wild’s decision to leave the club  in May. It has been revealed that Mr Banide has agreed a one year deal with the Lancashire club, and will begin his duties on 1st July.

In a statement on the club website, owner Abdallah Lemsagam said:

“I’m delighted to welcome Laurent to Oldham Athletic.

“He brings a lot of experience to this club and I’m looking forward to working alongside him the 2019/20 campaign.

“I believe Laurent is a fantastic coach and is the right man to take this club forward going into the new season.”

Banide started his managerial career at Monaco, where he held positions in the youth academy for over a decade before taking the first team job in 2006 during a turbulent time in the club’s history.

The Frenchman returned to Monaco in 2011 but was sacked following a poor start to the season. Much of his career has been spent in the middle east, where he has taken charge of a number of teams:

  • Umm Salal (Qatar, 2008 and 2018) – the club won the Emir of Qatar cup in 2008.
  • Al-Kuwait (Kuwait, 2008-09 and 2016-17) – the club won the Emir of Kuwait Cup that season and finished runners up in the Kuwait Crown Prince Cup
  • Al Dhafra (UAE, 2009-10 and 2012-13 and 2015)
  • Al Nasr (UAE, 2010)
  • Al-Kharitiyath (Qatar, 2012)
  • Al-Wasl (UAE, 2013)
  • Al Orobah (Saudi Arabia, 2013-14)
  • Al-Khor (Qatar, 2017)

Banide’s career is heavily punctuated, as he regularly leaves clubs of his own accord or as a result of poor performances. He averages less than 1.2 points per game. His most successful period was early in his career with Umm Salal and Al-Kuwait where he won their respective domestic cups.

Mr Banide is certainly unknown to the English game, so D3D4 asked Alex Stewart, of tifofootball.com, for his expert tactical opinion on Banide:

“He coached Umm Salal in Qatar most recently where they mostly used a 4-1-4-1 and in transition, the defensive midfielder drops to take the ball from the centre backs, or the centre backs carry it up field. They then look to get the full-backs to play balls up the line to a pair of relatively quick, tricky wingers, or aim for a target man, in this case Yannick Sagbo, with long passes. Most of the build-up bypassed the central midfielders, whose function seems more to have tried to shield the back line or provide short passes out wide toe create space for the FBs or wingers.

“Defensively they looked weak, where centre-backs looked strong but leggy and their shape was very easily disrupted. They looked weak against quick, skilful players, though some of their apparent defensive downfalls were due to poor goalkeeping

“In summary, Umm Salal under his leadership were pretty direct and mid-rank for the league in pressing metrics. Their defensive shape in the mid block is fine but individual defensive errors and low block was problematic. It is fair to say he was working with poor quality players there. Stylistically his type of football may be somewhat effective in the lower leagues”.

It is clear that the 51 year old has a lot to prove in League Two, as Oldham seek to meet Mr Lemsagam’s plan: return to the League One in the next three years. If Banide is to succeed, he will need to seriously strengthen a thread bare defence and will likely need a dedicated defensive coach if he is to overcome the issues he’s previously had.

Words by Chris Stringer, D3D4 Football