Sébastien Bichard (born 29 May 1983) is a French football manager and former player. He is currently head coach of Ligue 2 club Clermont. He also holds Swiss nationality.[1]
Career
editBorn in Le Blanc in the department of Indre, Bichard was raised in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault and attended the French Football Federation's centre in Tours before joining the academy of LB Châteauroux.[2]
Aged 19, Bichard moved to Switzerland to join Stade Payerne in the fifth division. He remained in the Alpine country for the rest of his playing career with FC Bulle, FC Stade Nyonnais and FC Meyrin; he played in the second-tier Swiss Challenge League with Nyon.[2]
Bichard began his managerial career in 2011 with the under-14 team of Vaud Nyon, and was Stade Nyonnais's head coach from 2014 to 2016. For the next two years, he was under-18 manager at FC Lausanne-Sport. He was then under-21 manager of FC Sion's under-21 team, winning the reserve league.[2] He had two spells in joint caretaker management of Sion's first team in 2019, alongside Christian Zermatten.[3][4][5]
In November 2020, Bichard was included as an assistant to Swiss manager Bernard Challandes for the Kosovo national football team. As the manager was ill with COVID-19, Bichard led the team in UEFA Nations League games against Slovenia and Moldova, winning the latter 1–0 and keeping the team in Group C.[6][7]
While still assistant manager for Kosovo, Bichard took up the same position at Sion in December 2022 under Fabio Celestini.[8]
In the summer of 2023, Bichard was close to being hired by French Championnat National side FC Versailles 78, before being named assistant to Habib Beye at Red Star F.C. in the same league. The following March he left for another number-two job at Clermont Foot, who were battling relegation from Ligue 1.[9] The team were relegated to Ligue 2, Pascal Gastien left, and Bichard led the team for the 2024–25 season.[10]
References
edit- ^ Vaney, Florian (5 March 2024). "Du Team Vaud à la Ligue 1, itinéraire d'un acharné" [From Team Vaud to Ligue 1, the itinerary of a relentless man] (in French). 24 Heures. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ a b c Galipaud, Baptiste (1 July 2020). "Sébastien Bichard, entraîneur adjoint au FC Sion (D1 suisse) et originaire de l'Indre : "la Berri reste mon club de coeur"" [Sébastien Bichard, assistant manager of FC Sion (Swiss first division) and originally from Indre: "Berri remains the team in my heart"]. La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest (in French). Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ Guillemin, Tim (7 May 2019). "Sébastien Bichard et Christian Zermatten, un duo qui se connaît bien" [Sébastien Bichard and Christian Zermatten, a duo who know each other well]. Le Matin (Switzerland) (in French). Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "«L'état d'esprit d'une équipe, cela se construit»" ["The state of team spirit, that is made"]. Le Matin (Switzerland) (in French). 28 November 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "Bettoni est le 60e coach de Sion sous l'ère Constantin: voici la liste" [Bettoni is the 60th coach of Sion in the Constantin era: here is the list]. Watson (in French). 7 March 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ Bourcier, Sébastien (9 May 2021). "Football : Sébastien Bichard, de Saint-Benoît-du-Sault au Kosovo" [Sébastien Bichard, from Saint-Benoît-du-Sault to Kosovo]. La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest (in French). Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ Vaney, Florian (18 November 2020). "Le Kosovo devra se sauver loin de Challandes, mais avec Bichard" [Kosovo will have to save themselves far from Challandes, but with Bichard]. Le Matin (Switzerland) (in French). Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ Da Custodia, Hugo (1 March 2023). "Avant Sion-Lugano : Sébastien Bichard n'en est pas à sa première mission commando" [Before Sion-Lugano: Sébastien Bichard is not in his first commando mission] (in French). Rhône FM. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ Pruneta, Laurent (4 March 2024). "National : Sébastien Bichard, l'adjoint de Beye, quitte le Red Star pour Clermont en Ligue 1" [National: Sébastien Biachard, Beye's assistant, leaves Red Star for Clermont in Ligue 1]. Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "Clermont Foot : un staff recomposé autour de l'entraîneur Sébastien Bichard" [Clermont Foot: a recomposed staff around manager Sébastien Bichard]. La Montagne (in French). 29 June 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.