Le Havre suspend coach Didier Digard after PSG rout, president Roussier quits
Bottom of Ligue 1 without a win, Le Havre suspend Didier Digard after the 5-1 loss to PSG. Academy chief Jaïr Karam steps in; president Roussier resigns.
EZCO Editorial··Reading time: 2 min
Le Havre have pulled the emergency brake. A day after the 5-1 home defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, the Ligue 1 club announced on Saturday, 31 October, that head coach Didier Digard has been suspended with immediate effect, and that president Jean-Michel Roussier is stepping down. Academy director Jaïr Karam will take charge of the first team as interim coach when training resumes on Monday, 2 November.
What the club announced
Le Havre chose its words carefully. Digard has been placed on a "mise à pied à titre conservatoire" – a precautionary suspension under French employment law – while a procedure runs its course, with further decisions to follow. In practice it ends his time on the bench for now: French outlets such as Foot01 already describe it as a dismissal, but the club itself has not used that word.
The upheaval reaches the boardroom too. The board of owner Blue Crow Sports Group has accepted "the principle" of Roussier's resignation after four years as president; it is due to be made formal at a board meeting on Thursday, 5 November. Until a new president and chief executive is named – the club says "very soon" – director general Yacine Alaoui oversees both the administrative and the sporting side.
Nine games, no win
The numbers explain the urgency. After nine matchdays Le Havre are bottom of the Ligue 1 table with two draws, seven defeats and a goal difference of –11. According to Foot Mercato, they are one of only two clubs in Europe's top five leagues still waiting for a first league win this season. Friday's game against the champions followed a familiar pattern: Josh Maja gave the home side an 18th-minute lead, Mika Godts and Achraf Hakimi turned it around within ten minutes, and Hakimi went on to complete a hat-trick.
| Pos | Club | Played | Points | Goal diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Strasbourg | 8 | 7 | –6 |
| 17 | Le Mans | 9 | 7 | –7 |
| 18 | Le Havre | 9 | 2 | –11 |
Ligue 1 bottom three before the remaining matchday-9 games on 1–2 November (EZCO match data).
Karam steps up from the academy
Karam knows the club from the inside: as director of the training centre he has worked with many of the younger players now in or around the squad. He takes over a side that has to find points quickly – the gap to 17th-placed Le Mans and play-off spot 16 is already five points. Lens had so far been the only Ligue 1 club to change coach this season; Le Havre are now the second.
Our take
Digard, in charge since 2024, had kept a modest budget side in Ligue 1, which bought him time. But two points from 27 is a run no club near the bottom can sit out, and the 5-1 in front of their own fans was the tipping point. The careful legal wording suggests Le Havre want a clean separation rather than an open dispute. Changing coach and president in the same breath also shows that the owners see a wider problem than results alone. Whether Karam is a bridge or a long-term option will depend on the next few games – and on who becomes president next week.
Follow Le Havre's next games, the live score and the full Ligue 1 standings on EZCO.
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