Dubai: Guy Lacombe hopes the yellow and black jersey of his new club Al Wasl will be a good omen as it is similar to the strip of French club Sochaux, with whom he won his first major trophy as a manager — the 2004 French League Cup.
The 57-year-old was on Wednesday unveiled as the full-time replacement for fellow Frenchman Bruno Metsu, who resigned after he was diagnosed with cancer. Assistant boss Gilles Morisseau was caretaker manager and he is likely to lead the side in Friday’s Etisalat Pro-League match at home to Al Jazira after he was retained by Lacombe.
Al Wasl are currently a disappointing eighth in the standings, but Lacombe hopes he will be able to turn around the Dubai-based club’s fortunes.
“My answer to Al Wasl fans will be on the pitch in the results we get and through positive performances,” said the former Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain boss. “The gold and black of Al Wasl reminds me of the first team I won a trophy with. This is a very good sign. I hope to repeat that with Al Wasl.
“I know I will only be evaluated on the results I achieve. I will need some time of course, but I will try to quickly hit the ground running.
“I will be assessing the team and watching a lot of videos and we will start work accordingly before I take full control of the team. I haven’t seen Al Wasl play yet as my appointment wasn’t even confirmed until Tuesday, so I will have to learn a lot quickly.
“I will be working closely with Gilles because he knows the team, he knows the league, he knows the opponents, so he will be very useful to me. But I want to work quickly so I can take full control of the team.”
