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Marcelo Bielsa resigns as manager of Marseille

 Marcelo Bielsa has resigned as Marseille head coach
Image: Marcelo Bielsa has resigned as Marseille manager

Marcelo Bielsa has quit as manager of Marseille just one game into the new French football season.

The 60-year-old tendered his resignation to president Vincent Labrune after a 1-0 home defeat by Caen in their first Ligue 1 game of the season on Saturday.

The former Athletic Bilbao boss joined L'OM in May 2014.

"I have resigned from my post as manager of Marseille," the Argentine announced at the end of his post-match news conference.

"I have finished my work here, I will return to my country. I thank the fans for always being behind me during games and on a daily basis.

"I am sad and frustrated. I cannot accept the situation of instability at the club," added Bielsa, who accused the club of changing the details of a contract he was ready to sign to commit himself to the team until 2017.

Bielsa has been linked to the Mexico national team manager's role in recent weeks, and the Stade Velodrome side looked as though they were affected by the off-field uncertainty surrounding his future against Caen.

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Marseille got off to a flying start last season, winning eight of their opening 10 matches, before fading to fourth, 14 points adrift of champions PSG.

But they were off the pace on Saturday night in front of their home supporters and couldn't respond to a disciplined Caen performance.

"We had a dozen scoring opportunities. With so many opportunities we must win. There are no excuses for this defeat," added Bielsa before he dropped his resignation bombshell.

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