Wednesday 31 December 2014 10:31, UK
Montpellier president Mohed Altrad has suspended head coach Fabien Galthie, branding the Frenchman’s season in charge at the club as a “failure.”
Galthie's side have lost eight of their last nine matches, slipping to eighth in the Top 14 league while struggling in the European Champions Cup.
It's a failure. We can't say Galthie's season has been a success.
South Africa’s World Cup winning coach Jake White has been brought in to take over during Galthie’s suspension, which will last until January 9.
"It's a failure. We can't say Galthie's season has been a success," said Altrad. "In a rugby club, whatever the level, it's rare to lose eight out of nine matches.
"It's a conservative suspension and not necessarily a sanction. Fabien is suspended until Friday next week for internal reasons and to try to get us out of this situation."
Montpellier suffered a crucial blow in October after influential fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc broke a leg in a Top 14 game against Oyonnax.
Since the fly-half has been sidelined, the club have endured a miserable run and it looked like Galthie’s time was up after a loss to Bath at the beginning of December.
Reports claimed Galthie had been stood down by Altrad only for player power to see him reinstated.
In the wake of their seventh Top 14 defeat of the season to Castres on Sunday, Altrad took action but insisted the Frenchman had not been sacked.
"For the moment he is suspended, a sacking is a whole different process,” he said. "It depends on his behaviour, on what he's going to say and do. We've asked him to think about the club's future and come back with some projects.
"In the meantime we've gone looking outside for some expertise, in the person of Jake White, who is world renown, who won the World Cup, who guided two teams (the Sharks and Brumbies) to the final and semi-finals of the Super 15."
A six-month deal has been put in place for White, with Shaun Sowerby, who played the majority of his career in France, taking over as forwards coach.
Montpellier have lost all four European Champions Cup matches they have played and are out of that competition ahead of their final two fixtures.
Their league form, which includes four defeats in their last five, has seen them drop to eighth - they need a top-six finish to reach the play-offs and, perhaps more importantly, guarantee a place in next season's Champions Cup.
"It's not the time to speak about White's future because we're in a crisis," added Altrad. "Our aim is to play another role. In Europe it's dead, in the Top 14 we'll keeping trying despite everything. We need to wait several weeks before talking about the future."
Montpellier continue their fight to make the top six in the Top 14 this weekend when they host French and European champions Toulon.
