Brest have sacked coach Alex Dupont ahead of Sunday's crunch Ligue 1 encounter at bottom club Auxerre.
Club president reveals anguish at sacking friend
Brest have sacked coach Alex Dupont ahead of Sunday's crunch Ligue 1 encounter at bottom club Auxerre.
The 57-year-old leaves with the club lying third-bottom of the table and will be replaced until the end of the season by director of sport Corentin Martins.
The Brittany outfit have lost six of their last seven league games and are without a win away from home all season.
But with the team just one point from safety it could be regarded as a harsh decision given it was Dupont who led the club to promotion in 2010.
Brest president Michel Guyot has acknowledged it was a difficult choice to axe the man who had brought Ligue 1 football to the club.
"Alex will remain the coach who brought Brest into Ligue 1," Guyot said in quotes reported by
L'Equipe.
"I'm separating myself from a friend. Like any human being, I have a heart.
"I'm going to go home and shut myself up because it was a tough decision.
"I know what Alex Dupont represents to the city of Brest."