France’s Raymond Domenech Keeps His Job. Yes, I’m Serious

When we finished our Euro coverage here at World Cup Blog, several things appeared clear.

1. Andrei Arshavin would get a lot of money to move somewhere
2. Roberto Donadoni would be unceremoniously dumped from Italy, and
3. Raymond Domenech of France would soon follow

Number 2 has happened, number 1 is in process, and number 3…

Wait a minute. This can’t be right. You’re telling me the French Football Federation voted 18-0 (with one abstention) to keep Domenech in his current job? The Raymond Domenech whose team scored one goal and got a grand total of one point in Euros?

Yes, that’s what they’re telling us. The FFF voted today to keep Domenech in his job and give him a chance to take the team to World Cup 2010.

As a France fan, I’m shocked. But perhaps not as shocked as I should be. The FFF is a political organization. If you’re a political animal, as Raymond is, and if you have the support of thre President, Jean-Pierre Escalettes, as Raymond does, chances are pretty good that you’ll keep your job. As Raymond has.

There have also been rumors that Escalettes is not a fan of Didier Deschamps, who was the top name being tossed about as a replacement. And the fact that a number of current team members, including Willy Sagnol, Patrick Vieira, Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa spoke out in Domenech’s favor influenced things as well. And UEFA President Michel Platini is apparently also a Domenech fan.

And the FFF did make it clear that some things need to change.

Domenech was reproached for the brittle way in which he answered questions, for alienating French players from the fans by having too many closed-door training sessions and for proposing marriage to his girlfriend, Estelle Denis, live on television just moments after the French were eliminated.

“He only has one mission now, to concentrate on what happens on the field,” Escalettes said. “Now the communication has to be focused on the French team, not personal viewpoints. … In my opinion this communication was sometimes disastrous, aggressive and lacking clarity. He has a few years of experience behind him, and it’s up to him to show he can bounce back from this failure.”

So. He has to change. That’s…good. Right?

As a France fan, though, I have to say that I’m disappointed by this. Granted, I can’t see into the inner workings of the FFF, but from the outside this appears to be a clearcut case of politics trumping common sense. France needs a fresh, clearheaded approach. They need somebody who can say things like, “We really don’t have anybody who’s effective on set pieces. What can we change to make that happen?” Or, “The only reason we need two defensive midfielders is that our central defenders have gotten old and slow. Put in a younger, faster central defender and maybe we could afford to bring in some more midfield creativity.”

Domenech has never offered that clear-headed perspective — that ability to take a step back are recognize when things that used to work are no longer working. And I’m not sure he’s capable of starting now.

I was really looking forward to this team getting a fresh start. And I’m sad to see that this fresh start won’t be happening yet.