Losing star player Kadidiatou Diani to rivals Lyon and seeing coach Gerard Precheur leave due to a desire to "win", the club isn't in the best shape

Not many teams go into their third game of the season with a brand new coach. Not many teams, though, are like Paris Saint-Germain. When Jocelyn Precheur, son of departing women's team boss Gerard, stepped into the dugout to make his managerial debut for the French giants, his upgraded role wasn't the only sign of the mayhem that often surrounds this club, either.

To his left, a banner was unveiled behind the goal that criticised Kadidiatou Diani, who departed for arch-rivals Lyon in the summer. She's one of many to take that path in recent years, and she had the last laugh just over a week ago as she and her new team emerged 1-0 winners at Parc des Princes. The result gives Lyon a head start in a title race that PSG have beaten them in just once in the last 17 seasons.

It's a chaotic and disappointing start to the new campaign, on and off the pitch, but chaos and disappointment are two things never far from this club, whether it is on the men’s side or the women’s.

There have been some weird and worrying stories to come out of PSG in recent years, but the current concerns surround the team’s inability to win trophies. Lyon continue to triumph domestically, with PSG’s best players often deciding to take the mantra of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ quite literally. In Europe, the Parisians’ wait for success goes on, with them reaching two finals – the last in 2017 – but failing to get the job done in either.

Despite the superstar talent the team so often has and despite being part of one of the richest clubs in world football, PSG seem to constantly be a mess. It’s something Lyon have taken advantage of early in this new season, though the most-recent result wasn’t much of a shock.

The turmoil going on in the French capital will be encouraging for another big club, though. On Tuesday, Manchester United will welcome PSG for the first leg of their Women’s Champions League qualifier, with the winner of the tie reaching the group stages.

The English side, making their competition debut, are huge underdogs, that’s for sure. But with PSG, there is always an element of doubt.

Getty‘Being competitive isn't enough’

Four months before Gerard Precheur’s eventual departure as head coach of PSG, the 63-year-old had expressed clear doubts at his desire to continue. It was the end of another trophy-less season, which all-but-five in the history of the women’s team have been, and when Precheur was asked if he would be continuing, his response was honest.

“I don't know," he said in May. “I need time to recover. I'm fed up of being kicked around behind labels. PSG must provide guarantees to build a great club. Being competitive isn't enough. I want to finish my career with a determination to win.”

He would agree to come back for another season, but according to , the doubts remained, with Diani’s move to Lyon a factor in his thinking.

“I'm not of an age to be building things anymore,” Precheur had said. PSG have some big names in their squad, there's no doubt about that, but an array of stars doesn't guarantee success. Precheur is right: This club needs to actually build something more to deliver trophies on a regular basis.

AdvertisementGettyTwo coaches in three games

And so, on September 28, three days before Lyon’s visit to Parc des Princes, PSG released a statement. “For personal reasons, and in agreement with Paris Saint-Germain, Gerard Precheur is stepping down as head coach of the women's team,” it read.

“To ensure the continuity of the sporting project put in place for the summer of 2022, the entire technical staff has been retained and will continue to work with the women's professional team. Jocelyn Precheur, until now assistant coach, will take charge of the team. Paris Saint-Germain would like to thank Gerard Precheur for his commitment and work over the last 14 months.”

There is arguably no bigger fixture that Precheur 2.0 could have stepped into for his first game in charge of PSG. The 42-year-old has had previous success coaching in the Chinese Women’s Super League, also stepping in to take his father's place in a role, but this was quite the step up.

In truth, his team played well. Were it not for a defiant Christiane Endler, the Chilean goalkeeper who is one of many to have swapped Paris for Lyon over the years, they probably would’ve earned at least a point. But, as Precheur himself put it after the game: “A defeat is still a defeat. We need to take things to the next level and progress if we want to play at the top of the table.

“We need to be more consistent if we want to go further. It's frustrating because the score is so small. But we don't want to hear any more of that 'we're not far off' nonsense. We need to show more spirit, especially at home.”

Getty‘You leave for the money, we stay for the love’

That it was Endler who stood in the way of PSG getting a better result was almost symbolic. One of the best shot-stoppers in the world, the Chilean was part of the Parisians’ side when they finally toppled Lyon in the 2020-21 season and won the club’s first league title on the women’s side. But in the weeks that followed that success, Endler was one of three PSG stars to leave for Lyon.

"It is time to look for another sports project," she wrote on Instagram upon departure. "I want to keep improving as a player, as a person, to keep learning and adding different experiences to my life. I want to bet on a club that treats women's football as an equal.” That line was particularly damning.

While the banner that the PSG ultras unveiled before the defeat to Lyon at the start of October suggested that there are other motives for those who leave for OL – ‘You leave for the money, we stay for the love’ was the message aimed at Diani – it’s success that these players crave, success that cannot be delivered in a consistent manner by the current project in the French capital.

GettyFive trophies in 52 years

That inequality that Endler spoke of two years ago is part of the reason why PSG has just five trophies to show for its 52 years in the women’s game – one top-flight title, a second-tier title and three Coupe de France triumphs.

Lyon’s early investment in its women’s team not only increased its quality and attractiveness for potential signings, but also its reputation and the trust which players have in the club to support them. Despite PSG having significantly better finances than their French rivals, they’ve not yet been able to match OL in that sense.

Even as the club’s commitment to its women’s team has grown, some of the decisions haven’t always made sense. Whether that has been in the managers appointed, the players signed or perhaps areas of the team neglected in transfer windows, there have always been questionable moves made by PSG in a sporting sense.

And while that financial power has helped them on their rise to the top of the women’s game, it is the final step that they are unable to make. How do they overtake Lyon in France? How do they become a serious Champions League contender? That is what PSG have to figure out now, because as it stands, Lyon still appears to be a more attractive proposition for a player.