French coach Rolland Courbis dies at 72

A former French player and coach, Rolland Courbis, has been confirmed dead at the age of 72.

Courbis, often called in to rescue teams from relegation who became an outspoken media pundit, died on Monday.

His employer RMC announced his demise on Monday.

He won the French title three times as a player, with Marseille in 1972 and then Monaco in 1978 and 1982.

He spent two years as coach of Marseille during a colourful career in which he coached for more than 500 games in Ligue 1 and went to jail twice over financial issues at his club at the time.

Courbis also managed Toulon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Montpellier, ending his coaching career at Caen in 2019.

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By then he had become a well-established media commentator on French radio and television for RMC with an opinionated style that broke the mould in France.

France coach Didier Deschamps said French football had lost “an endearing, warm personality with a strong character,” a “true enthusiast” who had “chosen to share his passion in recent years, behind a microphone, with a unique way of expressing himself”.

Marseille paid tribute to Courbis in a statement calling him “an emblematic coach and a key personality in French football”.

The Star