Lens made another change in the dugout after a 9–1 defeat to Como in the Champions League and a subsequent loss to Marseille in Ligue 1. The club’s board dismissed Yannick Cahuzac after just nine games in charge.
Walid Regragui made the final shortlist and met with Lens officials. The job would have given the Moroccan coach his first taste of European club management, with the chance to coach in Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
Lens also explored bringing back former coach Pierre Sage following his departure from Crystal Palace. Negotiations ended before a contract was signed, however, with French media reporting that Sage, who had been the frontrunner for the job, turned down the offer to return.
Lens ultimately appointed Didier Digard on a contract until June 2028, making him their third head coach of the season after Dino Toppmöller and Cahuzac. The board interviewed around 10 candidates over the course of a week before narrowing the shortlist to three.
Digard, 40, has experience steadying teams after taking over midseason. He won 10 of his 21 matches as interim coach of Nice in early 2023 and later kept Le Havre in Ligue 1 for two consecutive seasons before being dismissed in late October.
Regragui has been out of coaching since leaving the Morocco job in March. He is working as a pundit for Canal+ this season and is still waiting for an opportunity in one of Europe’s top leagues after turning down several offers over the summer.
He built his reputation in club football by winning the Moroccan league and the Throne Cup with FUS Rabat. He went on to win the Qatari league with Al Duhail before claiming the Moroccan league title and the CAF Champions League with Wydad Casablanca in 2022.
Months after that continental triumph with Wydad, Regragui led the Atlas Lions to fourth place at the World Cup in Qatar. He later took Morocco to the Africa Cup of Nations final on home soil. Those achievements helped earn him a place on the Lens shortlist, and a first job in European club football remains his goal.
