Gili given Bastia role

Gérard Gili has been appointed coach of the French club SC Bastia.

‘Huge expectations’
Gili, who has had two spells in charge of Olympique de Marseille and coached the Egyptian national team in 2000, will take over at the Corsican club where he spent his final playing days before becoming youth team coach. "The club has changed a lot since then," Gili said. "But the atmosphere is still very hot with fans who always have huge expectations. This will make our preparation period very exciting."
 
Nouzaret replaced
Gili replaces Robert Nouzaret who was dismissed despite leading his team to the French Cup final where they lost to FC Lorient. Gili has been out of coaching for two years following Egypt's quarter-final defeat to Tunisia in the 2000 African Cup of Nations.
 
‘Missed the thrill’
"I have not lost contact with high level football," Gili, who won two French league titles and the French Cup with Marseille, said. "But I was missing the thrill of being involved." Christophe Galtier will be Gili's assistant coach at the club that finished mid-table in the French league last season.