Updated: 15 Sept 2026 15:25 BST |
5 min read
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Dino Toppmoller will reportedly be sacked by RC Lens just five games after winning the French Supercup against European champions Paris Saint-Germain.
The German coach took charge of last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up this summer, following Pierre Sage’s departure for Crystal Palace. The latter had mounted a credible title challenge and won the Coupe de France with Les Sang et Or last term.
Toppmoller arrived at Lens after having been sacked by Eintracht Frankfurt in January. Things went sour for him in 2025/26, with the team struggling defensively, but the season prior had been a huge success.
A former assistant to Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern, Toppmoller had enhanced his reputation by leading Frankfurt into the Champions League via the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history after finishing third.
The 45-year-old played an outsized role in unlocking Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike in 2024/25, culminating in Frankfurt banking huge profits when they sold them to Man City and Liverpool, respectively.
Toppmoller axed by Lens
Given Lens’ success last season, Toppmoller joined a team that had lost several key players such as Mamadou Sangare, who is making waves at Brentford in the Premier League now.
Lens supporters didn’t really know what to expect from Toppmoller, but he quickly allayed any fears they may have had over his appointment when he won the Trophee des Champions against PSG in his first game in charge.
However, just five games later, his adventure in France has already come to an end. L’Equipe and Sky Germany report that the 45-year-old has been unceremoniously sacked by the club.
The latter has revealed that this monumental decision has come about due to a dispute over one of his assistant coaches, Nelson Morgado. It is claimed that Toppmoller’s “closest confidant” had rubbed several people at Lens the wrong way.
Morgado, it is said, demanded “more commitment, more passion, and more energy” from the other members of Toppmoller’s staff. This resulted in a rift between the manager’s assistant and the coaches appointed by the club.
When he joined Lens, Toppmoller agreed to a sizeable compromise. He accepted that he would only be allowed to bring two of his assistants with him, while the other coaching positions were filled by the club.
Evidently, Morgado did not see entirely eye-to-eye with the club-appointed staff. Rather than give Toppmoller the opportunity to smooth things over, the club elected to sack Morgado.
The manager deemed this an unacceptable overreach and refused to accept the decision. As a result, he was sacked alongside Morgado on Monday evening despite enjoying a strong rapport with his players and the club hierarchy.
Just the day prior, Toppmoller had been lauded by Lens fans and senior figures at the club – including president Joseph Oughourlian, general manager Benjamin Parrot and sporting director Jean-Louis Leca – for salvaging a draw against Le Mans with a decimated and very young team.
Toppmoller’s sacking is entirely down to club politics rather than sporting merit. Things haven’t gone smoothly for Lens in Ligue 1, but results elsewhere meant that the German had plenty of credit in the bank.
In addition to the Supercup win over PSG, Lens produced a remarkable stoppage-time comeback against Slavia Prague in the Champions League last week. They also won their Ligue 1 opener over Auxerre before losing to Strasbourg and Lorient and then drawing with Le Mans.
This is easily one of the harshest and most bizarre sackings in recent history. Lens fans seem to agree because the reaction to this news has been overwhelmingly negative.
At the time of writing, L’Equipe’s report on Toppmoller’s dismissal has garnered almost 1,400 comments. People are completely baffled. The top comment reads: “Seriously, what is this joke?”
It’s still early days this season, but Toppmoller has already become the fourth manager to lose his job in Europe’s top-five leagues. Fabio Grosso was the first to be fired after losing his first three games at free-spending Fiorentina.
On Sunday, Borussia Monchengladbach coach Eugen Polanski and Valencia boss Carlos Corberan were both sacked. The latter wasn’t the only one to be dismissed by the fallen Spanish giants, with Valencia also sacking their CEO and all of his associates.
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