Changing of the Garde ushers in new Lyon era

After three years without a trophy and several high-profile transfer market miscalculations, it will be a more humble, more thrifty Lyon that embark upon the 2011-12 Ligue 1 season. Claude Puel paid the price for the silverware drought with his job at the end of last season and the choice of his successor as coach, Remi Garde, demonstrated the club's desire to return to their roots. Garde, who hails from nearby L'Arbresle, was a childhood OL fan and went on to play for the club for nine years before returning in 2003 and ultimately assuming responsibility for the academy. Tellingly, where Puel found a four-year contract awaiting his signature when he arrived from Lille in 2008, Garde has been awarded a rolling one-year deal that will be re-evaluated at the end of the season. President Jean-Michel Aulas' circumspection bears testimony to a pressing need for caution after three years of on-pitch disappointment. Having established themselves as France's pre-eminent force with seven straight league titles from 2002-2008, Lyon abandoned their careful recruitment policy in a bid to make their mark in Europe. Vast sums were spent on players like Lisandro Lopez, Michel Bastos and Yoann Gourcuff, but although Puel led OL to the Champions League semi-finals in 2010, their crown slipped at home. Third in 2009, they finished second a year later but were pushed all the way by Paris Saint-Germain last season before finally securing third place on the final day. "We tried to raise the bar very high to get closer to victory in the Champions League, but now we have to come back to good sense and not make any mistakes," Aulas told L'Equipe last month. His advisor Bernard Lacombe believes Lyon have "become a normal club again," while his statement that the club's humble target for this season is "qualifying for the Champions League or the Europa League" would have been unthinkable three years ago. Lyon spent 131.5 million euros ($188m) on transfer fees alone over the last three years but the strategy was hit-and-miss. No-one typified the club's difficulties more succinctly than Gourcuff, who endured a torrid, injury-dogged season after joining from Bordeaux for 22 million euros last summer and struggled to earn his new team-mates' trust. The France playmaker was supposed to be the final piece in the OL jigsaw but the team continued to flounder; a 1-0 loss to derby rivals Saint-Etienne last September temporarily sending OL into the bottom three. Puel limped on until the end of the season but the die had already been cast, prompting Aulas to turn to Garde with a brief to cut out the dead wood and put the club back on the right track. Lyon are still to make a major summer signing and are also struggling to shift some of the high-earners who have given OL a wage bill that, according to Aulas, is "30 to 40 percent higher" than that of anyone else in the league. Jeremy Toulalan has joined Malaga, but Aly Cissokho, Kim Kallstrom and Bastos remain on the books despite reported interest from -- respectively -- Liverpool, Galatasaray and Juventus. Academy graduates like left-back Thimothee Kolodziejczak, forward Alexandre Lacazette and attacking midfielder Jeremy Pied are expected to be integrated into the first team, as Garde bids to give the side a new identity. "The objective is to bring back a bit of internal serenity, rediscover certain values and play a game that the Lyon fans expect," said Garde at his introductory press conference. "The club wants to go back to the things we knew in the past, recently and further back. Allying good football and results is the ultimate aim." The title remains the objective, but Lyon are no longer the ogre they once were.