Tigana parts company with Shanghai

Jean Tigana has resigned as coach of Shanghai Shenhua with Nicolas Anelka to take over as player-manager.

The 56-year-old former Fulham and Bordeaux boss had been absent from Friday’s 1-0 home loss to Tianjin Teda following a week where three French assistants he’d brought to the club were sacked.

During the week, Anelka had also tweeted he had become player-coach, although Shenhua had said he was only acting as an assistant and Tigana remained in his senior role.

According to the Shanghai Daily newspaper, the big-spending Chinese club’s owner Zhu Jun has confirmed Tigana has resigned although there is no agreement on a severance package at this stage for the coach who only joined the club in December.

However, Tigana said on Monday that he had not quit the club.

“That’s wrong,” he said.

Tigana refused to speak on whether he was still at the club, and added: “I have nothing to declare.”

The Frenchman’s position as boss has been on shaky ground after the side’s poor start to the season, with the club 14th with just one win from six games.

It has also been reported Shenhua players are unhappy with his training methods.