The new American president of Olympique Lyonnais John Textor announced on Tuesday that he intended to “keep and support” coach Laurent Blanc, to whom he wishes to give “the necessary tools” to succeed. “We will keep and support Laurent Blanc. The team has been working quite well for fifteen matches. We must give the coach the necessary tools” to succeed with “a new team”, declared the American businessman for his first press conference since the announcement on Tuesday of his takeover at OL after 36 years of presidency of Jean-Michel Aulas. On Monday, OL Groupe announced to everyone’s surprise the appointment of John Textor – who bought the Rhone club last December – as CEO, replacing Jean-Michel Aulas, head of OL since 1987 and who was to initially to stay there at least until 2025. Asked about this early departure, Mr. Textor denied the “rumors and over-interpretations” reporting tensions with the historic president of the club, while specifying that he wanted to take a new direction. “We won’t be better if we don’t do something different,” he insisted. “Jean-Michel believes in what we are doing for the club,” he said.