Marcelo Bielsa suggests Marseille career could be coming to an end
Marcelo Bielsa has done little to ease speculation over his future at Marseille, accepting that change is natural when a team falls short of expectations.
A Ligue 1 season which promised much has dramatically come off the rails as long-time leaders OM lost all four of their games in April.
OM's collapse - which reached a new nadir when their former player Jordan Ayew's brace helped relegation-threatened Lorient to a 5-3 win - has called into question the future of the nomadic Bielsa.
Asked if his players had given up on him, the Argentinian embarked on a typically meandering response.
"There are two types of coaches," he said at a press conference ahead of Friday's clash with Metz. "Those who oversee and those who work closely on players.
"When things go well, we praise the flexibility of the coach who oversees and the way the hands-on coach improves his players.
"When we lose, those who oversee are criticised for a lack of discipline. Those who are inflexible, they are accused of tiring the players out."
The latter criticism has often dogged Bielsa, who has rarely spent more than a couple of seasons with a club as his high-octane pressing game takes its toll on his players.
He added: "Regardless of the characteristic of the coach, when you lose the coach is left alone.
"It is natural that we reject a system that does not produce results, even after having previously praised it."
Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, currently in a youth development role at Manchester City, has been mooted as a possible successor should Bielsa move on this summer.