Troyes Perrin began his coaching career at
Nancy in 1983, as junior coach to
Arsène Wenger. He built up a reputation as a talented young coach whilst at the club, and was appointed to run the club's academy. In 1993, Perrin had his first chance at management, taking over as manager of French
National 2 (fourth division) club
Troyes, quickly taking the club to
Ligue 1 after three promotions in six seasons, and qualifying for the
UEFA Cup. His side won the
2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup on the
away goals rule after a 4–4 draw at
Newcastle United.
Marseille In May 2002, Perrin signed a three-year deal to succeed
Bernard Tapie as manager of
Marseille. He was dismissed in January 2004 with the team in sixth, having lost 9 of their last 15 games. Days after leaving the
Stade Vélodrome, Perrin was linked to a number of managerial positions around Europe, including at
Premier League club
Southampton. However, in July 2004, he was named manager of
Al-Ain in the
UAE Pro League, and remained there for three months.
Portsmouth On 7 April 2005, Perrin did move to the Premier League when he took over at
Portsmouth; the club were in 16th place and four points above relegation with seven games to go. On 24 April, his side beat rivals Southampton 4–1 in the
South Coast derby, a result that contributed to Pompey staying up and Saints being relegated. On 24 November 2005, Perrin was sacked by Portsmouth, having won only twice all season.
Return to France Perrin returned to Ligue 1 in May 2006, taking over a
Sochaux side that had just finished 15th under
Dominique Bijotat. On 12 May 2007, he won the
Coupe de France against former team Marseille, on penalties after a 2–2 draw; it was the team's first win in the tournament since 1937. Perrin took over as manager of
Lyon on 30 May 2007, after
Gérard Houllier resigned earlier that month. In his
only season, he led the club to a seventh consecutive Ligue 1 championship title, and retained the cup for the team's first
double. He stepped down in June 2008 due to differences with the club's backroom staff. He was rumoured to take over the position of French national manager, but it was confirmed on 3 July 2008 that
Raymond Domenech would remain in the position. On 11 November 2008, he became the new manager of
Saint-Étienne, and was fired on 15 December 2009.
Qatar On 1 June 2012, Perrin decided to leave
Al-Khor to take up the vacant
Qatar U23 position. His first assignment was to lead the team at the
AFC Under-22 qualifiers, however the team were unable to make the tournament after they were knocked out in the group stages of the qualification process. Despite this disappointment, Perrin continued to lead them into the
2012 GCC U-23 Championship, where the team fared considerably better reaching the semi-finals of the tournament, and eventually coming fourth overall in the competition. On 20 December 2012, Perrin joined
Al Gharafa, and left just two months after. In March 2013, he was appointed new head coach of
Umm Salal to replace
Bertrand Marchand. He resigned from his post on 30 September 2013 after losing twice in the first three games of the season.
China On 28 February 2014, Perrin was named as the new manager of the
China national football team, replacing
Antonio Camacho. He made his debut five days later in a 3–1 loss to
Iraq in the last game of
2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification, but still made it through as the best third-placed team. At the finals in Australia, the team won all three group games before a 2–0 last 16 loss to
the hosts. In August, China finished second to
South Korea on home soil at the
2015 EAFF East Asian Cup. The following 8 January, he left his job as the team sat in third in
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification following a loss at
Qatar and two draws with
Hong Kong.
Nancy In April 2018, Perrin was one of 77 applicants for the vacant
Cameroon national team job. On 27 October that year, he replaced
Didier Tholot as manager of
Ligue 2 club
Nancy. On 28 May 2019, it was confirmed that
Jean-Louis Garcia would be the new manager of the club for the upcoming season. ==Managerial statistics==