​LE HAVRE, France (AP) — Valérien Ismaël has been appointed as Le Havre coach until the end of the season, with the club sitting rock bottom in the Ligue 1 standings. The 51-year-old former defender was hired as a replacement for Didier Digard. He is facing a tall order if he wants to keep the club among the elite of French football. Still winless in Ligue 1, Le Havre has two points from 10 matches.The much-traveled Ismaël has coached teams in Germany, Greece, Austria, Turkey and England. Le Havre said in a statement late Thursday that he dealt with “emergency situations” in the past, “which could prove very useful to him in the coming weeks.”Le Havre, founded in 1872 and considered the oldest club in French professional soccer, was acquired by Blue Crow in July 2025 and fans blame the multi-club group based in Houston for the worrying sporting situation. Earlier this month, fan groups called for the owners to leave.___See AP’s full soccer coverage here