Roger Lemerre must always have known that his inheritance of the world's best soccer team could turn into the most poisoned of chalices.

When France's defending champions made a shock exit in the first round of the World Cup, the French Soccer Federation courteously stood back to give him time to take a long drink from it.

Lemerre's stubborn refusal to take the blame, however, condemned his reign to a messy conclusion as he was finally dispatched on Friday.

History is unlikely to judge him mercifully either.

His credit column does include the 2000 European championship title and the Confederations Cup.

But for most of France's disappointed fans, who had dreamed of another night of glory on the Champs-Elysees to duplicate the 1998 World Cup celebrations, the 61-year-old strategist will be remembered as the man who failed to get the best out of a world-class, if ageing squad.

France's one point -- and no goals -- in South Korea may have come as a shock but there had been signs of trouble long before.

Lemerre had taken over from his friend Aime Jacquet after 1998 but, significantly, he had not been considered as the first-choice candidate.

The job was first offered to former Monaco coach Jean Tigana. Then to Auxerre's Guy Roux. And then to former Nantes' manager Jean-Claude Suaudeau. They all turned it down.

Only then did the French Federation call on Jacquet's right-hand man to steer France through the 2000 European championship qualifying rounds.

Lemerre had plus points. He had led France's military squad to their world title and, as a player, he had won six caps as an international defender before joining the federation staff.

Despite having a good inside knowledge of the team, though, he struggled for respect after taking charge.

He conceded himself: "The first year, I mainly looked at this team playing. There is so much gift, so much talent in this side. It was just an enchanting sight."

But when France found themselves on the verge of failing to qualify for the European tournament, Lemerre had to abandon his watching brief and take up a central role.

Born in the small Normandy town of Bricquebec, Lemerre has always had a love of literature and philosophy.

The high-profile position, though, didn't seem to suit him and he was very soon at odds with the media.

The more under pressure he felt, the more cryptic he became, so much so that the media sometimes struggled to understand what he was talking about.

Asked for his view of the French presidential elections, he bemused his audience with the reply: "If my hat knew for whom I was going to vote, I would burn my hat." Lemerre, it turned out, had been quoting from Victor Hugo's novel "Notre-Dame-de-Paris".

At least he had ideas, the best being to convert the old but reliable 4-3-3 line-up favoured by Jacquet into a more sophisticated 4-2-3-1 built around the man he admired most, playmaker Zinedine Zidane.

That battle plan worked to perfection during Euro 2000. But whenever Zidane was absent or unfit, the team failed to function and Lemerre failed to provide an alternative.

France, with Zidane struggling for fitness, duly crashed out of the World Cup with defeats to first-timers Senegal and Denmark. The goalless draw came against Uruguay, the last of the 32 teams to qualify for the finals.

The absence of trusted former captain Didier Deschamps and central defender Laurent Blanc, who had retired, also unbalanced the relationship between the coach and his players.

Lemerre, who had had his contract renewed until 2004 before the World Cup, knew things were slipping away from him in Korea. He even began shouting during training sessions, particularly before the final game against Denmark.

By then, though, nobody was listening any more.