Lemerre - made mistakes in last two years (Allsport)

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Roger Lemerre is about to find out how many friends he has - and the prospects aren't good.

The France boss - who watched his team, the defending world champions, pitched out of the World Cup on Tuesday - has managed to annoy just about everyone that matters in French football.

And the French media have been quietly sharpening their knives since Euro 2000 when Lemerre all but excluded the press from the team's Genval base in Belgium.

But the seal on his unpopularity came in October 2001 when the former army coach insisted on taking his best players half-way round the world for a friendly with Australia.

A pool of 11 elite European clubs, knee deep in the Champions League as well as domestic competition, petitioned the French Football Federation and FIFA demanding action.

Lemerre refused to budge when asked to allow players to miss the trip, and even rejected a FIFA proposition to pick just one player from each team - choosing four from Arsenal.

Thus Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, France's premier club coach, is unlikely to be on the phone with offers of tea and sympathy.

An incensed Wenger labelled the trip a "heresy" but Lemerre was unrepentant.

"I see it (the petition) as a barrier against the French team and against France as a whole who have made these players world champions," he insisted.

Of course none of this mattered to the French public as long as Lemerre kept winning.

Assistant to Aime Jacquet at France 98, he took over for Euro 2000 and confirmed Les Bleus' status as the world's best by guiding them to victory over Italy in the final.

After much haggling, the 60-year-old accepted a two-year extension to his contract last month but the French football federation might now be thinking that they acted too hastily.

The whispers against him began with the timid displays against Russia and Belgium.

Lemerre was too reliant on the old guard from 1998, it was suggested, with the likes of Frank Leboeuf and Dugarry included for the trip to the Far East apparently on reputation alone.

He made one concession to his critics, including Djibril Cisse - top scorer in Le Championnat - at the expense of Nicolas Anelka.

France's World Cup began to unravel in the friendly against South Korea when Zidane strained his thigh and left the pitch in pain.

The creative spark who had only recently wowed football fans with his wonder goal for Real Madrid in the Champions League final triumph over Bayer Leverkusen, would end up missing the first two games against Senegal and Uruguay.

Lemerre, who had also lost the pacy, dynamic winger Robert Pires of Arsenal to a knee injury during an FA Cup game, was confident that Les Bleus had the depth to overcome the injuries.

The coach, a former full back, appeared reluctant to stray too far from the tried and tested methods of four years ago.

Facing a Senegal team with more hunger than the pampered patriots in blue, Lemerre waited until the 60th minute before making his first change - replacing Youri Djorkaeff with the equally one-paced Christophe Dugarry.

Cisse had to wait until the 81st minute before making his World Cup debut.

When Thierry Henry was sent off in the 0-0 draw with Uruguay, David Trezeguet laboured alone as the only out-an-out striker with Auxerre sensation Cisse again waiting 81 minutes for his chance.

Needing a two-goal victory today against the Danes, France failed to even score and lost 2-0.

In Lemerre's mitigation, the loss of Zidane and Pires would be devastating for any team.

However, after 270 minutes without even a goal, far less a win, Lemerre's case for his defence will look ragged when the star witnesses are called against him.