“It’s opened my eyes to certain problems of a coach. I have worked with quite a few coaches – I see Laurent Blanc, I have seen (Jose) Mourinho. They tell me I was born for this, and I remain convinced I am going to succeed in this job.”

That was what Claude Makelele had to say to Canal+ last weekend following his firing by the Corsican club last Monday.

While it is too early to judge the 41-year-old’s aptitude based solely on one bad experience, there is no hiding the fact is that the Frenchman’s time at the Stade Armand Ceasari – or Furiani as it is commonly known – was a disappointing one.

Plenty was expected of the successful ex-player who managed to win 14 trophies during his playing career, and many assumed that he would take to club management like a duck to water after serving as assistant coach at French champions Paris Saint-Germain since 2011.

Those assumptions were wrong and Makelele should think long and hard before returning to the role, perhaps considering a start at a smaller club, possibly in Ligue 2 or even Championnat National.

“I am going to finish my badges, I’m going to travel a little, see games, meet my former coaches, and further develop what I need: communication, the approach to take with a squad, which is going to allow me to become more solid,” he also revealed to Canal+.

That quashed the short-lived rumours of a potential return to PSG in his former role, but it also suggests that Makelele has not fully learned his lesson. Communication is not what he needs to work on after this experience.

Because of his reputation in the game as a player, it was taken for granted that the former French international would succeed in coaching with Bastia and lead them to greater things than predecessor Frederic Hantz. If anything, Makelele’s struggles have further enhanced Hantz’s prior achievements and the former’s dismissal after 13 competitive games was justified.

Despite the likes of French legend Patrick Vieira jumping to the defence of his ex-teammate after news of his dismissal was made public, Makelele’s departure came as no real surprise. He was clearly out of his depth and had a number of factors that did not work in his favour as well as a lack of preparation for the role.

The biggest mistake that i Turchini and the iconic former No. 4 made was being too ambitious.

Despite all the experience that the ex-FC Nantes, Olympique de Marseille, Real Madrid, Chelsea and PSG man possesses, he was a beginner as far as coaching goes and had no prior experience of even leading a youth team in the French capital.

Makelele’s role under both Carlo Ancelotti and current tactician Laurent Blanc was essentially an extension of what he did in the twilight years of his career as the elder statesman for les Parisiens, which was communicating with the players and controlling the dressing room.

Although he is very good at that, his hands-on experience was still minimal and was nowhere near enough to justify being given an immediate top-flight post. The 12 Ligue 1 games Bastia played under Makelele largely illustrated that he did not have sufficient tactical nous to be beating the teams that the Corsicans should be finishing above in le Championnat with the squad that they have this term.

In addition to that, questions can also be asked of the type of player that Makelele was bringing to the island.

Signing the likes of an Alphonse Areola – acquired on loan from former club PSG – was understandable given how impressive the young goalkeeper was in Ligue 2 with RC Lens last season, not to mention how well he knew his new coach from their time in Paris.

But another PSG loanee, Hervin Ongenda, as well as El-Hadji Ba and Joao Rodriguez, do not have the sort of experience that Makelele should have been looking for to consolidate Bastia’s top-flight status.

Predecessor Hantz succeeded with proven names in his team and was also adept at making canny loan signings. Although Makelele did enjoy a relative transfer hit in Christopher Maboulou and Floyd Ayite has made an encouraging start to his career at Furiani, the rest of his dealings left something to be desired.

Influential Tunisian international Wahbi Khazri was no replaced, while bastions of experience – even if limited players – such as Mickael Landreau, Toifilou Maoulida (also a massive fans’ favourite), Ilan and Julien Sable either departed or slipped into retirement.

Admittedly, some factors were also out of his control.

New signing Brandao’s headbutt on PSG’s Thiago Motta back in August deprived him of his main senior striker for the season and heaped more pressure upon the club, creating a pressurised and far from ideal environment early on in the season. The continued absence of proven goal-scorer Djibril Cisse was also another problem, with the former French international the sort of player the club needs to be fit and in form in order to steer clear of the drop zone.

However, Gadji Tallo’s recent brace for Bastia in the 2-0 win over Montpellier HSC in the first post-Makelele game also proves that the Frenchman’s handling of certain players was questionable.

The Ivorian was regularly overlooked as a member of the starting XI, despite being one of the team’s main goal threats, early on in the season. Had Makelele handled the talented forward a little better, perhaps the 21-year-old could have scored the goals that would have alleviated the pressure on him.

Like Corsican rivals AC Ajaccio and Fabrizio Ravanelli proved last season, great former players do not always make excellent coaches at the first time of asking. Makelele would perhaps have been better off going for a Ligue 2 or Championnat National posting instead of a Ligue 1 role straight away, but that sort of reputation allows certain ex-players to skip the formative years of their managerial career.

Makelele wants to continue his coaching career eventually, but will there be as many takers as there were this summer when he finally decides to return to the game? After this showing, the legendary midfielder may have to lower his ambitions.

As for Bastia, they need to find a proven coach with enough experience to guide them to safety and start getting the best out of the likes of the mercurial Algerian international Ryad Boudebeouz, as well as making Furiani a daunting place to visit once again. There is talent in this Bastia team, but it needs somebody with a greater level of experience than Makelele to tap into it.