Managerial career

Alain Perrin began his coaching career in 1983 by taking over as manager of non-league club Troyes AC, and brought the team into the UEFA Cup. This success led to his being offered the position as manager of Olympique de Marseille in 2002. After that, Perrin was linked to a number of positions around Europe, including Marseille, Southampton, Portsmouth, Sochaux and Olympique Lyonnais. In 2007, he won the French Cup with Sochaux over Marseille. He led Olympique Lyonnais to a seventh consecutive Ligue 1 championship title in 2008 and managed to retain the French Cup which he had won with Sochaux the previous year.

From 2012, Perrin began coaching in Qatar. He first joined Al Gharafa and left just about two months after. In March 2013, he was appointed new head coach of Umm Salal until picked by China as national coach.