Guy Chambily, the member of the French Football Federation’s federal council who has led recent calls for the Raymond Domenech to resign as national team manager accepts the prospect is now just a “dream”.
Chambily called for Domenech to be removed from his post back in mid-December, shortly after Les Bleus’ controversial play-off victory against the Republic of Ireland which saw them book their place in South Africa.
The federation and president Jean-Pierre Escalettes have repeatedly backed their under-fire coach and Chambily knows there is nothing more he can do.
"We're paying the price but I have no more advice to give," he told L'Equipe. "If Domenech says 'that's enough, I'm quitting' - and we can always dream - I will be the first to applaud, but I respect the majority of the board.
“The only merit of my action was that Domenech changed his way of communication, that’s certain.”
Domenech continues to come under fire after France slipped to another disappointing result on Wednesday, a 2-0 loss at home to Spain.
The France boss and Thierry Henry, whose handball led to France’s crucial goal against Ireland in November, were booed at the Stade de France and Chambily feels that shows just how much the public have turned against their national side.
He added: “By announcing that he will choose his successor before the World Cup, the president also wanted to divert public opinion away from his coach to protect him.
“But the public don’t care about that.
“That said I was astonished by the whistles. I just thought that these would have died down. This proves that the break is profound.”
Since his appointment after Euro 2004, Domenech has twice been given a vote of confidence by the FFF, including in October last year.
Just two months later his position was once again called into question in a lengthy debate by the federation board.
Domenech was roundly criticised before the last World Cup but succeeded in steering Les Bleus to the finals, where they lost to Italy.
However, a disappointing run of results since then - including a disastrous Euro 2008 campaign - has led to increased calls for his dismissal.
French politician Francois-Michel Gonnot wrote an open letter to the Secretary of State for Sports, Rama Yade, yesterday calling for the removal “in extreme urgency” of Domenech from his position.