(Reuters) - Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan have named Bruno Genesio as their new head coach following the departure of Roger Schmidt on Wednesday.
Genesio, who spent the last four years at the helm of Lyon in France's Ligue 1, takes over following the club's decision to remove the German after two years in the post.
Under Schmidt, Beijing won the first eight games of the current Chinese Super League season but are now in third place in the standings having lost their last two games, against Jiangsu Suning and Henan Jianye.
Beijing have not won the Chinese title since 2009 and have been eliminated from the Asian Champions League and the Chinese FA Cup while they trail leaders Guangzhou Evergrande in the league by four points with 10 games of the season remaining.
Genesio's first game in charge will be on Friday, when Beijing host Hebei CFFC in the league.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)