The 63-year-old, who has discovered top players like Eric Cantona, Basile Boli and France forward Djibril Cisse, will sit on the bench for the 783rd time against Bastia on Wednesday.

Three days later, when the Burgundy team travel to Sochaux, the talismanic Roux will beat the record held by Kader Firoud, who coached Nimes, Toulouse and Montpellier in the 1970s.

'I still find it the most beautiful job in the world,' he told the daily Le Parisien. 'It's also a very demanding job with constant pressure,' added Roux, who had a heart attack last season.

He joined Auxerre in 1961 and took the obscure small country town club to the first division in 1980.

Since then he has become as closely linked to Auxerre as renowned English manager Brian Clough was to European Cup winners Nottingham Forest in the 1980s.

He is a household name and symbol of the youth scheme that helped France win the 1998 World Cup on home soil.

Auxerre were among the first French clubs to take trainees and Roux made a reputation as the country's most gifted scout.

He even led Auxerre to a rare League and Cup double in 1996.

Roux, who said he turned down the France manager's job in 1994, singled out Cantona as the only player not afraid of him.

'It's true he was not afraid of me but he has always respected me and still respects me to this day,' he said.

'With me, he never burst out even if it was close at times. I was the only one capable of calming him down.

'Actually, Sir Alex Ferguson even came here one day to ask me how Cantona worked,' he added.

Roux, who was never a professional player, said his only regret was not coaching an English club, citing Leeds United as his favourite team.