Soccer-Marseille in further turmoil as coach Michel sacked

* Passi steps in for final four games * Marseille face Cup semi-final on Wednesday (Writes through) By Julien Pretot PARIS, April 19 (Reuters) - Olympique de Marseille sacked coach Michel on Tuesday with four games to play in France's Ligue 1 after a record 14-game winless streak at the Stade Velodrome that has left them at risk of relegation. Assistant coach Franck Passi will take charge until the end of the season, the club said in a statement. Marseille are 15th in the Ligue 1 standings, six points above the relegation zone with four games remaining. The poor run has made the club the laughing stock of their own fans - a far cry from the expectations raised in 2010 when they won their first top-flight title in 18 years under Didier Deschamps. Earlier this month, the Velodrome crowd carried banners comparing the Marseille players to goats before a 0-0 home draw against Girondins de Bordeaux. "Given the performance of Michel, notably during those last three weeks, Olympique de Marseille have suspended Michel with immediate effect and summoned him to a pre-redundancy interview," the club said. French sports daily L'Equipe reported that Michel, who took over from Marcelo Bielsa in August last year, did not direct Monday's training session. The former Spanish international is always refered to as Michel although his full name is Jose Miguel González Martín del Campo. OM travel to Ligue 2 side Sochaux for a French Cup semi-final on Wednesday. "The situation is dangerous, we must be united," Passi told a news conference. "We are on a commando mission to win tomorrow in order to get to the final and then save the club from relegation." Passi will be helped by club ambassador Basile Boli, who scored the only goal in OM's Champions League final win against AC Milan in 1993. Victory would do little to rescue the club from crisis despite a possible final against French giants Paris St. Germain. Club owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, who took over from her husband Robert after he died in 2009, has been targeted by fans lately and put OM up for sale. "Margarita incompetent rich heiress get lost," a banner at the Velodrome read at the Bordeaux game. "Go back to your real job, housewife," another banner read. The game ended in turmoil as about 200 supporters had to be dispersed by riot police. Louis-Dreyfus recently supported Michel after French media reported that president Vincent Labrune wanted to sack him, which could have meant a big pay-off check. The coach's choices were publicly critised by Boli, who told reporters after the Bordeaux game he did not understand why top scorer Michy Batsuhahy was left on the bench. "The Marseille jersey is important, it has a history. This city lives for football. The fans are going mad when they see their team like this and I can understand them," he said. French media reported on Tuesday that Labrune is to be replaced by businessman Xavierr Giocanti, the partner of International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde. Louis-Dreyfus, however, denied this. "I categorically deny the reports...about the replacement of the current president," she said in a statement. (Reporting by Julien Pretot, Editing by Angus MacSwan)