The Ligue 1 strugglers announced the suspension of Printant for a possible breach of contract on Friday afternoon.
And within 30 minutes, St Etienne named former Leicester and Southampton boss Puel, 58, as his replacement until 2022.
Puel, who will be assisted by Jacky Bonnevay, will take over a side sitting second bottom in the table.
Restore Data
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Paris Saint-GermainPSG | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 10 | 26 | 32 |
| 2 | MonacoMonaco | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 26 |
| 3 | Marseille | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 16 | 11 | 23 |
| 4 | Lille | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 22 |
| 5 | Nice | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 20 |
| 6 | Lyon | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 3 | 19 |
| 7 | Auxerre | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 19 |
| 8 | Reims | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 18 |
| 9 | Lens | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 17 |
| 10 | Toulouse | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 15 |
| 11 | StrasbourgStrasbourg | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 24 | -3 | 13 |
| 12 | Brest | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 13 |
| 13 | Saint-EtienneSt Etienne | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 25 | -14 | 13 |
| 14 | Le HavreLe Havre | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 23 | -13 | 12 |
| 15 | Rennes | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 19 | -6 | 11 |
| 16 | NantesNantes | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 10 |
| 17 | Angers | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 21 | -8 | 10 |
| 18 | Montpellier HSCMontpellier | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 32 | -21 | 7 |
| > Ligue 1 Full Table | |||||||||
