Behind its reputation as a cushy club, where nothing happens or goes beyond, Stade Rennes has a certain know-how when it comes to plunging into crisis, whether sporting, institutional, or both at the same time. . In the space of a month, the big bosses cut off two heads, those of executive president Olivier Cloarec (last October 4) and coach Julien Stéphan (this Thursday noon). A certain idea of football and the revolutions which are inherent to this terrible environment, even if we must be honest and say that Rennes had not fired a technician since Sabri Lamouchi in December 2018, since Stéphan in March 2021 and Bruno Genesio in November 2023 had gone by themselves. Which is also not enough to make the Rouge et Noir a model of stability.
Men come and go, it's the story of football and Stade Rennes. Arnaud Pouille thus became last month the twelfth president of the Pinault era, which began in 1998 (knowing that René Ruello and Frédéric de Saint-Sernin had two mandates), when the fourteenth coach in 26 years of ups and downs should be called Jorge Sampaoli (knowing that Christian Gourcuff and therefore Stéphan had the right to two passages). According to information from The Teamthe two parties even found an agreement in principle. Unless there is another turnaround in the situation, which we can never rule out in this game, the 64-year-old Argentinian should get involved with the SRFC in the coming hours or days, we have been confirmed, he who was still in Brazil this Thursday and who could set foot in Brittany by this weekend. But then, what was the process to arrive at this choice? Above all: what does this strange week say about the Breton club?
Too long a film of errors
She recalled that nothing was engraved in the menhir and that the sporting situation (a 13e place in the championship with 11 points in 10 matches) was not the fault of bad luck, but rather of a succession of errors and decisions taken at the wrong time, or not taken at all. The return of Julien Stéphan, whose second term lasted a little less than a year, was not a success and symbolized all of Rennes' ills. Three years earlier, he had resigned while retaining the label of local hero, after winning the 2019 Coupe de France, the first trophy in ages, and qualifying the club for the first time in the Champions League. His departure was even accompanied, in a burst of melancholy, by dozens of banners « Thanks Julien » displayed by the ultras in the four corners of Rennes. This time, he did not give up his apron, letting the club show him the door, after leading a final session on Thursday morning. Without thanks from the supporters and with a tarnished image, even if there is no question of forgetting the more glorious past.
The 44-year-old technician therefore did not survive the slap received at Auxerre on Sunday (4-0), punctuating a catastrophic record since his extension in March (11 defeats in 19 matches), contrasting with a rather successful first game (14 victories in 22 matches). His appointment in November 2023, a few days after the final point made by Genesio, in fact already announced the color: it could not work, not like that, not in this way. He was the choice of François Pinault, with whom he says he had « a special relationship »against the advice of president Olivier Cloarec and sports director Florian Maurice, who ended up deciding to stay after a few days of reflection. Something had then broken in the decision-making process: a serious and ambitious club could not function like that. History repeated itself in March when Stéphan was extended until 2026, again driven by Father Pinault. This choice should cost him more than three million euros, the amount of Stéphan's severance pay.
Sampaoli-Rennes: an unexpected marriage and a culture shock
After a rather enchanted interlude punctuated by six European qualifications in a row, a trophy, two championship points records and even some great play, Rennes supporters began to say to themselves that they had gone back ten years. The quest for a new coach was disrupted by the struggles for influence, usual in football and at Stade Rennes, between different trends, in some way between the past and what could become the present. The local one, close to the patriarch François Pinault, 88 years old, seemed to lean towards Habib Beye, accompanied by Mathieu Le Scornet, former deputy of Stéphan and a fine connoisseur of the Rennes environment having spent many years in training. The name of the former Red Star coach even held the upper hand, according to certain sources, during the day on Wednesday. Then, the Jorge Sampaoli track came out in the columns of The Team and it continued to gain thickness. Several meetings took place and those around the Argentinian indicated that they were interested in the project.
This choice would rather be that of Frederic Massara and Arnaud Pouille, and it would have more attracted François-Henri Pinault, the son, and his right-hand man Alban Gréget, deputy general director of the family holding company Artémis and chairman of the board of directors of the SRFC since May. This would be a return to normal in the process of decisions: a coach who would not be imposed by the shareholder, but chosen by the two men put in place by FHP (Massara this summer and Pouille in October), who seems to have took control of events. Stade Rennes would do things the right way, finally, after eighteen chaotic months which led to this umpteenth cacophony and this sporting revolution, because it is one. It would even be unheard of in the modern history of the Breton club, firstly because he would be the first foreign coach since László Bölöni to put his butt on the bench (2003-2006) and incidentally the first non-French speaking since the reign of the Pinaults (Bölöni and coach Vahid spoke French), while the shareholder is known to enjoy chatting with his coaches on the phone.
Then because Sampaoli's personality is the extreme opposite of what Stade Rennes represents, a club which likes calm, discretion and animated by a very Breton modesty. This is perhaps what makes this association as curious as it is exciting, with a lot of questions, between the capacity of the electric battery to blend into such an environment and that of succeeding in imprinting its principles and its intensity on a largely renewed workforce this summer. He must still prove that he can play the leading roles in this championship. Sampaoli remains on two short and mixed adventures at Sevilla FC (30 matches) and Flamengo (38 matches). The winner of the Copa América with Chile in 2015 should return to Ligue 1, a little more than two years after having slammed the door in the face of OM, where he had blown hot and cold, still taking Marseille to the 2e place and in the semi-finals of the Conference League. He could even arrive with Samir Nasri on his staff, even if this was not yet confirmed in recent hours, where Sébastien Tambouret took over as interim at a press conference two days before the reception in Toulouse. Without Benjamin Bourigeaud, without Martin Terrier and without benchmarks, Rennes supporters said they no longer recognized their team and their club for several months. This should not work out with the Sampaoli bet, as risky as it is interesting, but this marriage of fire and ice embodies at least this Friday the hope of discovering something new.
Stade Rennes is firing Julien Stéphan, Jorge Sampaoli to replace him?
