Bruno Irles' reaction after the elimination of the Girondins in the Coupe de France

“Tactically we were ready”

Bruno Irles: “We had analyzed Rennes, and, tactically, we were ready. We stuck to the plan. We knew we could compete. There is the motivational aspect, then the physical and technical aspect. Physically we held on, I was even pleasantly surprised by some in the first period. Unfortunately, I knew it could be difficult over 90 minutes.

Once again, this is not our main objective, we have shown that we can progress, there are precisely sectors where we have progressed. But on others, where we see a difference with a team like Rennes. You know that with a player from Rennes, I have the payroll of my entire squad. So, fortunately Rennes proves individually that they can beat us in this type of match. Even if four goals is a bit much for the whole match. But, they were superior to us, and they deserve to move on to the next round.”

The second part of the season

“We won one more match to prepare for the championship, we had a competitive team in front of us. I saw some players, some of them I really liked, others a little less. In the state of mind, we know that, for us, our second part of the championship will be complicated, so I have lessons to learn from this match.

I'm happy with this match. But also happy to have given our supporters a high-level nod. There were 20,000 today, I hope there will be 12,000 against Locminé. We will need them, because they were very good, they will be important in the second part of the season.”

“We have projects with John Williams”

“We know where we are starting from, we are late, we are working, it is December and we are not finished. We have projects with John Williams to further improve this squad because there is an expectation. We have a Ligue 1 audience, even a European Cup audience, and we would like to be at that level, but the club is having difficulties. We've come a long way, but we have this desire, this motivation. It also has to be seen on the ground, and for the moment, we have little margin.

With John Williams we want to bring competition to all positions. But it's complicated, we are a fourth division team, with a fourth division budget, so with John, we take a lot of rakes. It takes time, but we don’t want to make a mistake.”

Saint-Malo in the viewfinder

“Saint-Malo's draw in Blois is not surprising, I watched the match, I am focused on National 2. There are 11 points with two games in hand, we will have to win these matches. This doesn't make up for what we're missing. But we have gaps, and they will have to be filled. You have to give yourself the maximum chance of being in this race. We have done it until now with few resources and we want to continue.”