Rennes separates from Julien Stéphan

Stade Rennais undoubtedly believed that it could make something new out of something old. Repatriated to Brittany in November 2023, after the voluntary departure of Bruno Genesio, Julien Stéphan raised a lot of hopes. Coach of the Rennes first team from 2018 to 2021, the son of the famous assistant of Didier Deschamps, who resigned in March 2021, was the man at the heart of the most beautiful years in the recent history of the SRFC. An enticing style of play, performances in the European Cup and a third Coupe de France won in 2019, ending a 48-year drought.

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Unfortunately for the Breton club, the magic of Stéphan's first mandate did not work this time. According to our information, Rennes has just announced the departure of its coach today. He who left the red and black ship on his own in March 2021, Julien Stéphan is this time pushed towards the exit, and the officialization was communicated by the club: “Stade Rennais FC has initiated proceedings against its head coach Mr. Julien Stéphan and his assistants Mr. Denis Zanko and Bouziane Benaraïbi. Pending the upcoming decision, training for the professional team will be provided by Sébastien Tambouret (coach of the Pro2 group), assisted by Denis Arnaud (Director of the Academy) and Pierre-Alexandre Lelièvre (assistant coach of the group Pro2)»indicates the press release from Rennes. This separation surprises no one. For his comeback, Stéphan finished the last exercise in a poor tenth place, thus depriving Rennes of the European Cup for the first time since 2018.

A failed comeback

Stéphan then had a start to the 2024/2025 season punctuated by a thirteenth place in the standings after ten days. Obviously called into question, the Rennes coach quickly saw rumors announcing his departure and the arrival of potential replacements. The name of the Croatian Igor Tudor had also circulated widely. Faced with these rumors, Stéphan showed himself annoyed and swore he wanted to make all his detractors lie.

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“You know, we lost a friendly match during the preparation in Guingamp. The next day, they sent me Pioli. From the first defeat in July. I would say it showed the setting and context well at that time. But it wasn't a surprise. I was prepared for it and in the end it continued. So I have to seize it as an opportunity to, excuse the expression, shut people’s mouths and continue to move forward.” Unfortunately for him, he did not really have the opportunity to put the observers in their place, certainly confirmed in their ideas after this new resounding setback suffered on Sunday against Auxerre (4-0). According to our information, several avenues are now being studied, namely Rudi Garcia, Jorge Sampaoli, Wilfried Nancy and Habib Beye.