Rennes (AFP)
A Coupe de France in 2019, a qualification in the Champions League in 2020, then the air gap: the youngest of Ligue 1 coaches, Julien Stéphan resigned Monday after yet another defeat for Rennes, now forced to rebuild without him.
The 2-1 defeat at home against Nice, the culmination of a black series in 2021 of ten matches with only one victory, sounded the death knell of the Rennes experience for Stéphan, 40, and until then author of flattering debut for his first steps at the head of an elite team.
"The club thanks Julien for these nine years spent with the Rouge et Noir and for all the exceptional results he obtained at the head of the professional team," said in a statement the club, where Stéphan, spent on the under-19 bench then the reserve before succeeding Sabri Lamouchi in December 2018, has worked for nearly a decade.
His deputy, Philippe Bizeul, also holder of the BEPF (Professional football trainer's certificate), began to act on Monday morning at the head of Stade Rennes, current 9th in L1, far from the European ambitions displayed by the club.
- Who will replace him ?
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To replace Stéphan, while Rennes plays Wednesday in Lyon for the 28th day of L1, some are already imagining a Lyon solution: Bruno Génésio has been free since the end of his contract in China and Florian Maurice, ex-player and then recruiter of OL , became one of the strong men of the Breton club.
Like André Villas-Boas in Marseille, Stéphan chose to resign after a bad series, because his message was no longer getting through and the criticisms were multiplying around the club, more and more harsh, even though he had an ambitious workforce. after a particularly expensive summer transfer window.
In two years on the Rennes bench, Stéphan experienced a state of grace punctuated by great performances, starting with the historic victory in the Coupe de France, in April 2019, the club's first trophy for 48 years, acquired in the final against Paris SG , on penalties.
A year later, when the Covid-19 pandemic had forced the L1 season to be cut short, Rennes finished third and qualified for the Champions League with in its ranks a 17-year-old prodigy coveted by the whole of Europe, Eduardo Camavinga.
- "I owe you a lot" -
"Coach, I sincerely thank you for everything because thanks to you I discovered the + adult world + from N3 to Ligue 1 via the Champions League. I owe you a lot, you have always put me in the right places conditions, thanks for your advice! God bless, "Camavinga wrote on his Twitter account Monday morning, just before leaving for training.
However, the winning ticket Stéphan-Camavinga struggled this winter, on the bench and on the lawn.
The prodigy has become international but is no longer decisive, there was a big recruitment this summer but the Bretons are no longer winning.
And the situation of Julien Stéphan, son of Guy Stéphan, assistant to the coach of the France team Didier Deschamps, had become difficult to sustain after two gray months.
Its record over two years is very good compared to the history of a club long subscribed to sporting disappointments, but it will nevertheless remain marred by two disappointing European campaigns, in the Europa League and then in the Champions League this fall: a draw and five defeats in C1 in the group of Chelsea, Sevilla ... and Krasnodar.
But even if the European march seemed very high for this still young coach, he could easily find work, in France or in England, because the progress of Rennes has not gone unnoticed for two years.
It remains to rebuild the Stade Rennes, which was based on a trio made up of Stéphan, Maurice and President Nicolas Holveck, and which will have to find a new balance without one of these three pillars.
© 2021 AFP