Stade Rennais 17/18 Season Discussion

MichaelBBack · 05-08-2017 11:37:57

Here we go again.

After a 9th place finish with 12 wins, 12 losses and 14 draws, Christian Gourcuff has had a full season to assess and get used to his squad. He's made some very interesting moves during the transfer window and the fans are feeling pretty hopeful ahead of the new campaign. It all kicks off tonight away against Troyes, and it'd be lovely to start off with 3 points (and really, we should always be winning our games against promoted teams) but they won't just roll over. The first set of fixtures is always tricky, it all tends to come down to which team had the better preparation and training over the summer. I hope we're ready and I'm excited to see some of the new faces, particularly Bourigeaud and, of course, Sarr. We've got a decent squad and (so far) we've managed to hold onto our major players, apart from Costil, who is certainly a big loss. Overall though, I'm reasonably happy with how things have gone since last season ended.

That said, for the time being, I'm not entirely satisfied with our attack. We've needed a top striker for years now. Getting rid of Sio was a step in the right direction but replacing him with a young lad from the Spanish second tier and a 19 year old who scored 5 as a winger isn't exactly what I would call a perfect plan. Maybe Sarr will adapt very well and transform in an excellent centre forward, and maybe (hopefully) Brandon will prove he was worth the gamble, but all those rumours linking Aboubakar and Gignac to us are a far cry from how things have actually turned out.

Views? Predictions? Personally, I think top 3 is completely impenetrable, and I'd probably stretch that to top 4 or 5, in all honesty. Once again, I think the best we might be able to hope for is a battle for 6th/7th against the usual suspects of Bordeaux, St. E, Lille, Nantes, and if I'm being completely frank I see us hovering around the 10th place again by the end of the season. How about you guys?

Either way, let's stay hopeful. We've got an interesting start to the season, a good mix of 'winnable' and 'not-so-winnable' games coming up. Let's look at the first two months of fixtures:

August:

Troyes - Rennes
Rennes - Lyon
Rennes - Dijon
Toulouse - Rennes

September:

Marseille - Rennes
Rennes - Nice
Saint Etienne - Rennes
Rennes - Caen

I think these early months can really give us a good indicator of how effective the squad really is and what sort of aspirations we can have for the season. If we're able to win against some of the 'lesser' teams like Troyes and Dijon, while also taking some points from the big boys and actually showing up in those home games against Lyon and Nice, we'll be off to a great start.

One thing I hope more than anything is that we make sure our home form is excellent. Let's make Roazhon Park a scary place to visit and get the fans cheering.

Allez Rennes!

yesugei · 03-11-2017 15:54:44

wtf???

I've been trying to hold back my frustration over the last couple of week but i just can't anymore....
Just what is Ruello trying to accomplish with this latest outburst??

anyway there are many things to talk about and an incredible amount of things to be frustrated about at the moment concerning this fraud.
But there is one thing in this latest statement that just shows exactly why Ruello is an awful president, when he say le stade rennais est une entreprise .... bla bla bla lies, primary school insults, etc... A business, i'm just a humble fan and don't think i'm an expert or anything but if i know one thing its that when you start running a club as a business instead of a CLUB, that is when things turn to shit.

so many things I want to complain about just don't have the will to do so, just want that cancer that is killing our club out!!

MichaelBBack · 03-11-2017 16:35:22

I'm shocked. I really can't believe it. RR has done/said some stupid things but this is one of his lowest points. This isn't the behaviour of a club president, it's the behaviour of a hormonal teenager. He's so out of touch, so petty, so unprofessional. I can't wait until he leaves, he gives the SRFC such a bad image.

"if i know one thing its that when you start running a club as a business instead of a CLUB, that is when things turn to shit"

I agree. Whenever Ruello gets interviewed, he always talks about the numbers and the money, but never the sport itself. He never talks about the fans, the passion, the desire to see our team do well. He measures success in Euros and that's the only thing that counts for him.

Attacking the personality of a journalist so directly is beyond pathetic. I hope he leaves very soon.

riquelme85 · 04-11-2017 00:35:02

René Ruello read you smile

MichaelBBack · 04-11-2017 21:40:49

Haha yeah I guess he did. big_smile

MichaelBBack · 08-11-2017 00:58:26

Gourcuff has apparently been fired and I'm going to write my reaction here in English because: 1) It's easier (lol) and 2) The French side of the forum is BUSY right now and there's no point in me spending half an hour preparing a message when it probably won't even be read. Sorry for the double post by the way, but this thread isn't exactly super popular. top

I'm not 'happy' exactly, but I wasn't Gourcuff's number one fan and never will be. I don't even like using the word 'overrated' but I feel it's the only one I can use to describe that man. Say what you like about the guy, but he hasn't exactly made his mark on the game. He's won nothing and his real 'success story' is managing to keep an average Lorient side in an average position in the league. Not exactly a miracle. He's failed twice at Rennes and he has a remarkably arrogant and entitled attitude for a man who is, in my opinion, little more than a French Tony Pulis. I don't want to be harsh but, for me, there was never anything special or intelligent about Gourcuff's system. Maybe in theory. In theory, his ideas are fine and make a lot of sense (even if they're pretty basic), but there's a big difference between theory and practice.

And I think that's a recurring theme I've noticed when observing Gourcuff over this past year and a half. How many times did we hear one of his post-match speeches and say "Well, that's a good analysis, but what are you going to do about it? What ACTION are you going to take to fix the problem you have identified?" and the answer, sadly, was always "Nothing". He can see when things go wrong. He can read the game very well. He's got a great understanding of football, but it's all theory. In practice, for one reason or another, he just can't cut it. There are many possible explanations, but I think the main one is his reluctance to adapt. He has his ideas and he sticks with them. That's admirable, in a way, but in football you need to be willing to adapt, especially in the modern game. Rennes isn't Barcelona. You can't just tell the players to play in this perfect system you've imagined in your mind and then just watch it happen on the pitch. He needed to adapt his tactics and his ideas to suit the squad and he refused again and again.

That's not to say he didn't have his positive points. He's a reserved guy who has a lot of respect for the Breton culture and identity, he helped to bring in some great young players, he's played a part in some interesting transfers. I do think that many of the players liked and appreciated him and he did his best over the last few weeks to carry on working in some very tricky conditions.

But at the end of the day, his refusal to adapt, his stubbornness, his rudeness with the media (and the new president) and several other factors ultimately contributed to an inevitable downfall. Would he have succeeded with another year or two? Maybe. I don't think so, but maybe.

Either way, he's gone now.

I said I'm not happy, so how do I feel? I think 'liberated' is the best word. I feel like the club was trapped in this spiral of mediocrity and I don't know if we'll suddenly break out of it, but I think big changes needed to happen to really give us a chance of becoming something great. I feel that we've got a chance of breaking out of that spiral, and right now we're in a bit of a 'limbo state' until we discover the identity of the new manager, but at least we have that chance of making something good happen. We just need the new bosses to make the right choices. I'm still worried about the future of the club, but I think that the removal of Ruello (and Guidal) is a good sign and really does allow a new chapter to open. Will this chapter be filled with success and glory? Perhaps not, but I think it at least lets us have some hope. At least, that's how I feel. I want to be hopeful for the club. I hope that Létang makes the right moves and rides on the wave of motivation that he seems to have in these early hours to give the club a big boost. This club can do great things. Apart from Monaco, Lyon and PSG, this league is really not that competitive. There are a lot of teams that can all beat each other. At the start of the season, Bordeaux seemed untouchable, but we made them look useless the other night. It's just about the little things. The right attitude, the right substitutions, the right ideas. Can we find a coach who can make those little things happen? Let's hope so.

Thank you, Mr Gourcuff. Even with the negative things I've said in this post, I appreciate the work you did and have no ill will towards you. I'm sorry that your removal from the club was such a dramatic one and you didn't get to bring your ideas to life in the way you surely hoped. In the end, the love story of Rennes and Gourcuff just wasn't meant to be.

yesugei · 08-11-2017 01:46:23

Yep, i pretty much agree with everything you said

I also believe that a lot of the fans are disappointed of the removal because of these last 4 victories, but i personally think we were still playing a very mediocre style of football, winning thanks to an own goal and a deflected shot and getting lucky that the opponents missed some sitters. I do think we got unlucky at the beginning of the season though so we are probably were we and Gourcuff deserve to be, 10th. I honestly don't think CG has the capability to take us much higher, his tactics are just to predictable to achieve anything, our opponents must be like, oh look rennes this week they'll be playing 442 how can we beat that, they know exactly what to expect, and that is just such an advantage, plus the fact that he doesn't change to take advantage of the opponents weakness...

I am not gutted cause we did (at times) play some really nice stuff, but i think our players (who i think are very underrated by the fans) have more to do with it than the manager (bourigeaud, sarr andre, khazri etc...), and i am genuinely excited after CG and montanier to see a manager play our players in there best positions!! I mean i can think how stupid it sounds to think that for so long long our managers have played players out of position, so I think if we actually get a half decent manager who knows what he's doing, we might be on to something good (but i'm a fan so i guess if we don't dream what are we to do right?:D)

In terms of timing.... if we don't take into account the past couple of weeks and look into what is coming up, the new manger will have the international break to settle in, an "easier" game against a week Strasbourg, then a big game vs nantes but if we manage to win them both or at least 4 points the team will be flying, and i honestly don't see any really difficult games until we hit the big boys at the end of the year, so tbf it's a pretty nice run for a new manger I think, BUT, and it is a big but, sacking a manager after 4 wins, even if they weren't very convincing is very harsh, plus the fact that the players all seemed to like him, puts whoever comes in into a bit of a harder position coming in.

Id also like to ask you who you think and who you would like to take over as there are a few names going around.
Personally i would love for it to be Blanc and it would be a big statement from the club that they want to get to the next level but the chances are pretty low I think
I think we may get Heinze actually or someone who hasn't been named yet, now he would be a HUGE gamble but if it pays off you wont see me complaining lol lol

There's also Stephan whos a good shot but not sure if hes quite ready yet

edit:

oh yeah I also forgot, what formation would you guys play? there is definitely a lot of options with this squad now were no longer tied to the 442 and would like to see some of your ideas?
was going to post this on the french side but think it get overlooked, I've had quite a few idea of my own but can't decide on what would be best, getting to excited thinking about the possibilities lol :lol:

Dernière édition de: yesugei (08-11-2017 01:50:51)

Stringer Stanfield Little · 08-11-2017 01:56:46

I totally agree with you regarding Gourcuff. I was not happy at all when he arrived for all the reasons you described (well), however my feelings have changed lately.
Seeing him on the edge and the behaviour of the team during the last games made me (re)think that he might be able to share his values/theories with his players and that they more or less get them. Indeed it had been a long, long time since we played like warriors with the heart like we did lately, and that felt amazing. It looked like they exactly knew what to do and also enjoyed doing it. So more efforts, more intensity and the luck switched in our favor... I just think it could have been interesting to see that in the longer run, we will never know.

Most importantly, I have a lot of doubts regarding the future.
Who will replace him? I personally don't fancy Galtier at all and I don't really know if a "better" coach will come to a club as attractive as Rennes, in our current position... We for sure know what we lose but don't know what we will get...

My main concern is Letang, he is not really the kind of guy that shows our values and love for the club. He is probably a networking beast but fans from Reims and PSG were quite happy when he left. A PSG fan colleague came to me and directly told me "you got Letang as a president, good luck you are in a deep sh**". I hope he will do a good job here and make our club great again but... kinda skeptical

Having said that, I am french thus sorry for my mistakes cool

Dernière édition de: Stringer Stanfield Little (08-11-2017 04:28:02)

yesugei · 08-11-2017 02:06:10

Yeah i'm also a bit sceptical about Letang and the values that he represents although i'm hoping that that is what Delanoe is there for, I don't know much about him, but hopefully he is there to bring forward the values of the club that Letang does not bring to the table. all we can do now is sit here with our fingers crossed until the new manager is announced and hope that they don't mess things up, I don't think i can take an other roller coaster ride like the one ruello has taken us on.

Don't worry mate your english is great top :top:

MichaelBBack · 08-11-2017 11:22:18

@Yesugei: Exactly. I think people are more mad now because we've just won a few games, but if this had happened after the Guingamp match, it would seem a lot less dramatic. People are quick to forget that, just a couple of weeks ago, we were all talking about how Gourcuff had only won 5 of the last 30 games and barely anyone was able to defend him. And like you said, these victories have been okay but we've been pretty lucky with a couple of own goals/deflections and some really bad performances from the teams we played. The timing does suck a little and I'm sure all the media are going to be saying things like "Rennes sacked their manager after 4 wins, are they stupid!?" but in reality the story was much bigger than that.

I mean i can think how stupid it sounds to think that for so long long our managers have played players out of position, so I think if we actually get a half decent manager who knows what he's doing, we might be on to something good

Yes! This is what I was saying when I said I felt liberated. With Montanier and then CG, it felt like we were stuck with managers who just refused to adapt and refused to even put players in the right position. We were always shooting ourselves in the foot and starting games with a handicap. If we can just get a manager who at least puts players in the right system and lets them play, that would already be a big boost.

Who should we get? Blanc would probably be my number one choice from the names that have been mentioned, just because he's got so much experience and such a good record. He's not afraid to make big changes, he really understands the game and he commands a lot of respect from his players.

Heinze would be a massive gamble, but sometimes those can work. There are some ex-players who are really successful and just need a chance as managers. Plus, like SSL said, it's nice to see such a fighting, warrior-like mentality from our players lately and I want to see more of that. I want a manager who will really get them fired up and keep them motivated (Another criticism of CG - super quiet in the middle of games).

There are a lot of good Portuguese managers popping up lately. Conceicao was a good example and Marco Silva at Watford too, so maybe one of these Portuguese guys who has been mentioned like Paulo Bento could be interesting.

When we look at this list: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer … /statistik
There are a lot of good names... Some of them are probably just fantasies for a club like ours, but it proves that there are plenty of good coaches available right now. Personally I like Karanka a lot and thought he did good work in England but I doubt we'd go after him.
All I want is someone who will be willing to adapt, to play the guys in the right positions, and to get the players fired up. Even though the season started badly, there are some easy games coming up and it's not impossible to think we could maybe end the year with 26/27 points, which would be great and give us a real chance of still challenging for a good position in the second half of the season, so I'd love to see a manager come in who could make things happen quickly.

Formation? I think a 4-2-3-1 would work well for us when Yoann comes back. I don't like it when he plays deep, he needs to be left as a number 10 and allowed to stay in the opposition half and try to create attacks. I think Khazri could work well in that role too. And then we could have Sarr and Mubele on the wings, Andre and Bourigeaud behind everyone and Brandon or a new number 9 up top. A 4-3-3 would be good too, giving Prcic a chance to play. But the problem with that is I don't know where Gourcuff/Khazri would fit in. We've got quite a full squad and it's hard to fit them all into one system, really. Do you have any other ideas?

@SSL: Your English is perfect so no worries. Also, you might be right about Létang, I have read a few bad stories about him and a few good ones too, so it's hard for me to make up my mind. I think I'm just going to wait and see what he does here and judge him on that. I really hope he won't disappoint us. I also think Delanoe seems like a good guy and brings the Breton culture and values with him, so I hope they work well together and Delanoe is allowed to express himself and keep the Breton side of things going.

Roudoudou · 07-03-2018 20:24:00

This how I foresee the end of the season for us, with this crucial question : will we get a European ticket ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbKHDPPrrc

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Stade Rennais 17/18 Season Discussion

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