Rennes have the money to thrive in Ligue 1 but they require stability

“It’s been a bit of a crazy week,” said Rennes manager Habib Beye after his team’s 2-2 draw with Toulouse on Wednesday night. After a run of five games without a win, the former Newcastle and Aston Villa player did not know if he would be in charge for the game – his sacking was even hastily announced in some places – but he was in the dugout in Toulouse and is still holding on.

“The momentum at the club isn’t good and finances are relatively fragile, which puts pressure on us,” said the club’s president, Arnaud Pouille, after the game before announcing that the manager would stay. “We met with the staff on Monday to ask them whether they still had the energy to keep going, and they proved it tonight.”

Frustratingly for Beye, his team let a 2-0 lead slip and missed the chance to climb back into the top half of Ligue 1. The manager revealed before the match that the prospect of his dismissal had been “on the table” at the start of the week. “We arrived on Monday morning and led the training session. At one point, things were meant to come to an end but it’s going on because some people think we still have the energy to turn things around.” The former Senegal international went on to thank the club’s owner, François-Henri Pinault, for his support.

Rennes have been owned by the Pinault family since 1998. Their $25bn wealth and a strong record of player sales have afforded the club some leeway in the transfer market. But, despite regularly reaching the nine-figure mark in recent campaigns, they have failed to rise above mid-table. Successive coaches (five in two seasons, to be precise) have struggled to string together consistent runs, with Beye’s predecessor Jorge Sampaoli only lasting two months before he was sacked.

The perpetual instability is present at all levels of the club; Rennes have gone through four presidents and three sporting directors since 2020. It looked as if they might join the pack chasing Paris Saint-Germain in 2019, when they won the Coupe de France and played in the latter stages of the Europa League. But the constant reshuffles and scattergun transfer policy over the last five years have seen the club fail to capitalise on the momentum created during Julien Stéphan’s first spell in charge.

The squad is hardly short of experience. In January, Pouille signed Brice Samba and Séko Fofana, both of whom previously played for his former club Lens. Quentin Merlin and Valentin Rongier arrived from Marseille in July, with the promising Angers forward Estéban Lepaul joining them late in the window. The club also added Swiss international striker Breel Embolo, and Mahdi Camara and Lilian Brassier – two standouts in Brest’s unlikely title charge two years ago.

It’s an impressive cast of established names but they have not coalesced into a cohesive unit. Fofana and Ludovic Blas were notably left out of the squad entirely on Wednesday, an audacious call from Beye given his job was on the line. Dropping two senior members of the squad suggests his backing in the dressing room is far from unanimous. This is perhaps the most surprising aspect of Beye’s struggles in his first top-flight job, given the charismatic man-management that was a hallmark of his success with Red Star a few years ago.

A close look at Rennes’ results hardly makes a favourable case for the manager, even if the chronic instability at Roazhon Park hardly makes for ideal conditions. A 4-0 derby defeat to Lorient on the opening weekend of the season set a negative tone and their sole win since then came against a Lyon team who were down to 10 men. Beye has switched between different tactical setups in an attempt to inspire a revival, to no avail.

With in-form Strasbourg coming to town on Saturday, an immediate turnaround in results seems unlikely. Whether or not Beye remains in charge for the rest of the campaign, it’s clear that Rennes’ issues also lie at a deeper, structural level. To finally make the most of their resources (which, by Ligue 1 standards, are impressive), they need a coherent long-term plan under a clearly defined hierarchy.

Talking points

PSG dropped points for the third time this month, although results elsewhere meant their 1-1 draw in Lorient was enough to cling on to top spot. The champions’ stuttering form is partly due to an injury crisis, which is beginning to subside even if Désiré Doué came off with a thigh injury in Brittany. In any case, Luis Enrique’s men are not short of immediate challengers this season, with only two points separating the top six clubs after 10 matches.

Strasbourg striker Joaquín Panichelli extended his lead in the race for the Golden Boot on Wednesday, scoring his ninth goal of the season in a 3-0 win over Auxerre. The Argentinian, who was signed in the summer after a 20-goal haul in Spain’s second tier for CD Mirandés, has taken Ligue 1 by storm with his imposing frame, astute movement and clinical finishing. The 23-year-old has emerged as the focal point of Liam Rosenior’s team just as they prepare to say goodbye to Emanuel Emegha, who will join Chelsea at the end of the season. With a place in the Champions League seeming more and more likely, Strasbourg fans will be hoping Panichelli stays in France a little longer before the seemingly inevitable move across the Channel.