Season 2009/2010

During the summer of 2009, following the divorce between Guy Lacombe and the Board, Frédéric Antonetti became the new 1st Team Manager, and had to make better use of the club’s Academy system. He inherited a squad which still bore the scars of the lost French Cup Final against Guingamp. Whilst ten players departed, only four new arrivals replaced them. Amongst these new recruits was Ismaël Bangoura. Arriving off the back of an excellent season at Kiev, the most expensive recruit of the Dreossi-era (11 Million Euros) would disappoint just as much as the team in general, who despite having one of the best attacking line-ups in France (Briand, Gyan and Marveaux) were never able to seriously trouble the hierarchy of Ligue 1. After being stopped in their tracks by Lille and Quevilly in the national cups, Stade Rennais finished the season 9th, their worst finish since 2004. On the positive side, players of the calibre of Danzé, Lemoine, M’Vila or Marveaux looked destined to become the future of a club who would base its sporting strategy around them.