Frédéric ANTONETTI

In the summer of 2009, Frédéric Antonetti replaced Lacombe as First Team Manager at Rennes. He took over a group still shellshocked by the defeat in the French Cup Final. The Corsican quickly imposed an attacking style of play with the likes of Bangoura, Briand, Gyan, Leroy, Marveaux and Sow. Whilst battling it out at the top of the table, Rennes lost their way completely one evening, losing 0-1 at Quevilly in the French Cup, and finished the season in freefall ending up 9th. In 2010/2011, the policy changed, with the priority being given to the youngsters from the vintage of Théophile-Catherine, Brahimi, M’Vila and Kembo-Ekoko). With a solid defence, and an effective attack, whilst unspectacular, Rennes were joint-leaders on Matchday 26, but yet again they ran out of gas, and finished the season with a whimper. In 2011/2012, Rennes were once again 6th, after failing to make an impression against the top teams. In the French Cup, they were again humiliated by Quevilly in the Semi-Finals (1-2). Controversially, Antonetti was kept in his job for 2012/2013. A season which started pretty badly with only 4 points taken from their first 6 league games. But with the blossoming talent of Alessandrini in particular, his team climbed back up the table to reach 4th by Christmas. After winning the semi-final against Montpellier in the League Cup in January, the club then dropped like a stone in the league and lost the League Cup Final against Saint-Etienne. In the aftermath of that defeat, Antonetti announced his departure from Rennes.