Sabri LAMOUCHI

The day after Christian Gourcuff was fired, Olivier Létang was appointed President of the club in place of René Ruello. Stade Rennais also made official the arrival of Sabri Lamouchi as First Team Manager on 8th November 2017. The former French international had a playing career with Auxerre, Parma, Monaco, Marseille and Inter Milan. The new Manager had also been the head coach of the Ivory Coast national team at the World Cup in 2014 and then went on to manage at El-Jaish in Qatar. Signing a two-year contract upon arrival, he took over a team who were 10th in Ligue 1 after 12 matches. By the end of the season, they had qualified for Europe finishing in a creditable 5th place as a result of a storming finish to the season, in particular a victory over Paris Saint Germain in their own backyard on Matchday 37. At the start of the 2018/2019 season, Lamouchi had his contract extended to 2020 with an option of an additional year. The start of the season was chaotic, with 20 points dropped after Rennes had taken the lead (Rennes were 14th after 15 matches.) In spite of having a highly important European match against Astana to play in the near future, Sabri Lamouchi was relieved of his duties on Monday 3rd December 2018 in the wake of a heavy home defeat against Strasbourg (1-4).