Bernd HOBSCH

With the departures of André, Guivarc’h and Wiltord in the Summer of 1997, Stade Rennais were obliged to rebuild its entire frontline. General Manager Lefillatre, started to follow some surprising leads to recreate an attack worthy of the name. Alongside Jinani from Raja, the German Bernd Hobsch arrived in Brittany from Werder Bremen. The former German international (1 cap in 1993) had the reputation as a good old “fox in the box” and was chosen for his goalscoring instinct. But unlike Weiser, the other German recruit that Summer, Hobsch had a question-mark hanging over him from the start. Given a start in the first home game of the season against Lyon (0-3 defeat), he was totally out of place. In spite of a more decent display when he came on away to Châteauroux (0-1 loss), he was frozen out by Manager David until Christmas, when he joined 1860 Munich. Hobsch was to be held as one of the worst signings in the contemporary history of Stade Rennais FC.