THE Stade Rennais has never been the most agitated club in the country, but you had to have a strong heart to decipher its news in recent hours.
While the future of Habib Beye was in the balance after a series of 5 games without a victory in Ligue 1, some media announced the departure of the Senegalese technician during the day on Monday, before the newspaper L'Equipe took the opposite view of this rumor by affirming that Beye will stay.
Habib Beye will have to be very persuasive.
The speech of the main interested party confirmed this imbroglio: there was indeed a presidential decision disavowed by the owner. And Beye doesn't even hide it anymore, emphasizing her proximity to the Pinault clan. “The question arose, yes. At times she was arrested. Today, people still believe in what we want to do at Stade Rennais. I have the support of my players all the time. There is total support for what we want to do. I never asked myself this question. I was never ready to leave. I will never let go of this position, I will never let go of my passion which is to coach. It's a real pleasure (to be the coach of Rennes, editor's note), it's a fantastic club. I am lucky to have an owner who is exceptional. I'm lucky to have an owner who knows where I want to go with the club. This support has been unwavering since my arrival”.
“It had to stop, it continues”
“We said a lot of things to each other,” Habib Beye continued. We took stock of everything that was currently happening. The most important thing is the focus on this match in Toulouse. We are lucky to be able to get back on horseback very, very quickly and win a match in Toulouse where it will be a difficult match. In the situation we are in, yes, we have to win. In the job we do, I don't see it as an ultimatum. We have a wonderful job. We have the chance to live this passion, to be with the players. I never see it as an irrevocable sentence”
“We arrived yesterday morning, we trained the team. What happened was that at some point it had to stop, but it continued because people still think we have the energy to change the current dynamic. I will never work with an ultimatum logic. (…) We are not going to play a fool’s game. You've all seen the news. It had to stop. It continues. It continues for a very specific reason. The leaders felt that I have the energy and the abilities to help this team win tomorrow. That’s how it is, that’s the business we’re in. I am here because I am the coach of Stade Rennais. We asked ourselves the question of my future within the club. And at a given moment, when we saw each other, this future was perhaps different by the perception they had of my commitment within the club. It wasn't an interview where we said stop, it was an interview in which we said: 'what are you like?' ». A rather lunar situation which animates all the debates in Brittany. In the event of another hitch in Toulouse, the next few hours could be very hectic.
