The back story

Stéphan has been here before, of course. And not only when he took charge of the first team following Sabri Lamouchi's departure in December 2018. 

Born in the city during the 1980/81 campaign - when his father, Guy, now the France assistant coach, played his only professional season at Rennes - Stéphan returned to Rennes in 2012 to take charge of the U19 team. He then successfully coached the club's reserve side from 2015 until his appointment as first-team coach the first time around.

He was successful too. He took the club into the Last 16 of the UEFA Europa League in his first season and - most significantly - won Rennes' third Coupe de France and their first major trophy since 1971 by beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final. He also gave a first-team debut to a player he knew well from his youth academy days: Eduardo Camavinga.

The following season, Stéphan guided Rennes to third place in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table - their best-ever finish - and into the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time.

He stepped down after a run of bad form in March 2021 - a decision he has since described as "hasty", taking over at Strasbourg the following May. He took the Alsace club to a superb sixth place in 2021/22, but by January 2023 - following a poor run of results - was removed from his role.

"I'm delighted to be back at this club, I'm very fortunate," said Stéphan of his Rennes reunion, which was helped by his close relationship with the club's multi-billionaire owner François Pinault.

"I have huge motivation to take on the challenge, and I'll do that with [assistant coaches] Denis Zanko and Bouziane Benaraibi, and [video analyst] Rudy Cuni, who were with me during my first spell here and in Strasbourg. We're going to try and improve the situation and get some consistency back. It's all happened very quickly. What made my mind up was to feel the support of everyone."

The present

Bruno Genesio's decision to step down following the 1-0 defeat to Lyon that preceded the November international break clearly took Rennes by surprise. 

Genesio was named Ligue 1 coach of the year in 2021/22 - ahead of Stéphan and other nominees - to become the first Rennes coach to receive the honour, and finished fourth in 2022/23. 

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But the 2023/24 campaign has been a struggle so far with the Breton club in 13th place. Rennes' tally of 12 points from 12 matches is their lowest since 2002/03, and they have won just one of their last 11 league games, picking up only nine points in that run, and losing four of their last five.

Even the traditionally fortress-like Roazhon Park has been anything but impregnable: the Lyon loss means Rennes have picked up just nine points from a possible 21 at home, dropping 12 points as many as they had done in the whole of last season. They have not won any of their last three home matches, and despite undoubted firepower, have failed to score in their last two league outings.

The future

"I'm delighted to be back, I would like to salute and congratulate Bruno [Genesio] in a sincere and honest manner," said Stéphan. "I'm fortunate to follow a great coach, who has done great things here. I've enjoyed these last two years. It's up to us to build on that legacy." That legacy is largely a squad that still has the quality to seriously trouble the business-end of the top-flight table.

Steve Mandanda remains a top-class goalkeeper, and there is undoubted ability in a defensive phalanx that includes Adrien Truffert, Lorenz Assignon, Arthur Theate, Christopher Wooh, Jeanuël Belocian, and Warmed Omari. Omari, Theate and Assignon are the oldest at 23 - freshly capped France U21 international Belocian is just 18 - and it seems even the vast experience of Mandanda, 38, has been unable to compensate with Rennes shipping 16 goals this season, two more than second-from-bottom Clermont. 

No doubt the influence of Nemanja Matic will eventually be felt, adding an effective layer of protection to the back line. In fact, since his first start in Round 3, no player across the division has made more than the Serbia international's 24 interceptions.

*The Red-and-Blacks at work

But the Rennes defenders could also legitimately highlight the fact that fifth-placed Reims have conceded 15 goals and third-placed Monaco 14. But both have scored more goals (Reims 17, Monaco 25). 

Despite the summer departure of Jeremy Doku to Manchester City, Rennes still looked well-stocked going forward. They added Enzo Le Fée and Ludovic Blas to an already impressive list of attacking players, and Blas is the team's joint-second top scorer in Ligue 1. He, Amine Gouiri, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Benjamin Bourigeaud all have just two top-flight strikes to their name though. Ibrahim Salah leads the way on a paltry three. 

Admittedly, Martin Terrier - such a key figure in Rennes' attacking brilliance of the 2021/22 campaign - is just four league games into his comeback from a serious injury, but Stéphan will hope to wring so much more from players who have so far not completely clicked.

"It's a quality squad with very good footballers, dynamic players, with great technical qualities to play good football," said Stéphan. "Having said that, we also need to develop something else, strength of character, and solidity in our play to have more consistency over a longer period."

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