Rennes football club has embarked on a new journey with the arrival of Julian Stephan as their head coach, succeeding Bruno Genesio. Stephan’s arrival has initiated several changes within the club, not just in tactics and player selection, but also in leadership roles that could potentially redefine the team’s dynamics.
One of the key changes made by Stephan is the reshuffling of the captaincy. He has decided to transfer the captain’s armband from Benjamin Bourigeaud to the experienced goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
Stephan explained his decision, stating, “I will change the captain, and going forward, it will be Mandanda. This is absolutely not against Bourigeaud, who is a club legend for the number of matches he has played and the Coupe de France he has won. However, I feel Steve is a better choice as he has previously held the role for many years at Marseille.”
However, the captaincy isn’t limited to just Mandanda and Bourigeaud. Serbian international Nemanja Matic has also been bestowed with this honor and is expected to lead the team on the field at certain times.
“When we decided to have a goalkeeper as captain, we had to anticipate having field players as co-captains. That will be Bourigeaud and Nemanja Matić. This decision was made after numerous analyses and discussions,” Stephan clarified.
These decisive moves by Stephan are aimed at elevating Rennes from their current 13th position in the Ligue 1 standings, with only two victories from 12 matches. The new coach, with his reshaped team hierarchy, will have his debut opportunity on Sunday when Rennes hosts Reims.
