On his wrist, Bruno Genesio keeps the material trace of his stay in Lyon: a watch offered by its former president Jean-Michel Aulas, “the best president in Europe“According to him. For the first time since his departure in the summer of 2019, and after an experience in China, Bruno Genesio will cross swords with his former club this Sunday evening at Roazhon Park.
Grieved by part of the Lyon public before his departure in 2019, announced on the evening of a defeat against Rennes in the semi-final of the Coupe de France, Bruno Genesio has since turned the page: “I digested. I went to China for a year and a half, which allowed me to digest it. Now I’m in the Rennes project, that’s what is most important. I will not forget all my years in Lyon, and I will never forget them. We often talk about bad times, but I lived there more good times, sporting and humanly, than bad times. Now I am fully concerned by Stade Rennais, I am the coach of Stade Rennais, I feel very, very good in this club, in this region, in this city. What matters to me is to continue to move forward with this team and with this club.”
Arrived in Lyon at the age of five
Bruno Genesio never hid it, he has a white, red and blue heart. How could it be otherwise? “I started at OL at the age of five, recalls the Rennes coach. Obviously, it creates links. I still have relationships with people who work there. I will also not forget all that this club, President Aulas, and all the people I have worked with have allowed me to become and do in my career as a player and coach. But I’ll put that aspect aside on Sunday to focus on the game and what we need to do to beat them.“
Recruited by Florian Maurice in Lyon in 2013, France Bleu Armorique consultant Gaël Danic also remembers Bruno Genesio, who was assistant to Rémi Garde then to Hubert Fournier before becoming head coach in 2015: “He is from there, you feel that he is pure Lyonnais. That’s what puts even more pressure when you’re inducted at number 1. He had more pressure because people can’t put the bad results on the adaptation. He is homegrown, immediate results were needed.“
– Stéphane Guiochon / PHOTOPQR / LEPROGRES
Gaël Danic has fond memories of his years in Lyon with Bruno Genesio: “I especially remember his management side, when he was an assistant, he was really close to the players. He did not just put studs, he was very close to us, he always had a little attention, for good or for bad. If you were a little tough, he would tell you that you had to keep working in order to have playing time, but he was just as good at warning someone who was playing well to prevent them from slacking off. Bruno has a big competitive side: he was always on the lookout when there was a tennis ball, once a week. He prowled around to try to play, to find a team that could miss a player. He has the soul of a player. I have an anecdote, we had beaten him with Malbranque and Jaja (Christophe Jallet, Editor’s note). He is a big lodger, and there it is we who had lodged it properly!”
Thanks to their Lyon experience, Florian Maurice and Bruno Genesio can make a stopover in Rennes. Gaël Danic
For the player trained in Rennes, the Lyon experience of Bruno Genesio, but also of Florian Maurice, is necessarily beneficial for the Breton club: “Lyon is a club programmed to win, to seek results. There, players are formatted to be successful. Even on the toros, the guys will look for a winner! Rennes can take advantage of Bruno and Florian. When Bruno wins and after the match he says “watch out”, it’s not for nothing. He knows the high level. They will see the details that still separate you from the high level. These are people who can make a stop in Rennes. People who will tell you “Did we do 5th? We have to do 4th”. The kind of people who keep you from resting and who are going to want you to go higher.“
More peaceful than in his Lyon era, Bruno Genesio will not hesitate to play a bad trick on his former colleagues this Sunday evening at Roazhon Park.