After a first stint between 2018 and 2021, Julien Stéphan directs the first match of his second mandate as coach with Stade Rennais, Sunday, against Reims (5:05 p.m.).
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He is back. After the announcement of his resignation in March 2021, Julien Stéphan made his comeback on the bench of Stade Rennais, which he led to the Coupe de France coronation in 2019 and qualified for the Champions League in 2020. He will be present on Sunday November 26 against Reims, on the occasion of the 12th day of Ligue 1. Like him, other coaches returned to a club they already knew, like Alain Casanova in Toulouse, of Lucien Favre in Nice, or even of Michel der Zakarian in Montpellier, with varying fortunes, but an almost constant one: a second passage much less successful than the first.
Before Julien Stéphan, 14 coaches had two stints on the bench of the same team (not counting interims) since the start of the 2000s. None had a second mandate significantly better than the first, even if four of between them stayed slightly longer than when they first took up the post. In this category, the prize goes to Christian Gourcuff who managed 16 more L1 matches during his second mandate in Rennes (50 in 2016-2017 compared to 34 in 2001-2002). A difference far from astonishing.
In the other direction, the trend is much clearer. In the sample of 14 coaches, a coach plays on average 56 fewer matches during his second stint. The five coaches who had a first mandate with at least 100 L1 matches under the clock with the same team (Alain Casanova in Toulouse, Jocelyn Gourvennec in Guingamp, Leonardo Jardim in Monaco, Michel der Zakarian in Montpellier and Pablo Correa in Nancy), none managed to exceed 50 matches in the elite during their second spell. Only Alain Casanova lasted more than a full season.
An easy solution for clubs
When it comes to strictly accounting results, 9 of the 14 coaches cited showed a significantly lower points per game ratio during their second stint on the bench. It should also be noted that the more significant the first trace was, the more negative the differential. Leonardo Jardim, for example, went from 1.97 to 1.44 points per game with AS Monaco. In the other direction, the five coaches who managed to do better have not particularly marked the history of Ligue 1. When François Ciccolini goes from 0.91 to 1.14 points per match with Bastia, that amounts to going from 35 points to 43 over a full season of 38 days, two totals from teams playing at the bottom of the table.
“Coming back is always a danger. We have a beautiful memory of you, the supporters say to themselves that he succeeded in transcending us. We think of these good moments lived, the supporters remember them too. But if that starts to not go well, they don’t miss you, especially in a club with a requirement like PSG”, analyzes Luis Fernandez for franceinfo: sportwinner of the Cup of Cups in 1996 with Paris Saint-Germain during his first stint (1994-1996) before returning to the capital in 2000.
“If I could go back, I wouldn’t have come back to PSG.”
Luis Fernandezfranceinfo: sport
But for some, it’s an opportunity. Julien Stéphan, during his presentation as new coach of Stade Rennais, admitted that he was very happy to return to the bench of the Breton club with his staff, despite the big challenge awaiting him (Rennes is 13th ). “M“Joy is also determined by the fact of coming back to this club which is close to our hearts, I tell us while understanding my staff”, he announced.
Coaches immersed in urgency
For Michaël Debève, Philippe Montanier’s assistant during his two visits to Toulouse, recalling an ex is a quick solution for Ligue 1 clubs in a critical situation: “They must react urgently and this saves time for the coach and the club because they know each other.”. According to him, between his first and second mandate, the coach “is more mature and knows the ropes of the profession.”
Most often, a recall takes place in a deleterious context, the club either needing an electric shock or to return to healthier bases after the failure of the previous coach. Even if he knows the house, the coach is thrown into an emergency and is not in control of the timing of his return. Luis Fernandez says he would have preferred to return to PSG at another time. “Despite the great attachment that I have for this club, it would have been better to come six months later, at the start of a new season to start with a group that you chose and not the one that was part of the project put in place. placed by management”, justifies the former French international.
For Julien Stéphan, the same problem arises even though he only left the club for two years. In the middle of the season, he recovered a Stade Rennes just one point from the red zone and having won only two of its first 12 Ligue 1 matches, with a last success dating back to October 1 (2-0 against Nantes). The championship having gone from 20 to 18 teams, it only has 22 days left to redress the situation.