Reactions after Troyes / SRFC (1-0)

The elimination: 
« What we did today was a disgrace for a team of our calibre.I'm finding it hard to keep a straight face with the fans. What we did wasn't convincing and I hope it won't happen again. »

How can this failure be explained?
« We arrived at a special time, in an unfavourable context. There has been a generational turnover between the two seasons: 80% of the team has not played more than 30 games for Stade Rennais, and 70% of the players are no more than 23 years old. The team needs to mature. After that, I know that everyone's analysis of this match will differ. »

Have you seen any progress?
« Yes, we feel we're making progress, but the reality is that statistically we've played 8 games and lost 5. It's true that we've had some big opponents: Lille, Nice, Marseille... We're trying to raise the team's level, that's what we're working for. »

The need for an electroshock :
« Jorge l’a déjà dit lors de la dernière conférence, nous avons besoin de joueurs avec des caractéristiques et des caractères différents, des joueurs avec de l’énergie. Je crois qu’aujourd’hui l’équipe a besoin de beaucoup d’amour plus que d’un électrochoc. Ce n’est pas facile, le Stade Rennais était habitué à jouer l’Europe. Aujourd’hui, on est en concurrence avec des équipes qui jouent le maintien. On essaye de fortifier le groupe pour que ça aille mieux. »

The level of Troyes :
« I wasn't surprised by the level or the commitment of the opposition. As assistant coach, I watched almost ten of Troyes' games last weekend. They're a team with the potential to return to Ligue 1. What surprised me, however, was our team's lack of reaction after conceding the goal. »

 

Frederic Massara, Sporting Director 

« It's a shame we've been eliminated, it's not what we expected. It was a very disappointing performance. ESTAC deserved to win. That was one of our objectives and we're going to have to think hard after a game like that. We're going to concentrate on getting back on track and doing much better than we did in the first half of the season. We have to be very aware, we have to be very careful and we have to concentrate on saving ourselves. We have to thank the fans who continue to support this team. Rather than apologising afterwards, we need to do something better beforehand on the pitch. We're going to do everything we can to give this team more heart and soul. What we saw was not Rennes. It's no longer a question of the system, the players have to do much better, win the offensive and defensive duels. We have to realise that this is not the attitude that Stade Rennais should be showing. »

 

Adrien Truffert, captain of Stade Rennais F.C. 

« To be honest, we're ashamed. We're really disappointed with the way we've performed. We have to be clear, our performances are not up to scratch. We apologise to our supporters, who are always there to cheer us on. We're going to have to do a lot better in many areas, especially in terms of intensity and desire. There were a lot of things missing tonight. We want to fight for this shirt but it's more complicated than that. If we had the answers, we wouldn't be in this situation. We got ourselves into it, it's up to us to get out of it. It's only hard work that pays off, and we're going to have to work very, very hard. Even if we can't do it technically, we still have to have the desire. That's where we really fell down tonight. »