“We are accumulating all imaginable misfortunes”

- Antonetti vs spectators, the next episode :
Everyone remembers Antonetti’s anger against a supporter sitting behind the substitutes bench. It was during the Stade Rennais – Toulouse game in October and the Stade Rennes manager had expressed his feelings in no uncertain terms; “So you’re back you dic**ead?! You’re back! Hey, fat bas**rd!”.
Last night, the Corsican once again hit out at the spectators sitting behind him: « You don’t deserve anything ! You don’t deserve anything!”, Antonetti shouted in anger while turning towards the spectators sitting behind his bench, at the middle of the second half.

- The poor run stretches on :
Beaten in Brest last week-end (2-0) and by Lorient on Saturday night (1-2), Stade Rennes had never conceded two consecutive defeats in the league this season. The “Rouge et Noir” had lost two consecutive games once this year, but one of them was a Coupe de France Round of 16 game and Rennes had lost in the extra-time (against Reims, 3-4, February 1st) following the rout in Sochaux (5-1).
In the league, Rennes had not conceded two defeats in succession since May 5th last year (defeat in Marseille 3-1 after a 1-2 defeat against Sochaux).

- Poor run, bis… :
Last week, by losing in Brest, Rennes had equalled their worst run of the season in the league: four matches without a win and with only two draws (in Lens and against Lyon) and two defeats (against Montpellier and in Auxerre).
With a fifth game without a win, Stade Rennais have now managed their undisputed worse run of the season in Ligue 1.

- Gameiro - Amalfitano, the winning pair :
Lorient’s Gameiro and Amalfitano have put the Rennes defence to the sword on Saturday evening. Indeed, the two players are accessory in both Lorient goals on the night. On the equaliser, Gameiro headed in on a delivery from Amalfitano, while on the second goal, Douchez failed to control the ball on a shot by Amalfitano, after the attacking midfielder has received the ball from ... Gameiro.
Les Lorientais Gameiro et Amalfitano ont donné du fil à retordre à la défense rennaise, samedi soir. Les deux joueurs sont d’ailleurs impliqués sur les deux buts lorientais. Ainsi, sur l’égalisation des Merlus, Gameiro est à la réception d’un centre... d’Amalfitano, alors que sur le second but, Douchez relâche la balle suite à une frappe d’Amalfitano, qui avait auparavant été servi par... Gameiro.
In total, as the statisticians from Opta Sports noted, Amalfitano has delivered 6 assists to Gameiro, making them the most productive pair in Ligue 1 this season.

- Castro, king of the red card :
Four games refereed, four players dismissed: this is the summary of Alexandre Castro’s 2010-2011 season with the Stade Rennais. Although he didn’t send any Rennes player off in Nancy in the 2nd game week, M. Castro delivered a (logical) red card at the 13th minute to Nancy defender N’Diaye. The man in black would be much quicker to dismiss Tongo Hamed Doumbia in Lens (9th game week): Just entered on the pitch, the midfielder was sent off 147 seconds later, the fastest red card since the beginning of the season in Ligue 1 (Statistic from Opta). In Sochaux, it was Nicolas Douchez’ turn to be evicted from the pitch, becoming the first Rennes goalkeeper to be sent-off in nearly ten years. Finally, on Saturday evening against Lorient, defenders Samuel Souprayen and Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik have been the latest victims of Alexandre Castro. In total, the referee has given 4 of Rennes’ 6 red cards this season. 67% of the “Rouge et Noir” sending-offs for only 13% of the Stade Rennes matches refereed.

- No double sending off since over a year :
With Samuel Souprayen and Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik expelled by M. Castro, it takes a return to February 27th, 2010 to find the last double-dismissal for the Stade Rennais. Severely beaten by Montpellier (3-1), the Bretons had finished the game with 10 men after Kader Mangane received a red card at the 90th minute… before Asamoah Gyan was also sanctioned after the final whistle. The striker was guilty of a head-butt on Montpellier’s Costa’s shoulder.

- Lorient’s first time at the route de Lorient :
Until this Saturday night, FC Lorient had never won in Rennes in the league. Worse, in 6 oppositions at top flight level, the “Merlus” had only managed one draw at the Stade de la Route de Lorient (2001), losing 5 times.
The FCL had already won in Rennes in the Coupe de France, during the 2001-2002 season.

- Second game for Jebbour :
After his Ligue 1 debut on December 18th against Valenciennes (1-0), profiting of the absences of Apam, Souprayen and Théophile-Catherine and off the sale of Fanni to OM, Yassine Jebbour played his second game in the top flight this Saturday evening. The young defender (19 y/o) came in at the end of the first half to replace Kembo , with Souprayen dismissed a few minutes later. He should be offered his second start next Sunday in Monaco, where the Stade Rennais will be left without Souprayen, Kana-Biyik (suspended) and Théophile-Catherine (injured), and maybe even of Danzé, who picked up an injury against Lorient.

- Antonetti complains of the many absences :
Although he underlined the « deserved » victory of FC Lorient, Frédéric Antonetti was mainly complaining of the numerous absences in the Rennes squad. “There is a time where, when a team is on the brink of collapse physically, it ends up breaking. We’ve controlled the extent of the damage for a while, but on the long-term we need all our assets”, the Rennes manager explained to Ouest-France. «We are accumulating all imaginable misfortunes this season […] There are seven matches left, and it looks like we will never have a full squad ».