Le Lay: a “good public” in Rennes

His last interview had faced a pretty bad reception from the Rennes support. Invited by CFoot on August 29th, Patrick Le Lay had had some mocking words at the “Rouge et Noir” fans, guilty according to him of starting “semi Mexican-waves” when their team lead 5-0, and of booing when it concedes two goals.

In an interview to Ouest-France, the Stade Rennais president is now trying to redeem himself, describing the fans at La Route de Lorient as “quiet connoisseurs, serious and rather competent”. “It is a good public”, Le Lay affirms. “Other cities have got more enthusiastic fans, like Lens or Nice, but the quality of the fans and the club’s results are two very different matters».

In accordance to his image of manager of “a showbiz society”, which he defended a year ago, the former TF1 CEO has only given vague answers on the club’s ambitions – “A good result in the league” – and the evolution of the club’s budget next season. On this last point, he admits that he had already “made efforts” to keep Yann M’Vila and Kader Mangane at the club this year.