First team

«Strong, Rigorous, Powerful» : These ase the words J.J. Perrier Doumbé used to sum up John Mensah’s qualities. The Ghanaian international was loaned to Rennes in late January 2006, to stabilise a defensive line often struggling to cope during that season. The “Rock from Djiporta” soon proved his recruiters right, and was immediately loved by the Rennes support. The instant success of his loan was soon materialised, when he signed a three years contract with the club from Brittany. Unfortunately, while his role as a key player was never contested and many (big) teams were following him, his stay in Rennes was marked by recurrent injuries. In July 2008, he followed the footsteps of Kim Källström, and decided to join the Olympique Lyonnais at the end of fierce transfer negotiations.

A central defender, equally able to play as a left full back, Samuel Souprayen is one of the most promising young Rennes players at his position. Captain of the 2008 Gambardella Cup Winning squad, simple, efficient, down to earth, Samuel Souprayen has all it takes to make it to the highest level. He will now have to keep on improving, in order to make his way into Frédéric Antonetti's tactics.

An experienced goalkeeper, born and trained in Caen, Fabrice Catherine joined the Stade Rennais for the 2007-2008 season. Arriving as the third choice keeper, he kept himself fit and ready to cover any unavailabilities of Simon Pouplin or Patrice Luzi, while working closely with the young keepers from the Reserve and Academy. Having previously played for Sedan, Laval, Tours, and even Estoril in Portuguese second division, Fabrice Catherine signed a one year contract with Rennes in July 2007. A year later, his contract wasn’t extended, and the player was released by the club.

Recruited very early by the Juventus Turin, Andreas Isaksson came back to Sweden, at Djurgardens IF, before eventually arriving in Rennes. Formerly Van der Sar’s substitute in Italy, the Swedish international came to replace former Rennes favourite Petr Cech, in the supporters’ hearts and on the pitch. Sometimes decisive, the Swede lacked of regularity to live up to the club’s great expectations. After two seasons in Rennes, Isaksson was transferred to Manchester City. He is now playing is football in Holland, at the PSV Eindhoven.

At the end of an interesting spell as Andreas Isaksson’s substitute, Simon Pouplin soon became Rennes’ first choice goalkeeper. His former mentor, Christophe Lollichon, talking about him, recognised he had an “obvious talent. He is someone who always analyses his performances, always looks for what is best and works hard to reach it». His 2007-2008 season, however, was much harder to manage, so much that Patrice Luzi ended up taking over the number one spot. When Nicolas Douchez arrived in Rennes, Pouplin was pushed towards the exit, and signed a contract for German second division outfit Freiburg, where he became a key-member of the team and took part in the club’s promotion to Bundesliga.

As Isaksson left for the Premier League, Rennes’ management had to compensate his departure by recruiting a new goalkeeper. Eventually, Christophe Revault came back to Rennes, where he had already played between 1998 and 2000. 34 years old, he came as Simon Pouplin’s substitute, offering him all his help and experience for the 2006-2007 season. In June 2007, he decided to leave and come back to his first ever club, Le Havre AC

Just crowned an U20 World Champion with Brazil, a team he was captaining, Adailton arrived in Rennes in summer 2004. Gifted with a great sense of anticipation, a good tackler and very strong in the air, Adailton had everything to succeed in Brittany. A regular starter during his first Rennes season, he was the main victim of John Mensah’s arrival and Grégory Bourillon’s emergence in central defence. Left with the Reserves, his misfortune worsened when he was victim of a serious knee injury, in April 2006. This was the final blow to his Rennes professional career, and removed him completely off Pierre Dreossi’s tactics. After the injury was healed, he only ever played 4 games with the Reserve, before leaving Rennes back to Brasil, where he signed for Santos FC, the legendary club where Pelé played for 18 years of his career.

An usual starter for Rennes' U18 Rand occasionanaly the Reserve, Guillaume Borne benefited of a series of injuries in the first team’s defence, to see his Ligue 1 career launched on a derby against Lorient, in December 2006. After he signed his first professional contract in June 2007, the man from Tarn disappointed for his second season at the highest level, only appearing in 10 occasions for the professional team, and failing to impress with his performances. After a disappointing loan in Brest (L2), he left Rennes in 2009 to join Boulogne, freshly promoted in Ligue 1.