Scores Rennes en direct
22 February 2011 | à 23h27

John Boye, the X-Factor

If a player is surprising everyone at the moment, it has to be Ghanaian international John Boye. A disputable player in the Reserve since his arrival 2008, John Mensah’s spiritual son amazes everyone since he arrived in the first team, two weeks ago. A few months before the end of his contract, the Rennes centre back could well be on the way to definitely kick-start his professional career.

John Boye, the X-Factor

After two and a half season on the fringes of Stade Rennais FC’s first team, John Boye is about to give his answer to an equation that showed more unknowns than solutions only a few weeks ago. Mediocre at least since he joined the reserve, the Ghanaian centre back is about to confirm the prediction of one of his illustrious predec essors in Rennes’ defence, John Mensah. Indeed, before leaving for Olympique Lyonnais, the « Rock from Djiporta » had advised Stade Rennes to recruit his fellow national. Aged 21, Boye arrived in Brittany on a one season-long loan with a purchase option. Playing with Ghanaian professional outfit Hearts of Lions, the African was forced to delay his debuts with the “Rouge et Noir” however. Eager, maybe a bit too impatient to discover European football, Boye made a mistake by agreeing with Rennes and then signing a pre-contract agreement with Hapoël Petah-Tikvah, an Israeli club. Before he could start showing his potential at La Piverdière, he was therefore forced into a legal imbroglio and deprived of competitive football until the FIFA stated on his case. After a few weeks, the Ghanain was eventually given the all-clear and could start dedicating himself to the challenge that awaited him in Rennes.

From difficult beginnings...

Boye is like a symbol of this 2010-2011 Stade Rennais FC. Just as most players that made their mark in Frédéric Antonetti’s squad, the lanky Rennes defender first appeared thanks to a flurry of absences, a possibility that seemed most unlikely to all regulars at la Piverdière after his below par performances with the Reserve. An intermittent stem-player in Laurent Huard’s squad, Boye kept on repeating defensive blunders. A clear and blunt assessment, which generated doubts about his ability to make it at professional level. After his first season in the CFA division however, the purchase option was taken and the player signed a one year contract at the Stade Rennais.

During the 2009-2010 summer preparation, Boye was naturally included in Frédéric Antonetti’s squad, as the manager wanted to proceed to a full review of his team before the beginning of the season. With two weeks to go before the League restarted, Boye gave a catastrophic performance during a friendly against Caen (1-3). Partnering with Lucien Aubey at centre-back, the Ghanaian was put on the back foot and literally sank against Caen striker Julien Toudic. Later, he was left out of the professional squad to train with the youngsters, alongside Kévin Bru, Abdoul Camara, Tongo Doumbia and Samuel Souprayen. Three of them would find a way out, on loan (Camara at Vannes OC and Souprayen at Dijon FCO) or through contract termination (Bru, also in Dijon). At this time, it was only fair to wonder if the young Ghanaian was approaching the end of his Rennes career.

... to a superb blossoming

Never included in a Ligue 1 game since he arrived in France, Boye has been consistently starting games with the Reserve since two seasons however. But his performances and the concurrence in the defence prevented him to gain his first Ligue 1 appearance. Delighted to be able to rely on his “professional conscience”, Laurent Huard knows, however, that his player can still improve a lot, especially in the defensive aspect of his game. Very good in the air, Boye tends to lose his focus. Sent off twice this season in the CFA, the Ghanaian accumulates the mistakes, as against Le Mans B (1-4) when he was too easily beaten on Le Mans’ equaliser: “he tried to recover the ball against a player not in the direction of the play, when there is no point for him to do it”, Huard then commented.

Outside these considerations, the player waited patiently for his chance. Profiting of the simultaneous absences of Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik and Kader Mangane, Boye came back in favour with Antonetti. Included in the starting eleven alongside Kévin Théophile-Catherine (with whom he was usually paired at centre-back with the Reserve last season), the “Black Star” ignored the pressure and went on to manage a good performance against a pretty lacklustre Nice. Confident and insouciant, he wouldn’t hesitate to put this pressure on Antonetti: “No I’ve been able to show what I’m able to do, it will be difficult for the coach but it is up to him to decide who should play and who should sit on the bench. Before the game, the coach told me: ‘John you’re the best defender in this team but you haven’t played yet, so take this chance to show the others what you can do’”. And the player was fully able to put his words into actions with a quality performance against Toulouse (1-2), impressing all observers by his lightning return on a counter by Santander, striding as in an Olympic 100 metres race to recover the ball for his team (see the video).

What is Boye’s future made of ?

With his contract ending in June, Boye has the specificity of having already extended his contract twice with Stade Rennais since he arrived on the Vilaine banks. There is little doubt, that Pierre Dréossi will soon be meeting his representatives in order to discuss his future, if the player shows more performance of this level. Now 23 years old, Boye is desperate to play more top flight football. Will Rennes offer him the chance? Boye is facing the emergence of Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik at centre back, as the former Le Havre man seems unmovable and is part, alongside Kader Mangane, of the best central defence in Ligue 1.

One fact is certain, the hierarchy might well be turned around at the centre back position. With the scheduled returns of Kana-Biyik and Mangane and the repositioning of Théophile-Catherine as a left back, Boye could become the first choice for Antonetti in case one of his two first-choice centre backs was to be missing. But what about Onyekachi Apam, whose return isn’t planned before the 2011-2012 season? Absent since he signed for Rennes, it will take him a lot of time to come back to the highest level. Then, the four times capped Ghanaian international could profit of the occasion to gain more play-time and prove why John Mensah advised Rennes to recruit him. Against all odds, Boye had been called by Goran Stefanovic in the Ghanaian national team two weeks ago. He would come in during the game, against Razak Boukari’s Togo, to replace… Mensah. As in an ever-repeating entanglement of their respective careers.

Photo : srfc.frenchwill.fr

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