Which future for the loaned players?

Lhadji Badiane, a victim of his own inconsistency

Loaned to Dijon (Ligue 2) on August 30th, 2010, one could wonder whether Lhadji Badiane could not have had more play time by remaining in Brittany. With an attack regularly missing some of its elements, the young striker could have been an emergency solution to cover for injuries. Instead, after an average year in Clermont in 2008-2009 (34 games, 6 goals), Badiane didn’t do much better this season.
Under the management of Patrice Carteron, the Dijon FCO is having a superb season in the league, and can even dream of Ligue 1 promotion (the club from Bourgogne is fourth with seven game weeks to play, only a point behind the third, and four points behind the leader, Evian), but Badiane is only playing a minor role in those good results.

Everything started rather well however, for the player trained at Stade Rennes. On September 10th, he earned his first apparition for half an hour against Le Havre, and scored his first goal. Logically promoted in the starting eleven for six of the following seven games, Badiane added an assist to his tally before being soon forgotten. Since then, he has mainly been a utility player in the shadow of Sebastian Ribas, Ligue 2’s best striker with nineteen goals.
« The problem is, that I wasn’t used to play games in quick succession”, Badiane pleaded in an interview to local newspaper Le Bien public, mid-January. The player had spent the previous season in the CFA league with Rennes’ reserve team (24 games, 3 goals), for only a few appearances with the pros.
After promising beginnings at the DFCO, Badiane especially shone for his inconsistency, and didn’t manage to earn his stripes as a regular first team starter. Since the end of October, he played thirteen games (out of a possible 18), starting only three times. He could only add two more assists to his tally, in a period also troubled by an adductor injury.

Contracted until 2013, what could his future in Brittany be? Hard to guess what the Rennes staff have in store for him. Last season, his contract extension had surprised everyone. This time, all options seem to be opened, whether it is a transfer, another loan, or another season between the Reserve and punctual appearances with the professionals.

Cheick N’Diaye, forgotten in the National

When he joined Paris FC (National, 3rd level), Cheick N’Diaye was probably expecting to live a different sort of season. In competition with Vincent Demarconnay (the first choice goalkeeper on the previous season), the Senegalese keeper could never impose himself as a first choice.
It took him time to finally play in the league with the Parisian club, for a first game finally at the end of January. His manager Jean-Luc Vanucchi then decided to trust him, after N’Diaye’s good performances in the Coupe de France. Indeed, early January in the Coupe de France Round of 64 against Toulouse, the Rennes goalkeeper had managed a brilliant performance and several decisive saves.

Unfortunately, N’Diaye returned the favour with a string of big mistakes that resulted in him being definitely dropped as the second choice. Since the beginning of February, N’Diaye has left the spot to Demarconnay again.
« I don’t play, but I say to myself it will happen, he explained mid-November to the newspaper 20minutes. In my head, I always tell to myself that I’m going to play. When I came here, I had the ambition to play… This is not the case but I wait. Maybe it will come”. The opportunity came, and left again.

At the end of his loan, Cheick N’Diaye will have one year left in his contract with the Stade Rennais. The player who is surprisingly the oldest member of the club’s professional squad (arrived nearly six years ago, in 2005), never managed to break through in Brittany. The third keeper for a long time (successively behind Isaksson, Pouplin, Revault or Luzi), he became number 2 in 2008-2009 (behind Douchez but before Luzi) and was suddenly thrown in the spotlights, by profiting of Douchez’ injury in the Coupe de France semi-final, in Grenoble.
A few days later, for his debuts in the top flight, N’Diaye failed to convince at the Route de Lorient against Bordeaux (2-3), before the illusion vanished completely in 2009-2010, when youngster Abdoulaye Diallo overtook him in the hierarchy.
Now aged 26, his future in Brittany seems as uncertain as Badiane’s. It will be probably linked to those of Douchez and Carasso, for whom all options remain possible at the moment.

Vincent Pajot, the great satisfaction

Following the few successful loans from the previous seasons (Brahimi in Clermont, Sow in Sedan...), Vincent Pajot’s spell in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Ligue 2) proved particularly useful. Captain of the Reserve team last season, the youngster confirmed his ability at a higher level, with the professionals.

Immediately, Pajot imposed himself as the regulator in the Boulogne midfield, causing a nice surprise to all followers of the club from the Nord. Since the beginning of the season, simply, the young Rennais has started every single Ligue 2 game and hasn’t missed a minute of play.
Positioned as a holding midfielder in Rennes, mostly with the role to harass the ball-carrier, Pajot showed a rather creative profile during his year out on loan. Taking control of the play, he scored three goals and gave 4 assists this season, displaying his technical ability as well as his physical qualities. “This season, my position varies a bit between being in front of the defence or a tad bit higher when we play with three men at midfield, he explained to website sport24.com mid-November. My qualities are not extraordinary. I am a player who tries to play as simple as possible. I try to play cleanly. I have the ability to gain a lot of balls. This is my main strength”.

Leaving the modesty on the side, his performances logically caught the eye of the France U21’s national coach Érick Mombaerts, who made him a starter at midfield over the recent months. And his status didn’t change with the change of manager at the mid-season at US Boulogne, with Michel Estevan having replaced Laurent Guyot.
« When I arrived, I didn’t try to impose myself, but to do what I know I can do, Pajot reminded recently in La Voix du Nord. I gave it all, then they trusted me, and I didn’t imagine I would play as much. I’m happy I came here, as I gained in maturity and in discipline in my game. To play at different positions allowed me to show my characteristics and question my ability. I still need to improve in terms of the final pass and in my choices. I need to be more decisive and consistent, and to bring more to the team. When the new coach arrived, I feared I would end up on the bench, but I adapted myself and it is my performances that dictated his choice”. Until now, Pajot is the first choice of Estevan, who has never failed to praise his player.

After signing a first one year professional contract in June last year, Pajot should logically see Stade Rennes raise the option they have, to extend his stay until 2013. But it remains to be seen what his status would be in the professional squad, with the team being particularly well equipped at midfield. If the Rennes midfield was to keep all of its players this summer (and Yann M’Vila in particular), the solution of another loan, in Ligue 1 this time, would seem pertinent. It would also match the strategy used for the génération Gambardella 2008, of which Pajot is yet another member.

- Photo of Badiane : srfc.frenchwill.fr