Flashback : Patrice Carteron

A linear career

Born in the little town of Hillion, in the Côtes d’Armor, Patrice Carteron started his life as a footballer in the local club of AS Hillion Saint-René. Soon spotted by the Stade Briochin (Saint-Brieuc), he went up the ladder step by step until reaching the third division. After ten years in his cocoon at the club from the Cotes d’Armor, Carteron made the move to Stade Lavallois, where he was offered a first professional contract at the beginning of the 1992-1993 season. In Mayenne, the right back was immediately imposing his qualities and his competitiveness, and eventually managed a very good first professional season with the “Tangos”. With twenty-six league games and two goals to his name, Patrice Carteron was the youngster of the year in Laval.
Then, in the next season, the defender managed a spectacular start. Scoring a brace in the first league day, on July 24th 1993 at Stade Francis-Le Basser, the very attack-minded full back allowed his club to snatch a point against…Saint-Brieuc, his former team then discovering the second division (2-2). Carteron had no problem earning the title of “false friend” of the night. All over the season, the power of Carteron created havoc all over the Division 2 pitches. He ended up playing thirty nine games in the Super D2 (involving 22 clubs) for two goals scored. His performances were good enough for several top flight teams to contact him. In only two seasons spent in Laval, the full back from the Cotes d’Armor had become an emblematic figure at Laval.

Patrice Carteron then discovered the first division at the beginning of the 1994-1995 season, by signing a four years contract with the Stade Rennais. He discovered the top flight on July 29th 1994, during a trip in the “cauldron” of Saint-Étienne (1-1). A modern defender, spotless, able to mark his man efficiently and run up the field quickly, Carteron managed a very good start in D1. Quickly becoming the clear first choice on the right flank of the Rennes defence, he scored his first goal in the top division during the thirty fifth game week, during a four-nil victory against Paris Saint-Germain. A success which also meant survival in the top flight for the Breton club.
A player with a strong personality, Carteron was immediately earning the confidence of Michel Le Milinaire, and ended up playing 34 games for his first season in the French top flight. The following year, he confirmed himself as a pillar of the Rennes defence. On his left flank, the full back imposed his physical power. Rennes piled up the good results, and Carteron’s superb performances were accessory in this success. A fast and powerful left-footed player, he often cracked the opposition camp with his explosive runs forward.

Building on the momentum, the defender impressed again on March 23rd 1996, during the league’s thirty-second game week. Indeed, Carteron scored two goals in what will probably remain as his best game with the “Rouge et Noir” shirt on. Rennes won by four goals to three against the Girondins de Bordeaux, and could still dream of a qualification in the UEFA Cup. Enjoying his first brace in D1, Carteron explained: “I’ve always wanted to try and bring something in attack, but I usually tried to destroy everything. I had to work a lot in front of the goal to grow calmer. I take this success as a reward”. The impetuous Patrice Carteron managed a magnificent second half in the top flight, playing thirty-five games in the league for two goals. At this point, he started looking for a move, but the club from the Breton capital refused to part with its tonic defender.

Un monument stéphanois

Despite his desire to leave, Patrice Carteron started a third consecutive season in Ille-et-Vilaine. Still as powerful and determined, he managed yet another very good season, scoring the victorious goal against Lille (2-0) during the twenty-first game week, then again a few weeks later against the RC Lens (2-2) at the Stade de la Route de Lorient. Throughout the season, the tough Breton defender gratified the Breton public with his fantastic runs up the field. Playing mostly on the right flank of the defence, Carteron finally played another thirty-five game in the first division. But after three years in Rennes, the man from Saint-Brieuc had chosen his future destination, it would be Marseille.
Indeed, already targeted a year earlier by the management on the Vieux-Port, Patrice Carteron was absolutely decided to sign in the club from Marseille, despite a pronounced interest from Aston Villa. “I gave my word. I don’t want to go anywhere else than in Marseille, Carteron insisted. I probably have a hundred first division games to my name since I arrived at Stade Rennes. I think I did pretty well altogether, even though I struggled to cope at the beginning of this season. It was hard to digest the summer break. In my head, I was already gone from Rennes, and I got quite hurt morally”. At the time, he had also refused a two-year contract extension proposal offered by the Rennes management, during the 1996-1997 season.
« I’m always listening to my feelings. Marseille sounds better to me than Monaco or PSG. I know very well, that I will have to earn my place, but I want a new challenge. If I leave Rennes, I will start from scratch again. I will then consider I’ll have to fully prove my ability”. But Patrice Carteron was also well aware that his contract had not run out, and that Rennes remained in control. After a long summer saga, he finally signed a four years contract in Lyon, for a transfer fee in the region of 6.5 million francs (1 million euros).

In the Rhône, Patrice Carteron played three seasons for Lyon between 1997 and 2000. He would play eighty-four games and score five goals. Twice named the best right-back in the league with l’OL, the Breton defender also played seventeen European Cup games, for one goal scored. A player of exemplary behaviour, he didn’t fit in Jacques Santini’s tactics however, and was pushed towards the exit after the arrivals of Jean-Marc Chanelet and d’Éric Deflandre in summer 2000.
He left Jean-Michel Aulas’ club just before the beginning of its reign over French football, and joined the “enemy”, Saint-Etienne, at the beginning of the 2000-2001 season. Unfortunately, his debuts in the Forez were difficult. The home crow immediately took a dislike on Patrice, and he was forced to exile to Sunderland (England) in March 2001.

Saint-Étienne were relegated to Ligue 2 in the meantime, and Patrice Carteron returned to the club on the request of … Frédéric Antonetti. With ASSE, Carteron played a total of a hundred and fourty-two games (in all competitions) and scored nineteen goals. A spirited captain to “les Verts” in ninety-three occasions, Carteron also often turned into a goal scorer, despite his position in defence. He eventually became one of the “favourites” of the Saint-Etienne fans, especially with his attitude of warrior. “Cartoche” was a player who never gave up on the pitch. He was, during his spell in Saint-Etienne, the match to Patrick Guillou on the right side. After a 2004-2005 season in which he didn’t play much (six games), he joined the AS Cannes, then in the National, in July 2005.
On the Riviera, Patrice Carteron played successively as a centre-back, as a sweeper and as a full-back. He eventually ended his career as a professional on March 22nd 2007, and joined the Cannes staff where he became the technical director in charge of the recruitment. He also coached the club from La Bocca during the final match day of the 2006-2007 season, before taking over the team once again a year later with eleven game weeks left to play, avoiding the drop to CFA.

Despite a very frustrating fourth place and a lot of work done, he was sacked of his position as a head coach the following season. He then joined Dijon, where he became the first team’s manager. Patrice Carteron discovered Ligue 2 in Burgundy, and inherited a squad including experienced players such as Mickaël Isabey or Éric Carrière. “Touched and flattered” that the club contacted him, the former full-back was soon “labelled” as an attack-minded coach. Patrice Carteron likes the attack, and likes to build his team with a single holding midfielder, three attacking midfielders and two forwards. After becoming, in May, the coach of Dijon’s first accession to Ligue 1, Patrice Carteron will return to the Stade de la Route de Lorient this Sunday, seventeen years after he started his career in the top flight just there, wearing Rennes’ colours, in 1994.

Career :

Player :
AS Hillion Saint-René
1988-1992 : Stade briochin
1992-1994 : Stade lavallois
1994-1997 : Stade rennais FC (118 matches, 6 goals)
1997-2000 : Olympique lyonnais
2000 - March 2001 : AS Saint-Étienne
March 2001 - June 2001 : Sunderland AFC (England, loan)
2001-2005 : AS Saint-Étienne
2005-2007 : AS Cannes

Manager :
2007-2009 : AS Cannes
Since 2009 : Dijon FCO

Sources :
- Archives Ouest France
- www.anciensverts.com

Photos:
- srfc.frenchwill.fr