Julien Stephan steps down as Rennes coach following dismal run

Rennes coach Julien Stephan has stepped down from this position following a poor run of results this year.

The French soccer club thanked Stephan on Monday for all the "exceptional results" secured with the Brittany team, which slumped to a fourth consecutive loss in all competitions last week and has won only one game in 2021.

Stephan, who took over as Rennes head coach in 2018, led his players to a stunning victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019 French Cup final. He also helped the team qualify for the Champions League group stage for the first time last season.

After an excellent start to the season, Rennes has only managed two points in its past six league matches and fell to ninth place in the standings following Friday's 2-1 loss to Nice. The loss dealt a heavy blow to Rennes' ambition of returning to Europe next season.

Rennes' only win this year came on Jan. 17 and the team is now winless in its last six league games, its worst run since a seven-game run in 2019.

Philippe Bizeul, who was deputy coach under Stephan, has been appointed as caretaker, Rennes said.

Crotone fired coach Giovanni Stroppa on Monday, with the Serie A club bottom of the standings and eight points from safety.

The 53-year-old Stroppa had been in charge since 2018 and led Crotone to promotion from Serie B last season. Sunday's 2-0 defeat at home to Cagliari was Crotone's sixth straight loss and its 18th in 24 matches this campaign.

"So ends a beautiful and intense journey, that lasted almost three years, and that wasn't without difficult moments but that culminated in the extraordinary survival in Serie B and furthermore in the second, historic, promotion to Serie A," Crotone said in a statement.

Stroppa took charge of Crotone in June 2018, with the team in the second division, but was fired in

October of that year after collecting just 11 points from nine matches. He was rehired two months later and steered the team to safety before guiding it to a second-place finish in Serie B the following season and promotion to the top flight.

It is the sixth coaching change in Serie A this season.