In the hottest stand of the Michel-d'Ornano stadium, Malherbe Normandy Kop supporters roar to chant the name of their coach, Stéphane Moulin. Caen has just snatched the draw against Saint-Etienne (2-2) in a game without stakes of the 37th matchday of Ligue 2, the last of the season at home, this May 26. It's time to celebrate the starters. Among them, therefore, the technician of the Calvadosian squad. "Tonight, I have only one word: thank you (...) I arrived here two years ago with the staff. We did a job, I think, satisfying and you helped us so much, "says Stéphane Moulin at the microphone of the stadium.
"I just hope you can get back to the Ligue 1 you deserve"
Stéphane Moulin, former coach of SM Caen
A poignant farewell that the weed community did not imagine so soon, while the former coach of Angers had signed, in the summer of 2021, for three years. But now, on May 17, the club announced its departure. A decision taken by Stéphane Moulin himself. He confided, to France Bleu, "disagreements on personal points of view with my president (Olivier Pickeu) that have somewhat tainted our relationship". "Private content" eroding the trust between the two men, yet linked since their long collaboration in Angevin.
"A waste" according to many supporters
Players, shareholder, president tried to convince him, nothing helped. The rest of the project to return to Ligue 1 over three years will therefore be written without him. "I just hope that you will be able to find the Ligue 1 you deserve," the coach projected in front of the public on May 26. A supporter manages to make a "stay with us!" A waste" according to many supporters, the vast majority disappointed by the departure of Stéphane Moulin who, in the space of two seasons looking, sometimes, rollercoaster, will have helped to turn around a club that had passed close to the precipice of relegation to National just before his arrival.
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In a press conference after the match against the Greens, the man slipped: "I like to start and go to the end. It is a regret not to complete the project. It's life, it's made of hazards, good and bad surprises. But the club is on the right track, my departure must not taint that. Seventh last season, Caen will finish 5th or even 4th this year, at the end of the final day of Ligue 2 on June 2. With the added bonus of an excellent season at home. Ideal to renew a very strong bond with a grateful public. In the wake of the latter, it is the whole family of SM Caen who showed him unfailing support when he had lost his wife, Armelle, following an illness on January 11. Not very expansive, Stéphane Moulin ended his final Caen football evening with his gratitude to the tribute paid to him: "It's human. There is feeling, emotion, pleasure despite everything. Moulin will not forget Malherbe. Malherbe will not forget Moulin, but will quickly mourn it to prepare the sequel.
