Gérald Baticle

Gérald Baticle
Personal information
Full name	Gérald Edmond Louis Baticle
Date of birth	10 September 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Amiens, France
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
0000–1990	Amiens
Senior career*
Years	Team
1990–1991	Amiens
1991–1995	Auxerre
1995–1998	Strasbourg
1998–1999	Auxerre
1999–2002	Metz
2002–2003	Troyes
2003–2004	Le Havre
Managerial career
2004–2008	Auxerre U19
2008–2009	Brest
2011	Lyon U19
2011–2021	Lyon (assistant)
2019	Lyon (interim)
2021–2022	Angers
2023–2024	France U21 (assistant)
2024	France Olympic (assistant)
2024–	France U21
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gérald Edmond Louis Baticle (born 10 September 1969) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current coach of the France national under-21 football team.

Playing career

Born in Amiens,^[2] Baticle started his professional career in his native Picardy region at Amiens but quickly attracted the attention of Guy Roux who recruited him at Auxerre. He played his first game in Division 1 on 19 September 1991 against Metz. In the 1992–93 season, he was the UEFA Cup's top goalscorer as Auxerre reached the semi-finals where they were edged out by Borussia Dortmund after a penalty shootout. A year later, Baticle scored one of Auxerre's goal during the final of the French cup where the AJA defeated Montpellier 3–0 to win its first national title. In the 1994–95 season, he had to face the concurrence of an emerging Lilian Laslandes for the sole striker post in Guy Roux's emblematic 4-3-3.

Baticle then chose to move to an ambitious Strasbourg side where he joined a team composed of Frank Leboeuf, Franck Sauzée and Aleksandr Mostovoi. He spent three seasons at Strasbourg and was a captain there after Leboeuf's departure in 1996. He was repositioned as an offensive midfielder by Jacky Duguépéroux and, in this position, was instrumental in Strasbourg's 1997 League cup triumph as well as the good UEFA Cup run the following season.

He was then back for a season and a half at Auxerre as a transition striker between world champion Stéphane Guivarc'h and the young Djibril Cissé. In December 1999, he was transferred to Metz where he enjoyed decent success as a striker for three years in a struggling team. When Metz was relegated, Baticle moved to Troyes for a season before ending his career in 2003–04 with Ligue 2 side Le Havre.

Coaching career

Baticle was a successful youth coach for three seasons with Auxerre's under 18 team, reaching the final of the Coupe Gambardella in 2007. In October 2008, Pascal Janin was sacked from his post at Stade Brestois and it was rumoured that general manager Corentin Martins was eager to bring his former Auxerre teammate at Brest for the managing job but the move was at first opposed by Auxerre's president Jean-Claude Hamel.^[3] Ultimately, a compromise was found and Baticle joined Brest,^[4] winning his first game 4–0 against Bastia on 7 November 2008. He was fired in May 2009 and replaced by Alex Dupont.^[5]

On 22 December 2022, Baticle was sacked by Angers.^[6]

Having worked with the France national under-21 football team as an assistant under Thierry Henry's management, he was appointed as coach on 23 August 2024.^[7]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[8]
Club	Season	League			Cup^[a]		Continental^[b]		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Auxerre	1991–92	Division 1	24	8	–		–		24	8
	1992–93		32	9	–		10	8	42	17
	1993–94		32	7	5	5	2	0	39	12
	1994–95		21	5	1	0	2	0	24	5
	Total		109	29	6	5	14	8	129	42
Strasbourg	1995–96	Division 1	33	6	4	1	2	1	39	8
	1996–97		38	7	8	3	4	2	50	12
	1997–98		34	8	2	1	6	4	42	13
	Total		105	21	14	5	12	7	131	33
Auxerre	1998–99	Division 1	34	4	4	0	2	0	40	4
	1999–00	Division 1	5	1	–		–		5	1
	Total		39	5	4	0	2	0	45	5
Metz	1999–00	Division 1	14	5	4	2	–		18	7
	2000–01		34	15	2	1	–		36	16
	2001–02		33	4	2	1	–		35	5
	Total		81	24	8	4	0	0	89	28
Troyes	2002–03	Ligue 1	30	1	2	0	–		32	1
Le Havre	2003–04	Ligue 2	31	4	–		–		31	4
Career total			395	84	34	14	28	15	457	113

^ Includes Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue.
^ Includes UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Intertoto-Cup.

Managerial statistics

As of match played 16 October 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team	From	To	Record								Ref.
Team	From	To	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Ref.
Angers	27 May 2021	22 December 2022	54	12	13	29	59	91	−32	022.22	^[9]
France U21	23 August 2024	present	4	2	1	1	7	3	+4	050.00	^[9]
Total			58	14	14	30	66	94	−28	024.14	—