Habib Beye plays down future talk after Marseille secure Europe

Marseille manager Habib Beye has dismissed questions over his future after guiding the club to Europa League qualification with a 3-1 victory over Rennes, insisting the focus should remain on his players and their achievement.

The win secured European football for Marseille next season and brought a positive end to a campaign that had been marked by pressure and fluctuating results.

Speaking after the match, Beye emphasised that the collective success of the squad mattered far more than speculation about his own position.

“As I just said, I have too much credit for what the players have done. My future is irrelevant. What’s important is that this club has qualified for European competition.

In various leagues, some big teams won’t be participating in the European competition they were aiming for. Tonight, the objective has been achieved.

By winning, Rennes qualified for the Champions League. Today, we can consider that tonight’s result is very difficult for them to accept. I’m concerned about what we’ve accomplished,” he declared.

The Marseille coach, who arrived during the season, also reflected on the challenges he encountered when taking charge of the squad and the process of rebuilding confidence within the team.

“I thought I was coming to coach, to do my job as a manager every day. What will enrich me is that I’ve done something different; I’ve helped heal both bodies and minds.

When we arrived, we discovered a group struggling because of what they had been through. We tried to give them as much belief as possible. We were always playing catch-up.

Right to the end, we were all together on the pitch, in the locker room; we didn’t want to let them down. It’s a source of pride to have been able to stay with my players until the end and finish on a positive note.

No one can take that away from me. I thanked my players for their commitment. That’s also where my satisfaction lies.

The quality is there; we had to fight against a lack of confidence. What they had been through had really drained them.” “You feel like everything is against you,” he added.

Beye’s comments underlined both the emotional and competitive demands of his tenure, as well as the relief of ending the season with European qualification secured.