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, Somme, 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. Ultimately, a compromise was found and Baticle joined Brest, winning his first game 4–0 against Bastia on 7 November 2008. He was fired in May 2009 and replaced by Alex Dupont.
On 22 December 2022, Baticle was sacked by Angers.
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.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAuxerre1991–92Division 1248––2481992–93329–10842171993–94327552039121994–952151020245Total109296514812942Strasbourg1995–96Division 133641213981996–97387834250121997–9834821644213Total1052114512713133Auxerre1998–99Division 134440204041999–0051––51Total3954020455Metz1999–00Division 114542–1872000–01341521–36162001–0233421–355Total812484008928Troyes2002–03Ligue 130120–321Le Havre2003–04Ligue 2314––314Career total3958434142815457113
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamFromToRecord Angers27 May 202122 December 2022France U2123 August 2024presentTotal—
Honours As a player Coupe de France: 1994 UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1995 Coupe de la Ligue: 1997
As a manager Coupe Gambardella runner-up: 2007
References
External links Player profile at Racingstub Profile on Brest's site