[citation needed] Vandeputte, who was a midfielder, started out his career at Standard FC de Montataire, joining Lille, where he would feature for the B team, later on.

[citation needed] He would then sign for Beauvais, a club also in the Division 2; there, he made 23 appearances in one season under the coaching of Vahid Halilhodžić.

[2] He subsequently managed Dijon's B team, helping them win their group of the Championnat de France Amateur 2 in the 2004–05 [fr] season.

In his first season in charge, he led them to the Coupe Gambardella Final, but they suffered a 3–0 loss against Monaco, finishing as runners-up.

Here, he met footballers such as Zinedine Zidane, Pascal Nouma, Nicolas Ouédec, Xavier Gravelaine, and Guillaume Warmuz.