Charbonnier played for the Auxerre side which won the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France in the 1995–96 season under the management of Guy Roux.

He also managed Tahiti, a French overseas territory, at under-20 level, winning the Oceania Football Confederation's championship in that age bracket.

[citation needed] On 16 July 1998, only four days after the World Cup Final, he joined Rangers of the Scottish Premier League, signed by Dutch manager Dick Advocaat for £1.2 million.

[7] When his Rangers contract ended, he joined Lausanne Sports of Switzerland's top flight (then called Nationalliga A).

They finished eleventh out of 12 in the 2001–02 season, but were relegated alongside Sion (eighth) and Lugano (third) due to licensing regulations.

Charbonnier led the under-20 team to victory in the Oceania Football Confederation's championship of that age bracket.

At the World Cup, Tahiti finished bottom of their group without scoring a goal and being beaten by Spain, Nigeria and Venezuela.

[citation needed] At the end of the year, Charbonnier was in conflict with Reynald Temarii, a Tahitian who is President of the Confederation.

[citation needed] In 2010, he signed a consulting contract with Eurosport, and also got another managerial post, with Aceh United of the Liga Primer Indonesia.