KlaaZ

No offense, but he actually contributed to the problem by promising to playing 4231, getting all transfers to play 4231, and then throwing his entire football philosophy in the bin to play a 352/343 that we didn't have the players for. It had been clear for games that nobody had any idea of what to do on the pitch once in possession in that system, and he was too stubborn to switch back. Funnily, he did the exact same thing at Anderlecht. Started in 4231, panicked after one or two bad results and changed to 343, which was one of the main criticisms he got back then. Is this a top six or even top eight squad? Maybe not. But it is not a group of players that you end up second to last with, with atrocious play on top of that. I wish Hubert the best of luck but he failed both at Anderlecht and at OHL now. If he fails at Union too, his career is pretty much over. The good news is that they paid 1M to get him, which saves us the cost of having to fire him and puts some money in the cash register.

Best news in months for everyone involved. We don't have to pay for sacking him and even get an undisclosed sum, he gets to leave with some dignity and Union has a new manager.

I'm fairly sure that he will, but I'm also fairly sure that wasn't really the root cause of our standing in the league. Last Saturday was a prime example really: We were really, really, really good in the first fifteen minutes, one way traffic resulting in a very neat goal. And then you can see doubt seeping in again, for no reason whatsoever as we're doing everything right. The equalizer is symptomatic of that: A high press, but the back line not following through (because of that doubt) leaving acres of space between them and the defensive midfielder, deftly exploited by the guy giving the assist. And from there it's all downhill. There are ways to fix that, but it won't be pretty as it would require benching most of the players who were here last season, at least for a while. And while I've been defensive of Hubert, he's also made a few dubious decisions. His swap from a 433 to a 352 was justifiable, but if you go down that road you need to play the lads that fit the system. Akimoto and Gil are full backs and lack the offensive quality to play the wing back position (arguably Gil also lacks the defensive quality as he's atrocious). And none of the back three has the technical ability to build from the back, which is really a necesssity when you play a three man back line. Not to mention not having a left footer in the left center back position really hurts build up play as well.

On one hand I think (and hope) he'll get the time he needs. On the other hand he needs to start making some decisions. We've played 433 for the entire preseason, most transfers were done with that system in mind but he reverted to a 352 after two competition games which is causing huge problems when we're being gifted the ball. Had 66% possession today in the first half, but at least 3/4 of that was the three central defenders pinging it back and forth. And there are some very questionable line up choices as well. Gil is having an awful season so far (just like last year) but keeps making the starting eleven. Verstraete is retirement ready but keeps being picked over George. And there are a few other cases like this. We're not expecting much, but the main aim this season was more attractive football and a team that would fight until the final whistle every game. So far, we've gotten neither. But I don't think another manager will fix that.

Not going to happen. Played 20 amazing minutes today, then conceded a very stupid equalizer and completely imploded. This team is infected by moral defeatism and shuts down at the merest setback. Needs a complete overhaul with almost everyone that was here for the past two seasons gone to fix that.

Going to be another one of those seasons, isn't it? Ten teams two points apart, madness.

Possibly, unless we stick to 352/343 as Teklab played in the same position and formation at Union.

Mixed feelings, yeah. Played for us three years ago and did quite well but doesn't feel like someone who strengthens the squad. On the other hand, he's a great aerial threat and that is something we really don't have up front.

Watched that goal on repeat like ten times this afternoon, gets funnier every time I see it. Boink, and in it goes.

6/6, two clean sheets, I'll take it.

Hearing very, very good things about this guy. Looks like an absolute steal for us. Option is supposedly mandatory by the way, according to YB Bern. Probably due to accounting reasons as we only have a very limited budget this season to work with.

Just want to point out that he's had probably the best season of his career last year at Lausanne, voted defender of the year in the Swiss league and scored eight goals in 38 games last season as a central defender. And our defense looked a LOT better last Sunday on his debut, not a coincidence. I also don't think he'll actually do those three years, but I don't think it's a bad thing to have him around for a year or two, especially if he can pass on his experience to the (very young) defense we have now.

Cheers! Well deserved too, only problem is that it should have been 0-2 or 0-3, which made it a bit stressy at the end where they still had one chance for the equalizer. But three points in the bag, if we can win our home game against Standard Liege we may finally properly kick off.

There's a few positive nuances. First off, level of play is getting better and better every week (with this Friday just being a really, really good game from our side except for the first 20 minutes or so). Secondly, depending on results today, we can probably be in 8th if we pick up like three wins from the next six games. And lastly but most importantly, because our league system is being revamped, we'll go from 16 to 18 teams next season which means nobody is relegated directly. Last placed teams after the playdowns will have a playoff home and away against the winner of the playoffs in second division, which is a team that finished 3-6 there. Last season, Cercle had the honours of playing that game and absolutely demolished the second division team, so even if we get in that situation (unlikely), I'm still 100% sure we'd stay up.

Just want to point out that we started off against three teams that play in Europe, and that we always deserved at least a draw last Friday, if not more. Dominated the last 70 minutes completely, just had some bad luck with hitting the woodwork twice. We just have an excruciatingly difficult starting calendar, comparably to getting Man City away, Chelsea away, Arsenal at home and then maybe someone just outside of that range at home as well, like Newcastle.

Horrendous. Just didn't turn up, inexplicable.

It's going to be a no, unfortunately. He's off to Anderlecht.

On the transfer front from what I've heard, we're still looking to bring in an extra striker and a 'six' midfielder. Regarding the striker, there's an ongoing rumour that it could be Adriano Bertaccini, last season's top goalscorer and looking set to leave STVV. Would need to cost 4-5M at least though, but has proven to be a guarantee for goalst throughout his career. 41 in 79 games in third division, 11 in 17 in second division and recently 26 in 47 in first division.

Had it completely in the bag, and then made the horrid decision to bring Nsingi (who is 24 now and still not up to the level of 1A) instead of more length with Nyakossi, and got punished for it. It was Nsingi's opponent who scored the 2-1 and it's his fault we had to give away the second corner they scored from as well.

Although I somewhat agree, the downside of this would be blocking the younger players. Considering this is a season where it will be nearly impossible to get relegated, I'd rather take the chance on the kids. On that note, looks like Traoré will lead the line today, from what I've heard at least.

Going to start with the caveat that I'm a glass half full kind of guy. That said, for me the squad looks quite complete. The only position that I'd still like to see an addition to would be the wings, and I believe that's something the club is also actively working towards as we've had rumours of Raki Aouani for a while now (who I'd really like to see in a Leuven shirt as he looks very, very promising) and also Malick Mbaye. At the back we've made Ominami's loan spell permanent and brought in a left footer, Damjanic (19, Croatian U21 captain) which, combined with the more experienced Pletinckx and highly rated Swiss Nyakossi should be more than enough. At left back, Akimoto is a certainty and he's backed up by another Japanese lad, Ohata. On the other end, Vlietinck renewed his contract and Gil is also still there, with young academy prospect Opoku banging on the door as well. In midfield, we've got a load of experience with Verstraete, Schrijvers and Maertens, backed up with an emerging Wouter George, two young lads from the academy (Azzouz and Murru) and new arrival Kayo (who seems to be the one on one replacement of Banzuzi, who was sold to Leipzig for 16M). And Maziz is also still there, who, if he picks up his performances, should be one of the best players in the squad. As said, the wings may still be a little lacking. Verlinden is a certainty on the left, and when he gets some more match fitness Terho, who we signed from Union, would be the main man on the other end. Apart from that there's only Balikwisha which is why I'd really like to see another addition. Up front we're quite well stocked now with Ikwuemesi (injured during the Leicester game though, four weeks supposedly so two more to go), Mijatovic (who scored the worldie against you guys) and new young starlet Traoré. The latter is supposedly really, really, really fast, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him develop. On top of all that, we've also made quite a few signings for the U23 team that may be promising as well. So yeah, I think the focus really shifted to bringing in young high potentials, which is something I really applaud. Hubert, the new manager, is also someone who has a bit of a growing reputation for giving young talent a chance, having started his managerial career at first the U18 and later the U23 and first team of Anderlecht, which is renowned for its youth academy.

Nonono! But yeah, new CEO since April last year and new DoF since June, who worked together at their previous club Beerschot where they put together a team that won second division in two years with basically no money. It may be the pre season buzz but the vibe really does feel different now. The new manager Hubert also radiates a lot more confidence and drive, which both Coleman and Garcia lacked.

Cheers, got very high hopes for him, and for Traoré as well. Been reading some very good stuff on him from his time in France.

Any insight on him?

Another loan season, no mention of an option to buy. Full season though, so not Jan to Jan.