The OH Leuven Thread 2020/21

[Lambert09]

23 minutes ago, davieG said:

Posted in the Transfer Thread but needs to be in here as well.

 

http://sportwitness.co.uk/england-attracts-20-goal-striker-eyeing-leicester-city-move-foxes-huge-advantage/

 

“England attracts me” – 20 goal striker eyeing Leicester City move, Foxes have huge advantage
By Sean Lunt - 17th March 2021
 

OH Leuvren striker Thomas Henry has hinted at a possible move to Leicester City, who just so happen to be the sister club of the Belgian side.

Henry has been in fine form in Belgium this season, with 20 goals and five assists in 27 games in the Jupiler Pro League this season.

Those kind of numbers have not gone unnoticed, with several reports claiming that Turkish giants Besiktas are keen on a move in the summer.

Whether that happens, or he is just one of several possibilities, remains to be seen, but that led Hurriyet to seek out an interview and get some clarification.

And it was during that conversation that the player revealed he would prefer a move elsewhere in Europe, particularly Leicester City.

“Everyone knows Besiktas, which is a great club that plays in European cups every year,” he said.

“Other leagues are more prioritized for me. Germany, England, Italy or Spain make me dream more.

 

“But everybody is a big club that plays in European cups every year. Besiktas knows. We will see what will happen.

“Leuven is Leicester City’s sister team, and therefore the transition to the Premier League is easier for me. England attracts me.”

Unfortunately for Henry, a move to Leicester is unlikely this summer, even if it would be easy to get over the line.

The Foxes are well stocked for strikers with Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho, the latter of whom has been very impressive in recent weeks while Vardy has struggled.

It’s unlikely they’ll be chasing an addition in that area this summer, but even if they were, it’s easy to imagine they’d be setting their sights a little higher than a 26-year-old in the Belgian top flight.

Still, Henry is clearly keen on the move if they’ll offer it, which is a big hurdle cleared if they ever decide to do so.

That, and the fact both clubs have Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha as their chairman.

I actually think 2 would work well for us if we end up with europe again next season. Both Henry and Edouard would make me very happy.  I think the reality is that when Vardys legs do eventually go, it will be a drastic drop off.  So I think it would be savy to have 2 extra options. 

[Collymore]

On 22/01/2021 at 18:44, Collymore said:

14 goals in his last 14 games for Henry. Quick loan over to Leicester to cover Vardy absence? 

 

[Ryy]

Sowah’s first international call up can only mean good things yeah? @Ric Flair

[Ric Flair]

3 minutes ago, Nannypig7 said:

Sowah’s first international call up can only mean good things yeah? @Ric Flair

Great news!

[moore_94]

Ghana play South Africa on Thursday 25th March, if he does play we could possibly find a stream as it is being shown on beIN Sports

 

Same for their game against Sudan on Sunday 28th March

[Jimmy]

7 hours ago, Nannypig7 said:

Sowah’s first international call up can only mean good things yeah? @Ric Flair

means he will probably get his work permit to play for us

Edited 19 March 2021 by Jimmy

[lcfc sheff]

Henry does look like he has the skill set to do well in the prem. strong, quick and a decent poacher.

 

I do feel uncomfortable with take the better players from Leuven and hope for one if we were to sign him we pay the proper fee as well as sounding out some good replacements for him and sowah with the extra money. Has to be £12-£15m surely??

[Ric Flair]

3 hours ago, Jimmy said:

means he will probably get his work permit to play for us

Will already get one anyway

[los dedos]

41 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

Henry does look like he has the skill set to do well in the prem. strong, quick and a decent poacher.

 

I do feel uncomfortable with take the better players from Leuven and hope for one if we were to sign him we pay the proper fee as well as sounding out some good replacements for him and sowah with the extra money. Has to be £12-£15m surely??

There is no doubt in my mind that the Chairman of Leuven would only agree to sell at the correct fee and Top would agree with this stance regardless of King Power owning both clubs .

[SemperEadem]

38 minutes ago, los dedos said:

There is no doubt in my mind that the Chairman of Leuven would only agree to sell at the correct fee and Top would agree with this stance regardless of King Power owning both clubs .

The Chairman is Top. 

This is where owning multiple clubs becomes messy and arguably can be seen as immoral.

Edited 19 March 2021 by SemperEadem

[Webbo]

54 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

Henry does look like he has the skill set to do well in the prem. strong, quick and a decent poacher.

 

I do feel uncomfortable with take the better players from Leuven and hope for one if we were to sign him we pay the proper fee as well as sounding out some good replacements for him and sowah with the extra money. Has to be £12-£15m surely??

Sowah is on loan from us, isn't he? 

[lcfc sheff]

6 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Sowah is on loan from us, isn't he? 

Yes but I mean if we recall him It’s a great loss for them. The fee I mention was about Henry!

[Ric Flair]

10 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Sowah is on loan from us, isn't he? 

Yeah, he will be coming back to us this summer. 

[Le Renard]

If Henry came to the LCFC with a transfer fee, it would allow for some account chicanery.  OH Leuven would show a one off payment of maybe 12 million €'s to their accounts and reduce their debt, whereas Leicester's accounts would show a yearly £2.5 million payment for 4 years, which is peanuts in todays market!  Whether any actual real money gets paid is another matter.

[los dedos]

1 hour ago, SemperEadem said:

The Chairman is Top. 

This is where owning multiple clubs becomes messy and arguably can be seen as immoral.

The CEO is Peter Willems and his job will be to make sure he gets the best fee for Leuven and I'm sure his boss (Top) wouldn't expect anything less . 

 

[jeffschlupp]

29 minutes ago, los dedos said:

The CEO is Peter Willems and his job will be to make sure he gets the best fee for Leuven and I'm sure his boss (Top) wouldn't expect anything less . 

 

The CEO is employed by the owners (KPI), Top can bin him off at any moment. Top and KPI's interest is how to make the most money in the long-run with both clubs. There will be all sorts of money going either way as part of loans, transfers etc.

 

Creative accounting as it is often known.

 

If KPI decide Leicester need the money more than Leuven do, that's their decision to make.

[los dedos]

11 minutes ago, jeffschlupp said:

The CEO is employed by the owners (KPI), Top can bin him off at any moment. Top and KPI's interest is how to make the most money in the long-run with both clubs. There will be all sorts of money going either way as part of loans, transfers etc.

 

Creative accounting as it is often known.

 

If KPI decide Leicester need the money more than Leuven do, that's their decision to make.

That would be a massive deviation from their modus operandi of how they work . Everthing they've done so far would tell me Top would never just give Leicester, " Leuvens money " and their fans would be in uproar about it and i'm sure many City fans would not feel comfortable doing this .

[jeffschlupp]

1 minute ago, los dedos said:

That would be a massive deviation from their modus operandi of how they work . Everthing they've done so far would tell me Top would never just give Leicester, " Leuvens money " and their fans would be in uproar about it and i'm sure many City fans would not feel comfortable doing this .

What of what they've done suggests they wouldn't make a business decision in their own interests? These are people worth billions of pounds, they have not got there by doing 'fair' by certain clubs or individuals.

 

How do City fans know Leuven haven't took some of 'Leicester's money' already? We've lent them players, likely on little to no wages, that they would otherwise not have had a chance of recruiting. Expertise from our own groundstaff and likely other areas of running a football club have come from LCFC.

 

As I say, both clubs are serving one purpose, to generate KPI the most exposure and money. KPI won't necessarily completely exploit Leuven and treat them as completely inferior to Leicester, but no side in the Belgian leagues will ever be as big financially these days as a Premier League one. It will be a partnership that works both ways, but *mostly* in our favour.

[sacreblueits442]

1 hour ago, Le Renard said:

If Henry came to the LCFC with a transfer fee, it would allow for some account chicanery.  OH Leuven would show a one off payment of maybe 12 million €'s to their accounts and reduce their debt, whereas Leicester's accounts would show a yearly £2.5 million payment for 4 years, which is peanuts in todays market!  Whether any actual real money gets paid is another matter.

...surely if that was the case every business would be showing such adjustments in their books!!!

  It may be the same owners but the books would be separate, the trick is always to follow the money.

[Le Renard]

1 hour ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...surely if that was the case every business would be showing such adjustments in their books!!!

  It may be the same owners but the books would be separate, the trick is always to follow the money.

Under Financial fair play the selling club can put on their accounts the full transfer fee, although they will get it usually in 3 or 4 instalments.  The buying club doesn't follow this rule and just puts the instalments paid each year on their accounts.  This is what Juvé and Barcelona did in the summer when they transfered a player to each other for nearly the same fee around 70 million €'s.  They could put this on their accounts although they never received it all at once, probably no actual money changed hands

.

Edited 19 March 2021 by Le Renard

[Jimmy]

5 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Will already get one anyway

still not a certainty, being an international and coming from the Belgian league would make it a lot more certain

[moore_94]

7 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

still not a certainty, being an international and coming from the Belgian league would make it a lot more certain

With the new work permit rules he is in a very good position to get one even without International Appearances

 

Regularly playing for Ghana at this point wouldn't make much difference to his work permit application anyway as he would get very low points towards the required amount due to Ghanas ranking

 

 

Edited 19 March 2021 by moore_94

[Ric Flair]

39 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

still not a certainty, being an international and coming from the Belgian league would make it a lot more certain

As per what @moore_94 kindly researched a while ago, he's played 99.9% of all of Leuven's league games which gets him a certain amount of criteria points and then by appearing in the domestic Belgian cup he also gets a number of other points which would just make him eligible. Won't be a problem.

[moore_94]

https://www.ohleuven.com/nieuws/2073445/

 

Blog chairman OH Leuven

 

In the run-up to Sunday afternoon's game against KV Mechelen, OH Leuven chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha gives his view on the progress the club has made and on a possibly unforgettable season end.

Our return to the highest level is different than hoped for due to external circumstances. Still, with the end of the regular season in sight, we cherish hope for an unforgettable apotheosis.

Even before we had to deal with empty stadiums and the measures to contain COVID-19, we were promoted to the highest level in difficult circumstances. The season announced itself as a serious sporting challenge anyway.

But we can all be very proud of the way we, as a club, reacted. Four games before the end of the regular season, we are still in the running for Play-off 1 and Play-off 2. This is a tour de force for Marc Brys, the players and the staff. However, we should never be satisfied with what we have. I want us, over and over again, to always do everything we can to achieve more.

 

Whatever we ultimately achieve this season, we are one of the most spectacular teams in the Jupiler Pro League anyway. We scored many goals, often brought attractive football to the mat and played with an open mind against the top clubs. In the long term, I want OH Leuven to step out of that role of underdog, but we must always keep that fighting spirit.

I know our fans are very proud of our Academy. It gave me great pleasure to see a number of youngsters stick their noses at the window this season. Louis Patris is the most recent example, but Toon Raemaekers, Isaac Asante, Arthur Allemeersch and Daan Vekemans also showed what they have to offer after their training at our club. These players are formed according to the club philosophy and this is important for the identity of our team.

 

Our women's team also seems to be heading for a very successful season after it won a ticket to Play-off 1. The top of the Super League has been very strong for a whole season, but our women can only learn from that and take up the challenge to put those top players to the test.

I really missed Leuven. Travel restrictions have prevented me from going to the club or the city in the past year. That does not prevent me from maintaining close contact with the board. We will continue to run the club with care, an eye for detail and long-term ambition. I have the feeling that OH Leuven has reclaimed its place in the elite this season. I am curious how we can continue to build on this, especially when we can receive our fans again in the King Power at Den Dreef Stadium.

 

For the past year, the club has worked hard to support everyone around the club in these difficult times. We want to continue and strengthen this commitment within the region. Our relationship with the stakeholders in the area is very important. That is why we launched 'OH Leuven in the neighborhood'. The chance to play football in a safe environment can really change the lives of children from so-called disadvantaged neighborhoods. We are pleased that the Mayor of Leuven has given us the opportunity to contribute to this beautiful story.

Football must be accessible to everyone. That's why I was happy with the positive feedback from our fans on the Football for All campaign that our club supported earlier this month. I am aware of some hateful comments on social media that are absolutely unacceptable. I want to thank the real supporters who, together with us, made it very clear that OH Leuven is an inclusive club that believes in the power of diversity.

 

These remain difficult times for all of us, but there are positive signs that the end of the period of social disabilities is in sight. Hopefully we will be able to relive football together in the near future. In the meantime, I ask everyone to stick with it.

I persevere because I want to return to the King Power at Den Dreef Stadium with all of you and see our team fight for the victory!

Stronger together!

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
Voorzitter OH Leuven

[moore_94]

This afternoon 7th placed OH Leuven face 10th placed KV Mechelen, where 3 points would move OH Leuven up to 5th in the table. 1 point would move Leuven up 1 place to 6th.

 

KV Mechelen have 1 win in their last 5 games in all competitions, with their last game being a 1-1 draw away at Anderlecht. Before this poor run of form, they had been doing very well with 10 wins and 2 draws in the 13 games prior. Their best player this season has been defensive midfielder Joachim van Damme who has a rating of 7.2 on WhoScored. Their top goalscorer in the league this season is right winger Geoffry Hairemens with 8 goals in 29 games.

 

Last time these 2 teams met was the back in December where Leuven suffered a 2-1 loss with Henry scoring Leuvens only goal of the game.

 

Leicester Loanees: Kamal Sowah starts, Filip Benkovic on the bench, Josh Eppiah not in the squad - Andy King also not in the squad

 

 

Bench: Thamsatchana, Benkovic, Tshimanga, Aguemon, Schrijvers, Asante, Allemeersch, Vekemans, Patris.

 

Edited 21 March 2021 by moore_94