OH Leuven Thread 23/24

[Bonanza]

 

[KlaaZ]

Wasn't pretty, but a dream start by going 0-1 up after only 100 seconds of play and then doubling it after ten minutes. A very good Leysen to keep a clean sheet again and a very good defensive performance against one of the in form teams of the league. Three goals, clean sheet, and if Eupen doesn't win tomorrow we're finally away from the final four, which means no playdowns and no chance of relegation.

[Harboro]

5 games unbeaten including 3 wins, good form!

[Heskey2011]

Go on the lads

[5waller5]

9 hours ago, Bonanza said:

Rudkin?

 

He's actually part of the problem as he's one of the people who decides which players we sign and don't sign 

 

Damn!!! My cunning plan already foiled.

 

 

[Bonanza]

Results and standings after week 24

 

 

 

Fixtures for week 25

 

Friday February 9th

 

 

Saturday February 10th

 

 

Sunday February 11th

 

[shen]

On 03/02/2024 at 20:59, Harboro said:

5 games unbeaten including 3 wins, good form!

Joint-best form in the league 

[Sly]

I guess the aim at this stage, is stay in the league.

 

Massive game and chance to add a little bit of breathing space against Standard Leige on Saturday. 

[KlaaZ]

3 hours ago, Sly said:

I guess the aim at this stage, is stay in the league.

 

Massive game and chance to add a little bit of breathing space against Standard Leige on Saturday. 

Correct, and preferrably doing it by avoiding the playdowns (so not ending the regular competition as one of the final four). Standard will be important, but I think the next two (Charleroi home and RWDM away) will be even more so. Winning those and maybe the last game against KV Mechelen will all but guarantee us staying up.

[TTITH]

This is a cut and paste of my post on the Bentleys Roof Leicester fan's forum in the "You've seen the Leuven now f**k off home!!" thread.  A very fine time was had by all seven of us who went to last Wednesday's game. 

 

"Thomas Crook writes: I'd thoroughly endorse m'learned friend's comments in her(! ) original post and highly recommend a visit to Leuven.

As a group of City fans we were all suffering severe withdrawal symptoms from missing out on our European trips so we thought a visit to watch our King Power owned comrades Oud-Heverlee Leuven in the Belgian Pro League was as good a substitute we could get for the time being.

It's very easy to get there - two hours on the civilised Eurostar from St. Pancras (it cost us £108 return and it's a bit cheaper than that if booked well in advance) to Brussels and regular local trains from there taking 30 mins to Leuven itself. We'd booked hotels in the nice square opposite the station (£80 a night for my husband and I) and off we went to explore.

As LG has said it's a very picturesque city with a large student population (Oxford-like rather than Cambridge: ahem). The bastard Germans did their worst to try and **** it up in both World Wars but a lot of the original architecture (circa 15th Century) still stands. We did a bit of culture (a walk up the main student library tower with a panoramic views from the top) and found the statue 'Fonske' celebrating the mathematical formula for happiness (a fair few on here should look it up!) but mainly concentrated on sampling the local falling down waters in the many bars. There's no shortage of decent eating emporia either - we sort of watched the Swansea game on LG's iPad in a resto but the food, drink and banter were a lot more interesting: a good game to swerve by all accounts.

The Oude Markt (the 'Old Market' accurately translated from the Flemish) is claimed to be the longest bar in Europe with its array of drinking establishments. It was pretty quiet when we were there (no beach volleyball on either) but you can easily imagine it buzzing in warmer al fresco months. If you're a Stella drinker (I confess I had a few) you'd be in heaven as their huge brewery is there but there's plenty of other more interesting brews available. CityFox of this parish is a serious Luevenophile and had given me plenty of good advice about the boozers and the trip in general.

To the match experience: you have to register on the OH Leuven website to be able to get match tickets. It was a relatively straightforward process and we got ourselves excellent front row seats in the upper tier for €25. The ground ('compact' rather than 'cute' in my Flemish phrase book - think AFC Bournemouth) is a 20 minute walk (or a free David_Nish Uber ride ) from the centre. From what I remember of the evening we had a ****ing great time. We'd all got City/Vichai stuff with us and I'd taken the original Vichai big banner (available any time for weddings, bar mitzvahs, funerals and temperance meetings pop pickers - just ask: seriously) too - we became minor celebrities as a result: all the locals we saw were mightily impressed a bunch of ageing raving Leicester nutters had come to watch their team. Winning 2-1 was an extra bonus. We met a guy who was a huge LCFC fan (major City tattoos and a friend of 'Thirsty Hursty' from his visits to games over here) who insisted we go back to his 'secret pub'. His bar bill was as long as your arm but he was adamant he would pay. He also got down on his knee and proposed to his long-term partner using a bit of string from the Vichai flag as a ring substitute (hello Joe!) in front of us! A crazy fun night!

Hopefully OHL will stay up this season - our drunken LCFC fairy dust inspired them to a 3-0 away win yesterday, so they've moved out of the relegation zone. If we don't win the FA Cup this year I can't think of a better way of renewing our acquaintance with a European tour than a return to Leuven early next season. Judith Chalmers gives it five stars: "It's ****ing brilliant me duck!!

 

COME ON YOU LEUVEN SLICKERS!!!!".

 

The Leuven and City fan who took us back to his 'secret pub' after the game was called Bjorn Driege.  Is he known to any of you Leven boys and girls?

 

 

COME ON YOU LEUVEN SLICKERS!!!!"

 

 

 

 

Edited 5 February by TTITH

[Bonanza]

 

[KingsX]

Wow ... it's a pleasure watching OHL highlights again

 

Not without some scary moments and ***kups, mind.

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, KingsX said:

Wow ... it's a pleasure watching OHL highlights again

 

Not without some scary moments and ***kups, mind.

It is, and it's true.

 

To be fair, Westerlo are one of the more in form teams in the league at the moment (apart from us), playing really well under their new coach so we'd always need a bit of luck to grab the points. Another few great saves by Tobe Leysen, that boy has got a bright future (still only 21!).

[Ryy]

He’s really kicked on lately 

[KlaaZ]

18 hours ago, Ryy said:

He’s really kicked on lately 

It's very relative. He started off very well at Montpellier with three goals in three games, but hasn't scored since.

 

That said, he was also completely mismanaged at our club by Brys I think. But he still has his flaws.

[davieG]

https://getfootballnewsbene.com/leicester-city-sister-club-oh-leuven-announce-more-losses-as-total-reaches-e87m/

No date on the article.

 

LEICESTER CITY SISTER CLUB OH LEUVEN ANNOUNCE MORE LOSSES AS TOTAL REACHES €87M

8 February 2024
As reported by Het Nieuwsblad, the sister club of Leicester City, OH Leuven, have announced more losses. The club has revealed their annual loss to be €18m, meaning that the total loss since they were acquired by the Thai owners of the English side have now reached €87m. However, even with the high losses, the clubs owners have continued to inject money into the club to mean that it remains viable and safe from going under.

Yet they may well be questioning where their investment over the years has gotten them. While it did help the side gain promotion to the Belgian Pro League, they are in danger this year of being relegated back to the second tier. Back to back wins over Genk and Westerlo have seen them climb out of the bottom four, but only on goal difference as they sit level on points and games won with Charleroi.

The rest of February will certainly go a long way to determining the sides fate at the end of the season. They face three struggling sides in Standard Liege, Charleroi and RWDM by the end of the month. After that, its two fixtures against title chasing Union St Gilloise and Club Brugge before a final home game against KV Mechelen.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson

 

[KlaaZ]

33 minutes ago, davieG said:

https://getfootballnewsbene.com/leicester-city-sister-club-oh-leuven-announce-more-losses-as-total-reaches-e87m/

No date on the article.

 

LEICESTER CITY SISTER CLUB OH LEUVEN ANNOUNCE MORE LOSSES AS TOTAL REACHES €87M

8 February 2024
As reported by Het Nieuwsblad, the sister club of Leicester City, OH Leuven, have announced more losses. The club has revealed their annual loss to be €18m, meaning that the total loss since they were acquired by the Thai owners of the English side have now reached €87m. However, even with the high losses, the clubs owners have continued to inject money into the club to mean that it remains viable and safe from going under.

Yet they may well be questioning where their investment over the years has gotten them. While it did help the side gain promotion to the Belgian Pro League, they are in danger this year of being relegated back to the second tier. Back to back wins over Genk and Westerlo have seen them climb out of the bottom four, but only on goal difference as they sit level on points and games won with Charleroi.

The rest of February will certainly go a long way to determining the sides fate at the end of the season. They face three struggling sides in Standard Liege, Charleroi and RWDM by the end of the month. After that, its two fixtures against title chasing Union St Gilloise and Club Brugge before a final home game against KV Mechelen.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson

 

A bit of a half arsed article that regarding our current situation. Yes, we're only out of the woods on goal difference. We're also on a five game unbeaten streak in the league, three of which we won, and we have on paper the easiest schedule of the six or seven teams still qualifying for a bottom four position. On top of that, we were five points from a safe spot three or four games ago.

 

But yes, there is something to be said about our financial (mis)management. Part of it is due to infrastructure investments but the wage structure is also not on par with the results on the pitch.

[moore_94]

2 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

A bit of a half arsed article that regarding our current situation. Yes, we're only out of the woods on goal difference. We're also on a five game unbeaten streak in the league, three of which we won, and we have on paper the easiest schedule of the six or seven teams still qualifying for a bottom four position. On top of that, we were five points from a safe spot three or four games ago.

 

But yes, there is something to be said about our financial (mis)management. Part of it is due to infrastructure investments but the wage structure is also not on par with the results on the pitch.

Do you know what that €18m loss is like compared to the rest of the league?

 

Are Leuven losing more than most?

[KlaaZ]

On 08/02/2024 at 21:36, moore_94 said:

Do you know what that €18m loss is like compared to the rest of the league?

 

Are Leuven losing more than most?

Not sure about the amounts, but only two clubs turned a profit without external intervention last year. 

[moore_94]

Inter Milan are looking at Tobe Leysen

 

Sounds like he will be off in the summer

[Bonanza]

8 hours ago, moore_94 said:

Inter Milan are looking at Tobe Leysen

 

Sounds like he will be off in the summer

No joke, Leysen could be Belgium's starting goalkeeper in a few years

[Bonanza]

Results and standings after week 25

 

St. Truidense	1-0	Kortrijk
Standard Liège	1-0	OH Leuven
USG	2-2	Westerlo
Club Brugge	4-0	Eupen
RWD Molenbeek	0-4	Antwerp
KV Mechelen	1-1	Genk
Charleroi	1-3	Anderlecht
Gent	1-2	Cercle Brugge

 

 

Fixtures for week 26

 

Friday February 16th

 

Westerlo

-

Standard Liège

 

Saturday February 17th

 

Genk	-	RWD Molenbeek
OH Leuven	-	Charleroi
Antwerp	-	KV Mechelen

 

Sunday February 18th

 

Cercle Brugge	-	Club Brugge
Kortrijk	-	USG
Anderlecht	-	St. Truidense
Eupen	-	Gent

[KlaaZ]

On 11/02/2024 at 10:35, moore_94 said:

Inter Milan are looking at Tobe Leysen

 

Sounds like he will be off in the summer

Unlikely, unless we actually go down. He's quite the levelheaded lad, I think he knows he's better off staying another season before moving up the ladder.  

 

Or at least that's what I'm hoping!

[Bonanza]

 

[MPH]

On 12/02/2024 at 05:56, KlaaZ said:

Unlikely, unless we actually go down. He's quite the levelheaded lad, I think he knows he's better off staying another season before moving up the ladder.  

 

Or at least that's what I'm hoping!

 

 

Unfortunately, when you invest that money into a club, you look for ways to balance the books. If your league position wont help with that, they you have to look at who would be a saleable asset...