OH Leuven Thread 24/25

[KlaaZ]

On 17/07/2024 at 22:49, TheLittleBigMan said:

Not exactly kicked on since King Power took over. 

 

On 18/07/2024 at 00:47, dooflip said:

Pretty sure they were a second division club at that point. So you could argue that they’ve done pretty well.

 

On 18/07/2024 at 08:05, shen said:

I'll let the residents debunk this one.

It's not been easy to replace good players leaving each year, i.e. Henry's goals, Mercier's assists.

 

On 18/07/2024 at 09:30, dooflip said:

They were a lower league side for the whole of their history. They have only been a top tier side since the takeover. So I would say that have improved under king power. It would be unrealistic to expect them to be mixing it with the top teams.

Just a bit of clarification on all of the above: We weren't a lower division club for the whole of our history, but we're currently on our longest stay in the first division (four years compared to three last time around). On the other hand, we've never done better than a 10th place under King Power, which is at best an ex aequo with the best 1A position we had before they took over. Considering the amounts invested by KP, return on investment has been quite unspectacular and disappointing to be honest. That doesn't make it all bad but in the end, judgement is done by results on the pitch. 

 

In regards to having to replace good players leaving each year: While that is true, some other teams (cfr. Union, same owner as Brighton) have lost their manager and pretty much 80% of their starting eleven for three years in a row and every year, they manage to finish in the top three. 

 

PS: Mercier was forced out of the club by the previous manager, on the grounds of being 'too dominant' in the dressing room and on the pitch.

PPS: We actually got promoted to the first division under KP through an anomaly with covid hitting and the playoff finals being cancelled, which led the BFA to allow both clubs to go up. We then later had to play that final anyway and lost it deservedly to Beerschot.

[filbertway]

Just for context, people saying how amazing King Power are doing.

 

Tony Bloom took over Union Saint-Gilloise in 2018 and they were recent promoted from the 3rd tier and a team threatening promotion to the top tier but never quite managing it.

 

Absolutely light years between both owners though.

 

[KlaaZ]

Some more transfer news: William Balikwisha is a done deal, there's already a picture floating around of him posing with an OHL shirt in the stadium. We're also in talks with Konstantinos Laifis, 31-year old central defender who's without a club as his contract at Standard (where we're picking up Balikwisha actually) ran out. And finally, there's rumour in Italy about us interested in a Nigerian striker from Saliterna, who got relegated from the Serie A. Strong, tall, 22 years old, but would need to cost 3M and that's a lot of money for us.

[Ryy]

11 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Some more transfer news: William Balikwisha is a done deal, there's already a picture floating around of him posing with an OHL shirt in the stadium. We're also in talks with Konstantinos Laifis, 31-year old central defender who's without a club as his contract at Standard (where we're picking up Balikwisha actually) ran out. And finally, there's rumour in Italy about us interested in a Nigerian striker from Saliterna, who got relegated from the Serie A. Strong, tall, 22 years old, but would need to cost 3M and that's a lot of money for us.

Isn’t his name Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi? Good luck getting that on your shirt 

[KlaaZ]

Just now, Ryy said:

Isn’t his name Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi? Good luck getting that on your shirt 

Yeah, I left that out on purpose. Hopefully, we'll settle for Chukwu or something.

 

[Ryy]

2 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Yeah, I left that out on purpose. Hopefully, we'll settle for Chukwu or something.

 

Or the last 4 letters of his surname 

[Bonanza]

1 hour ago, Ryy said:

Or the last 4 letters of his surname 

We already had a guy who was nicknamed the Jordan Messi

 

Didn't end great...

[KlaaZ]

28 minutes ago, Bonanza said:

We already had a guy who was nicknamed the Jordan Messi

 

Didn't end great...

In all fairness, would have loved seeing Tamari under Garcia just to check if it was Brys' mismanagement or just Mousa not being good enough.

[Bonanza]

5 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

In all fairness, would have loved seeing Tamari under Garcia just to check if it was Brys' mismanagement or just Mousa not being good enough.

5 goals, 4 assists last season at Montpellier. Scored 3 in his first 3 games and then had to wait 20 games for his 4th.

 

Looks like he has the same problem at Montpellier as he had at OHL: looks spectacular, but 0 efficiency

 

 

[moore_94]

 

[Ryy]

59 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

 

Red kit is nice 

[Lesta2014]

Opoku on the bench for them? I thought was a season long loan and also he broke his leg in final game last season? Quick recovery if so. 

[Lambert09]

looks like they just lost 1-0 to Rc Lens 

[Bonanza]

5 hours ago, Lesta2014 said:

Opoku on the bench for them? I thought was a season long loan and also he broke his leg in final game last season? Quick recovery if so. 

Different Opoku 

 

This one is a right-back from our academy

[Bonanza]

New signing!

 

William Balikwisha (25, CAM) signed a 4-year deal with OHL today. We bought him from Standard Liège

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/william-balikwisha/profil/spieler/381968

 

 

[Bonanza]

 

[Bonanza]

Jonathan Braut Brunes has left the club and joined Rakow (Polish 1st division) for a fee of €500.000 + bonuses. We paid €2.6 million for him last summer.

 

 

[moore_94]

45 minutes ago, Bonanza said:

Jonathan Braut Brunes has left the club and joined Rakow (Polish 1st division) for a fee of €500.000 + bonuses. We paid €2.6 million for him last summer.

 

 

I would say you have actually done well to even sell him

 

We have to keep loaning them until the end of their contract 

[Bonanza]

30 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

I would say you have actually done well to even sell him

 

We have to keep loaning them until the end of their contract 

I agree

 

At least we got rid of his salary of €600.000/year

[Bonanza]

New signing! 

 

Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi signed a 3-year deal with our club. We paid €1.800.000 + 10% sell on bonus to Salernitana for the 22-year-old Nigerian striker

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/chukwubuikem-ikwuemesi/profil/spieler/929494

 

[KlaaZ]

On 22/07/2024 at 12:12, Bonanza said:

Jonathan Braut Brunes has left the club and joined Rakow (Polish 1st division) for a fee of €500.000 + bonuses. We paid €2.6 million for him last summer.

 

 

Not gone yet (at least officially), also still listed on the club website. 

[Bonanza]

On 22/07/2024 at 12:12, Bonanza said:

Jonathan Braut Brunes has left the club and joined Rakow (Polish 1st division) for a fee of €500.000 + bonuses. We paid €2.6 million for him last summer.

 

 

 

On 25/07/2024 at 15:20, KlaaZ said:

Not gone yet (at least officially), also still listed on the club website. 

Correction!

 

Braut Brunes will be send out on loan with an option-to-buy to Rakow.

 

 

[Bonanza]

 

[Bonanza]

 

[Bonanza]

Results and standings after round 1

 

Club Brugge	1-1	KV Mechelen
Dender	0-0	USG
Beerschot	0-0	OH Leuven
Anderlecht	1-0	St. Truidense
Genk	0-0	Standard Liège
Kortrijk	0-1	Gent
Charleroi	0-1	Antwerp
Westerlo	3-0	Cercle Brugge

 

 

Fixtures for week 2

 

Friday August 2nd

 

USG

-

Beerschot

 

Saturday August 3rd

 

KV Mechelen	-	Westerlo
OH Leuven	-	Genk
St. Truidense	-	Charleroi

 

Sunday August 4th

 

Antwerp	-	Anderlecht
Cercle Brugge	-	Kortrijk
Standard Liège	-	Club Brugge
Gent	-	Dender