Antwerp is busy looking for a new coach. The name of Jonas De Roeck (44) is already high on the list.
It has been known for some time that Antwerp is saying goodbye to Mark van Bommel (47). After two successful seasons, Van Bommel felt the time was right for a new challenge. Let’s wait and see what that will be, but more importantly for the Great Old: who will have the difficult task of succeeding the Dutchman?
To start rebuilding – quite a few players are leaving – they are thinking of a young coach at the Bosuil who stands for attacking football and knows the competition. And so it is not surprising that Jonas De Roeck (44) is in the picture and is high on the list.
De Roeck has been without a club since the beginning of December, when he was fired from Westerlo. He impressed the Kempen team in his first two seasons. First he guided the team quite smoothly to the first division, then he guided them to a surprising seventh place. He did this with attractive football and ensured that talents such as Maxim De Cuyper, Dorgeles Nene and Lyle Foster made great strides. The latter was sold to Burnley for a record amount of over 10 million euros.
Popular in Deurne-Noord
That is exactly what De Roeck would have to do if Antwerp were to choose him. In addition to achieving results, he must improve young players so that they can be sold on at a profit and the club becomes financially healthy.
De Roeck also has another advantage: he is popular in Deurne-Noord. As a youth player for Antwerp, he made his debut in the first team in 1998 and even briefly wore the captain’s armband. After some wanderings, he also ended his career there in 2015. He then became a trainer at Lyra and later at Berchem Sport, where he won the title in the second amateur class. In 2017 he got his chance at the highest level at STVV and after he was thrown out there, Jean Kindermans (now CEO Youth of RAFC) brought him to Anderlecht as a promise coach. He was active for the Purple & White from 2018 to 2021, including for a time as an assistant with the A-team.
As we already wrote, KV Mechelen, which is also looking for a new T1, also has an eye on De Roeck. But they have even more irons in the fire there, including Carl Hoefkens (45).
2024-05-15 01:00:00
#Jonas #Roeck #picture #coach #Antwerp
