Charleroi will therefore continue the season with Hans Cornelis as head coach. A logical choice but which nevertheless confirms a certain audacity in this area on the part of management for several years.
It seemed obvious (black and) white, but formalization was still missing: last night, Mehdi Bayat, on his birthday, announced to the group that Hans Cornelis was indeed confirmed as T1. Enough to continue the internship in a clear context for everyone.
Seeing Cornelis confirmed as Rik De Mil’s successor is anything but illogical: beyond the 5 out of 9 against Union Saint-Gilloise, Genk and Anderlecht, it is the quality of play displayed against these three top teams which impressed, pleading the cause of the interim.
A risk that isn’t really a risk
Hans Cornelis already knew the group perfectly, seeing him take over is therefore a guarantee of a certain continuity with the project set up by Rik De Milbut also the promise of not having to go through a new adaptation period by looking for an external coach. Especially since the former assistant still has a little experience as T1: it was he who brought Lokeren back from D2 Amateurs to professional football.
However, he did not yet have a single season as head coach in D1A under his belt. Not a problem for Carolo’s management given his choices in recent years. We would even be tempted to say that this worked in his favor.
Cornelis is the sixth different coach to take the reins at Sporting since the club’s return to the elite in 2012. Of these six coaches, none had a full season as a T1 in the first division when they started at Mambourg. Only Felice Mazzù had this experience during his second visit.
Yannick FerreraFelice Mazzù, Karim Belhocine, Edward Still, Rik De Mil and Hans Cornelis share this common point of having had the opportunity to take off their coaching careers in the Black Country. A rather remarkable series at a time when finding your new coach by poaching him from a direct competitor has become commonplace.
Don’t make us say what we haven’t written: Charleroi doesn’t go in completely blind with each change of coach. Yannick Ferrera had gained valuable experience with Michel Preud’Homme and Francky Dury, Felice Mazzù was on the rise at White Star Woluwe, Karim Belhocine had already played interim in Kortrijk and Anderlecht, Edward Still had worked for six years alongside Ivan Leko, Rik De Mil had shown interesting things at Club Brugge and Westerlo, while Hans Cornelis had on his side this experience at Lokeren and these first three promising matches at the head of the Zebras.
Still, trusting so many novice coaches like T1 at the highest level is quite remarkable. Would they be more conciliatory than Hein Vanhaezebrouck sometimes mentioned behind the scenes when defining the requirements of the transfer window? It’s not impossible, but it comes down to internal cooking. And this should not diminish the merits of the Carolo board: making bets on the future on a few core players is one thing, making them with a head coach is another.
