The original idea was to tell about the crazy, tense week at Neerpede. Monday foreshadowed an electric climb with a view to a decisive Clasico.
“The papers say I received an ultimatum but that’s not the case, I stay focused on my work, not what’s happening around me.” Besnik Hasi had brought out his crampons to throw a few tackles about the information published on the famous crisis meeting.
“The only meeting I had was the weekly debriefing with management. We talked about the match and the players. No more. There was no meeting between players but the captains explained to the group what management had told them.”
We can quibble over the term “crisis meeting.” The debriefing was planned but it had some serious details. Otherwise some players would not have been invited to be reminded of their duties.
Will he be fired if he loses at Sclessin? Certainly. it all depends on the way. “I don’t have a team that has a bad mentality. They just took the match against Dender lightly. Maybe because we were at home against the last ones. Our managers weren’t there.”
That was for Monday. The rest of the week went normally. Tuesday: off. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: back to work. Besnik Hasi acted “just like a normal week.”
He is not panicking but is injured. Anderlecht is his club and he knows he is threatened. One step wrong and he might have to leave the place he wants to succeed most in the world. This is what affects him the most in the current situation. He has enough perspective on coaching work to know that this kind of situation happens even to the greatest. “After 2 out of 12, there is pressure. It’s normal. I play for my future in every match. I have never looked further than the next match.”
Classic police system, 200 stewards: security figures from Standard – Anderlecht
To continue his romance with his lifelong love, he must win against the historic enemy from whom he never managed to come back with three points. “I often won there as a player. Not as a coach. But there is a first for everything.”
To access this article, please connect to the internet.
