Club Brugge had a disastrous week and is once again teetering on the edge of unrest. The cup elimination in Charleroi and the defeat against La Louvière had a serious impact. Striking: the active role of chairman Bart Verhaeghe, who entered the dressing room early on under the Ivan Leko regime.
This intervention did not go undiscussed by analysts. Tuur Dierckx immediately recognized the scene. “I recognize it from my period at Club Brugge. It happened often, especially when things weren’t going so well,” he said tellingly. Sporza.
Yet the timing was especially surprising. “I think it’s crazy that it’s already happening, so soon after Ivan Leko was appointed. Normally you would think that the trainer would be given a certain freedom and responsibility,” Dierckx said. Hein Vanhaezebrouck agreed. “It’s surprising. What are the agreements made with Leko? Apparently there are none, I would say.”
However, according to Vanhaezebrouck, such a dynamic is part of being a coach at Club Brugge. “Or he has agreed to move to Club Brugge after all?” he suggested. “If you want to go to Club as a trainer and say that the chairman is not allowed to come into the dressing room, you will not be appointed there.”
Yet Vanhaezebrouck emphatically warns the chairman of Club Brugge about the longer-term consequences. “It becomes unbelievable if you constantly show your nose. You become unbelievable and people start laughing at you.” He concludes sharply. “I would like to advise the chairman of Club Brugge to think carefully about when he does it again. Otherwise he will become the club’s star.”
In episode 25 of the second season of Tijd voor Voetbal, we discuss the remarkable VAR decisions in Belgium, the difficult start of Club Brugge and the loss of RSC Anderlecht against KAA Gent. That and much more in Time for Football.
