Hopeless and Clueless in Europe

[Rustyman]

July 2004

Jules Jackson stood at the arrival terminal at Heathrow, it was wet, cold and depressing. So much for the English summer. Why exactly he stood here was still a mystery. He had had just spent the 30 hour flight and stopover from Sydney thinking about it.

Here he was, a forty-something, divorced, loser who in his desperation to get himself out of a bad situation had landed himself in no-mans land in England. The advantage of having Belgian grandparents were enough to ensure the required European Union passport and his technical background together with a deep interest in sports (pathetic as it was for an adult with so many other issues to resolve) had led him to a role working for Sports Unlimited publishing. The role had come about due to his desperation to get out of Australia and the power of the internet where a good looking resume and job application was enough to cover over the cracks in his actual working history.

Taking a cab to his eventual destination in London was out of the question based on his research into the costs of living in England once the job offer had been made and accepted. So instead, he watched the depressing landscape pass him bye while moving slowly and inefficiently towards his non-too bright future.

[Rustyman]

July 2004

Jules Jackson stood at the arrival terminal at Heathrow, it was wet, cold and depressing. So much for the English summer. Why exactly he stood here was still a mystery. He had had just spent the 30 hour flight and stopover from Sydney thinking about it.

Here he was, a forty-something, divorced, loser who in his desperation to get himself out of a bad situation had landed himself in no-mans land in England. The advantage of having Belgian grandparents were enough to ensure the required European Union passport and his technical background together with a deep interest in sports (pathetic as it was for an adult with so many other issues to resolve) had led him to a role working for Sports Unlimited publishing. The role had come about due to his desperation to get out of Australia and the power of the internet where a good looking resume and job application was enough to cover over the cracks in his actual working history.

Taking a cab to his eventual destination in London was out of the question based on his research into the costs of living in England once the job offer had been made and accepted. So instead, he watched the depressing landscape pass him bye while moving slowly and inefficiently towards his non-too bright future.

[Rustyman]

January 2005

Six months on and Jules was slowly beginning to pick up the pieces of his life. After living in a dump of a hotel for a couple of weeks, he found a shoe-box sized flat for what he felt was an exorbitant rent but which was regarded as very reasonable by the English acquaintances he came across. His job was also not terribly taxing and as he was working for the largest publisher of sporting magazines and newspapers in Europe, he had taken to amusing himself by apply for various football coaching/managing roles he came across.

In a far-off youth, he had soon realised that despite his interest in sport, he would never be a great sportsman due to total lack of coordination and skill. Instead, he had taken a number of coaching courses in sports as disparate as football, cricket, basketball, baseball, etc. so that he could still maintain a close relationship with sport. In England, and Europe in general, football completely dominated the sporting landscape and so in his spare time, he took whichever football coaching certificates he could access, not in expectation of actually finding a coaching position, but simply to pass the time and to dream.

As the months passed and he gained various coaching badges, he started to believe that it might not be beyond the realms of possibility that he could eventually land a job in football. He would however probably have to go abroad if he was ever to achieve that as everyone he spoke to on the coaching courses explained to him that football jobs in England was virtually a closed market. Jobs were awarded based on who you knew and as Jules knew no one, he didn’t stand a chance. That, and the fact that it was his only hobby at present, didn’t however dissuade him. Even if he never got a positioning football, everything he was doing was part of the healing process. Therefore he kept on applying to far off places such as Belgium or Germany in the remote hope that someday he might strike it lucky. The same hope that lie behind playing the lottery was what kept him going with his applications to clubs in far-off places.

He missed Australia, especially with the cold, dank, dark autumn and winter and could understand why sun-depravation could lead to depression, however, what kept him sane was the realisation that returning to the land of his birth would cause more harm to both himself and others and that despite the depressing weather, he was actually starting to like being himself once more.

[Rustyman]

July 2005

After a year of this existence and in the midst of a pretty good summer, Jules finally started to feel good about himself. His job was a dead-end with no prospects of promotion but it was fairly easy leaving him to pursue his interest. He had gained a raft of coaching badges and he had started travelling around England and Europe, generally short day or weekend trips but he was starting to learn more and to appreciate more his surroundings and environment. The differences that were apparent in places no more than 50km apart in the UK and the differences in countries that could fit into a corner of his beloved NSW were startling and immensely interesting to Jules and he was happy continuing in this manner with no upheavals until the fateful day in early July when he found the life-changing envelope on his doormat.

The contents were stark and brief. KVC Willebroek-Meerhof (otherwise known as Willebroek) in the Belgian Third Division A had offered him a job as manager of their football team. While Jules had continued his practise of applying for every available football management and coaching position, it had become more a matter of habit than expectation and now that he was confronted with the option, he was scared. Scared to depart from his recently found safety and regime. Scared to put himself in a position where he could once more fail. However, the fear made the decision relatively simple, he had to take the job.

After a number of calls to the chairman Christian Mellaerts to confirm that the letter had not been sent in error and to firm up the details of the offer (including a part-time job to make up for the pathetic wage) Jules Jackson became manager of KVC Willebroek-Meerhof on the 13th of July 2005 with the remit to avoid relegation and a few thousand euro to attract some faintly co-ordinated and determined players to the cause.

[chesterfan2]

Go for it Rustyman. I get the feeling this could be a very good story. I like the challenge you've given yourself in the Belgian Third Division.

[mavericktango]

nice start

[Rustyman]

Thanks for the kind words chesterfan2 and mavericktango, its much appreciated. I spend far too much time playing FM for a grown man so I decided to justify my playing time by trying to develop some writing skills.

[Rustyman]

As he stepped off the plane at Zaventem airport, Jules tried to consolidate his thoughts before stepping through customs. This was his last chance to turn around and walk back to his warm and comfortable existence in England.

It may not be much but he had been happy in a certain sense and taking on the challange of managing a football club, even at this level, was going to bring a whole lot of new issues and problems to deal with. The potential for kinds of issues he had fled from in Australia to arise once more was present. However, even though he didn’t explicitly confront the issues, he sub-consciously realised that he would never really be happy until he confronted his demons.

[Rustyman]

He therefore took the fateful step through the door of Customs blissfully unaware of what he might face but happy to be taking the step once more. Christian Mellaerts wasn’t difficult to recognise in the arrivals hall as he carried a large sign with the name “Jules Jackson – Willebroek†on it. He looked like Jules imagined the stereotypical Belgian to look a well fed, well moustached, well dressed 50+ version of Hercule Poirot. Mr Mellaerts however quickly made clear that he was no stereotypical continental type. On the journey to Willebroek in his chauffeur driven saloon, he spoke flawless English, courtesy of an education at Cambridge. He also explained exactly why he chose Jules instead of the dozen or so better qualified persons who had applied for the job.

Mr Mellaerts briefly explained that he had rescued the club from receivership primarily because the ties between his family, especially with his father who had played for the club, and with his view to turning in into a valuable asset in his quest for a greater role in the media business in Belgium. He therefore wanted a fiscally responsible successful club that would reflect well on the family and his business interests. Football was big business, even in a little country as Belgium and a well run-football club would be an asset to Mellaerts business and political aims. He felt that Jules with no ties to the existing Belgian football establishment would better understand and be capable of helping him to achieve his goals and if not, the loss of Jules as manager would not be a major blow to his objectives as a local might be. While brutally honest, Mellaerts’ explanation made Jules feel a lot better in terms of understanding why he was here and what was expected of him.

As dusk was closing in, they neared Willebroek and Mr Mellaerts explained that Jules would have the rent-free use of an apartment close to the stadium. Coincidentally, the apartment block in which the apartment was situated also formed part of the Mellaert business empire. As Jules unloaded his meagre possessions from Mellaerts’ limo into the small but clean appartment, he tried to come to terms with where he exactly was. Jules had done some rudimentary research prior to making his hasty departure and the little he knew about Belgium in general and Willebroek in particular could be briefly summarised as follows. Belgium was as a country was roughly divided into French-speaking (the Walloons) and Dutch-speaking (the Flemish) regions with Brussels as the centre. Willebroek was between Brussels and Antwerp, the capital of the Dutch-speaking region and one of Europe’s major ports. He tried watching television to help him get a grip on his surroundings but to his disappointment, he didn’t understand very much of the Dutch of French channels despite his best attempts, although the availability of the BBC was a pleasant surprise.

[Rustyman]

The next morning Jules awoke to a bright summer day which went no end towards making him feel cheerful, happy and excited. A well stocked fridge had also allowed him to make himself a very respectable version of an English breakfast and when the telephone rung at 10.00am, it was no more than he was expecting. The voice at the other end of the phone was very guttural, very Flemish sounding and introduced itself as Jean-Pierre de Bakker, assistant manager of Willebroek. He informed Jules that he would be picking him up within 10 minutes and would take him to the training ground to start with the job at hand. Jean-Pierre was small, weedy and of indeterminate age somewhere between 50 and 70. He introduced himself gruffly to Jules who took a few minutes getting used to the accent before picking up the intonation.

The drove in silence to the stadium while Jules read through the team information Jean-Pierre had handed to him in a thick folder once they had gotten into Jean-Pierre’s old Renault. While most of the literature was in Dutch, there was sufficient information in English together with what Jules could make out from the rest to understand that the club currently had 21 players on its books and had room to bring in 3 or 4 more players.

The stadium and training facilities were very much as Jules had expected them to be, comparable with English Conference level clubs. It remained to be seen if the players were as dire as some of the collections of individuals Jules had seen in his travels around non-league football grounds in England. Jules had agreed with Jean-Pierre that besides introducing himself to the team, he would not take an active part in the training routines for a couple of days while he tried to get a grasp of the squad and staff. He had however agreed with Mr Mellaerts that while he would not engage in any rash firings, he would be putting as many people as possible on short-term contracts to give himself flexibility in the future if he managed to stick around.

[Rustyman]

The Squad

After a couple of days observation, Jules had assessed his squad as follows:

Goalkeepers:

Gilles Berckmoes, 21 years old, no real strengths and no real feel for goalkeeping but he should be decent enough at this level to be a backup.

Johnny Lebegge, 26 years old, average all around and a decent starter at this level. His contract expires at the end of the season (as do most of the players on the squad) and if he does well in the first half of the season, he was one player whose contract should be extended as he should be good enough to be a backup at a higher level.

Thomas van Coillie, 21 years old, too short, bad hands and a lack of overall skills means that he would only be called upon in an emergency. Contract ends at the end of this season so will serve as emergency backup until then but hopefully will not get close to the first team.

Defenders

Frank Rits, 25 years old, right sided full back and midfielder, who lacked pace and wasn’t very likely to “take one for the team†but at this level, a competent starter.

Laurens Melotte, 19 years old left back. Wild, woolly and weak but with pace and an feel that he may possibly have some talent as a footballer to make a career out of it.

Jelle Geerits, 26 years old central defender. Typical lower league defender with not much agility or skill but hard and determined enough to be a pretty decent player at this level. A potential captain for this squad if he wasn’t so quiet.

Carl Meseure, 36 year old central defender. Old slow and hard as nails. A natural leader for this squad but the squad would not be progressing if he was still playing an important role at the end of the season.

Sven van der Heyden, 23 year old utility defender. Weak as water and with no real discernable skill. If he could be gotten rid of, this would be someone to move asap as the longer he stayed, the more inclined you might be to believe that he could be of some worth.

Stefan Blommaert, 21 year old left sided utility player. Lacks pace and other physical skills but probably a decent versatile backup at this level.

Midfielders

Tommy Meire, 29 year old defensive midfielder. Can’t run, tackle or pass the ball and doesn’t seem very inclined to want to play either. One to discard if the opportunity arises.

Luc de Smet, 23 year old left winger. Classical winger in that he was pacy, lazy and uninterested in doing anything except dribbling and crossing. May be useful in a 442 but strictly backup material.

Tom de Craeke, 26 year old winger. Decent player, will be a starter, can play on both sides. One of the most valuable players and highest earners and may be looking for move to a higher level.

Murat Kocat, 19 year old right-sided attacking midfielder. Nothing special but okay as a backup. Could possibly be more if he didn’t constantly look scared.

Steve Hercor, 22 year old right winger. Mirror image of Luc de Smet in that both are fast, lazy uninterested ball hogs.

Alex Vergeylen, 26 year old right-sided midfielder/forward. Pretty frail but decent all round player, probably the starting right winger if a 442 is played.

Pascal vande Gucht, 28 year old attacking midfielder. A physical speciment but slow and not very skilled either. He may however have to start on this team due to the lack of any realistic alternatives in central midfield.

Forwards

Kevin Stukens, 25 year old right sided forward who brings pace and shooting to the side but little else. May be valuable if Willebroek play a counter attacking game this year and nice option to have off the bench in the last 20 minutes.

Giles de Bilde, 34 year old left-sided forward. Jules was surprised to find someone of his reputation and notoriety on the squad. He had played for clubs such as Anderlecht, PSV, Sheffield Wednesday and even Aston Villa on load. Was known for both his disinterested approach as well as his wild temper which had led to a number of unsavoury incidents throughout his career. Was probably on his last legs but if he could still bring up the effort, even at this stage of his career he was likely to be much better than 95% of the players at this level.

Jan Huygens, 28 year old forward. Decent skills for a player at this level but nothing special physically. Possible starter at this level and decent backup at worst.

Kristof de Voegt, 28 year old speedy striker who had slightly better skills than Kevin Stukens and probably will be a starter or first man off the bench.

Peter Smolders, 20 year old young striker. Still needs to fill out a lot to play successfully at this level but one of few players on the squad with the potential to get any better.

After assessing the squad, Jules reached a number of conclusions about his approach and tactics for the coming season. He decided to go with a 4-4-2 formation as that is what his personnel were best suited too. The defence and attack looked to be decent for this level of competition although that view was yet to be tested. The central midfield was the are most in need of immediate reinforcement and with that in mind he turned his attention to his scout Bart Verjans to ask him to keep an eye out for any central midfielders who might be worth some attention. However, when he sat back and tried to absorb all the information he had gathered over the past couple of days, Jules was quite upbeat, believing his squad to be comparable to that of a English Conference-level club with a couple of players who would probably hold their own in the English League Two.

[Flying_Fin]

This one is looking nice and detailed

KUTGW!

[Rustyman]

Thanks for the encouragement Flying_Fin. I will try to update every couple of days and see if it leads anywhere.

[chesterfan2]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Thanks for the kind words chesterfan2 and mavericktango, its much appreciated. I spend far too much time playing FM for a grown man so I decided to justify my playing time by trying to develop some writing skills. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds strangely familiar Rustyman ! I bet you are glad to get the team's 'pen pictures' out of teh way, that's always a beast of a post to actually get typed in.

[Rustyman]

Yep, chesterfan2. Getting the squad profiles out of the way when you know that you looking to get rid of some of them takes a bit of effort.

[Rustyman]

As he stood on the eve of his first competitive game as manager of KVC Willebroek-Meerhof in the Belgian 3rd Division A, Jules Jackson pondered how far he had come since in the less than 4 weeks since he had stepped off the plane.

Management Moves

The first thing Jules endeavoured to do once he settled in was to get too grips with his playing and coaching staff. The players he evaluated early and although throughout the pre-season his views on the players were impacted by their performances in friendly games, his initial impressions stood and his quite early decided on his starting team and the main substitutes. What too more time to resolve was the coaching staff the previous regime had left him with.

Staff

Jules had followed up on his initial promise of offering existing staff new one year contracts on the same wage and surprisingly all of them had accepted the offer except Jean-Pierre De Bakker, his assistant manager. Jules understood why De Bakker refused the offer, he had an existing 5 year deal and saw no reason to change that simply because a new manager had been hired. This was going to lead to friction at some point in the future as in Jules view Jean-Pierre had a cushy 5 contract for someone with minimal coaching knowledge, irrespective of his experience. For the moment though, Jules could not afford to rock the boat. He needed everyone on-board to start the season so that the supporters and management could see that he was building a cohesive team atmosphere at the club.

Having only had one other coach, a physio and a scout on the payroll, Jules decided to go hunting for staff who were at a loose end and could help improve the squad. His previous contacts at Sports Unlimited helped as they had a European network which also had ties in Belgium. A few ads in the right publications and within weeks Nicolas Wanet joined as a coach and David Temmerman and Said Tahiri as physios. His seach for one or more scouts to help him get a better feel for the players in and around drew a blank however and Jules was resigned to simply leaving the advertisement out there to see if it drew any interest.

The new staff arrivals had a mixed background but all shared the common characteristic that they were unemployed when they received the offer to join Willebroek and so they were on board within weeks.. Nicolas Wanet was only 25 but had realised early that if he was to have a future in football, it would be on the coaching side rather than as a player and he eagerly hung up his boots when the offer from Willebroek came to rescue him from having to look for a real job. David Timmerman was a 43 year old journeyman who hung around the lower reaches of Belgian football without any real hope of advancement to the big leagues. However, his love of football kept him in the game and broke the monotony of a day job as a worker in a truck factory. Said Tahiri was a 32 year old well educated medical professional with a love a football who jumped at the chance of being involved with a real football club even though his day job as a physiotherapist earned him more than the combined wages of all the coaching staff at the club.

Player Movements

As he had realised after a couple of days watching the players in training, the squad needed a couple of central midfielders, probably one starter and a youngish backup and after scouring the lists of free transfers available, trials were offered to a number of candidates leading to Hugo Zeghers, an 18 year old central midfielder who had played non-league football the previous year joining on the 22nd of July. He was joined by Sebastian Rassart, a 25 year old DC/DMC who had played for Tubize in the Belgian second division the previous year on the 26th of July. Rassart was being payed like a first teamer and the holding midfield role which Jules envisaged for his 4-4-2 was his to lose. Jules saw Zeghers as a backup to the first team, someone who he hoped would develop in a year or two into a starting role. Another shortcoming which Jules had spotted in the team makeup was the lack of any real backup for either of the fullback roles. This was not helped by the club getting rid of a couple of wing players before his arrival. Jules tried getting in a couple of players to fill these roles but as of yet his efforts had led to nothing.

Much more positive was the player transfers out. While Jules had never actively shopped any of his squad, it was no secret that there were a number of players who he wouldn’t shed any teams over leaving. Much to his surprise, it seems that a number of teams were interested in his players. When the first offer came in for Kristof de Voeght, Jules had decided to negotiate to see what clubs were willing to offer. When multiple offers of 60K came in, he had not hesitation in accepting the bids. De Voeght was a decent player to have in the forward rotation but Jules was convinced that at the level of competition Willebroek was in, 60K would buy a definite starter. Also, 5 players in the forward rotation was probably one too many.

A second offer for Steve Hercor also for 60K was also accepted and after that Jules was satisfied to cease selling until he had strengthened the squad. With the board being generous in reserving 90% of player sales for the transfer kitty and the existing transfer budget, Jules found himself 120K to use for player purchases if he so desired. He was however determined to keep the majority of those funds until the winter break by which time he would have had enough time to gauge the quality and depth of his squad and to also assess potential transfer targets.

[Rustyman]

Pre-season Games

With all the backroom manoeuvring, the pre-season friendlies came and went with few memorable moments although they did largely serve to confirm Jules’s initial assumptions about his team and the appropriate playing style.

Saturday 16/7/2005 – friendly at home vs Seraing Rul

A nice easy game to get started with. Seraing Rul are an amateur non-league and as such it is a good run-out for the players to shake off the summer break cobwebs. For this one, Jules allowed Jean-Pierre to take control of the squad as he was more interested in observing the players than actively managing them at this stage.

The game ended in a 0-0 draw but was far from boring as Willebroek attacked while Seraing Rul played on the counter attack. It was clear that both sides were rusty although Jules was a bit surprised that his team could not score against a team clearly its inferior. He wrote it down to lack of sharpness and swiftly moved on to the next match.

Thursday 21/7/2005 – friendly at home vs Zwarte Leeuw

For the second friendly, Jules decided to take over the reins himself. While Zwarte Leeuw was another amateur non-league club, the fixture held special significance as they would also be the opposition in Willebroek’s first competitive match of the season in the Belgian Cup. For this match, Jules decided to go with his first choice selection in his preferred 4-4-2 formation, the only troublesome choice being the partner for Pascal Vande Gucht in central midfield, however he eventually settled on Murat Kocat as being the best of an indifferent bunch.

The game ended up being a 5-0 thrashing of Zwarte Leeuw in which the final score was probably flattering to the losers. Willebroek dominated all aspects of the game which was strangely frustrating to Jules as he couldn’t decide whether the performance was a one-off or whether it accurately reflected the gap between the two sides. The goals were well spread throughout the squad though and with Jules having made wholesale substitutions at half-time, the whole squad got a chance to enjoy the win.

Sunday 24/7/2005 – friendly at home vs Club Brugge Reserves

The friendlies were now coming thick and fast but this match held special significance. Club Brugge was one of the top two clubs in the country, Anderlecht being the other, and even their reserves should be to good however for a club at Willebroek’s level. The match was however devalued as Club Brugge had a player sent off before the 10 minute mark and after that it was difficult for Jules to make a true assessment of where his team and the match ended in a harmless 1-1 draw. The match did however provide an opportunity to scout the Club Brugge reserves and youngsters and a few of them caught the eye with Jules filing their names away for future reference.

Wednesday 27/7/2005, friendly away to Leopoldsburg

With the friendlies coming thick and fast, the match against Leopoldsburg took on special significance as they were a team that were nominally at the same level as Willebroek. Leopoldsburg plied its trade in the Belgian Third Division B but were also considered relegation battlers and it was not beyond the probabilities that the two teams might meet in the relegation playoffs at the end of the season.

The match itself was the first game where Jules felt happy. His team won 3-1 away from home against a comparable opponent and he had his first impression of his new buys Rassart and Zeghers in action. His felt comfortable with Rassart’s performance and felt that he and Vande Gucht would form a solid central midfied pairing. Zeghers’ was young and raw but held the promise of improvement which was all that could be expected from a free pickup.

Saturday 30/7/2005, friendly at home vs Mons

Mons was a club who plied their trade in the second division, only one level above in the league structure but a world away in terms of resources and talent. With a professional team setup and players on loan from the top-flight, some of their players were rated as being more valuable than the entire Willebroek squad. Jules decided to adopt a cautions approach to the match, playing on the counter attack as he imagined his team would have to do against a fair proportion of its league opponents.

The game ended in a 1-0 win for Mons but Jules wasn’t disappointed as the virtual full house meant that the club coffers were being filled nicely and his squad didn’t appear overawed playing opponents at a higher level.

Thursday 4/8/2005, friendly at home vs Lierse

The final pre-season match was against First Division opposition in the form of Lierse and while Jules wasn’t expecting much in terms of a result, he accepted the fact that this would be a money spinner for the club which it proved to be with another near full-house. Games like this while saying little about the status of the club provided more income through the gate than half-a-dozen regular season games.

The match finished in a 2-1 win to Lierse but the paying public received their money’s worth with Willebroek battling bravely until just after half-time when substitute Carl Meseure was sent off in the 56th minute which Lierse immediately took advantage of with another flash hot Ivorian scoring the goal. Willebroek battled bravely to hold the rampaging Lierse until the 86th minute when Huygens scored the equaliser out of nothing and Jules, caught up in the excitement of the moment was screaming to his players to get back to try to hold on to the draw. Unfortunately, one of the Lierse youngsters who came on as a substitute scored in the 89th minute to save face for the first division opponents.

Looking back at the pre-season, Jules had to give his assistant Jean-Pierre some credit. The man might not be a very good coach but he did know how to arrange pre-season opponents, starting with some easy amateur opposition to start off with, moving on to some comparable opponents and ending with a couple of money spinning games against popular top clubs. He hope the man had some other hidden talents to justify his excessive 5 year contract.

In addition, he learnt a few more things about his squad. Laurens Melotte was the star of the season in central defence. Jules still had his reservations about the youngster being able to hold up over the course of the season as a central defender but to know, he had performed beyond expectations. Tom de Craeke had proven to be a professional on either wing and was someone the rest of the team looked up to and would be given the captains armband. Jelle Gerrits proved to be a rock in central defence besides Melotte and overall, Jules felt that his club had reason to approach the team with confidence. While Willebroek weren’t likely to challenge for promotion, Jules felt they were likely to perform better than the press and pundits were predicting.

Jules had quietly built up his wish list throughout the pre-season and going into the season this was as follows:

1. A quick and agile experienced defender to partner Gerrits in the centre of defence allowing Melotte to move to fullback and thereby creating some depth at fullback;

2. A fullback to either start or serve as primary backup to the current players in that position;

3. A creative midfielder to counterbalance Rassart and Vande Gucht in central midfield;

4. A young winger to back-up both wide midfield positions, and;

5. A targetman type stiker to serve as focal point for the team when things weren’t going that well or for those matches on wet and muddy pitches in the middle of winter where the passing game Jules wanted to play might be less effective.

While this was not exhaustive, Jules felt if he could fill 3 out of the 5 needs, they would be well on the way to mid table mediocrity.

[will_coleridge]

I like this story. Surely you're not REALLY hpoing for mid-table!!!

[Rustyman]

Thanks for the feedback will_coleridge. About my expectations, at this stage I really don't know. At times promotion from the bottom rung of various leagues hasn't been a problem in the first year. However, I have had a couple of occassions in Italy and more than one in Spain where it has taken me at least 3 seasons to get my first promotion.

With Willebroek, I am hopeful of challanging for the promotion places in my first season but as I haven't had a chance to judge the quality of the opposition yet, I would accept mid-table if it was offered to me.

[Rustyman]

August 2005

06/08/2005 away vs Zwarte Leeuw, 3rd round Belgian Cup

Jules approached the first competitive match of the season with some trepidation. While his team had thrashed Zwarte Leeuw in their friendly encounter, this match was different. Friendly results could be thrown out of the window, especially in cup competitions where unpredictability was the order of the day. The match itself quickly demonstrated that his fears were unfounded. Filled with confidence after their good pre-season, the team picked up where it left off the last time it met Zwarte Leeuw. Jan Huygens scored two goals before the break, both from headers, one from a corner and another from a free kick.

When Huygens completed his hattrick in the 56th minute, the game was effectively over. Jules Jackson then rang the changes bringing off Huygens, Rassart and Vergeylen and replacing them with de Bilde, Meseure and Van der Heyden respectively. At this stage of the match, the important thing was to get some match practice for the bench players, especially de Bilde who had only recently resumed training after a chest injury which kept him out for 3 weeks during the pre-season. The rest of the match was largely uneventful other than for the dismissal of one of the opposition wingers in the 80th minute for a dangerous tackle. With the first win under their belts, both Jules and his team approached the coming week with a lot more confidence than at any stage during the pre-season.

Willebroek 3 – 0 Zwarte Leeuw

One thing the first real match of the season had brought home to Jules was the need for a good bench policy. Jules hadn’t realised (with everything else going on) than only 4 match day reserves were allowed in the Belgian Third Division. This meant that with one position going to a goalkeeper, the 3 remaining reserves needed to very flexible to cover all eventualities. In addition, the match squad had to have 2 under-21 players which wasn’t a problem as one thing Jules Jackson had concluded, was that he was going to try to develop some youth at the club as the current squad profile was too heavily weighted to older players.

Sunday 14/08/2005 at home vs K Lyra TSV, 4th round Belgian Cup

With the Belgian Cup eliminations in full swing during the month of August, the next match on the agenda was against Lyra, another amateur club with similar resources and squad as the previous opponents Zwarte Leeuw. After having observed the differences in quality in the previous match, Jules was quite confident of a relatively easy match, especially as Willebroek was playing at home and the match conformed to his expectations. An goal in the 26th minute by Kevin Stukens (starting due to the injury to Giles de Bilde) promised to open the floodgates but stout defending by Lyra threatened to keep out Willebroek until half-time.

However, a double strike late in the half by Stukens (42min) and Jan Huygens (45min) meant that the match was effectively over by half time. This gave Jules the opportunity for some squad rotation and he brought on de Bilde for the second half to give him some match practice. The second-half opened with a scare with van Gestel scoring for Lyra almost immediately after the resumption which caused Jules to question his decision to bring Stukens off. However, normalcy was restored a almost immediately as Huygens grabbed his second a minute later. With the brief scare over, Jules Jackson decided to tighten the defence and the rest of the match was played out without much incident.

Willebroek 4 – 1 Lyra

With the first couple of competitive matches out of the way, Jules was looking forward to facing some competition at the third division level in the next round, however, the fates weren’t to kind in the draw and instead Willebroek would be facing R Excelsior Virton in the 5th round, a club from the Belgian second division and as Jules had seen at first hand during the pre-season, there was a world of difference in quality between the Belgian second and third divisions.

Sunday 21/08/2005 at home vs Virton, 5th round Belgian Cup

With the huge increase in the quality of the opposition, Jules decided not to chase the game against Virton. Instead he unvealed the counter-attacking version of his preferred 4-4-2 with the wingers playing more conservatively and only one out-and-out striker in Huygens. As expected, the match turned out to be a nail-biter for Jules with Virton attacking with little repect for Willebroek’s attacking capabilities. However, this was justified as Willebroek’s only attacking forays proved to be long balls to Huygens hoping he could make something of it.

Half-time came and went scoreless, largely due to the inaccuracy of the Virton attack but it seemed inevitable that the expected Virton goal(s) would come. When the end of normal time was reached without the scorers being threatened, Jules smelled his opportunity. He switched back to his normal 2 man attack with a relatively fresh Smolders having who had joined Huygens during the second half being moved from a withdrawn role to a more traditional striking role alongside Huygens.

Extra-time did not proceed as hoped for Willebroek as even with two strikers up front, the quality and condition of Virton was such that they virtually starved Willebroek of possession. However, on a more positive note, Virton in turn was not proving to be as attack-minded as during regulation playing time and both teams seemed to be playing out time for the penalty shootout. However, with less than a minute to go, a poor clearance by the Virton goalkeeper led to Tom De Craeke whipping in a cross to the near post to Smolders. It seemed like a routine clearance for the Virton central defender, who attempted to head the ball behind however due to fatigue, lack of concentration, whatever, his judgement was off and he headed the ball just inside the near post for an own goal. The crowd and players were momentarily still, seemingly not able to believe what had happened, before bursting into the biggest cheer the Willebroek ground had heard in years. With Jules waving frantically for all his players to get behind the ball, the match restarted and was ended by the referee’s whistle after a couple of passes by the Virton players who seemed not to be able to comprehend what had happened to them.

Willebroek 1- 0 Virton

[Rustyman]

The end of the transfer window had also brought a couple of reinforcements to the Willebroek squad as Jules tried to develop some inexpensive depth at the club. The windfall from the sale of De Voegt and Hercor would be not be spent before the mid-season break by when Jules would hopefully had had enough time to make a better assessment of where the money could be best spent.

Joeri Schouppe, a 24 year old DC/DM was purchased from non-league Gerardsbergen for the grand sum of 1000 euros. Jules hoped he would be able to provide backup for his existing central defenders and central midfielders. While Schouppe was not a world beater, he had good pace, a little flair and should be a tackling machine at this level. While not a starter when all players were healthy, Jules envisaged him as a permanent presence on the bench ready to replace any flagging defenders or midfielders.

Jeroen Driessen, a 23 year old AM RC/FC was signed as a free transfer to serve as insurance against another injury to Giles de Bilde who was looking increasingly injury prone as he got older. While Jules held no inflated expectations for Driessen, he felt that the player could serve as decent midfield and forward backup for the squad.

In addition, 2 youngsters were signed as free transfers as Jules felt it was important to build a good youthful and cheap backup presence for his relatively thin first-team squad. Denis Odoi was a 17 year old central midfielder schoolboy who was looking for his entry into the semi-professional ranks. He showed good pace and a bit of flair during his trail which was a primary reason for offering him a two year deal as a young prospect. Gert Vanasselberghs,a young goalkeepre had been a youth trainee at first division Lierse but had been cut in the off-season and as Jules had determined that Thomas van Coillie had no future at the club, he hoped to develop Vanasselberghs as the 3rd string backup.

[Rustyman]

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September 2005

The coming start of the league competition felt like the beginning of real action to Jules. While the Belgian Cup matches had been interesting and exciting, they were not the basis on which Mr Mellaerts had brought Jules to the club. The beginning of league action also started with an immediate test of the Willebroek resolve as their opponents Aalst were one of the favourites to win the division

Sunday 04/09/2005 away to Aalst, Belgian Third Division A

With Aalst being regarded as the prime promotion candidates and the media regarding Willebroek as nothing more than cannon fodder and the most likely candidate for relegation, Jules decided to begin the game against Aalst cautiously, adopting a counter attacking version of his basic 4-4-2 formation. Aalst began the match as if they expected it to be over by half-time, they came out with an ultra aggressive attacking formation which Willebroek had a hard time combating in the first 15 minutes. After the failure to score early, Aalst scaled back their attacking intentions but the match remained largely a matter of Aalst attacking and Willebroek defending stoutly. When half-time was reached with the score still at 0-0, Jules was a relieved man as Willebroek had been limited to a couple of long-range efforts while Aalst had had a number of good opportunities and Willebroek were lucky to enter the change rooms at level pegging.

For the second-half, Jules decided that his team needed to attack more. Firstly, to relieve the pressure on the defence but also to try to make clear to his team that that they were not to be content with simply being make-weights in the league. The changes Jules made did not significantly change the pattern of the first-half. Aalst still remained on the attack but the second man up-front meant that Willebroek had more outlet options when repelling the waves of opposition attacks. The match kept in this holding pattern and with 10 minutes to go, Jules was hoping his team could hold out a little longer as he regarded a draw in this match as being a good result.

Fate however decided to take a hand in the proceedings with Jan Huygens as its primary instrument. An innocuous clearance by the Willebroek goalkeeper in the82nd minute led to a hopeful cross by substitute Schouppe into the Aalst penalty area. The ball found Huygens more by luck than by design and quick turn and half-volley resulted in the ball being slotted into the Aalst net. The Willebroek bench went wild with joy while the Aalst players and crowd appeared stunned. With less that 10 minutes in regulation, Jules yelled out to his players to get back and defend and he immediately sent out orders to resume a more defensive formation as he knew that Aalst would come back with all guns blazing. The inevitable assault was resumed by Aalst at the kick-off but the reinforced Willebroek defence seemed to be holding up well. With the minutes ticking away, Jules and the entire Willebroek contingent were on the edge of their seats, hoping against hope that they could hold on to their lead for just a few minutes more and their prayers were answered in the last minute of regulation-time. A quick counter attack in response to another Aalst attack found Huygens just inside the Aalst half, a first time ball was played to substitute Peter Smolders whose pace outstripped the tired Aalst defence and calmly slotted the ball past the approaching Aalst goalkeeper. The second goal removed any remaining fight from the Aalst players and extra-time was played out without any further incident with young Laurens Melotte getting the MOM award for his sterling defensive display.

Aalst 0 – 2 Willebroek

Sunday 11/09/2005 at home vs Wetteren, Belgian Third Division A

Wetteren were a team comparable to Willebroek in that not much was expected of them this season. While the pundits rated the Wetteren team as being the better team, the gap was not as wide as that believed to exist between Willebroek and its previous opponents Aalst. The match against Wetteren started well for the Willebroek squad in its first league appearance at home. Jan Huygens scored from a typical opportunistic effort, turning his defender to scoring off a quick snapshot to put Willebroek 1-0 up in the 10th minute. The score thereafter stayed unchanged until half-time although in this match, Willebroek was taking the game to their opponents while Wetteren preferred to defend and play on the counter attack.

The second half brought little change to the pattern established in the first half with Willebroek attacking and Wetteren being content to defend. In the 69th minute, the Willebroek lead was double by Axel Vergeylen with a shap run and shot from the right wing. The proceedings were completed by a penalty from Pascal Vande Gucht in the 87th minute and another typical poachers goal from substitute Peter Smolders in the 90th who was on his way to making a reputation as an impact player off the bench.

Willebroek 4 – 0 Wetteren

Saturday 17/09/2005 away to WS Woluwe, Belgian Third Division A

With the next away match to Woluwe, Jules Jackson once more adopted his standard 4-4-2 away counter-attacking formation in what was to prove an entertaining but ultimately unsatisfying match for both sides. Attractive attacking play and goal scoring opportunities were created by both sides but in the end, neither had the necessary cutting edge to put the ball in goal. For Jules however, the result confirmed to him that the defence was likely going to be the team strength throughout the season but the midfield, especially out wide needed strengthening and more creativity. Up from , Jan Huygens was performing beyond expectations but beyond young Peter Smolders off the bench, his strike force was lacking potency.

WS Woluwe 0 – 0 Willebroek

Sunday 25/09/2005 at home vs Kapellen, Belgian Third Division A

The match against fellow strugglers Kapellen, proved a bit of an anti-climax for Jules Jackson. After the stalemate against Woluwe, Jules was hoping for a better performance against a Kapellen team who seemed to be the equal of Willebroek. The match however was decided within the half-hour with Jan Huygens scoring in the 4th minute followed by a double from Axel Vergeylen in the 11th and 28th minutes and the first league goal from Giles de Bilde in the 41st minute. With the match effectively over as a competition by half-time, Jules rang the changes at the break bringing in Kevin Stuckens for de Bilde to give Stuckens some match practice after his recovery from injury and Sven van de Heyden for Tom de Craeke to give de Craeke some rest after he had played every minute of the previous 3 matches. With Pascal Vande Gucht scoring from a header after a nicely timed run into the box shortly after the resumption, Jules Jackson even had time to bring on reserve goalkeeper Gilles Berckmoes for the final half-hour to give him some match practice.

Willebroek 5 – 0 Kapellen

[Rustyman]

The first month of league competition had delivered results well beyond Jules Jackson’s wildest dreams, however, he still doubted whether the return of 10 points from a possible 12 was a true reflection of the strength of the Willebroek squad. The match against Aalst could have gone either way and the 0-2 scoreline definitely flattered Willebroek while the 0-0 draw to WS Woluwe could have indicated deeper attacking problems for Willebroek. The wins over Wetteren and Kapellen while deserved, were made to look better by the eventual scorelines than they were in reality as both teams had been competitive at some stages in their matches but had lost heart after the goals against them. However, ending the first month of league competition in 2nd place was a deserved position for the squad after their performances and Jules Jackson went out of his way to confirm that message to his squad.

[Rustyman]

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October 2005

The month of October confirmed the impressions Jules had formed about his team over the first month of competition.

Sunday 02/10/2005 away to RC Waregem, Belgian Third Division A

With the confidence built from the previous months results, the Willebroek stepped out on the field against fellow minnow RC Waregem intent on deciding this game early. The early goal from Jan Huygens in the 8th minute who cheekily pinched the ball from the Waregem central defender before rounding the goalkeeper, seemed to confirm the belief that the game should not pose to many problems for Willebroek. However, half-time came and went without any addition to the score despite the Willebroek pressure, not that Waregem made any attempt to take the game to their opponents, instead they seemed to be relying on a not very effective counter attack to bring them back into the match. With that in mind, Jules reigned in the attacking fever of the first half and the rest of the match was played out without many highlights. Another 3 points in the bag but not a sterling performance from the Willebroek attack however, 2nd position in the league was maintained in the chase after RC Mechelen and the first period title was not yet out of grasp.

RC Waregem 0 – 1 Willebroek

Sunday 09/10/2005 at home vs Torhout, Belgian Third Division A

The match against Torhout saw a change to the Willebroek lineup. Jules Jackson was starting to get tired of Giles De Bilde’s poor conditioning, which made it virtually impossible for him to finish a match, as well as his poor returns in from of goal in comparison to strike partner Jan Huygens. For this match, Kevin Stuckens was brought into the starting lineup to hopefully add more potency to the Willebroek attack. In football, as in life, most things don’t turn out exactly as planned, however, for one day, the changes made by Jules delivered exactly what was hoped for. Kevin Stuckens struck in the 7th minute after a wonderful cross from Axel Vergeylen to the far post followed by a typical poacher’s goal from Jan Huygens after a perfect through ball from Pascal Vande Gucht in the 23rd minute. A third goal in the 36th minute from Jan Huygens after a quick counter attack meant that Willebroek went into the sheds at half-time in total control. A second goal by Kevin Stuckens in the 56th minute was the cherry on the cake and Willebroek finished the game very much in control and passing the ball around like some imitation of a South American team against its powerless Torhout opponent. The only downside to the match was that Stefan Blommaert tore his calf muscle early in the match and the prognosis was that he would be out for between 2 and 4 months. Jules hoped that his loss would not prove to be a major problem as he had a capable backup in central defender Carl Meseure which would allow Laurens Melotte to move to fullback, a position which Jules felt the youngster was better suited to.

Willebroek 4 – 0 Torhout

Sunday 16/09/2005 away to SW Harelbeke, Belgian Third Division A

Jules Jackson wasn’t expecting the match against SW Harelbeke to be similar to the romp against previous opponents Torhout as Harelbeke was one of the pre-season favourites for promotion and currently were holding down 6th place in the table. The match lived up to Jules’ expectations with the teams being well matched. Despite the best intentions of both teams, the cutting edge seemed to have deserted both teams on the day and even the dismissal of Harelbeke striker Mamadou Diop in the 56th minute didn’t change the complexion of the match with both teams defending stoutly and ineffectual in front of goal. The final whistle came as a relief to both managers, for Jules, it ended the frustration of once more not being able to penetrate the defences of an opponent away from home, for the Harelbeke manager, satisfaction that losing a striker didn’t mean losing the match.

SW Harelbeke 0 – 0 Willebroek

The post-match report from his physio’s put Jules Jackson in an even worst mood it appeared that Sebastian Ressart, who had started every match since his arrival at Willebroek was likely to miss at least 2 months with a hip injury suffered during the match. Jules had been aware that he had taken a knock during the first-half and had brought him off at half-time as a precaution but the news was much worse than he imagined. He would have to shuffle his squad for the next match and decided to promote Joeri Schouppe from the bench to the starting lineup. Two major injuries in the space of two matches were starting to test the Willebroek defensive depth and Jules hoped that the rest of his squad would remain reasonably intact until the winter transfer break where he hoped to strengthen his squad.

Sunday 23/10/2005 at home vs Diegem, Belgian Third Division A

The match against Diegem brought some joy back to Jules Jackon’s face as the move to start Kevin Stuckens paid off once more with a quickfire double by the speedy striker in the first 20 minutes. The first goal seconds after the kickoff was due to quick thinking as Stuckens pressured the central defender into giving up the ball and then slotted the ball home from the edge of the penalty area. The second goal was due to a smart run into the box and a fine cross from Axel Vergeylen. Half-time brought a change to the line-up as Joeri Schouppe performance in the first half was disappointing, probably due to the lack of match practice, so Jules brought on the youngster Hugo Zeghers for his second taste of first team football. The second half was played out without much passion from either side and although Diegem tried to take the match to Willebroek in the last 15 minutes, the Willebroek defence, even missing two starters, dealt easily with the Diegem attack.

Willebroek 2 – 0 Diegem

Sunday 30/10/2005 away to Nieuwkerken, Belgian Third Division A

The final match of October saw a change in the trend that Willebroek had developed over the past 8 weeks with free-scoring matches at home and problems in scoring away from home. Jules Jackson understood that the counter-attacking formation away from home was likely to be less fruitful than the more attacking classical 4-4-2 formation used at home, however, 15 goals scored in4 home matches were in stark contrast to the 3 goals in the same amount of away games. The thing that had kept those away matches as draws or turned them into wins was the fact that the Willebroek defence hadn’t conceded a goal in league play this season. However, Jules didn’t want to rely on simply not conceding as sooner or later, the opposition was likely to be more successful in front of goal and in a number of matches thus far this season, only bad luck had prevented teams from scoring.

The match started strongly for Willebroek with the Nieuwkerken goalkeeper quickly being brought into action in response to a couple of early attempts at goal. It was therefore no surprise when Jan Huygens opened the scoring of 15 minutes with a typical snapshot after picking up the ball outside the Nieuwkerken penalty area, beating his defender off the dribble and cracking in a shot from a wide angle. When Pascal Vande Gucht scored Willebroek’s second from a free kick just outside the Nieuwkerken box, the away scoring hoodoo seemed to be well on its way to being broken. When a third goal was added by Vande Gucht in the 43rd minute through a brilliantly timed run to get on to a De Craeke cross, the match was essentially over, especially in light of the minimal resistance Nieuwkerken was offering.

The second half was largely a mirror image of the first with Willebroek forcing the issue and Nieuwkerken providing token resistance. The Willebroek boys became too cocky after the half though and seemed intent on pulling out the tricks for the home supporters. Jan Huygens did however get his second in the 61st minute by robbing one of the Nieuwkerken defenders of the ball and rounding the goalkeeper. Pascal Vande Gucht also had the perfect opportunity to chalk up the first hattrick of his career but spurned the chance when his penalty attempt in the 73rd minute was saved by the long suffering Nieuwkerken goalkeeper. The final score was a fair reflection of the balance of play on the day and with RC Mechelen stumbling to a home loss to Kapellen, the previous day, Willebroek moved into first position on the ladder and into prime position to winning the first period title and a guaranteed playoff position at the end of the season.

Nieuwkerken 0 – 4 Willebroek

[Rustyman]

Just a brief note to explain the period titles setup in the Belgian Third Division and

Second Division, promotion playoff places are determined by a combination of performance in one of 3 discreet period of play and performance throughout the year. For example, the Belgian 3rd Division is divided into two groups, the Third Division A and the Third Division B, each comprising 16 teams which means that 30 regular season league matches are played per year. The winner of both groups at the end of the season gets automatic promotion to the Second Division.

However, there is another slot which provides promotion to the Belgian Second Division and this is determined by a playoff. Teams can gain a playoff position in one of two ways. The 30 matches which make up the league season in the Third Division are divided into 3 portions of 10 matches in the following order, 1-10, 11-30 and 21-30. Any team which gains the most points in any one of these periods, is guaranteed a position in the playoffs for the 3rd promotion position. Now, it often happens that a single team wins more than one or even all 3 periods. In this case, the any remaining playoff positions are determined by final league standings irrespective of performance in any one period. In the Willebroek example, if the club were to win the first period title, it would have a guaranteed playoff position even if it finished up in the lower half of the table.

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[Rustyman]

The end of the first two months of league competition had provided Jules Jackson with a much better perspective on the Willebroek squad. Firstly, and most pleasingly for Jules, it was unlikely that the team would be relegated at the end of the season. This meant that the first and primary objective Mr Mellaerts had set Jules at the beginning of the year was likely to have been met. Secondly, whoever had been responsible for putting together the squad prior to Jules’ arrival, had done a good job. Even without any of the changes Jules had made, he was confident that the squad was strong enough to maintain a mid-table position at least. Finally, Jules was confident that if he managed to find a couple of suitable reinforcements in the winter transfer window, Willebroek would be well in the hunt for automatic promotion at the end of the season. He was careful though to keep these opinions to himself and consciously played down expectations of promotion in front of both his players and the wider football community..

[Spav]

Excellent story, Rustyman. I'll certainly be following your team's progress.

Apart from the quality writing, the other reason I'm enjoying this is that it parallels my Belgium Division 3 Group A story with KVK Kortrijk that I am doing for the Ages Challenge. However that is on CM01/02, so I don't suppose I'll see the same players, although many of the teams that you are playing are similar.

[Rustyman]

Thanks for the kinds words Spav. I have been keeping an eye on your KVK Kortrijk story and as you say, the teams are the same but we don't have many of the same players in our games. I guess at the level we are playing players, and the rating of them, tend to change/disappear quickly.

All the best on your story as well!!

[Rustyman]

November 2005

Sunday 06/11/2005 at home vs Bornem, Belgian Third Division A

The match against Bornem was no simple match and this was made clear to Jules in the leadup to the match. The portly shopkeeper at the newsagents where he picked up his morning newspaper and who generally respected his privacy, said a quiet “Succes op zondag tegen Bornem†which Jules’ ever improving Flemish interpreted as “Good luck on Sunday against Bornemâ€, as he handed Jules his change. Mr Mellaerts who tended not to interfere in Jules’ day to day running of the club called to say that he hoped the club would continue its winning ways this coming Sunday but the intention was clear, winning against Bornem would be very well regarded. Eventually when even old men in the pub took the time to lookup from their games of checkers to mumble something in the line of “Beat Bornem on Sunday!!â€, Jules broached the subject with his assistant manager Jean-Pierre de Backer. Jean-Pierre, who maintained a standoffish approach to Jules, never rude or insubordinate but always a bit reserved, informed Jules that any match against Bornem was one of the highlight matches of any season for Willebroek. Where the basis for the rivalry lay was unclear but the relative proximity of the two teams, the similarity in makeup, background and success, ensured that matches between the two were always hard fought battles.

With all the build-up in the days preceeding the match, Jules decided to use a slightly more conservative approach on the day. While he realised that winning was important, he was also aware that loosing the match would be seen as a disaster by supports, at all levels. Further complicating the issue was the fact that a win in this match would guarantee Willebroek victory in the first period title and the resultant playoff qualification that brought. Victory was therefore vital, however, defeat was completely unacceptable.

The match itself was a bit of a damp squib. Both sides were well aware of the prestige that was at stake and the first half hour was characterised by lots of passing in their own half by both teams but a bare minimum of attacking threat. While the action improved in the closing minutes of the half hour, neither team had given its supporters much cause for celebration by the break. In fact, sporadic booing was heard by both sets of supporters as the teams walked off the field. For the second-half, Jules decided to go back to his standard attacking formation for home games, and while he may have been tempted to claim this as the catalyst for change, the simple fact was that from a dead ball situation 2 minutes after the resumption, Pascal Vande Gucht curled one into the far corner beyond the reach of the Bornem goalkeeper. The roar that came from the crowd was the loudest Jules had heard the entire season and while the Willebroek faithful were shouting themselves hoarse, Jules had a hard time being heard above the din as he order the players to resume their first half defensive setup.

While Jules was not averse to finishing off the match, he felt that the pressure from the Bornem support would not allow their team to sit back, they would have to adopt a more attacking approach which Jules hoped to exploit with some counter attacking tactics. This did not prove to be the case. Whilst Bornem did make a greater attempt to attack, their attempts were fairly easily blunted by the Willebroek back four and when second goal of the match came, it was no surprise that Willebroek were the scorers. Quick thinking by Axel Vergelen in the 80th minute to play a quick ball through to substitute Giles de Bilde led to a snapshot that beat the Bornem goalkeeper who stood flatfooted as the ball passed him into the net. That goal broke the back of the Bornem resistance and when Jan Huygens scored Willebroek’s by getting his head on to the end of a Vande Gucht freekick in the 84th minute, it barely registered with the Bornem supporters or players.

Willebroek 3 – 0 Bornem

This game brought double victory for the Willebroek squad, locking up a promotion playoff position at the end of the season as well as humiliating the despised local rivals which won Jules and his team an awful lot of credit in both the football and wider community.

[Rustyman]

Saturday 12/11/2005 away to Maldegem, Belgian Third Division A

The past week’s result against Bornem had not yet faded from memory when the following weekend approached. With Maldegem currently occupying an anonymous mid-table position, Jules Jackson decided to change his tactics and play the more aggressive classical 4-4-2 formation away from home. Despite the best intention of Jules and his team, this match return to the standard away match pattern that had manifested itself all season. While Willebroek’s attacking intentions did lead to more attempts on goal than previously normal in away matches, it did bring with it the added risk of being caught out by a quick counter attack by the opponents.

The first half was largely uneventful other than a couple of yellow cards handed out to Willebroek players as they attempted to force the issue. The second half seemed to be resuming the pattern of the first when in the 61st minute Kevin Stukens scored after a coverage area by the Maldegem defence in their own penalty box. When one of the Maldegem central defenders was sent off in the 78th minute for a second yellow card offence, Jules was happy for his team to simply play out the match and take the 3 points. Unfortunately for Willebroek, this was not to be and when Maldegem scored in the 82nd minute from a dead-ball opportunity just outside the Willebroek penalty area, not even an all out attacking effort from Willebroek in the remaining minutes could restore the lead. This time the result was even less palatable for Jules Jackson. In his book, allowing a comeback by the opposition when they were a man down was inexcusable and he let his team know this after the match.

Maldegem 1 – 1 Willebroek

Sunday 20/11/2005 at home vs Cercle Brugge, 6th Round Belgian Cup

The 6th round Belgian cup matchup against First Division Cercle Brugge posed a number of problems for Jules. In his assessment of the upcoming match, he felt that his club stood virtually no chance. The difference in skill level was so enormous that he couldn’t see Willebroek getting a result, even though the match was a home game. With his team having built up quite a head of steam in the league, he was hesitant to risk this momentum and the built up morale with a flogging by a superior team. So when he informed the team of his squad selection for the upcoming match, a number of puzzled glances and murmurs met the announcement. Jules explained to the team that although the match was the highest profile match the club was likely to play this season, he didn’t want to risk what had been achieved thus far and it was an opportunity for the rest of the squad players to prove their worth to the team.

The match itself played out largely as Jules had expected. Cercle Brugge came out with all guns blazing and when they score from a simple header from a corner in the 6th minute through one of their central defenders, Jules feared the worst. However, much to his surprise, his reserves and squad players refused to be cowed by their technically superior opponents and battled bravely through to half-time without any addition to the score. Jules gave a stirring talk at half-time praising his players performance thus far and urging them to maintain the effort for the second half. The second half performance of the Willebroek players matched their first half effort and with a wasteful Cercle Brugge attack, the match ended with the difference being that early goal. Jules was effusive in his praise of his players after the match and he also learned a few things about his reserve players which would go a long way to determining their futures at Willebroek.

Willebroek 0 – 1 Cercle Brugge

Despite the loss to Cercle Brugge, Jules was correct in his assessment that it would probably be the most profile match of the season for Willebroek as the local and regional press made mention of the match in the Monday newspapers as well as noting that Jules Jackson had formed a strong defensive squad having only conceded 3 goals in all competitive matches to date.

Wednesday 23/11/2005 home vs Turnhout, Belgian Third Division A

With the first team players having had an extra few days of rest due to the Belgian Cup match, Jules expected his squad to be sharp for the match against Turnhout. His optimistic outlook was proved correct pretty quickly as Willebroek scored 4 goals before the halftime whistle went. Pascal Vande Gucht opening proceedings with a penalty in the 2nd minute and was quickly followed by a Jan Huygens special in the 8th minute when he stripped the Turnhout goalkeeper of the ball who had foolishly came out of his area and struck from an acute angle. Kevin Stuckens added the third when he toed in a rebound from in the 23rd minute and Giles de Bilde completed the first half scoring with a well taken curled freekick just before half-time. When Kevin Stuckens added his second goal 7 minutes after the resumption, Jules decided to ring the changes bringing on his substitutes but even the changes didn’t stem the flow with goals with Jan Huygens in the 73rd minute and a Jeroen Driessen penalty in the 75th minute completing proceedings.

Willebroek 7 – 0 Turnhout

Sunday 27/11/2005 away to Ruppel-Boom, Belgian Third Division A

The match against Ruppel-Boom after only 3 days rest meant that the small Willebroek squad were still feeling their knocks and bruises from the previous match against Turnhout leading Jules Jackson to revert to his away counter attacking ploy. The match fit the by now standard profile for Willebroek away matches. Kevin Stuckens scored a well taken goal in the 17th minute after a knockdown by Jan Huygens. Once more Jules was justified with his decision to start Stuckens ahead of Giles de Bilde despite the flack he had taken from some supporters and the player himself The joy of the goal was however short-lived as Ruppel-Boom replied from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute. The half was played out without any significant incidents thereafter and even though Jules told his team to adopt a more attacking approach after the half, the results remained familiar with no further additions to the scoreboard.

Ruppel-Boom 1 – 1 Willebroek

[will_coleridge]

My favourite story at the moment, keep up the good work!

[Rustyman]

Thanks for the dind words will_coleridge. It really is encouraging to hear that other people enjoy the tale other than myself.

[Rustyman]

The last post should obviously read "kind words" instead of "dind words".

[Rustyman]

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Mid Season Squad Evalution

The month of December was a time that Jules needed to make a number of decisions on his squad composition, not only for the rest of the current season, but also for future seasons and the various permutations that brought. Jules’ view was that with its current makeup and a couple of reinforcements, Willebroek could look towards promotion to the second division within 3 years and hopefully even earlier than that. That being the case, all decisions made regarding playing personnel needed to be made with that goal and expectation in mind.

Existing Squad

As virtually all player contracts expired at the end of the season, Jules needed to make a number of decisions with regards to which players were to be offered contract extensions and for how long. He felt confident that after 13 league and 4 cup matches, he was in a good position to evaluate players and their long term futures and his notes as drawn up prior to the winter transfer window were as follows:

Goalkeepers

Johnny Lebegge, GK, 26. Clear cut first choice keeper and appeared to be one of the better keepers in the division. Was likely to be able to make the step-up to a higher level and even if he wasn’t, he would at worse be a decent backup at a higher level. Offer a 2 year extension on current contract.

Gilles Berckmoes, GK, 21. Current primary backup keeper. Had the basic skills to be a decent keeper at the current level and may have some potential for further improvement. Coaches seem to be enthusiastic about his potential so offer him a 2 year extension.

Thomas van Collie, GK, 21. Had hands of stone and didn’t always appear motivated to improve himself. One of those players who appeared happy to play football as a hobby but wasn’t determined enough to take the steps necessary to take a shot at being a professional footballer. Try to trade in the winter break.

Gert Vanasselberghs, GK, 17. A youngster Jules had picked up as a free transfer from Lierge where he had been part of their academy. Even at his young age, he seemed to be the equal of Thomas van Collie and he had more room for improvement. Currently on a 3 year contract as a trainee so no changes are needed.

Defenders

Frank Rits, D RC, DM, MR, 26. Frank had been a fixture in the first team over the first half of the season and Jules was pleased with his performances. However, it was unlikely that the player had much scope for further improvement and his lack of pace was a handicap at times against speedy wingers. Jules decided to offer Frank an extra year on his contract and hoped to find a better replacement before his contract expired.

Laurens Melotte, D LC, 20. Laurens had proved to be one of the stars of the first half of the season. His pace and determination allowed him to recover quickly from any errors his inexperience and any skills shortcomings. Jules had high-hopes for Laurens and so 2 year extension was offered.

Jelle Geerits, DC, 27. Jelle had proved to be exactly what Jules had expectedl He was the anchor of the team which allowed other central defenders to be fitted in around him depending on availability and matchups. While he was never going to be a highly skilled player, his strengths were exactly what a team like Willebroeks needed and a 2 year contract extension was no more than he deserved.

Carl Meseure, DC, DM, 36. Carl was the perfect veteran presence a team like Willebroek A key bench presence and primary backup at the DC position however the question was how long he could keep going. While Jules had no intention of shopping Carl around, he was hesitant in offering him any extension until the end of the season when a better assessment could be made of his role in a hopefully strengthened Willebroek squad.

Sebastian Ressart, DC, DM, 26. Sebastian had proven to be exactly what Jules had intended when he bought him at the start of the season. A physical presence in both the DC and DM roles, his only negative thus far had been that he had suffered a bad injury which had kept him out for 6 weeks and and it was likely that he would be out for another month or more. As he was already signed up for another 3 years, no action was required on his contract.

Sven van der Heyden, utility defender, 23. While Sven had occupied a regular position on the Willebroek bench, his performances were nothing to write home about and Jules had decided that the player was unlikely to develop significantly to make retaining his services worthwhile. The decision was therefore made to try to dispose of his services and to see if a suitable replacement as backup defender could be found.

Joeri Schouppe, DC, DM, AM C, 24. Joeri had proven to be exactly what Jules expected when he signed him at the beginning of the season. A useful and versatile backup but lacking quality to be anything more than a spot starter. As his contract ran to the end of the next season, no action was required.

Stefan Blommaert, D/WB L, ML, 22. Stefan had been a fixture in the squad at left-back during the early part of the season. However, a torn calf muscle had kept him out for the past 8 weeks. While a risk as the player lacked paced, Jules decided to offer him a 2 year contract extension as he had shown that when healthy, his performances outstripped his skills and physical talents.

Midfielders

Tommy Meire, DM, 30. Tommy had proven to be exactly what Jules had expected of him, namely useless. Even with a number of injuries in the squad, Jules hadn’t felt the need to utilise his services in the first team and the general feeling amongst staff and supporters was the sooner he was an ex-Willebroek player, the better. This was one player that would be actively shopped before the transfer window.

Dennis Odoi, DM, 17. Dennis was a player whom Jules had taken a flyer on as a free transfer and to now he had performed to expectations. He wasn’t a part of the first team squad but when called upon in the match against Cercle Brugge when Jules started his reserves, he hadn’t disgraced himself. With a contract until the end of the following season, there was enough time to evaluate the youngster before any action was required.

Luc de Smet, ML, 23. Luc was one of those people who always had the ability to get under Jules’ skin. Whether that was in his former life as a high flying entrepreneur or in his new life as a football manager. The player had both pace and talent but seemed to be totally unmotivated to do anything with those natural advantages, instead, expecting to coast through life with his god-given talents. Jules was determined that that coasting would not be with the Willebroek squad in the future. While Jules decided not to shop Luc before and during the upcoming transfer window due to the lack of depth in the Willebroek squad on the left side of the pitch, he would not be offering the player any extension to his existing contract.

Hugo Zeghers, MC, 18. Hugo had done well in the first half of the season for a player primarily signed as a backup. He had proven to be an effective starter in central midfield when called upon, and while nothing special, even at this young age he was proving to be a player who was unlikely to lose a match for his team. Jules was pleased with his decision to sign the youngster to an initial 3 year deal and hoped to see further improvement as the season progressed. While Hugo was not likely to be a full-time starter for a number of years yet, he was good value as a key reserve and occasional starter.

Tom de Craeke, AM RL,26. Tom had proven to be everything Jules had expected. He was team captain and had maintained his performances all year despite playing out of position on the left wing. With his combination of skill, talent and relative youth, Jules was convinced that a team from a higher level would make a play for the winger before the season was over as there had been a number of scouts to have a look at the player. Either way, Jules was determined to keep Tom as long as he could and therefore decided to offer him a 3 year extension to his contract.

Murat Kocat, AM RC, 19. Murat was one of those players most teams had, someone with skill and talent who promised much more however the youngster had shown nothing on the practice field in competitive matches thus far and Jules was open to offers for the youngster. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Jules decided to shop the youngster around to see if he could get something for him before he was eligible to sign as a free transfer for another team.

Alex Vergeylen, AM RC, FC, 26. Alex had proven to be one of the surprises of the season for Jules. He had taken the starting right wing position on the first day of the season and hadn’t relinquished it yet. While unlikely to be mistaken for a powerhouse, his pace and trickery had delivered 3 goals and 6 assists to date. This was one player who had very definitely earned his offer of a contract extension.

Pascal vande Gucht, AMC, 29. Pascal had been one of the standout players for Willebroek during the first half of the season. While lacking great skills or pace, his physical qualities and feel for the game together with being a very competent freekick proponent had seen the player being voted the MOM 4 times to date while contributing 6 goals and 5 assists. In this case, a lucrative contract extension was the minimum reward for his services. Even with a possible raise in standard in the next couple of years due to a likely promotion, Jules was convinced the player could make the grade and if not, he would be a serviceable backup.

Forwards

Kevin Stukens, AM R, ST, 25. Kevin had been one of the surprises of the season to date. Initially Jules had expected him to be a sparkplug off the bench but the whole team seemed to operate better when he was promoted to a starting position at the expense of Gilles de Bilde. His pace and feel for the ball was the perfect compliment to the more physical and predatory game of Jan Huygens as attested by his return of 10 goals and 2 assists to date. Jules felt it was essential to offer Kevin a 2 year contract extension in order to keep the player for Willebroek.

Gilles de Bilde, AM L, FC, 34. Jules had been a disappointment to Jules Jackson thus far. At the beginning of the season Jules had felt that Gilles was the best player in the squad by a fair margin. However that assessment was not borne out by the results on the field. An early injury hampered his progress but Gilles further harmed his cause by never really being 100 fit. This meant that he always needed to be substituted if he started which reduced Jules’ squad management options. If a buyer could be found, Jules would happily see the back of de Bilde, in the interim, he served as a nice option off the bench.

Jan Huygens, AM/F C, 29. Jan Huygens was the star of the first half of the season. He started out quickly and if anything accelerated after that. His returns of 16 goals and 6 assists in 16 matches was phenomenal, even at this low level. At the beginning of the year Jules had felt that he was possible starter but never expected the performances displayed by the player. Despite recently turning 29, Jules felt that Jan had a least a couple more good years in him and a two year contract extension was deserved.

Peter Smolders, ST, 20. Peter was one of the players in the squad that exceeded expectations. While he still often had to give up his bench spot to Gilles de Bilde, he had made optimal use of the limited opportunities he had received scoring 2 goals in 6 substitute appearance. Jules was confident that if he managed to dispose of de Bilde in the winter transfer window, Peter would be able to fill the role of super-sub late in games. The offer of a contract extension had been earned by the youngster.

After the review of his squad, Jules Jackson once more gave thanks to his predecessor. He had asked around on a couple of occasions but hadn’t really received any direct reasons why the job had been vacant when he applied. Whatever the qualities of the man he replaced, he did have an eye for talent at this level. With the future of his current squad mapped out, Jules turned his eye towards his future needs. With the possible departure of Gilles de Bilde and a number of lesser lights, Jules decided to revise his shopping list to the following:

1) a third striker capable of being an immediate part of the starting forward rotation;

2) a young midfielder capable of playing both wings;

3) a creative midfielder to counterbalance the existing defensive midfielders in the team;

4) a third starting quality central defender to allow Melotte to concentrate on the full back role.

[Rustyman]

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December 2005

December only had 3 matches scheduled due to the winter break in Belgian football that went from mid-December to early January. All there matches were home events as well so Jules Jackson had great hopes of going through December undefeated.

Sunday 04/12/2005 home vs RC Mechelen, Belgian Third Division A

The match against RC Mechelen was another local derby as Mechelen was not too far removed from Willebroek. As such, supporters of both teams placed a great deal of emphasis on the local derbies. To add fuel to the fire, Mechelen had been regarded as one of the pre-season favourites for promotion and they were living up to that prognosis, just having been beaten out by Willebroek for the first period title and currently holding 2nd position in the table. The match turned out to be an anticlimax however with with Mechelen seemingly overcome by the occassion to play their worst match of the season and Willebroek dominating proceedings and scoring either side of half time to seal the match. The first goal was the result of a well timed run in the 42nd minute from Jan Huygens into the box to get on to the end of a hopeful long ball from Carl Mesure who was filling in as central defender. The header flashed closely pass the Mechelen goalkeeper who had no time to react and the 1-0 lead at half-time was no more than Willebroek deserved. When Kevin Stuckens scored in the 48th minute with a nice turn and half volley to double the lead after lead-up play from Gilles de Bilde who whipped in a fierce cross into the near post, all that was needed was to stiffen up the Willebroek defence as the anaemic Mechelen attack was proving to be no real threat. To that end Jules brought on his substitutes early and closed off the match. For the second time this season, Christian Mellaerts entered the dressing rooms as the players were ready to go to once more reinforce to the players and staff how important the win against local rivals were and the impact that matches such as this had on the local community.

Willebroek 2 – 0 RC Mechelen

[Rustyman]

Sunday 11/12/2005 home vs FCV Dender, Belgian Third Division A

Jules Jackson approached the match against FCV Dender with a lot of confidence. His team had been playing well lately and with FCV Dender being closer to the relegation zone than the playoff positions, he was hopeful of bringing some of his starters off early to give them some rest for next weekend’s match against fellow title contenders Aalst. The match started off as planned with FCV Dender having to fend off a furious opening assault by the Willebroek team who appeared to be determined to close this match out early. When Dender central defender Kristof de Witte was sent off for pulling down Kevin Stuckens in the box and Tom de Craeke scored from the resultant penalty, it seemed that the match would be a cakewalk for Willebroek.

Unfortunately, FCV Dender hadn’t read the same script and without the need to pretend to combat and Willebroek attack, the defended staunchly and effectively until the 85th minute when Tom Smolders scored from an incredible clearance/lob from his own half. While young Tom maintained afterwards that he always intended to goal, there was a distinct lack of believers in Willebroek squad, including his manager.

Willebroek 2 – 0 FCV Dender

Sunday 18/11/2005 home vs Aalst, Belgian Third Division A

The match against Aalst was much anticipated by both teams and their supporters. The match earlier in the season had seen Aalst dominate for much of the 90 minutes only to have Willebroek snatch 2 late goals on the counter attack. The end score of 0-2 to Willebroek was on that occasion extremely deceptive and Jules and no problems in admitting that that result was both lucky and it gave his team a great deal of confidence to go out an play as they had for first half of the season.

For the return match, Aalst made sure they did not repeat the mistakes of their earlier encounter. With the match barely having begun, Willebroek found themselves one goal down when Madjid Adjaoud scored for Aalst after beautiful lead up play by his teammates. Before the Willebroek players could settle down, Alexandre Lecomte doubled the Aalst lead in the 12 minute after a swift counterattack. The Willebroek players, staff and supporters were all stunned into silence. Tom de Craeke then took matters in his own hands and through sheer force of personality and determination managed to snatch a goal back for Willebroek after a long solo run and a great angled shot. This gave the rest of the squad heart to emerge from their funk and the rest of the half was played out with the Willebroek trying to probe for openings and the Aalst team maintaining a compact stout defence whilst always looking for counter attacking opportunities.

Jules Jackson marched his way into the dressing rooms and delivered the Willebroek squad the worst dressing down of his tenure with the team. Many players appeared shocked at the intensity of his verbal assault and if they didn’t release it before then, they certainly realised it after that talk that Jules Jackson would not accept anything other than their full commitment to the cause and any wavering by anyone associated with the team, whether player of staff member, would lead to a one way ticket out of the door.

Jules’ tirade at half-time seemed to have the desired effect and the Willebroek squad that came out after half-time was a committed, driven bunch. They attacked the Aalst goal in waves and only exceptional goalkeeping and a fair amount of luck kept the Aalst goal intact. In the 55th minute, the momentum changed however as one of the few Aalst attacks ended up with Alexandre Lecomte in possession just outside the Willebroek penalty area. His long range curler evaded the outstretched hand of Willebroek keeper Johnny Lebegge and found the top corner of the net. 1-3 to Aalst and the match was close to being out of reached. The Willebroek players picked themselves up after that setback and once more resumed their assault on the Aalst goal and in the 79th minute that delivered dividends when a penalty was awarded to Willebroek. The gods must have been against Willebroek that day as the normally reliable Pascal Vande Gucht saw his shot saved by Thierry Coppins, the Aalst goalkeeper. That was effectively the end of the match as the heart went out of the Willebroek players then and it was a relief to all concerned when the match ended with the score unchanged.

Willebroek 1 – 3 Aalst

Aalst had carried off the same trick Willebroek had done to them by winning away against the run of play but Jules decided to write off the result as simply a good team beating another off-form good team. No reason to panic as Willebroek remained top of the table with a 5 point advantage over its nearest rival and the upcoming winter break should freshen up the players for the second half of the season.

[Rustyman]

Apologies for the faulty formatting in the last post. I guess that is what you get for too quickly cutting and pasting html codes.

[will_coleridge]

what's the belgian league format? your team's doing quite well!

[Rustyman]

Will, the format is a single first and second division followed by a two pronged third tier. Promotion from the third tier is for the 2 league winners, playoff candidates for a possible third promotion position go into a knockout phase which includes the 3rd worst second division team.

[Rustyman]

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3rd Division A League Table at Mid-Season Break 2005-06

Holders - KV Mechelen

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | Pl | Willebroek | | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 5 | +34 | 37 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | SW Harelbeke | | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 10 | +13 | 35 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Aalst | | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | RC Mechelen | | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 16 | +7 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | FCV Dender | | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 15 | +8 | 29 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Kapellen | | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 26 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Wetteren | | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 23 | -6 | 21 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Rupel-Boom | | 16 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 27 | 22 | +5 | 20 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Diegem | | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 27 | -8 | 18 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | WS Woluwé | | 16 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 18 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Maldegem | | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 23 | -8 | 17 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | RC Waregem | | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 21 | -4 | 17 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Nieuwkerken | | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 25 | -9 | 17 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Torhout | | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 22 | -11 | 15 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Turnhout | | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 29 | -13 | 11 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Bornem | | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 21 | -17 | 7 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

[will_coleridge]

14 games to go! You can do it!

From past experience, I found the Belgian league meant that you could encourage youth from France as well. You signed many youth players?

[Rustyman]

will_coleridge. I've signed youth from Belgium, usually free transfers that have been discarded from the youth programs of first or second division teams. I've also signed a couple of 17-18 year old from Holland when they were transfer listed by their clubs. I haven't signed any youngsters from France as I only have two scouts and one is concentrating on Belgium while the other is doing Central Europe but he seems to be concentrating on Holland and Germany. I haven't signed any youngster who is good enough to be a starter though.

[Rustyman]

January 2005

January started off with a bang as during the winter break Jules had managed to acquire some reinforcements for his squad as well as getting rid of some players who did not fit into his plans.

Players In

Marciano Gungadin, 17 year old central midfielder from Excelsior in the Dutch second divison. Marciano had been on the transfer list at Excelsior and when Jules made an offer to take him off their hands, they were glad to release him for free. The thing that attracted the Willebroek scouts to the youngster in the first place and the reasons for Jules continuing interest was that he seemed to have all the basic requirements to develop into pretty decent midfielder in a couple of years and he just had that little bit of flair to distinguish himself from other players his age. While the player was obviously far from being the end product Jules envisaged (or else he wouldn’t have been transfer listed by his club), Jules was happy to take him off Excelsior’s hands on the hope to developing his skills.

Denis Ismailovski, a 19 year old attacking midfielder cum forward, was signed from fellow Third Division team WS Woluwe for the grand sum of 3000 euros. Denis was a young striker with a lot of similarity to Kevin Stuckens in that he had good pace, was hard working and had an eye for goal. With the probable departure of Gilles de Bilde in mind, either in the winter transfer window or at the end of the season, Jules felt that young Dennis could fill that fourth striker role for the team and had the potential to eventually challenge Kevin Stuckens for his starter role a couple of years in the future.

Omo Monday, a 21 year old Nigerian who could play any position on the left flank was signed for 1K from non-league Ninove. Monday was signed to fill the gap left by Stefan Blommaert’s long term injury and the hoped for departures of Luc de Smet and Gilles de Bilde. While no longer young enough to be regarded as an unpolished gem, Jules was hopeful that Omo could develop into a starter in the not too distant future and depose Blommaert as the team’s first choice left back.

Daan Bovenberg, another 17 year old midfielder from Excelsior was also signed on a free transfer. In Daan’s case, Jules didn’t expect as much from him as he did from Gungadin but after numerous rebuffals from better players, developing squad depth in the critical central midfield area was preferable to doing nothing.

Players Out

After much calling and shopping of his excess players to all and sundry, Jules was happy to start January with the departures of the following players:

Thomas van Collie, 21 year old GK to non-league FC Kathelijne for 1K;

Tommy Meire, 30 year old DM to non-league RC Lebbeke for a surprising 50K;

Murat Kocak, 19 year old AM RC to non-league SK Lebbeke for 60K, Jules had tired of the players antics and decided to cut his losses and to have someone else try to unlock his undoubted talent.

In addition to the players going out, there seemed to be a fair bit of interest in the Willebroek players, no doubt brought about by the league position of the squad and enquiries were made about Axel Vergeylen, Kevin Stuckens, Pascal Vande Gucht and Tom de Craeke. Jules didn’t seriously entertain those offers but made what he regarded as highly unlikely counter-bids hoping in this was to dissuade teams from pinching his best players. What was however disappointing was despite Jules’ best efforts to acquire a couple of starting quality players, his efforts all came to naught. While the clubs were prepared to accept Jules’ offers for their players, the players themselves did not seem to regard Willebroek as a desirable home, even when offered wages well in excess of their current levels of pay.

[Rustyman]

January Matches

Sunday 08/01/2006 away to Wetteren, Belgian Third Division A

After the disappointing manner in which Willebroek had gone into the winter break, Jules Jackson was determined to start off the new year on a positive note. For the game against Wetteren, Jules decided to start one of his new signings, young Omo Monday on the left flank in place of Tom de Craeke and switched Tom to his preferred position on the right flank in the place of Axel Vergeylen. The reason for doing so was not straightforward as Axel had done very well as a permanent fixture on the right flank during the first half of the season. However, Antwerp in the Belgian Second Division had come in with a very reasonable offer for the player and Jules had decided to negotiate to see how far they would go. As a precaution, Axel was being held out of the upcoming match and therefore young Omo was getting his chance.

The return match against Wetteren started out very differently to their previous match earlier in the year when Willebroek flogged them 4-0 at home. On their own ground, Wetteren showed that they were determined not to be pushovers and they came out playing aggressive attacking football which was duly rewarded in the 23rd minute when Stefan Staelens slammed the ball into the net from a dead ball opportunity just outside the Willebroek box. While the goal was unwelcome, Jules could not quibble with it being a fair reflection of the match up to then. The best thing about going down a goal was that it seemed to galvanise the Willebroek players into action and they responded by trying to wrest the initiative from Wetteren. Within minutes the changed attitude bore fruit when Jan Huygens, in a typical move for him closed down the Wetteren goalkeeper. Unaware of the danger, the goalkeeper tried to bring the ball under control before clearing it, however, in a twinkling of an eye he had been robbed of the ball and it was calmly deposited in the back of the net. All square once more and now it was game on!

The rest of the half was a battle with neither side being able to dominate and when half-time was reached, both teams could be relatively satisfied with the status of the match. The second-half resumed as the first had ended with both teams battling for control with no clear winner. The balance was tilted in Willebroek’s favour in the 66th minute when in a counter attack, Giles de Bilde who had just come on as a substitute, put Jan Huygens through with a quick ball from the halfway line. Two touches were all that were required, one to bring the ball under control and the other to beat his marker, before Huygens scored his second of the afternoon. The players had barely had time to recover their breath when from the kickoff, Giles de Bilde played another hopeful long ball forward, this time substitute Hugo Zeghers, being the freshest man on the park, got on the end of the pass and calmly passed the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net. The two goals in two minutes broke the back of the Wetteren resistance and although they tried valiantly to get back into the match, Willebroek adopted a more defensive approach and played out the rest of the match relatively easily.

Wetteren 1 – 3 Willebroek

The days preceeding the next Willebroek match was taken up by various too and frowing between Willebroek and Antwerp regarding their interest in Axel Vergeylen. By this time it was clear to Jules that Antwerp were serious in their interest, and having seen young Omo Monday come through unscathed in the match against Wetteren, Jules was seriously weighing their offers as he still wanted to make some noise in the transfer market before the window closed at the end of the month.

Eventually, the grand sum of 150K euros was agreed as a price for Vergeylen and Jules was glad as he felt that he should be able to get 2 players similarly talented to Vergeylen for the same price. The day before the match against WS Woluwe was a sad one on the Willebroek training ground as Axel Vergeylen had been well liked by his teammates. However, everyone understood that Jules could not turn down the offer and that it was a very good move for Axel as he would be playing in a higher division and making substantially more money.

Sunday 15/01/2006 home vs WS Woluwe, Belgian Third Division A

The early season match between Willebroek and WS Woluwe had ended in a boring 0 – 0 draw and Jules was hopeful that the return encounter would be more lively, especially at home. The match itself turned into a bit of an anti-climax though, the only real excitement coming from an early goal in the 7th minute from the Woluwe’s Congolese striker Blaise Issankoy who nipped in between the Willebroek central defenders to get on the end of a long ball and deftly chip the goalkeeper for an early WS Woluwe lead. Woluwe tried to sit back then but the Willebroek reply came from Dennis Ismailovski in the 19th minute when he got on the end of a far post cross to head home. Thereafter, the match turned one-sided with Willebroek hold the Woluwe goal to siege resulting in an Omo Monday goal in the 44th minute when he shot from a wide angle after a goalmouth scramble. It took until the 83rd minute to put the final nail into the WS Woluwe coffin and it came courtesy of Giles de Bilde who managed to hold off his man long enough to drive a left footed sizzler past the hapless Woluwe goalkeeper to essentially kill the match off.

Willebroek 3 – 1 WS Woluwe.

[Rustyman]

Sunday 22/01/2006 away to Kapellen, Belgian Third Division A

With two wins from the same number of matches on resuming after the winter break, Willebroek approached its next match against Kapellen with lots of confidence, especially in light of the 5-0 thrashing Willebroek had handed out to Kapellen the last time they had met. Kapellen, in its turn game out aggressive and attacking in an effort to wipe away the memory of the previous meeting between the two teams. It was therefore no surprise when Kapellen midfielder Cedric Garni received a straight red card and was sent-off in the 24th minute for throwing an elbow. Instead of the sending-off opening up the floodgates for Willebroek, it simply seemed to motivate Kapellen more if possible and the rest of the half was played out as a physical midfield battle until a minute before half-time when Pascal Vande Gucht got on to the end of a cross and put the ball in the back of the net after wonderful lead-up play by Willebroek. With the score 0-1 to the visitors and Kapellen down to 10 men, Jules instructed his players to play sensibly but not over cautiously for the second half as he was confident in the ability of his team to play the match out.

However, even the best of plans sometimes goes awry and when Laurens Melotte was sent off in the 62nd minute for his second yellow card, the match was back to being a contest with 10 against 10. With the rain pounding down, Jules brought on his reserves to tighten up his defence in response to the renewed energy and attacking play from Kapellen. These moves appeared to bear fruit as the increasingly frantic attacks from Kapellen were easily being dismantled by the Willebroek defence. In the 72nd minute, disaster struck as a panicky backpass by Tom de Claeke to Johnny Lebegge was intercepted by Joris de Tollenaere who with no defender in site slotted the ball pass a stranded Lebegge. Scores level and while a fair reflection of play, Jules was furious as it seemed that opposition goals were increasingly due to lack of concentration and sloppy play instead of well worked chances. Willebroek regrouped well though and despite the rampaging Kapellen attack, the match was heading towards a draw when in the 90th minute a rebound off the post found Joris de Tollenaere unmarked in the 6-yard box and he scored his second of the afternoon. If that was not enough to make Jules Jackson tear his hair out, insult was added to injury when another goal was scored by Kapellen, this time by Steef Yousfi to bring to a close a memorable victory for Kapellen.

Kapellen 3 – 1 Willebroek

[Rustyman]

Sunday 29/01/2006 home vs RC Waregem, Belgian Third Division A

The match against RC Waregem offered the possibility of redemption to a severely embarrassed Willebroek team after the debacle against Kapellen. Jules Jackson spent the seven days between that defeat and the current match trying to place the defeat in context. Was the defeat against RC Waregem simply a reflection of the by now well defined problem relating to Willebroek’s inability to perform up to its ability away from home or was this sign of a deeper problem with concentration as both the recent defeats had featured goals in the latter part of the second-half. Also, did these defeats point to mentality problem where Willebroek were great front-runners but lacked the fortitude to fight back from adversity.

The game opened with a bang with young Gbana Wende opening the scoring for the visitors Waregem in the 2nd minute. The goal was the result of a brilliant cross which gave the youngster position on his defender and he didn’t hestitate with his snapshot, putting the ball past Lebegge before he had a chance to react. While watching the events unfold, Jules Jackson was asking himself what kind of reaction his team would provide. He wanted to know if they would fight back without any intervention from himself or whether they would creep into their shells. The answer to his question was inconclusive as an easily given penalty led to Pascal Vande Gucht equalising in the 10th minute. Thereafter, Willebroek moved into high gear, peppering the Waregem goal from all angles resulting in goals for Peter Smolders in the 31st minute and Jan Huygens in the 36th minute. With a good lead at halftime, Jules decided to give his reserves an extended runout and the second-half turned into a exercise in possession defending for Willebroek. Waregem tried but never really mounted a believable challenge and the final score remained unchanged.

Willebroek 3 – 1 RC Waregem

With the end of January also heralding the end of the second period title which was also won by Willebroek, the final 3rd of the season saw Willebroek on top of the Third Division A with a six point lead over its nearest rival Aalst and a 375K kitty for strenghtening the squad in the offseason.

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[Rustyman]

February 2006

04-02-2006

Omo Monday, the youngster Jules Jackson had signed from Belgian amateur club Ninove was called up for the Nigerian under-21 squad much to Jules’ surprise. While he was aware that the youngster had already won a cap at the U-21 level for Nigeria, Jules hadn’t thought that the Nigerian national setup would take much notice of a player in the third rung of Belgian football. While Jules was overjoyed for the youngster (and mentally patting himself on the back for signing him for the next 3 years), his thoughts immediately turned to how he could achieve the best return for the club from this unexpected event. He had heard the conflicting views in Belgian football about one or more of the second division clubs stocking its squad with cheap Ivorian players in the hope of later selling them on and while Jules was not that mercenary, he felt that having an informal route into the Nigerian football setup might be a major advantage to the club if it could be appropriately leveraged.

Jules called the youngster into his office the next morning and informed Omo that he had been called up. He then asked the youngster how he had experienced his first month at the club. Omo replied that he really enjoyed being there, especially as this was a step up for him and it could be the start of a real career in football. He informed Jules that his parents in Nigeria were old and not very well and the opportunity offered by a passing Belgian scout, even for non-league football, was an offer his family could not refuse. As Monday explained, even if he did not make it in football, he would probably be able to gain Belgian residency and get a job which would enable him to support his parents and extended family in Nigeria. As young Omo had had a very good first month for Willebroek and seemed to be dedicating himself to being successful for the club, Jules informed him that he felt he had a real shot at being a professional footballer especially in Willebroek were to gain promotion in the next couple of years. When Jules popped the question asking Omo to scout his Nigerian teammates and to see if any other Nigerian-based players might be interested in joining Willebroek, Omo immediately agreed and told Jules he would hurry back as soon as his Nigerian commitments were over to report back the results. When Jules told the youngster to stay an extra couple of days to catch up with his family, he immediately had a loyal convert to the cause.

[will_coleridge]

There's something fishy about filling up a squad with Nigerian's...

What if they all get international call ups!!!

[Rustyman]

Will, at this point, all of them think they are better than a team a my level but who knows, young Omo could be our mole in their camp.

[Rustyman]

Saturday 04/02/2006 away to Torhout, Belgian Third Division A

Jules and his teams approached the match with some confidence borne out from their previous encounter when Torhout were dispatched relatively simply on the end of a 4-0 loss. However, with the ongoing problems Willebroek were experiencing away from home, Jules made sure to temper his team’s confidence before they went out on the field and impressed on his players the need to get the job done on the field and to hopefully close down the match as quickly as possible. The Willebroek players then went out followed the plan to the letter, being cautions early and then once they felt that Torhout was more interested in saving face at home by not losing rather than wanting to win, they took the attack to their opposition. Despite the attacking intentions from Willebroek, the teams entered the dressing rooms at half-time without having bothered the scorekeepers. Jules was sure to caution his players at half-time to be aware of the Torhout counter attack as Willebroek had falling for the sucker counter attack on a couple of occasions to date. His fears were however for naught as Torhout resumed where they left off in the first half playing a very defensive game and when they had an opportunity for the counter attack, they were too cautious to be effective. Unfortunately, Willebroek for all its endeavour, was unable to penetrate the Torhout defense and the match ended scoreless.

Torhout 0 – 0 Willebroek

Sunday 12/02/2006 home vs SW Harelbeke, Belgian Third Division A

Approaching the match against SW Harelbeke, Jules felt that his team was just loosing a bit of its edge in recent weeks. The unexpected defeat against Kapellen, the draw the previous week against Torhout all seemed to point towards the team loosing its momentum slightly. With that in mind, Jules hoped that the match against fellow promotion contenders SW Harelbeke should give a better indication of where Willebroek currently stood as a team. The match against Harelbeke was a typical encounter between contenders with both teams willing to take their chances as they arose but neither being willing to force the game and impose their will on the other. With both attacks also have an off date, the final outcome of a scoreless draw didn’t shed much light for either manager as what the future held in the battle for promotion.

Willebroek 0 – 0 SW Harelbeke

Sunday 19/02/2006 away to Diegem, Belgian Third Division A

After the poor returns in recent weeks, Jules was determined to go on the attack against Diegem who were fighting their own battle against relegation. For once, Jules was determined that his team would try to go out and dominate the opposition and hopefully pick up an early goal which would allow them to return to their normal game. Jules was granted his wish and the first goal was scored in the 17th minute, unfortunately for Willebroek it was scored by Dimitry Delmotte for Diegem when he was played though by a wonderful through ball and found himself one-one-one with the Willebroek goalkeeper and he calmly took his opportunity. To Jules’ relief, the reply was quick in coming and Omo Monday levelled the score in the 22nd minute by sneaking between the Diegem defenders to get on the end of a low cross to volley the ball pass the defenceless goalkeeper. The rest of the half was fairly tight and the 1-1 score at half-time was a fair reflection of the play to that point.

Going into the second-half, Jules was determined not to vary his gameplan and wanted his team to try and impose their will on the opposition and the team went out and executed the gameplan flawlessly with Hugo Zeghers in the 51st minute putting Willebroek in front after a well timed run from midfield. This was followed by goals from Jan Huygens in the 56th minute and Denis Ismailovski in the 65th minute to put the game beyond Diegem. Jules was sure to complement his players after the final whistle and stated his hope that the win would be the start of another streak for Willebroek.

Diegem 1 – 4 Willebroek

Sunday 26/02/2006 home vs Nieuwkerken, Belgian Third Division A

The match against Nieuwkerken seem like the perfect opportunity to continue the good form rediscovered against Diegem. After the embarrassment of the 4-0 defeat of their previous league encounter this season, Nieuwkerken was determined to offer stiffer resistance this time. The first thus quickly settled down into a pattern of Willebroek trying to force the issue with smart attacking play while Nieuwkerken defended stoutly and tried to take advantage of any counter attacking opportunities that came their way. Just before half-time in the 43rd minute, with Nieuwkerken breaking out of their own area on one of their sporadic counters, the ball was crossed into the near post and Sebastian Ressart, in his eagerness to defuse the attack, misjudged his clearing header slightly and the ball went into his own net. Half-time therefore saw the completely unjustified scoreline of Willebroek 0-1 Nieuwkerken.

Jules calmed his players down at half-time and assured them that the own goal was simply one of those random occurrences that could happen to any player and that if they continued to play their own game, Willebroek would almost certainly end on top at the end of the game. However, the expected equaliser to open the floodgates never came and when Nieuwkerken striker Steijn de Keukelaire rose to head the ball goalwards from a corner in the 72nd minute which evaded the gloves of Jan Lebegge, the shocked Willebroek home crowd were faced with the possibility of their club registering the second home defeat of the season. Despite the best efforts of Jules and his men, the score remained unchanged up to the final whistle and the Nieuwkerken players left the field celebrating as if they had won the competition.

Willebroek 0 – 2 Nieuwkerken

February ended as a disappointment in so many ways with 2 draws, 1 loss and a single win being Willebroek’s worst monthly return yet. Despite these returns, Willebroek remained at the top of the Belgian Third Division A with a 4 point lead over nearest rivals Aalst due to the main rivals also experiencing less than stellar February campaigns. With 6 games to go in the regular season, Jules and his team were starting to devote serious thoughts towards direct promotion to the Second Division, even though no one was about to start explicitly voicing those thoughts.