Hey everyone!
Welcome back to another update on my second season with Club Brugge. In the last post we saw an alarming dip in form, as we crashed out of Europe and also saw our six point lead turn to three points behind. Could we improve? Let’s find out…
Transfers
First of all we’ll start with the transfers, after the recent form I decided that a couple of in’s and out’s we’re needed. Macbeth Sibaya left on a free after he wasn’t up to the task and Juanito and Sven D’Hoest went on loan. Now the sales, Vadis Odjidja had been moaning about wanting a move to a bigger club and had upset a lot of people, so when Roma offered 5m…I snapped there hands off. It was the same with Wilfried Dalmat, he too was causing problems but this time it was because he wanted more first team football…he was injured though lol…so 2.7m from Getafe was more than enough. Finally, Ivan Perisic who I did like, but had fallen down the pecking order since Cani and Eric had joined and 1.3m was a good deal (I think) for him. Now on to the buys…
Dede
I felt we were conceding too many goals with Donk and Koefkens at the back, so in he came. This chap has good acceleration and awesome pace and strength as well as good tackling. Yes 11m was expensive but he’ll be a beast in the Pro League.
Cedric Bakambu
Brought in as backup due to the injuries to Lerato Chabangu and Dorge Kouemaha, I’ve seen what this kid can do in the Premier League on other saves and I thought the Pro League is no Premier League…he should be able to do a job in Belgium. I know it says he’s at Wigan but I forgot to take a screenshot whilst he was with us…ooops!
January
Our first game of the January came against AA Gent, a difficult side to kick-off the New Year against but I was hoping for a win. We went in at half-time 0-0, we had more possession and a few more shots. AA Gent managed to get a goal early on in the second half and also held out for a 1-0 win. Not the result I wanted.
Next up was the Brugge derby, we’d drawn with Cercle earlier on in the season and I wanted a win. Telling the players ‘I expect a win’ seemed to do the trick lol, Hoa Junmin scored 5 minutes from half-time to give us the advantage. Cercle Brugge never really tested us all match and Cedric Bakambu sealed our victory 10 minutes from time. 2-0 the final score.
After the victory against Cercle Brugge came Zulte Waregem. They were floating near the bottom of the league and didn’t expect them to cause us too many problems…ooooh I was sooo wrong… we were 2-0 down at half-time. I shouted ‘I expect a win’ at them but this time it didn’t work Zulte Waregem were on it and ran out 4-0 winners. I was so disappointed.
Due to the performance of a few players I made numerous changes for our next match, Lierse. I had to rush Dorge Kouemaha back for injury because Bakambu picked up an injury (caused by a nasty challenge from my captain in training), but that didn’t stop him from getting a goal in the first 8 minutes which, turned out to be the only goal in the match. 1-0 win to us, January done.
February
Feburary started with an away trip to Germinal Beerschot. We made a good start to the match and found ourselves 1-0 up at half-time, Bart Goor with an own goal. Katlego, back for International duty replaced Dorge Kouemaha in the second half and marked his return with a goal and our second. It was quite an even match looking back, but we made our chances pay.
Charleroi at home was next for us and again I was expecting a comfortable win against poor opponents, but I underestimated them and they scored 20 minutes in and that was enough for them to win 1-0.
We then travelled to KV Mechelen, needing a win after a poor showing against Charleroi, I told the player ‘you can win today’ and we raced to a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes, goals coming from Bakambu and a penalty from Geraerts. KV Mechelen scored on 38 minutes but we led at half-time 2-1. KV Mechelen dominated the second half and missed various chances to equalise, I thought we’d held on to all three points but in the 93rd minute KV Mechelen equalised through an offside goal…I felt like crying. 2-2 final score.
Our last match of February was against 5th place STVV, this was a tricky match because I didn’t know which Club Brugge team would turn up. We’d beaten them 6-3 earlier in the league but then got destroyed 5-0 in the cup, were we going to get the same hiding??? No it finished 0-0.
March
This was it our final match of the Pro League season, after this it was Playoff time. Tournai were our opponents and they had already finished bottom of the table managing only 4 wins (1 against us lol). We started off the better side a raced to a 2-0 lead at half-time both goals coming from Nabil Dirar. Tournai gave me a little scare when they pulled one goal back on 66 minutes but Lerato Chabangu, Dede and Maxime Lestienne gave us a comprehensive victory. 5-1 the score.
So that was that the Pro League season finished…where had we come?
3rd…we’d dropped another place in the table and we’d finished 7 points behind Genk (grrrrrrr), nevermind though, we’d qualified for the playoffs again and with them starting with the final Pro League points halved… this was the playoff starting positons/points.
3 points behind Genk (grrrrrrrr), that’s not too bad. Could we win the title again…all will be revealed in the next post!
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments :)
Regards
Martin
Laxeyman
6 июня, 2011 at 17:51
A decent end to the season, it seems that once the new players gelled the results picked up, and you’ve still got a chance of winning the title, the baffling Belgian system has worked in your favour this time, as Genk’s lead has been cut. Hopefully you can beat them, good luck!
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:26
Yeah 3rd isnt too bad I dont suppose, but the results against Zulte Waregem and Charleroi very disappointing as they are matches a top team like Brugge should be winning. Genk and Standard are on it this season but fingers crossed :)
Sibo
6 июня, 2011 at 17:52
Good luck mate!
A bit inconsistent again but if you get it together for the playoffs and find some good, consistent, form I am sure you will be able to steal the league from Genk (grrrrrrrr) :D
Good luck, until the next update! :D
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:29
Cheers Sibo, we were very inconsistent, the results again Zulte Waregem and Charleroi were disgusting…we can’t afford any slip ups in the playoffs. Like I said to Laxeyman…Genk and Standard are on it. Cheers again mate.
Stromson
6 июня, 2011 at 18:21
What the what!? Evidently I wasn’t paying close enough attention last season, but what’s all this nonsense about halving points and playoffs 1, 2, and 3….and people thought the MLS was confusing. :-P Thankfully Wikipedia cleared everything up for me, and it looks like you’re in a great position to challenge for the title.
There were some disappointing results down the stretch that cost you a fair few points, but it didn’t seem to hurt your overall chances too badly. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next update.
vaibhavc
6 июня, 2011 at 18:26
What the What Stromson? It’s What the….. monkey!
Sibo
7 июня, 2011 at 11:49
:D
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:31
Hahaha it was confusing at first but its no where near as bad as the MLS. Yeah your absolutely right man…we’ve lost some very easy matches and if we hadnt the title would nearly be in the bag already. The playoffs are so unpredictable because everyone takes points off each other and it very difficult to run away lol. Cheers :)
vaibhavc
6 июня, 2011 at 18:25
Hey Martin
A decent season, I guess. Your team is very inconsistent. You seem to lose or draw many games that you should be winning. I hope you find some consistent form and smack Genk! Good luck.
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:37
Cheers vaibhavc, yeah we’ve lost some very easy games and in all honesty I thought we’d be out of the running but were not and could still win. Hahaaha i’d love to smack Gent lol.
David Wiggins
6 июня, 2011 at 18:50
I love Dede :) Had him at Fiorentina when I was doing the UEC write up on Darrens site. He is immense from corners!
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:40
Yeah Dede is an absolute BEAST…soo good in the air. I definately needed a replacement for Hoefkens…he’s getting old and his stats are rapidly fading.
Darren Smith
6 июня, 2011 at 18:51
Tough luck Martin, injuries have played there part and team chemistry seems to be lacking a little. Having said that, remember last season when none of us thought you’d win the league…but those play-offs saw each and every player step forward. That’s what you need this year and I look forward to seeing if it happens.
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:42
Yeah injury to Chabangu and others didnt help but, really with the squad I have we shouldnt be throwing points away against the likes of Charleroi. Hahaha yeah the playoffs last season were heart stopping lol…hopefully we’ll come up good and achieve the title again.
Johnny Karp
7 июня, 2011 at 07:03
Not the best form there but I have a feeling that your team will turn up at the decisive moment of the season. You surely have very good players, it’s just a matter of confidence and… luck. So I wish you the best of luck for the playoffs!
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:44
I hope your right Johnny. I thought I’d bought the right players lol…now i’m not sure lol. Cheers Johnny :)
Kevin
7 июня, 2011 at 09:50
Hi Martin
I guess I missed something in last seasons update so I wasn’t expecting playoffs. Good luck then in this post season set up and hopefully you can rally the team to some all important wins and take the title!
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:46
Hahaha yep, once you’ve played each other twice the top 6 go into a playoff lol. Cheers Kevin…hopefully my inspirational team talks will work :)
joelance
7 июня, 2011 at 10:06
Hi Martin, i was able to watch this season’s proleague playoffs though i didnt watch the final(?) match. Things can seriously turn in your favour now. Like last season you might just surprise yourself. Good luck mate.
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:48
Hi Joelance, hahaha nice one…I think Genk actually won the League title this year. I do find myself now looking for Club Brugge results and will definately be following them next lol. Yeah hopefully we’ll pull together and come out victorious again. Cheers man.
Ana Garcia
7 июня, 2011 at 22:01
A bit inconsistant but a good read!
Playoffs…..
My advice is, never take any advice from me about playoff games!
But I can only wish you the best of luck! :)
Martin
9 июня, 2011 at 10:50
A bit lol…we were terrible in some of the match this season…we must have thrown a good 10-12 points away!
Hahaha good advise!
Cheers Ana, the way Standard have been playing I think i’ll need it :P
Martinm
9 июня, 2011 at 11:11
Genks 6 losses this season proves that they are more than capable of dropping points. You have just went through your bad spell (large part due to injuries) and came out only 3 points behind them for the playoffs. You have good enough players to see you through the playoffs and they have the experience from last year to win the league!