I Will Be Great....One Day

So we are at the winter break. The squad is more than holding its own to be fair and only three defeats in 19 games is something to be more than proud of to be honest. I am delighted with the way the season is going. It is disappointed to be so far away from top spot on the league points wise but that is down to the amount of draws we have had when we should have really had wins but avoiding defeat was always a key for this side after the previous poor starts have let us down so much.



The hammering dished out by Woluwe-Zaventem was more than disappointing and losing to bottom side Charleroi Fleurus was just completely disappointing but I can let that go purely to a certain point.



Squad stats so far are looking pretty good.



Delighted with Sam Blancke, he has been superb for me since joining. 7 goals from an attacking midfield position is a great return. I am also pleased how the goals are being shared around.

Delighted to have been able to play Deconinck and Webrouck too as subs, they are a part of my youth squad as well as Kyano Verkest who has featured in 12 games in some capacity.

Another unbeaten run of games, the team is showing form that it had shown me toward the back end of the previous two seasons. Again though it is a shame about the draws.



In fairness it is the draws that could well come back and bite us in the end. With it being about points gained over the course of a run of games, to gain a play off spot, winning is paramount. I have given up on top spot being 14 points back is probably a step to far.

Form seems so much better this season! I reckon this will be your year to go up man!

Cheers pal , more to come tonight.

So going into the last game it is literally make or break. There is a chance we could be piped to a play off spot by Charleroi Fleurus who are in 15th place in the league which would quite frankly be devastating. The only chance I have of making sure that this doesn't happen is to beat them in the final game of the season.

No doubt about it I will be absolutely gutted if I fail to get the play off spot especially from a side that are so far away from me in terms of points and positions. I just hope defeat to Hasselt will not ruin my chances to get promoted.

Also if we only draw then Woluwe-Zaventem could beat us both to the top spot of the third phase of games and steal the play off spot from both of us, wish me luck!

Well.....



.... We did it, though it was more than hard fought.



I actually physically left my seat and felt like I was in the dugout as Bart Vlaeminck stuck from 20 yards to make the score 2-1. Nerve wracking doesn't even cut it!



Play offs wait for me, hopefully this is our time!

Well done on making the playoffs buddy! hopefully this is your time!

Cheers Dan, fingers crossed.





So we will play Woluwe-Zaventem in the quarter final as the Belgian league puts it. So by my reckoning that is three ties and six games away from promotion.

However, it is worth noting that we have yet to beat them in the four games we have played them. As well as that 4-0 hammering dished out earlier in the season.



Well that is until now.



We will take a one goal advantage back home to hopefully increase as we set out to get past the first test in this play offs. We were certainly not the better side but it isn't what matters, we took our chances much better. Fingers crossed for leg two. Throwing away a two goal lead however is never pleasing I am just pleased Rik Impens stuck one home for a 3-2 advantage.

Great first leg win especially away from home!

Was superb mate very pleased.





A 27th minute penalty from Laurens Vandenheed was enough to see us through to the semi finals of the play offs. We were much the better side but the lack of shots on target was a worry but we bossed the game really.



Hasselt await for us in the next round, tough draw but I fancy we can do them on our day we can beat anyone to be honest.



It is also good to see there is a fan base of sorts there. Almost 1,500 fans have turned up to watch us in this round which is more than positive, hopefully with promotion will see sub 1,000 crowds from here on in. If we are promoted that is of course. Especially when you consider we had over 1,000 more fans at our game compared to the first leg, the home game for Woluwe-Zaventem. Crazy really.

More to come after the England game.

Its a long playoff process thats for sure! Well done on making it to the Semi Finals!

The play off process seems a particularly long and stressful one to me. Oh well.



Well this is a minor stumbling block.



Two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game saw us fall to a 3-2 defeat in the first leg of the semi final. Disappointing to say the last but with that said it was a very even game.

I just really, really hope this doesn't come back and haunt us in the next leg. We need a big performance in the home game that is for sure.

Well I asked for a big performance I more than got one. Superb 5-0 win over a tough side which to be honest was more than justified. We were rampant and again the lack of shots on target was a worry but scoring from almost all your shots on target is a nice thing to see.

The 7-3 aggregate win sees us progress to the two legged final where we play Antwerp of the Second Division





They were lucky to not have been relegated outright to be honest and for that reason alone I fancy my chances. Fingers crossed a decent result from the away leg will give us the platform in the home one.

Interestingly I have had home advantage all three times in the second leg. Certainly the way around I would prefer it.

Good luck in the final mate! Brilliant so far!

Thanks fella, final will probably be tomorrow now. Unless I am up late on a night feed with my little one.

Well I am more than a little gutted. I felt we were well in charge of the game but yet have fallen to a 1-0 defeat. I am more than happy in one way though as a 1-0 deficit I would have taken before the game.

I am frustrated at cracking the woodwork twice and having one dissalowed mind.



However it looks like the supporters will be out in force for the second leg. Hopefully they can roar us to victory.

Fingers crossed home advantage will come through.

YOU JUST CAN'T LEAVE A STORY THERE! NOT WITH ONE LEG TO PLAY IN THE FINAL OF THE PLAYOFFS! AHHHHH!

Good luck in the Second Leg though pal, may be trailing but you are home second leg!

Fear not Dan, I have just this second played the final leg of the play offs. And..............





That is right folks, I managed to turn around a 1-0 first leg deficit and bring a bit of glory to this little side.



A 4-1 home leg win was enough for us to secure a 4-2 aggregate win and propel ourselves to the dizzy heights of the Second League. In truth as you can see from the stats the result never looked in doubt we actually did boss it.





Record Attendance and Gate Receipts were broken in this game. No real wonder it is the biggest game the club has had for years.



The board are also showing some ambition by expanding the capacity of the ground by 2,000 meaning we will have a 5,000 seater home which hopefully after a couple of seasons will be expanded further still. Interestingly it says it is just standing capacity that will be expanded but on the facilities page....



We are having a 600 seat terrace conversion too. You will notice that the facilities are relatively poor. I hope with a season or two in the Second League we will be able to expand these and make them much more adequate to our needs.

Here are the stats for the season also. The only players to not feature at all was goalkeeper Capelle who will leave this summer anyway. I hope to keep the majority of the squad in tact and only make a few changes.

Brilliant season mate, told you this would be your year!

Thanks pal! Hopefully can continue this form over into a tougher league.

Brilliant season! Congrats on the final win!

Thanks fella, was a great final superb from the players.

So I have gone with the avoid relegation option. I can't see it being much better than this for us this term and to stay in the league in which we will be overwhelming favourites to go down would be an achievement in itself.



Big enough changes made to the side, a few loans thrown in allowed me to keep the wage budget down, well down that is.



Fingers crossed with the wage budget so low it will mean that our finances start to improve. However that doesn't look likely.



As you can see the projected bank balance is set to deteriorate at a rapid rate over the season. We need to get to a point where we are sustaining ourselves as it is not how I want this club to run. Hopefully when we move back to our own stadium and a semi decent season will see large crowds watching us enabling funds to roll in.

Back to the side anyway and this is how the depth of the team looks according to my assistant.



Personally looking at that I think we have a good chance of staying in the league and hopefully I will be in for a long and successful season.

I am also conscious I haven't shown you how the board feels about me.



Personally I think they like me . If you want to see attributes of any of the players let me know and I will screenshot.

This is the task we face for the upcoming season. Effectively we are given no hope in this league at all.

No wonder really when you look at the clubs recent history.



As you can see for almost 20 seasons the club has been a static feature in the Third Division other than a relegation and instant promotion back up.


Season ticket sales have increased by over 100 which is a positive too.

I'm more than happy to stick £10 on you to win the league this season! those odds" haha! The squad report looks good chief!

The odds are more than slightly hilarious Dan. I have a tough ride on my hands it seems.



However with the above being said we have had one hell of a start to the season.



Two wins from three games is not something to be sniffed at. The cup is some what of a disappointment though.



The win against Virton as you can see was a game we dominated and could have won by more.

Quite simply this has been a stunning start to the season for us. The new guys seem to have gelled nicely and quickly and it has culminated in this.



I am delighted to see only one loss against our name in the current crop of games. How we are doing this well is anyone's guess to be honest but we are doing it somehow. I am going to go with the element of surprise in being the new side in the league.

It isn't even like the results are particularly lucky either.



And on to our league position which is simply would not have been expected.



I am not worried how close we are to the top, I am more pleased with the fact that doubling our points total to 34 would probably see us safe and with well over half a season to do that I would suggest we are probably going to be safe in this league for another season.

Also, I am conscious you have not seen my stats as yet so here you go.

Very good start here to the new season mate! Don't worry about crashing out the cups early, just gives you more time to focus on the league!

I was thinking the same, just always gutting to go out the cup to a team in the division below.

Still more than holding our own in the league. I couldn't be happier. I was contemplating leaving at the end of this season to go onto pastures new but as things stand my enjoyment in Belgium is still in full force.



What pleases me most isn't the wins but the competitiveness in the games we are losing which are not by big margins. That to me is the biggest plus point.




Sadly I have had to send this fella back to his parent club 5 months is just too long on the injury front for us to have to deal with.