Part 8 - Season 2013/14: January, February and March

We had a 18 day break from competitive matches in over the Christmas break, so I arranged a friendly game with D2 Antwerp to keep the players sharp. Although we lost 4-2, two goals from Thibault Hardy meant we gave a reasonable account of ourselves. We were soon back in league action with an away match against Berchem. Gerome Fernandez scored with Liege's only shot of the match, but that was enough for a 1-1 draw.


Our next match was a home game against Hasselt, and our good form continued with a 3-2 win, goals coming from Hardy, Cavalier and another from midfielder Fernandez. This win meant that we were top of the Division with one match in the second period of the season. The complicated way the division worked meant a win in our next game, away at Bornem, would mean we won period 2. This would guarantee a place in the end of season promotion play-offs.

It was a fortuitous win indeed, a very late own goal against the run of play giving us a 1-0 win, securing top spot at the end of the period, and a place in the play-offs.

This achievement didn't have a positive affect on the team however. First of all captain Gaetan Audoor put in a written transfer request, asking to move to a bigger club. Then, we lost consecutive games. The first was a 2-3 home defeat to Dessel in which we twice gave away leads, eventually losing to a calamitous own goal by young defender Debrun. Next we lost 2-0 at St Niklaas. We recovered some momentum with a 3-0 win against Deinze in the next match, with a 3-0 home win through Foulon, Hardy and an own goal, but we also suffered injuries to Fauvel and Guerra and we missed both for the trip to RC Mechelen.

Mechelen inflicted our biggest defeat of the season, 4-0. A game in which we had no shots on target and were well and truly outplayed. As March's fixtures came to and end, things weren't looking as rosy. Only 4 games after sitting pretty on the top of the table we were suddenly 6 the points behind the two league leaders Ronse and 4 points behind second place Torhout. The only consoltation was that we had secured a play-off spot. The other bright spot was that I had recruited some promising youngsters for the Liege youth team. After a series of trial games, we decided to offer youth contracts to 16 local young players. One player in particular, a 15 year old striker called Laurent Godard, seemed to have the potential to be a real find for the club.

Part 7 - Season 2013/14: December

As we moved into December Liege were 3rd in the league and played 4th place Torhout at Le Rainay. Only weeks after being on the verge of the sack, everything seemed to be coming up roses. The Chairman popped in before the game to express how pleased he was, and a fan's group said they were pleased with my management and that I was getting the best out of the skipper, Gaetan Audoor, certainly player of the season so far for Le Sang et Marines. It wasn't all good news though. Audoor knocked on my door next to say he wanted to move to a bigger club. I managed to placate him for the time being by offering him a new contract for money. I also included a minimum-fee release clause for £250,000.

A win against Torhout would have meant Liege would be top of the League in early December, unthinkable only a few weeks ago. A poor performance saw only two shots, with none on target meant we were thankful to the defence for a 0-0 draw.

Next up came Izegem away. Izegem had already won the first period of the division by finishing top after 10 games, which meant they would be in the promotion play offs at the end of the season. A win here would have put Liege top, and we were 1-0 up at half time through Thibault Hardy's early strike, but in the end I was delighted with a 1-1 draw as we were under heavy pressure in the second half.


The next match was an away fixture at UR Namur. Although we were now in mid-December, it was still quite mild, and my spirits were warmed further by a 1-0 win, with my young right back Natalino Guerra again popping up with a match-winning goal. This put Liege top of the League and I was rewarded with a visit from The Chairman that evening, who came to my office with a bottle of his favourite red wine, and congratulated me on our success. I'm sure he was really congratulating himself for my appointment. The last match of 2013 was a home game with Ronse. In near-freezing conditions, Liege fought out a 3-3 draw with a strong side. Guerra and Foulon scored for us, and pleasingly there was a goal from Emmanuel Guillou. Guillou was a winger who I thought could have a future as a central attacking midfielder. He had featured for the youth sides for years, recently turned 17 and I'd signed him on his first professional contract only a few weeks before.



So Liege finished 2013 top of Division 3A. The Chairman was pleased, and things were going well. Morevover, some of my squad were really starting to understand what I wanted from them. Winger Blaise Makengo was starting to take to his left back role, and defensive midfielder Fernandez was getting to grips with his role in central midfield.

The first half of the season had been characterised by a series of excellent performances by captain Gaetan Audoor and striker Thibault Hardy who had hit 12 goals in 18. matches. Young centre half Kanu Nkongola had also impressed with his displays in defence. But the transfer window was just about to open. Would The Chairman make me sell any of my best players in January?

Part 6 - Season 2013/14: October & November

With The Chairman making his displeasure known at the poor start to the season, pressure was on as we moved into November. I could really do with The Sang et Marines ending the losing run away from home as we travelled to Deinze who were ahead of us on goal difference. Goals from an Audoor penalty and another from Hardy meant we snatched a 2-2 draw.

Next up were RC Mechelen, who had only lost one game all season and lay 4th in the table. Although Mechelen had most of the possession, Liege managed to come out with a 2-0 win, with two more goals from Thibault Hardy.

Although this win took Liege up to 5th in the table, the talk in the press was that I could be sacked if Liege failed to win the next fixture, an away trip to VW Hamme. I hadn't seen The Chairman all week, and I was talking Jan's absence around the club as a very bad sign. Was he regretting my appointment? Was he looking for an easy way of getting rid of me, even at this stage? Was he already interviewing my potential replacements. If I hadn't been trying to get the team ready for the match I would have been tempted to have a look in the Liege Marriott and catch him in the act.

For the crucial match, I decided to bring Jeremy Foulon back into the side following his recent injury, and he lined up behind Hardy, and alongside Leger in a 4-3-2-1 formation designed to catch Hamme on the counter. Those tactics seemed to have worked when Hardy put Foulon through after a counter attack, and Foulon rounded the keeper and scored. There was heavy pressure from Hamme though, and although Liege still led 0-1 with 5 minutes left they couldn't hold out, and two late goals gave Hamme a 2-1 win.

I felt sure the axe was going to fall that week, and every time the phone rang I was sure it was going to be The Chairman giving me my Belgian equivalent of a P45. I was still in charge on Sunday however, when RC Waregem were the opposition at Le Pairay for the last match in October.

There were no problems once the game kicked off, with Thibault Hardy bagging a first half hat-trick that set up a 6-1 win, with the other goals scored by Cavalier and Leger (2). An injury picked up by Hardy was the only negative. Next up were Rupel Boom, and Liege got a second win on the trot with a well taken goal by right back Natalino Guerra.

The games were coming thick and fast at this stage, and Les Sang et Marines next went to Wetteren, where they got a cracking 3-1 win against the odds with goals from Audoor, Makengo and Cavalier aided by an early red card for Wetteren when the score was still goalless.

After 3 wins on the spin, Liege were suddenly 4th in the table, only five points behind leaders Izegem and we had a game with 5th place Hoogstraten next up at Le Pairay. Hoogstraten went a goal up in the first half but goals from Hardy and midfielder Fauvel turned it round and Liege got a 2-1 win.

The last game of November was an away match against Turnhout, who were last season's Division 3 Champions, but who were struggling this season, in 16th place in the table. Although Liege were under pressure for most of the match, Fernandez scored the only goal for a 1-0 win. This meant Liege finished the month with six straight wins and as we moved into December just off the leaders in Division 3 A.

Part 5 - Season 2013/14: August & September

2013 was RFC Liege's first season back in professional football in Belgium, with me, a rookie manager given the manager's job by mistake. Our Division 3 A campaign got off to a flying start with a 3-1 victory over UR Namur at Le Pairay. We lined up with two wide men and split strikers in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the goals coming one each from my two strikers, Foulon and Hardy, and the win sealed by my dependable midfielder Francis Sierre in front of 1,524 fans.

A week later, though and we were quickly brought back down to earth with a resounding 3-0 defeat away at Ronse.

September got off to a good start, with a come-from-behind, 10-men thrilling victory against Berchem, with an injury time winner from Thibault Hardy.                                                                                                                                                    A 3-1 defeat at Hasselt followed, and then a disappointing late goal meant we could only draw 2-2 with Bornem at home with Thibault Hardy scoring both goals for Les Sang et Marines, making it 4 goals in 5 games for the promising striker.

Following these few unsatisfactory results, I decided to have a fresh look at my formation, and changed to a 4-3-2-1. I felt this would play to my strengths a little bit more, although it would mean playing Blaise Makengo, a left midfielder, out of position at left back. It would also mean playing two midfielders, Serre and Leger, out of position in central midfield and attacking midfield respectively. I also decided to tighten things up, asking my team to stick to my formation more rigidly, using a direct, controlling, pressing style at home with a deeper sitting style, with counter attacking when away.

Next up were Dessel (away) who were unbeaten so far this season and remained so as a second minute goal was enough for them to win 1-0, despite a decent performance. The last game of September saw Liege face Sint-Niklaas at Le Pairay. Two penalties from Gregory Leger gave us a 2-0 win. This pleasing end to the month saw Liege finish September in 10th position in the Division 3 A table, with 10 points from 7 games. This comprised 3 wins, a draw and 3 defeats. This wasn't sufficient to please The Chairman, however. He knocked on my door after the Sint-Niklaas match and let me know he was disappointed with my start to my Liege career.

Part 4 - Pre-Season

The first friendly was the last Sunday in July, away against amateur side Woluwe-Zaventem. This was the nice, easy introduction to life as a football manager I needed. I lined my side up with an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation designed to make use of our strong wide attacking midfielders, with Gaetan Audoor as captain. At half-time it was all going to plan, as goals from Blaise Makengo and Jeremy Foulon gave Liege a superb 2-0 lead. However, by full time it had all gone wrong. The worrying ease in which the amateurs came back to win 3-2 showed the scale of the problems I was facing. The fact that the amateur side had 60% possession, and had 13 shots to Liege's 4 was also a worrying sign.


Next up was a 3rd Round Belgian Cup match at home against Schoten, another amateur side. A 0-0 scoreline resulted in a penalty shootout which Liege won 17-16. However, the 4th Round saw another defeat against an amateur side with a 2-1 home loss at KSV Sottegem. This was hardly decent preparation for the League campaign to come.

Once more, The Chairman popped in after the match and over a glass of his favourite red wine he announced that his expectations for the season were for a title challenge!

Part 3 - The Staff

I soon realised that the level of help I was going to receive was going to be severely limited, both by the financial restrictions at the club and by the level of football we were playing. Attracting decent staff to a Belgian Third Division club was going to be nigh-on impossible.

I gave myself a list of staff I would not be able to manage without and then set about trying to fill the vacancies in time for the new season, which was rapidly bearing down upon me. 

I managed to persuade the retired Nigerian International Sunday Oliseh to come in as my Director of Football. I figured he would take some of the stress of the day-to-day stuff off my back, and with his ability to judge player ability and potential, and his ability to work with youngsters he would be a decent addition.

I had no money to spend, and couldn't attract anyone to the club anyway. If I wasn't going to be able to spend money on transfers I wanted to focus on youth, so I persuaded Eric Reynders to be my Head of Youth Development. He had good skills at working with youngsters and judging player potential.

I also managed to sign three decent coaches, a physio and a scout. I decided to only employ one scout. As I wasn't planning on signing any new players, I would just use him to scout opposition. 

Now I just needed to decide on a formation. I was heavy on midfielders, although mainly wide ones, and I couldn't find a decent way of fitting all my best players into any formation that didn't look woefully lopsided. I was going to have to try and retrain a few players to play in new positions. But I didn't have long. The first friendly was only a week away, and the competitive fixtures weren't far behind...

Part 2 - The Players

I walked back out on to the pitch and started to watch the guys train. My knowledge of the Belgian third division wasn't great, but I could see straight away that these lot were no world beaters. There was 16 of them in total, and some of them looked no better than the Sunday League players I came up against in my own playing "career".

There was one gem, however. The player that seemed to be leading the session. He was a defender, but talented. Clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the team, I could see straight away that he was a leader. As I walked over to them he called the game to a halt and introduced himself as Gaetan Audoor. He then introduced the rest of the team to me. There seemed to be a couple of other solid pros, like Francis Serre, a wide midfielder and Jeremy Foulon, an attacking midfielder. Then there were a handful of talented youngsters like Blaise Makengo, a left midfielder, Natalino Guerra a right back, Thibault Hardy, a skilful forward, and Kanu Ndongala, a promising centre half.

It wasn't ideal, but there seemed to be the basis of a decent team in there somewhere. I knew I was going to need help though, so I headed back to my office, sat down at my desk and started to think about getting some staff.

The first thing to do would be to get myself an Assistant Manager, and after a few false starts I finally settled on Rene Verheyen. Verheyen had 26 caps for Belgium and had managed some big clubs like Waregem and Club Brugge, before spells as an Assistant. He'd also had a couple of years in charge of Deinze between 2007 and 2009, and that knowledge of this level, as well as his tactical and technical knowledge would be invaluable.

Part 1 - The Wrong Marriott

I was in the Marriott Hotel, Liege, and trying trying not to worry. I was due to meet a high level executive from an Orthodontic Equipment manufacturing company to talk about the possibility of managing their UK Sales division. I was early for my meeting, but what I didn’t realise was there was two Marriott hotels in Liege, and I was at the wrong one.

The hotel I was in was fine. It was more than fine actually. For a typical city centre hotel it was above par, with a view of the River Meuse, largely peaceful in the late June sun. Boats made their way up and down the river, and I tried to brush up on my once-decent French by looking at the local paper while I waited for my appointment to show up. 

Suddenly there was a commotion as a bloke came into the room, pointing and talking loudly on his phone as he strode towards me. Almost as wide as he was tall, Jan Swinnen, or The Chairman as he soon became known to me was used to being noticed. “So you’re the Englishman!” He greeted me with a flamboyant handshake and ordered wine. I stuck with my coffee. He asked me what I was going to do for him and I started to talk about management strategies. I didn’t get far, before his phone went off. 

I looked at a passenger boat slowly making its way down the River, and tried to work out what his conversation was about. It sounded important, and Jan was excited, but then he always was. He was talking too quickly, and my French wasn’t quite good enough to get the gist of what he was saying. Then he hung up and looked at me. He’d hardly asked me anything but he seemed to have decided something. 

"Come. Let’s look at the ground." At this point, we left the hotel and jumped in his car. He shouted "Le Pairay" to the driver, and we were off. Jan rarely stopped talking, and now he was asking me about my plans for my first few weeks in the job. Although asking me isn’t really right. He’d ask me my thoughts but then tell me his before I could answer. But he seemed to like me. In his mind, not only had he offered me the job, but I’d already accepted. 

I didn’t understand some of the things he was talking about though. He hadn’t asked me anything about orthodontics, and kept talking about the “squad” and the “training”. Now training is one thing I do know about. I do all my own training, and I told The Chairman it was my strongest area. He seemed impressed by this, and as the car pulled to a stop “You’ll be great” he said, with a satisfied smile.

We got out of the car and through a set of double doors into a foyer of what was clearly the admin area of a business. A secretary came out and The Chairman told her to “Get the contracts, this is the new manager” indicating me. He led me through to a boardroom, where there was a bottle of champagne and a photographer. The Chairman liked to move quickly. The secretary brought the contract in, and before I knew it I was signing it, getting my photograph taken and shaking hands all round.

With a glass of champagne in hand we walked out of the boardroom, and passed a number of photos of what appeared to be sports teams. We walked past a large trophy cabinet and then through another set of double doors that led outside. We were in the middle of a medium sized football stadium, with a team in red and blue doing what appeared to be pre-season training on the pitch. That was when it hit me! The Chairman was exactly that. This wasn’t a sales company, it was a football club. And I had just agreed to become manager!

The Chairman was all activity again, talking loudly on his phone and walking back through the double doors. I put my champagne down and followed him back through the double doors. 

I walked back to the secretary’s office, and introduced myself to Dominique. “I need as much information as you can bring me about the club, the staff and the players”. She pointed towards a door behind me, and I noticed it said “Manager” on the door. I walked in and found a simple windowless office, with a chalkboard, a desk and a phone. Dominique bought me in a pile of papers and a coffee. “No time like the present” she said, and left, the door swinging behind her.

I was the new manager of Royal Football Club de Liège (RFC Liège), a club that had won cups and leagues in their history but more recently were known as the club that wouldn’t release Jean-Marc Bosman from his contract, leading to what became known as the Bosman law. They had fallen from grace in the 1980s, going bankrupt once and finally dropping into the Belgian non-league in 2010/11. 

Les Sang et Marines had got promoted last season however, and in the coming season would compete in Belgian Third Division A. The legacy of financial trouble was still there though, and the club were also known as “The Homeless” having lost their 40,000 ground Stade Vélodrome de Rocourt in 1995. RFC Liège now play their home games here, at Stade Du Pairay, in Seraing. Outside the City of Liege itself, Le Pairay has a capacity of 14,000, with 1500 seats.

The club has had a history for bringing through their own players. And with the limited budget I was going to be working with, it looked like I would have to do the same. The staff list Dominique had given me was short: Me. And the facilities for training, youth coaching and development was minimal to say the least. This was going to be a tough job.