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?