Club Brugge has been dreaming of the Conference League final in recent weeks, but saw that dream cruelly shattered on Wednesday. A questionable penalty five minutes before the end ensured that they still went out against Fiorentina. That will probably be a mental blow for Blauw-Zwart, the first since the appointment of Nicky Hayen.
The 43-year-old was moved from Club NXT in mid-March after the dismissal of Ronny Deila and since then Club has experienced one highlight after another. They cleverly defeated PAOK in the quarter-finals and in the Champions’ Play-Off they actually took the lead three match days from the end after a 19 out of 21.
Verhaeghe continues to hold off Hayen
Hayen managed to completely reverse the results, but the trainer also made an impression in many other ways. He managed to relaunch players like Onyedika and Skoras, dealt perfectly with the luxury problem that arose under the crossbar and also impressed with his clear discourse towards the media. There are more and more voices saying that Club should continue with Hayen next season.
But in Bruges they will continue to hold off for the time being. In The newspapaer Bart Verhaeghe again refuses to fully support Hayen. “That is of course an option. But there are also other candidates,” the chairman says when the trainer’s file is discussed.
Club Brugge must definitely choose the right coach
After all, Verhaeghe is terrified of another mistake after the fiascos with Deila and Scott Parker. “We are not going to act too quickly. Finishing the competition is the most important thing now, there is no time to sit quietly around the table. This time it really has to be over. We have not always had the right choices,” he acknowledges.
But Hayen seems to have hope after his chairman’s statements. After all, he compares his current coach with Philippe Clement in the same breath and notes that trainers who have been trained within Club usually do well. The fact that he also suggests in passing that Club should perhaps have given Rik De Mil a chance last summer suggests that they do not want to make the same mistake at the Belfius Basecamp as they did then.
